Dinoprostone vaginal insert (DVI) versus adjunctive sweeping of membranes and DVI for term induction of labor.

AIM: To compare the efficacy and safety of dinoprostone vaginal insert (DVI) alone versus DVI with adjunctive sweeping of membranes (ASM) for induction of labor (IOL). METHODS: Single-center, prospective, randomized controlled trial; women with singleton term pregnancies, cervical dilation ≥1 and <3 cm, intact membranes allocated to either DVI or DVI with ASM. The primary outcome was vaginal delivery within 24 h of insertion. Secondary outcomes included mean time from insertion to delivery, tachysystole, operative delivery for non-reassuring fetal status (NRFS), tocolytics, fetal outcomes, pain information, and subject satisfaction. RESULTS: One hundred and four received DVI (Group 1) alone and 104 DVI with ASM (Group 2). The rate of vaginal delivery within 24 h was 53% versus 56%, cesarean rate 8.7% versus 10.6% in Groups 1 and 2 respectively. Although the duration of labor was similar in both groups, about 6% of women required additional ripening with dinoprostone vaginal tablets in Group 2 compared to 11.5% in Group 1 (p-value = 0.2). The frequency of hyperstimulation syndrome, failed induction, analgesic requirements, and fetal outcomes were comparable. The majority (83%-86%) in either cohort were satisfied with their labor experience. Multivariate logistic regression demonstrated a slightly better chance for vaginal delivery within 24 h (odds ratio [OR] 1.22 [95% confidence interval, CI 0.65-2.29]; p-value 0.53] for DVI with ASM, although statistically insignificant. Younger maternal age and multiparity (OR 10.36 [95% CI 4.88-23.67]; p-value <0.0001) contributed to successful IOL. CONCLUSION: DVI with ASM is at least as efficacious as DVI for cervical ripening with no increase in morbidity. Although DVI with ASM group less often needed additional dinoprostone tablets to complete the process of IOL (p-value = 0.2), adjunctive sweeping has not been shown to have a significant impact on the duration of labor or mode of delivery

Elevated glutamine/glutamate ratio in cerebrospinal fluid of first episode and drug naive schizophrenic patients

BACKGROUND: Recent magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS) studies report that glutamine is altered in the brains of schizophrenic patients. There were also conflicting findings on glutamate in cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of schizophrenic patients, and absent for glutamine. This study aims to clarify the question of glutamine and glutamate in CSF of first episode and drug naive schizophrenic patients. METHOD: Levels of glutamine and glutamate in CSF of 25 first episode and drug-naive male schizophrenic patients and 17 age-matched male healthy controls were measured by a high performance liquid chromatography. RESULTS: The ratio (126.1 (median), 117.7 ± 27.4 (mean ± S.D.)) of glutamine to glutamate in the CSF of patients was significantly (z = -3.29, p = 0.001) higher than that (81.01 (median), 89.1 ± 22.5 (mean ± S.D.)) of normal controls although each level of glutamine and glutamate in patients was not different from that of normal controls. CONCLUSION: Our data suggests that a disfunction in glutamate-glutamine cycle in the brain may play a role in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia

Neustonic versus epiphytic bacteria of eutrophic lake and their biodegradation ability on deltamethrin

This study evaluated biodegradation of the insecticide deltamethrin (1 μg l−1) by pure cultures of neustonic (n = 25) and epiphytic (n = 25) bacteria and by mixed cultures (n = 1), which consisted of a mixture of 25 bacterial strains isolated from the surface microlayer (SM ≈ 250 μm) and epidermis of the Common Reed (Phragmites australis, (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.) growing in the littoral zone of eutrophic lake Chełmżyńskie. Results indicate that neustonic and epiphytic bacteria are characterized by a similar average capacity to degrade deltamethrin. After a 15-day incubation, bacteria isolated from the surface microlayer reduced the initial concentration of deltamethrin by 60%, while the average effectiveness of the bacteria found on the Common Reed equaled 47%

Supporting interactive video-on-demand with adaptive multicast streaming

Recent advances in multicast video streaming algorithms have opened up new ways to provision video-on-demand services to potentially millions of users. However, the spectacular efficiency of multicast streaming algorithms can only be realized by restricting or even prohibiting interactive playback control. Experiments reveal that the performance of current state-of-the-art multicast streaming algorithms will degrade significantly even at very low levels of interactivity (e.g., one control per five users). This study tackles this challenge by investigating the fundamental limitations of multicast streaming algorithms in supporting interactive playback control and presents a general solution - static full stream scheduling (SFSS) - which can be applied to many of the existing multicast streaming algorithms to substantially improve their performance when interactive playback control is to be supported. Moreover, to solve the problem of optimizing the algorithm for the often unknown client access patterns (e.g., arrival rates and interactivity rates), we present a novel just-in-time simulation (JTS) scheme to dynamically and automatically tune operating parameters of the SFSS algorithm while the system is online. This JTS scheme not only eliminates the need for a priori knowledge of the often unknown system parameters, but also can adapt to changes in the client access pattern over time. Extensive simulation results show that the proposed adaptive algorithm can reduce the admission and interactive control latencies by as much as 90%. © 2007 IEEE.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Polymer nanoscale morphology in Chara australis Brown cell walls studied by advanced solid state techniques.

The cell wall of the green algae Chara australis Brown (Charophyta, Algae) has been examined with solid state techniques (suitable for characterising the nanoscale arrangement of polymers) and solid state chemistry. The chemical composition of a bulk dried sample of Chara australis was examined using cross-polarisation magic angle spinning (CP-MAS) C-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The presence of phenyl-propane subunits typical of the cross linked polymer, lignin, is not revealed. The arrangement of cellulose in the cell wall was probed by examining the wide angle diffraction pattern of a single fibre oriented with respect to an x-ray beam. The pattern produced was typical of a textured crystalline lattice embedded in an amorphous matrix. The x-ray reflections are much broader than most found in higher plants and it is difficult to resolve texture. Polarised Raman scattering from a similar sample provided clearer evidence of a textured cellulose matrix embedded in an amorphous matrix. It is found that the charophyte cell wall has many similarities in chemical composition and nanoscale arrangement of cell wall polymers to that of the higher plant, including the presence and arrangement, of cellulose and various polysaccharides. © 2006, Elsevier Ltd

A DNA-based assay for toxic chemicals in wastewater

Chemical toxicants, particularly metal ions, are a major contaminant in global waterways. Live-organism bioassays used to monitor chemical toxicants commonly involve measurements of activity or survival of a freshwater cladoceran (Ceriodaphnia dubia) or light emitted by the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri, used in the commercial Microtox (R) bioassay. Here we describe a novel molecule-based assay system employing DNA as the chemical biosensor. Metals bind to DNA, causing structural changes that expel a bound (intercalated) fluorescent reporter dye. Analyses of test data using 48 wastewater samples potentially contaminated by metal ions show that the DNA-dye assay results correlate with those from C. dubia and Microtox bioassays. All three assays exhibit additive, antagonistic, and synergistic responses that cannot be predicted by knowing individual metal concentrations. Analyses of metals in these samples imply the presence of chemical toxicants other than metal ions. The DNA-dye assay is robust, has a 12-month shelf life, and is only slightly affected by sample pH in the range 4 to 9. The assay is completed in a matter of minutes, and its portability makes it well suited as a screening assay for use in the field. We conclude that the DNA-dye test is a surrogate bioassay suitable for screening chemical toxicity. Environ. Toxicol. Chem. 2011;30:1810-1818. (C) 2011 SETA