QUALITY MEASUREMENTS IN CLOUD WATER, RAIN, THROUGHFALL, AND STREAM WATER, AT HORTON PLAINS

Die-back of natural forests in the Horton Plains has been of some concern inrecent times. One of the possible causes is atmospheric pollution. Since clouds(jog) carry greater amounts of pollutants than rain, an assessment was made ofboth rain and cloud water quality, as well as that of throughfall and streamwater. Samples were collected and analysed at weekly intervals from November1995 to May 1996. They were tested for pH, electrical conductivity (EC), nitratenitrogen (NOrN), ammonium nitrogen (NHrN) and sulphate sulphur (,'-,·(Jr-S).Plastic buckets were used to collect rain water and throughfall. A collector wasdesigned and constructed to collect cloud water. The average pH of cloud waterlVas 5.0 and the values as low as 3.9 was observed during certain periods ..According to the literature, this latter high acidity could be injurious, burningtender leaves. The highest concentrations of NOrN, NH4-N, and S(Jr-S incloud water were 10.23, 5.04 and 9.40 mg/litre respectively; vet:y IIIl1ch higherthan those of the rain water. These pollutant levels and high acidity may causestress on the plants. The concentration (if chemicals is also high in thethroughfall. However, the soil acts as a buffer and provides good quality waterto the streams, as shown by the vet:y low concentration of chemicals there

Reproducibility of differential proteomic technologies in CPTAC fractionated xenografts

The NCI Clinical Proteomic Tumor Analysis Consortium (CPTAC) employed a pair of reference xenograft proteomes for initial platform validation and ongoing quality control of its data collection for The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) tumors. These two xenografts, representing basal and luminal-B human breast cancer, were fractionated and analyzed on six mass spectrometers in a total of 46 replicates divided between iTRAQ and label-free technologies, spanning a total of 1095 LC-MS/MS experiments. These data represent a unique opportunity to evaluate the stability of proteomic differentiation by mass spectrometry over many months of time for individual instruments or across instruments running dissimilar workflows. We evaluated iTRAQ reporter ions, label-free spectral counts, and label-free extracted ion chromatograms as strategies for data interpretation (source code is available from http://homepages.uc.edu/~wang2x7/Research.htm). From these assessments, we found that differential genes from a single replicate were confirmed by other replicates on the same instrument from 61 to 93% of the time. When comparing across different instruments and quantitative technologies, using multiple replicates, differential genes were reproduced by other data sets from 67 to 99% of the time. Projecting gene differences to biological pathways and networks increased the degree of similarity. These overlaps send an encouraging message about the maturity of technologies for proteomic differentiation

The Spacehaler™ for delivery of salbutamol: a comparison with the standard metered-dose inhaler plus Volumatic™ spacer device

AbstractThe Spacehaler™ is a new, compact, pressurized aerosol device that uses the same canister as a conventional metered-dose inhaler (MDI). Its design, however, reduces the velocity of the aerosol cloud that emerges from the inhaler, thereby reducing the amount of the non-respirable fraction of the drug delivered to the patient. Large volume spacers achieve a similar effect, but they are bulky and therefore inconvenient to use and carry around. This study compared the bronchodilator effect of 200 μg salbutamol delivered by the Spacehaler™ to that of an MDI used with a Volumatic™ spacer (MDI plus spacer) in patients with reversible obstructive airways disease.Twenty-five patients with asthma, having a forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1) between 50 and 90% predicted and a reversibility of ≥15% to 200 μg salbutamol given by the conventional (standard) MDI entered the study. On two separate study days, they inhaled 200 μg salbutamol either via the Spacehaler™ or the MDI plus spacer. To maintain blinding, they received placebo on both study days via the alternate device. Their FEV1, forced vital capacity (FVC) and peak expiratory flow (PEF) were measured before and at regular intervals for 6 h after inhalation. Assessment of equivalence between the two devices was based on whether the 90% confidence interval for the difference between the weighted mean FEV1 was within ±0·251. Patient preference was assessed by a questionnaire at the end of the second study day.Twenty-four patients completed the study. Both devices produced a significant improvement in FEV1 (P<0·02). The upper and lower 90% confidence limits for the difference in weighted mean FEV1 between the devices was ±0·041, and the 99% confidence limits were +0·061 and −0·071. The weighted means for FVC and PEF, and the duration of effect and peak responses for FEV1, FVC and PEF also showed no difference between the two devices. Patients found no difficulty in using the Spacehaler™, and 20 out of 24 patients (83·3%) preferred it to the MDI plus spacer.The bronchodilator effect of 200 μg salbutamol administered by a Spacehaler™ was equivalent to that produced by an MDI plus spacer in this group of patients with reversible airways obstruction. The majority of patients preferred it to a large volume spacer

Thermal Activation of Regenerated Grating in Hydrogenated Gallosilicate Fiber

The thermal regeneration of fiber Bragg gratings inscribed on hydrogenated gallosilicate optical fiber, fabricated using a modified chemical vapor deposition (MCVD) technique followed by a solution doping process, is demonstrated for the first time. A type-I seed grating is thermally regenerated and the evolution of the grating reflectivity in a temperature range between 25 °C and 720 °C is investigated. Temperature responses of 15.2 pm/°C and 15.0 pm/°C are obtained during heating and cooling processes of the regenerated grating (RG), respectively, when performing thermal calibration over a temperature range of 25 °C-750 °C and vice versa. Gallosilicate-based RGs are potential candidates as high-temperature resistant gratings in rare-earth-doped fiber, since they provide high photosensitivity and thermal sustainability with the involvement of a single dopant with a concentration as low as 5 wt%