Great Salt Lake Halophilic Archaea as a Model For Possible Extant Life on Mars

Expansive evaporite mineral deposits and other geological features on Mars are evidence of ancient lacustrine systems before the planet experienced global climatic change (~3.5 Ga). On Mars, as the surface water dried up, hypersaline lakes would have filled the ancient lake basins. On Earth, the Bonneville Basin, in the western United States, tells a similar story in a more recent timeframe. Today, the bottom of this basin is the modern Great Salt Lake (GSL) and the Bonneville Salt Flats. Evaporation of this freshwater lake left large evaporitic mineral deposits that continually supply salt to modern GSL. Parts of the lake are at salt saturation due to shrinking shorelines and human intervention, and it is here that haloarchaea thrive. The current Martian ultraviolet flux, magnetosphere, lack of tectonic activity, and desiccation suggests that continued life would be challenging. However, microorganisms such as GSL haloarchaea may resist these extreme conditions, especially if entombed in minerals. We propose GSL haloarchaea as excellent analogues for life that could have been in hypersaline lakes on Mars and may remain preserved in the evaporitic minerals there

Skuteczność i bezpieczeństwo walsartanu oraz połączenia walsartanu z hydrochlorotiazydem w leczeniu pacjentów z nadciśnieniem tętniczym łagodnego do umiarkowanego stopnia — analiza podgrup dotycząca wpływu walsartanu i połączenia walsartanu z hydrochlorot

Background and aim: The aim of the study was to establish the effect of valsartan and combination of valsartan and hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), in a wide population of patients with mild to moderate arterial hypertension, on pulse wave velocity (PWV) and central blood pressure (CBP). Methods: International, multicentre, open-labelled, prospective trial. After one week of washout in previously treated patients, the patients were treated for 16 weeks according to the protocol. Naïve patients received the treatment immediately. During the active treatment, 4 visits were planned for each patient to obtain data for the primary and secondary efficacy. At the beginning and at the end of the study PWV and CBP were performed with central arterial pressure waveform analysis (SphygmoCor®, Atcor Medical). This study is registered with clinicaltrialsregister.eu, EudraCT number 2012-005129-57. Results: The results of the present VICTORY trial showed that valsartan and combination of valsartan and HCTZ effectively reduced the brachial blood pressure in patients with mild to moderate arterial hypertension as well as PWV, augmentation index (AIx, although not statistically significant), central systolic blood pressure and central diastolic blood pressure. Conclusions: Valsartan and valsartan/HCTZ improve arterial stiffness in patients with mild to moderate hypertension.Wstęp i cel: Celem badania była ocena wpływu walsartanu i połączenia walsartanu z hydrochlorotiazydem (HCTZ) na pręd­kość fali tętna (PWV) i centralne ciśnienie tętnicze (CBP) w dużej grupie pacjentów z nadciśnieniem tętniczym w stopniu łagodnym do umiarkowanego. Metody: Przeprowadzono międzynarodowe, wieloośrodkowe, otwarte, prospektywne badanie. Po okresie eliminacji leku z organizmu wynoszącym 1 tydzień pacjentów wcześniej leczonych przez 16 tygodni poddawano terapii zgodnie z protokołem. U osób dotąd nieleczonych natychmiast rozpoczynano leczenie. U każdego pacjenta w okresie aktywnej terapii zaplanowano przeprowadzenie 4 wizyt w celu uzyskania danych do analizy pierwszorzędowych i drugorzędowych punktów końcowych. Na początku i na końcu badania oszacowywano PWV i CBP z analizą kształtu fali CBP (SphygmoCor®, Atcor Medical). Niniejsze badanie umieszczono w rejestrze na stronie: clinicaltrialregister.eu, numer w EudraCT: 2012-005129-57. Wyniki: Wyniki uzyskane w badaniu VICTORY potwierdziły, że walsartan i połączenie walsartanu z HCTZ skutecznie obniżały ciśnienie tętnicze mierzone na ramieniu u pacjentów z nadciśnieniem tętniczym w stopniu łagodnym do umiarkowanego, a także PWV, współczynnik wzmocnienia (AIx; choć nie była to zmiana istotna statystycznie), centralne skurczowe ciśnienie tętnicze i centralne rozkurczowe ciśnienie tętnicze. Wnioski: Walsartan i walstartan/HCTZ powodują zmniejszenie sztywności tętnic u pacjentów z nadciśnieniem tętniczym w stopniu łagodnym do umiarkowanego

