Data catalog series for space science and applications flight missions. Volume 3B: Descriptions of data sets from low- and medium-altitude scientific spacecraft and investigations

The main purpose of the data catalog series is to provide descriptive references to data generated by space science flight missions. The data sets described include all of the actual holdings of the Space Science Data Center (NSSDC), all data sets for which direct contact information is available, and some data collections held and serviced by foreign investigators, NASA and other U.S. government agencies. This volume contains narrative descriptions of data sets from low and medium altitude scientific spacecraft and investigations. The following spacecraft series are included: Mariner, Pioneer, Pioneer Venus, Venera, Viking, Voyager, and Helios. Separate indexes to the planetary and interplanetary missions are also provided

The duodenal mucosa in patients with renal failure: Response to 1,25(OH)2D3

The duodenal mucosa in patients with renal failure: Response to 1,25(OH)2D3. The structure of the duodenal mucosa was evaluated i n duodenal biopsy samples obtained from patients with moderate renal failure (MRF) and in dialysis patients (HD) in an effort to examine the possibility that changes in duodenal mucosa may contribute to the impaired calcium absorption in renal failure (RF). The effect of therapy with 1,25(OH)2D3 on the duodenal mucosa in the HD patients was also studied. The results show that both MRF and HD patients have reduction in calcium reabsorption and in the length of their intestinal villi and crypts of Lieberkuhn. In the HD patients, these structural changes were more severe. Treatment with 1,25(OH)2D3 produced significant improvement in calcium reabsorption (P < 0.01) as well as in length of villus and crypt (P < 0.02) and increased mitotic activity in the crypts (P < 0.02). Electron microscopy revealed the microvilli to be shorter, irregularly distributed, moth-eaten, and grainy, with these abnormalities disappearing after treatment. The data show that duodenal mucosa in RF exhibits structural abnormalities, which were normalized after 1,25(OH)2D3 therapy, and suggest that these derangements may play a role in the defective calcium reabsorption in RF.La muqueuse duodénale chez les malades en insuffisance rénale: Réponse au 1,25(OH)2D3. La structure de la muqueuse duodénale a été évaluée sur des biopsies duodénales de malades atteints d'insuffisance rénale modérée (MFR) et de malades en hémodialyse (HD) afin d'étudier l'hypothèse selon laquelle des modifications de la muqueuse duodénale pourraient contribuer à l'altération de l'absorption du calcium au cours de l'insuffisance rénale. L'effet du traitement par 1,25(OH)2D3 sur la muqueuse duodénale a été étudié chez les malades HD. Les résultats montrent que les malades MRF et HD ont une diminution de l'absorption du calcium et de la longueur de leurs villosités intestinales et de leurs cryptes de Lieberkuhn. Chez les malades HD ces modifications de structure sont encore plus sévères. Le traitement par 1,25(OH)2D3 détermine une amélioration significative de l'absorption du calcium (P < 0,01) de même qu'une augmentation de la longueur des villosités et des cryptes (P < 0,02) et une augmentation de l'activité mitotique dans les cryptes (P < 0,02). La microscopie électronique montre que les micro-villosités sont raccourcies, irrégulièrement distribuées et d'aspect mité et granuleux, anomalies qui disparaissent après le traitement. Les résultats montrent que la muqueuse duodénale des malades RF a des anomalies de structure qui sont normalisées au cours du traitement par 1,25(OH)2D3 et suggèrent que ces modifications peuvent jouer un rôle dans le déficit de au cours de RF

Bayesian comparison of cost-effectiveness of different clinical approaches to diagnose coronary artery disease

