Localized pulsed nanosecond discharges in a counterflow nonpremixed flame environment

A flame is a very unusual environment for the development of a gas discharge, since it presents strong gradients in temperature, composition, and pre-ionization. In this paper we examine how such an environment impacts the development of the plasma when using repetitive pulsed nanosecond discharges, one of the main strategies used in the field of plasma assisted combustion. Experiments were performed in a counterflow nonpremixed burner with parallel electrodes at the nozzle exits and nanosecond-resolved photography of the plasma emission is presented. It was shown that the discharge development in stratified media may take place in the form of a dielectric barrier discharge with a localized energy deposition. In the experiments presented the discharge energy was coupled to the flame front because of the high rate of chemi-ionization and the gas density decrease in the flame

A comparison of PBDE serum concentrations in Mexican and Mexican-American children living in California.

BackgroundPolybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDE), which are used as flame retardants, have been found to be higher in residents of California than of other parts of the United States.ObjectivesWe aimed to investigate the role of immigration to California on PBDE levels in Latino children.MethodsWe compared serum PBDE concentrations in a population of first-generation Mexican-American 7-year-old children (n = 264), who were born and raised in California [Center for Health Analysis of Mothers and Children of Salinas (CHAMACOS) study], with 5-year-old Mexican children (n = 283), who were raised in the states in Mexico where most CHAMACOS mothers had originated (Proyecto Mariposa).ResultsOn average, PBDE serum concentrations in the California Mexican-American children were three times higher than their mothers' levels during pregnancy and seven times higher than concentrations in the children living in Mexico. The PBDE serum concentrations were higher in the Mexican-American children regardless of length of time their mother had resided in California or the duration of the child's breast-feeding. These data suggest that PBDE serum concentrations in these children resulted primarily from postnatal exposure.ConclusionsLatino children living in California have much higher PBDE serum levels than their Mexican counterparts. Given the growing evidence documenting potential health effects of PBDE exposure, the levels in young children noted in this study potentially present a major public health challenge, especially in California. In addition, as PBDEs are being phased out and replaced by other flame retardants, the health consequences of these chemical replacements should be investigated and weighed against their purported fire safety benefits

The role of PKD1 in aging-related neurodegeneration: Structural and functional imaging studies

Trabajo presentado en el Second Spanish Molecular Imaging Network (SMIN) Meeting, celebrado en Madrid (España) el 26 de febrero de 2018

Ultrasound assisted one-pot synthesis of benzo-fused indole-4, 9-dinones from 1,4-naphthoquinone and α-aminoacetals

A one-pot synthesis of benzo[f]indole-4,9-diones from 1,4-naphthoquinone with α-aminoacetals has been developed. This method provides a straightforward synthesis of benzo[f]indole-4,9-diones via intramolecular nucleophilic attack of aminoquinones to aldehydes under mild reaction conditions. The detailed mechanism was also investigated

Cardiorespiratory coordination during exercise in adults with Down syndrome

Introduction: Down syndrome (DS) is a chromosomal disorder affecting simultaneously cardiovascular and respiratory systems. There is no research studying the coupling between these systems during cardiorespiratory exercise testing in a population with DS. Cardiorespiratory coordination (CRC), evaluated through principal component analysis (PCA), measures the covariation of cardiorespiratory variables during exercise. Objective: to investigate and compare CRC in adults with and without DS during maximal cardiorespiratory exercise testing. Methods: fifteen adults with DS and 15 adults without disabilities performed a maximal cardiorespiratory exercise test on a treadmill. First, the slope, and afterward the velocity was increased regularly until participants reached exhaustion. The time series of six selected cardiorespiratory variables [ventilation per minute, an expired fraction of O2, the expired fraction of CO2, heart rate, systolic blood pressure (SBP), and diastolic blood pressure (DBP)] were extracted for the analysis. The number of principal components (PCs), the first PC eigenvalues (PC1), and the information entropy were computed for each group (non-DS and DS) and compared using a t-test or a Mann-Whitney U test. Results: two PCs in the non-DS group and three PCs in the DS group captured the variance of the studied cardiorespiratory variables. The formation of an additional PC in the DS group was the result of the shift of SBP and DBP fromthe PC1 cluster of variables. Eigenvalues of PC1 were higher in the non-DS (U = 30; p = 0.02; d = 1.47) than in the DS group, and the entropy measure was higher in the DS compared with the non-DS group (U = 37.5; p = 0.008; d = 0.70). Conclusion: adults with Down syndrome showed higher CRC dimensionality and a higher entropy measure than participants without disabilities. Both findings point toward a lower efficiency of the cardiorespiratory function during exercise in participants with DS. CRC appears as an alternative measure to investigate the cardiorespiratory function and its response to exercise in the DS population

Timing of antibiotics, volume, and vasoactive infusions in children with sepsis admitted to intensive care