Polynomial approximation of quasipolynomials based on digital filter design principles

This contribution is aimed at a possible procedure approximating quasipolynomials by polynomials. Quasipolynomials appear in linear time-delay systems description as a natural consequence of the use of the Laplace transform. Due to their infinite root spectra, control system analysis and synthesis based on such quasipolynomial models are usually mathematically heavy. In the light of this fact, there is a natural research endeavor to design a sufficiently accurate yet simple engineeringly acceptable method that approximates them by polynomials preserving basic spectral information. In this paper, such a procedure is presented based on some ideas of discrete-time (digital) filters designing without excessive math. Namely, the particular quasipolynomial is subjected to iterative discretization by means of the bilinear transformation first; consequently, linear and quadratic interpolations are applied to obtain integer powers of the approximating polynomial. Since dominant roots play a decisive role in the spectrum, interpolations are made in their very neighborhood. A simulation example proofs the algorithm efficiency. © Springer International Publishing Switzerland 2016

Carbon clusters near the crossover to fullerene stability

The thermodynamic stability of structural isomers of $\mathrm{C}_{24}$, $\mathrm{C}_{26}$, $\mathrm{C}_{28}$ and $\mathrm{C}_{32}$, including fullerenes, is studied using density functional and quantum Monte Carlo methods. The energetic ordering of the different isomers depends sensitively on the treatment of electron correlation. Fixed-node diffusion quantum Monte Carlo calculations predict that a $\mathrm{C}_{24}$ isomer is the smallest stable graphitic fragment and that the smallest stable fullerenes are the $\mathrm{C}_{26}$ and $\mathrm{C}_{28}$ clusters with $\mathrm{C}_{2v}$ and $\mathrm{T}_{d}$ symmetry, respectively. These results support proposals that a $\mathrm{C}_{28}$ solid could be synthesized by cluster deposition.Comment: 4 pages, includes 4 figures. For additional graphics, online paper and related information see http://www.tcm.phy.cam.ac.uk/~prck

SPFC: a tool to improve water management and hay production in the Crau region

Correspondance: [email protected] ; UMR SYSTEM équipe CONSYSTThis article deals with the development and application of SPFC, a model used to improve water and grassland production (HC) in this region of France. This model is composed of two sub-models: an irrigation model and a crop model. As the fields are border irrigated, these two sub-models are coupled. The crop model simulates dry matter, Leaf Area Index (LAI) and soil water reserve (SWR) variations. LAI and SWR are both used for border model updating: SWR for the deficit of saturation required by the infiltration equation and LAI for the roughness coefficient n. After calibration and validation, SPFC is then used to identify realistic management strategies for the irrigation and production system at the plot level. By scheduling irrigation when SWR is 50% depleted, would result in a low Dry Matter DM production loss (around 10%), reduced labour (8 irrigation events instead of 11) and in significant water saving compared with farmers' practices, on the basis of an average climatic scenario. Furthermore, this improvement of irrigation efficiency is not incompatible with groundwater recharge used for the potable water supply of the region

Epiploic appendagitis – clinical characteristics of an uncommon surgical diagnosis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Epiploic appendagitis (EA) is a rare cause of focal abdominal pain in otherwise healthy patients with mild or absent secondary signs of abdominal pathology. It can mimick diverticulitis or appendicitis on clinical exam. The diagnosis of EA is very infrequent, due in part to low or absent awareness among general surgeons. The objective of this work was to review the authors' experience and describe the clinical presentation of EA.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>All patients diagnosed with EA between January 2004 and December 2006 at an urban surgical emergency room were retrospectively reviewed by two authors in order to share the authors' experience with this rare diagnosis. The operations were performed by two surgeons. Pathological examinations of specimens were performed by a single pathologist. A review of clinical presentation is additionally undertaken.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ten patients (3 females and 7 males, average age: 44.6 years, range: 27–76 years) were diagnosed with symptomatic EA. Abdominal pain was the leading symptom, the pain being localized in the left (8 patients, 80 %) and right (2 patients, 20%) lower quadrant. All patients were afebrile, and with the exception of one patient, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea were not present. CRP was slightly increased (mean: 1.2 mg/DL) in three patients (33%). Computed tomography findings specific for EA were present in five patients. Treatment was laparoscopic excision (n = 8), excision via conventional laparotomy (n = 1) and conservative therapy (n = 1).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In patients with localized, sharp, acute abdominal pain not associated with other symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, fever or atypical laboratory values, the diagnosis of EA should be considered. Although infrequent up to date, with the increase of primary abdominal CT scans and ultrasound EA may well be diagnosed more frequently in the future.</p