The objective of this study was to compare the cost-effectiveness of four clinical policies (policies I to IV) in the diagnosis of the presence or absence of coronary artery disease. A model based on Bayes' theorem and published clinical data was constructed to make these comparisons. Effectiveness was denned as either the number of patients with coronary disease diagnosed or as the number of quality-adjusted life years extended by therapy after the diagnosis of coronary disease.The following conclusions arise strictly from analysis of the model and may not necessarily be applicable to all situations. 1) As prevalence of coronary disease in the population increased, it caused a linear increase in cost per patient tested, but a hyperbolic decrease in cost per effect, that is, increased cost-effectiveness. Thus, cost-effectiveness of all policies (I to IV) was poor in populations with a prevalence of disease below 10%, for example, asymptomatic people with no risk factors. 2) Analysis of the model also indicates that at prevalences less than 80%, exercise thallium scintigraphy alone as a first test (policy II) is a more cost-effective initial test than is exercise electrocardiography alone as a first test (policy I) or exercise electrocardiography first combined with thallium imaging as a second test (policy IV). 3) Exercise electrocardiography before thallium imaging (policy IV) is more cost-effective than exercise electrocardiography alone (policy I) at prevalences less than 80%. 4) Noninvasive exercise testing before angiography (policies I, II and IV) is more cost-effective than using coronary angiography as the first and only test (policy III) at prevalences less than 80%. 5) Above a threshold value of prevalence of 80% (for example patients with typical angina), proceeding to angiography as the first test (policy III) was more cost-effective than initial noninvasive exercise tests (policies I, II and IV).One advantage of this quantitative model is that it estimates a threshold value of prevalence (80%) at which the rank order of policies changes. The model also allows substitution of different values for any variable as a way of accounting for the uncertainty inherent in the data. In conclusion, it is essential to consider the prevalence of disease when selecting the most cost-effective clinical approach to making a diagnosis

Eliminating Amylase Testing from the Evaluation of Pancreatitis in the Emergency Department

Background: Alterations in serum biomarkers have been used to evaluate for pancreatitis in the emergency department (ED). Studies have shown lipase to be as sensitive and more specific than amylase in diagnosing pancreatitis and that amylase plus lipase does not improve accuracy over lipase alone.Objective: To determine effects of interventions to decrease ordering of amylase in the evaluation of pancreatitis.Methods: We conducted a pre- and post-cohort study. The number of amylase and lipase tests ordered in the ED was recorded prior to intervention to establish a baseline. We introduced an educational intervention to order lipase without amylase. A second intervention involved removing amylase from bedside order entry forms. We introduced a third intervention that included deleting amylase from trauma order forms, and decoupling amylase and lipase in the computer ordering system. We recorded the number of lipase and amylase tests in weekly aggregates for comparison to the baseline. Data analysis using students t-test, standard deviation and p values are reported.Results: Before interventions 93% of patients had both tests ordered. Educational interventions resulted in a decrease to 91% (p=0.06) of co-ordering. Further interventions decreased the percentage of patients evaluated with both tests to 14.3%. This translates into a decrease in patient charges of approximately $350,000 a year.Conclusion: Using simple structured interventions in the ED can reduce amylase ordering. Educational programming alone was not effective in significantly decreasing amylase ordering; however, education plus system-based interventions decreased amylase ordering. [West J Emerg Med. 2010; 11(4):344-347.

American political affiliation, 2003–43: a cohort component projection

The recent rise and stability in American party identification has focused interest on the long-term dynamics of party bases. Liberal commentators cite immigration and youth as forces which will produce a natural Democratic advantage in the future while conservative writers highlight the importance of high Republican fertility in securing Republican growth. These concerns foreground the neglect of demography within political science. This paper addresses this omission by conducting the first ever cohort component projection of American partisan populations to 2043 based on survey and census data. A number of scenarios are modeled, but, on current trends, we predict that American partisanship will shift much less than the nation’s ethnic composition because the parties’ age structures are similar. Still, our projections find that the Democrats gain two to three percentage points from the Republicans by 2043, mainly through immigration, though Republican fertility may redress the balance in the very long term

Carboplatin (CBDCA), iproplatin (CHIP), and high dose cisplatin in hypertonic saline evaluated for tubular nephrotoxicity