Introduction: Early administration of antibiotics for sepsis, and of fluid boluses and vasoactive agents for septic shock, is recommended. Evidence for this in children is limited. Methods: The Alberta Sepsis Network prospectively enrolled eligible children admitted to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) with sepsis from 04/2012-10/2014. Demographics, severity of illness, and outcomes variables were prospectively entered into the ASN database after deferred consent. Timing of interventions were determined by retrospective chart review using a study manual and case-report-form. We aimed to determine the association of intervention timing and outcome in children with sepsis. Univariate (t-test and Fisher's Exact) and multiple linear regression statistics evaluated predictors of outcomes of PICU length of stay (LOS) and ventilation days. Results: Seventy-nine children, age median 60 (IQR 22-133) months, 40 (51 %) female, 39 (49 %) with severe underlying co-morbidity, 44 (56 %) with septic shock, and median PRISM-III 10.5 [IQR 6.0-17.0] were enrolled. Most patients presented in an ED: 36 (46 %) at an outlying hospital ED, and 21 (27 %) at the Children's Hospital ED. Most infections were pneumonia with/without empyema (42, 53 %), meningitis (11, 14 %), or bacteremia (10, 13 %). The time from presentation to acceptable antibiotic administration was a median of 115.0 [IQR 59.0-323.0] minutes; 20 (25 %) of patients received their antibiotics in the first hour from presentation. Independent predictors of PICU LOS were PRISM-III, and severe underlying co-morbidity, but not time to antibiotics. In the septic shock subgroup, the volume of fluid boluses given in the first 2 hours was independently associated with longer PICU LOS (effect size 0.22 days; 95 % CI 0.5, 0.38; per ml/kg). Independent predictors of ventilator days were PRISM-III score and severe underlying co-morbidity. In the septic shock subgroup, volume of fluid boluses in the first 2 hours was independently associated with more ventilator days (effect size 0.09 days; 95 % CI 0.02, 0.15; per ml/kg). Conclusion: Higher volume of early fluid boluses in children with sepsis and septic shock was independently associated with longer PICU LOS and ventilator days. More study on the benefits and harms of fluid bolus therapy in children are needed

Aerobic exercise and cognitive function in chronic severe traumatic brain injury survivors : a within-subject A-B-A intervention study

BACKGROUND: Following acute and sub-acute rehabilitation from severe traumatic brain injury (TBI), minimal to no efficacious interventions to treat ongoing cognitive deficits are available. Aerobic exercise is a non-invasive behavioral intervention with promise to treat cognitive deficits in TBI populations. METHODS: Six individuals, aged 24-62 years, with chronic (> 8 months since injury) severe (Glasgow Coma Scale of 3-8) TBI were recruited from two outpatient rehabilitation centers. In an A-B-A study design, 20-weeks of supervised aerobic exercise interventions were delivered three times per week (phase B) in addition to participants typical rehabilitation schedules (phases A). The effect of phase B was tested on a trail making test part B (primary outcome measure of executive function) as well as objective daily physical activity (PA), using both group level (linear mixed effect models) and single subject statistics. RESULTS: Five of six participants increased trail-making test part B by more than 10% pre-to-post phase B, with three of six making a clinically meaningful improvement (+ 1SD in normative scores). A significant main effect of time was seen with significant improvement in trail-making test part B pre-to-post exercise (phase B). No significant effects in other planned comparisons were found. Statistically significant increases in daily moderate-to-vigorous PA were also seen during phase B compared to phase A with three of six individuals making a significant behaviour change. CONCLUSIONS: The addition of supervised aerobic exercise to typical rehabilitation strategies in chronic survivors of severe TBI can improve executive set shifting abilities and increase voluntary daily PA levels

Self-consistent anisotropic oscillator with cranked angular and vortex velocities

The Kelvin circulation is the kinematical Hermitian observable that measures the true character of nuclear rotation. For the anisotropic oscillator, mean field solutions with fixed angular momentum and Kelvin circulation are derived in analytic form. The cranking Lagrange multipliers corresponding to the two constraints are the angular and vortex velocities. Self-consistent solutions are reported with a constraint to constant volume.Comment: 12 pages, LaTex/RevTex, Phys. Rev. C4

Diversity of Plasmids Encoding Virulence and Resistance Functions in Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica Serovar Typhimurium Monophasic Variant 4,[5],12:i:- Strains Circulating in Europe.

Plasmids encoding resistance and virulence properties in multidrug resistant (MDR) Salmonella enterica (S.) serovar Typhimurium monophasic variant 4,[5],12:i:- isolates recovered from pigs and humans (2006-2008) in Europe were characterised. The isolates were selected based on the detection by PCR-amplification of S. Typhimurium virulence plasmid pSLT genes and were analysed by multi-locus sequence typing (MLST). The resistance genes present in the isolates and the association of these genes with integrons, transposons and insertion sequences were characterised by PCR-sequencing, and their plasmid location was determined by alkaline lysis and by S1-nuclease pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) Southern-blot hybridisation. Plasmids were further analysed by replicon typing, plasmid MLST and conjugation experiments. The 10 S. 4,[5],12,i:- selected isolates belonged to ST19. Each isolate carried a large plasmid in which MDR with pSLT-associated virulence genes were located. After analysis, eight different plasmids of three incompatibility groups (IncA/C, IncR and IncF) were detected. Two IncA/C plasmids represented novel variants within the plasmid family of the S. 4,[5],12:i:- Spanish clone, and carried an empty class 1 integron with a conventional qacE¿1-sul1 3' conserved segment or an In-sul3 type III with estX-psp-aadA2-cmlA1-aadA1-qacH variable region linked to tnpA440-sul3, part of Tn2, Tn21 and Tn1721 transposons, and ISCR2. Four newly described IncR plasmids contained the resistance genes within In-sul3 type I (dfrA12-orfF-aadA2-cmlA1-aadA1-qacH/tnpA440-sul3) and part of Tn10 [tet(B)]. Two pSLT-derivatives with FIIs-ST1+FIB-ST17 replicons carried cmlA1-[aadA1-aadA2]-sul3-dfrA12 and blaTEM-1 genes linked to an In-sul3 type I integron and to Tn2, respectively. In conclusion, three emerging European clones of S. 4,[5],12:i:- harboured MDR plasmids encoding additional virulence functions that could contribute significantly to their evolutionary success