The role of urate and xanthine oxidase in vascular oxidative stress:Future directions

Vascular oxidative stress has been shown to be a potent factor in the pathophysiology of endothelial dysfunction. Despite current optimal evidence-based therapy, mortality from various cardiovascular disorders remains high. The search for newer, novel ways of attenuating endothelial dysfunction has yielded several new and exciting possibilities, one of which is the manipulation of urate levels using xanthine oxidase inhibitors. Agents such as allopurinol have shown marked improvements in vascular endothelial function in various cohorts at risk of cardiovascular events. Most of the evidence so far comes from smaller mechanistic studies. The few large randomized controlled trials have failed to show any significant mortality benefit using these agents. This article highlights the potential avenues of further research such as dose-response, and the potential for these agents to regress left ventricular hypertrophy. The role of newer agents such as febuxostat and oxypurinol are discussed as well as potential reasons why some of the current newer agents have failed to live up to the promising early-phase data. It is crucial that these remaining questions surrounding urate, xanthine oxidase and the role of various agents that affect this important oxidative stress-generating system are answered, and therefore these promising agents should not be discarded prematurely

Role of urate, xanthine oxidase and the effects of allopurinol in vascular oxidative stress

Oxidative stress plays an important role in the progression of vascular endothelial dysfunction. The two major systems generating vascular oxidative stress are the NADPH oxidase and the xanthine oxidase pathways. Allopurinol, a xanthine oxidase inhibitor, has been in clinical use for over 40 years in the treatment of chronic gout. Allopurinol has also been shown to improve endothelial dysfunction, reduce oxidative stress burden and improve myocardial efficiency by reducing oxygen consumption in smaller mechanistic studies involving various cohorts at risk of cardiovascular events. This article aims to explain the role of xanthine oxidase in vascular oxidative stress and to explore the mechanisms by which allopurinol is thought to improve vascular and myocardial indices

Non-constructive interval simulation of dynamic systems

Publisher PD

\u27No Need for No Need

This article is re-printed with permission from the Summer 1988 issue of the Journal of College Admissions and adds some new questions and perspective to this classic issue in student aid

Impact of cirrus on the surface radiative environment at the FIRE ETLA Palisades, NY site

FIRE Extended Time Limited Area (ETLA) observations provide year round information critical to gaining a better understanding of cloud/climate interactions. The Lamont/Rutgers team has participated in the ETLS program through the collection and analysis of shortwave and longwave downwelling irradiances at Palisades, NY. These data are providing useful information on surface radiative fluxes with respect to sky condition, solar zenith angle and season. Their utility extends to the calibration and validation of cloud/radiative models and satellite cloud and radiative retrievals. The impact cirrus clouds have on the surface radiative environment is examined using Palisades ETLA information on atmospheric transmissivities and downwelling longwave fluxes for winter and summer cirrus and clear sky episodes in 1987

Analysis of impact and value of NEASC high school accreditation procedures on school accountability and school improvement from 1987-1997

From a 1983 federal study which concluded, as its title suggests, that America had become A Nation at Risk because of a failing public school system, the modern standards movement was born. This educational reform movement beginning in the 1980\u27s and continuing through the 1990\u27s brought about the development and establishment of many accountability and improvement initiatives aimed at public schools. Also during this time, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), through its Commission on Public Secondary Schools along with five other regional accrediting agencies across the country, was continuously engaged in the practice of evaluating and accrediting high schools. Accreditation had been the evaluation of choice for New England high schools for decades. Because of local and state mandated accountability and improvement initiatives, along with changes in the NEASC accreditation process in the aftermath of a Nation at Risk, attitudes and perceptions of the educational community toward the accreditation process have changed over the past decade. Data for this study were gathered from a target population of sixty-six New Hampshire high schools which underwent NEASC accreditation between the years 1987--1997. This survey study sought to determine how key members of the school community, high school principals, superintendents, and school board members, perceived the impact and value of the NEASC accreditation process, particularly as it effected accountability and improvement in their schools. The study further looked at the relationship between the NEASC accreditation process and the New Hampshire state mandated District Education Improvement Plan (DEIP)