We compared the acute tubular nephrotoxicity of three platinum compounds in children and adults with solid tumors by monitoring the urinary excretion of alanine aminopeptidase, N -acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase, and total protein. Cisplatin (100 mg/m 2 ) was administered with mannitol, or at a twofold larger total dosage (50 mg/m 2 per day for 4 days) in a 3% saline infusion. Carboplatin (300 mg/m 2 ) was administered in combination with 5-fluorouracil, and iproplatin was administered in dosages ranging from 216 to 388 mg/m 2 . Enzymuria and proteinuria induced by cisplatin at a total dosage of 200 mg/m 2 on a divided schedule did not significantly differ from that observed for the single 100 mg/m 2 dose. Enzymuria and proteinuria induced by carboplatin and iproplatin were significantly less than that for cisplatin; however, one patient developed chronic tubular damage after three courses of carboplatin, and the acute tubular toxicity of iproplatin in one of 15 patients was exceptional. Our findings support the value of administering cisplatin in hypertonic saline on a divided schedule as a strategy to reduce acute tubular damage. Although carboplatin and iproplatin are less nephrotoxic than cisplatin, occasionally patients experience subclinical acute or chronic tubular damage that may lead to overt nephrotoxicity with continued therapy.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/46915/1/280_2004_Article_BF00296257.pd

Protection from the 2009 H1N1 Pandemic Influenza by an Antibody from Combinatorial Survivor-Based Libraries

Influenza viruses elude immune responses and antiviral chemotherapeutics through genetic drift and reassortment. As a result, the development of new strategies that attack a highly conserved viral function to prevent and/or treat influenza infection is being pursued. Such novel broadly acting antiviral therapies would be less susceptible to virus escape and provide a long lasting solution to the evolving virus challenge. Here we report the in vitro and in vivo activity of a human monoclonal antibody (A06) against two isolates of the 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza virus. This antibody, which was obtained from a combinatorial library derived from a survivor of highly pathogenic H5N1 infection, neutralizes H5N1, seasonal H1N1 and 2009 “Swine” H1N1 pandemic influenza in vitro with similar potency and is capable of preventing and treating 2009 H1N1 influenza infection in murine models of disease. These results demonstrate broad activity of the A06 antibody and its utility as an anti-influenza treatment option, even against newly evolved influenza strains to which there is limited immunity in the general population

The association between symptomatic, severe hypoglycaemia and mortality in type 2 diabetes: retrospective epidemiological analysis of the ACCORD study

Objective To determine whether there is a link between hypoglycaemia and mortality among participants in the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) trial

Angular momentum and an invariant quasilocal energy in general relativity

Owing to its transformation property under local boosts, the Brown-York quasilocal energy surface density is the analogue of E in the special relativity formula: E^2-p^2=m^2. In this paper I will motivate the general relativistic version of this formula, and thereby arrive at a geometrically natural definition of an `invariant quasilocal energy', or IQE. In analogy with the invariant mass m, the IQE is invariant under local boosts of the set of observers on a given two-surface S in spacetime. A reference energy subtraction procedure is required, but in contrast to the Brown-York procedure, S is isometrically embedded into a four-dimensional reference spacetime. This virtually eliminates the embeddability problem inherent in the use of a three-dimensional reference space, but introduces a new one: such embeddings are not unique, leading to an ambiguity in the reference IQE. However, in this codimension-two setting there are two curvatures associated with S: the curvatures of its tangent and normal bundles. Taking advantage of this fact, I will suggest a possible way to resolve the embedding ambiguity, which at the same time will be seen to incorporate angular momentum into the energy at the quasilocal level. I will analyze the IQE in the following cases: both the spatial and future null infinity limits of a large sphere in asymptotically flat spacetimes; a small sphere shrinking toward a point along either spatial or null directions; and finally, in asymptotically anti-de Sitter spacetimes. The last case reveals a striking similarity between the reference IQE and a certain counterterm energy recently proposed in the context of the conjectured AdS/CFT correspondence.Comment: 54 pages LaTeX, no figures, includes brief summary of results, submitted to Physical Review