PAIS: paracetamol (acetaminophen) in stroke; protocol for a randomized, double blind clinical trial. [ISCRTN 74418480]

BACKGROUND: In patients with acute stroke, increased body temperature is associated with large lesion volumes, high case fatality, and poor functional outcome. A 1°C increase in body temperature may double the odds of poor outcome. Two randomized double-blind clinical trials in patients with acute ischemic stroke have shown that treatment with a daily dose of 6 g acetaminophen (paracetamol) results in a small but rapid and potentially worthwhile reduction of 0.3°C (95% CI: 0.1–0.5) in body temperature. We set out to test the hypothesis that early antipyretic therapy reduces the risk of death or dependency in patients with acute stroke, even if they are normothermic. METHODS/DESIGN: Paracetamol (Acetaminophen) In Stroke (PAIS) is a randomized, double-blind clinical trial, comparing high-dose acetaminophen with placebo in 2500 patients. Inclusion criteria are a clinical diagnosis of hemorrhagic or ischemic stroke and the possibility to start treatment within 12 hours from onset of symptoms. The study will have a power of 86% to detect an absolute difference of 6% in the risk of death or dependency at three months, and a power of 72% to detect an absolute difference of 5%, at a 5% significance level. DISCUSSION: This is a simple trial, with a drug that only has a small effect on body temperature in normothermic patients. However, when lowering body temperature with acetaminophen does have the expected effectiveness, 20 patients will have to be treated to prevent dependency or death in one

The web-based ASSO-food frequency questionnaire for adolescents: relative and absolute reproducibility assessment

Background: A new food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) has been recently developed within the Italian Adolescents and Surveillance System for the Obesity prevention (ASSO) Project; it was found to be appropriate for ranking adolescents in food and nutrient levels of intake. The aim of this study was to assess the relative and absolute reproducibility of the ASSO-FFQ for 24 food groups, energy and 52 nutrients. Methods: A test-retest study was performed on two ASSO-FFQs administered one month apart of each other to 185 adolescents, aged 14–17 and attending secondary schools in Palermo (Italy). Wilcoxon test assessed differences in median daily intakes between the two FFQs. Agreement was evaluated by quintiles comparison and weighted kappa. Intraclass Correlation Coefficients (ICC) and Bland-Altman method assessed the relative and absolute reliability respectively. Results: Significant difference (p < 0.05) in median intakes was found only for bread substitutes, savoury food, water, soft drinks, carbohydrates and sugar. The subjects classified into the same or adjacent quintiles for food groups ranged from 62% (white bread) to 91% (soft drinks); for energy and nutrients from 64% (polyunsaturated fatty acids) to 90% (ethanol). Mean values of weighted kappa were 0.47 and 0.48, respectively for food groups and nutrients. Fair to good ICC values (>0.40) were assessed for thirteen food groups, energy and forty-three nutrients. Limits of Agreement were narrow for almost all food groups and all nutrients. Conclusions: The ASSO-FFQ is a reliable instrument for estimating food groups, energy and nutrients intake in adolescents

Saphenofemoral arteriovenous fistula as hemodialysis access

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>An upper limb arteriovenous (AV) fistula is the access of choice for haemodialysis (HD). There have been few reports of saphenofemoral AV fistulas (SFAVF) over the last 10-20 years because of previous suggestions of poor patencies and needling difficulties. Here, we describe our clinical experience with SFAVF.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>SFAVFs were evaluated using the following variables: immediate results, early and late complications, intraoperative and postoperative complications (up to day 30), efficiency of the fistula after the onset of needling and complications associated to its use.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Fifty-six SFAVF fistulas were created in 48 patients. Eight patients had two fistulas: 8 patent (16%), 10 transplanted (20%), 12 deaths (24%), 1 low flow (2%) and 20 thrombosis (39%) (first two months of preparation). One patient had severe hypotension during surgery, which caused thrombosis of the fistula, which was successfully thrombectomised, four thrombosed fistulae were successfully thrombectomised and revised on the first postoperative day. After 59 months of follow-up, primary patency was 44%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>SFAVF is an adequate alternative for patients without the possibility for other access in the upper limbs, allowing efficient dialysis with good long-term patency with a low complication rate.</p