Management of Hypertensive Emergencies in Pediatrics

As hypertension becomes more prevalent in the pediatric population, clinicians are more likely to encounter hypertensive emergencies in children, which require pharmacists and physicians to be educated on the therapeutic options for these emergencies. However, the strict governmental requirements on the testing of these drugs in pediatric patients have limited the amount of available evidence on which to base clinical decisions. This review will highlight the available evidence and preferred treatment options for the management of pediatric hypertensive emergencies

A non-intrusive nonlinear aeroelastic extension of loads packages with application to long range transport aircraft configuration

A new method for constructing geometrically-nonlinear aeroelastic systems from standard linear models is applied to an industry-level aircraft configuration. The new approach seamlessly integrates with current aeroelastic load packages performing linear analysis based on generic finite-element models (FEMs) and aerodynamic influence coefficient matrices (AICs). We generalize the methodology to incorporate control inputs, find the trimmed aircraft state, or generate gusts disturbances, which can be employed separately or combined to obtain a simplified flight dynamics model for load analysis. An initial study of the aeroelastic response of a long range aircraft is presented. Linear and nonlinear results are introduced in static and dynamic computations of manoeuvres, trim, and gust disturbances. These are compared to commercial software calculations, showing the need for geometrically nonlinear analysis in the production environment of airplanes with ultra high aspect ratio wings

Towards generalized measures grasping CA dynamics

In this paper we conceive Lyapunov exponents, measuring the rate of separation between two initially close configurations, and Jacobians, expressing the sensitivity of a CA's transition function to its inputs, for cellular automata (CA) based upon irregular tessellations of the n-dimensional Euclidean space. Further, we establish a relationship between both that enables us to derive a mean-field approximation of the upper bound of an irregular CA's maximum Lyapunov exponent. The soundness and usability of these measures is illustrated for a family of 2-state irregular totalistic CA

Photo-antagonism of the GABAA receptor

Neurotransmitter receptor trafficking is fundamentally important for synaptic transmission and neural network activity. GABAA receptors and inhibitory synapses are vital components of brain function, yet much of our knowledge regarding receptor mobility and function at inhibitory synapses is derived indirectly from using recombinant receptors, antibody-tagged native receptors and pharmacological treatments. Here we describe the use of a set of research tools that can irreversibly bind to and affect the function of recombinant and neuronal GABAA receptors following ultraviolet photoactivation. These compounds are based on the competitive antagonist gabazine and incorporate a variety of photoactive groups. By using site-directed mutagenesis and ligand-docking studies, they reveal new areas of the GABA binding site at the interface between receptor β and α subunits. These compounds enable the selected inactivation of native GABAA receptor populations providing new insight into the function of inhibitory synapses and extrasynaptic receptors in controlling neuronal excitation

TERMINAL REPORT ON THE MIGHTY MOUSE HIGHFLUX RESEARCH REACTOR PROJECT

The research and development program pertinent to the conceptual design and ultimate construction at ANL of an advanced research reactor with a peak thermal flux of 5 x 10/sup 15/ n/cm/sup 2//sec is documented. The basic reactor complex, the problems involved, the various approaches pursued, the present status and estimated cost of the project, along with recommendations for future research and development essential to the successful culmination of the project are described. The reactor is moderated with D,Oand has a core life of 120 hours at 250 Mw, (W.D.M.

The Importance of Conserving Biodiversity Outside of Protected Areas in Mediterranean Ecosystems

Mediterranean-type ecosystems constitute one of the rarest terrestrial biomes and yet they are extraordinarily biodiverse. Home to over 250 million people, the five regions where these ecosystems are found have climate and coastal conditions that make them highly desirable human habitats. The current conservation landscape does not reflect the mediterranean biome's rarity and its importance for plant endemism. Habitat conversion will clearly outpace expansion of formal protected-area networks, and conservationists must augment this traditional strategy with new approaches to sustain the mediterranean biota. Using regional scale datasets, we determine the area of land in each of the five regions that is protected, converted (e.g., to urban or industrial), impacted (e.g., intensive, cultivated agriculture), or lands that we consider to have conservation potential. The latter are natural and semi-natural lands that are unprotected (e.g., private range lands) but sustain numerous native species and associated habitats. Chile has the greatest proportion of its land (75%) in this category and California-Mexico the least (48%). To illustrate the potential for achieving mediterranean biodiversity conservation on these lands, we use species-area curves generated from ecoregion scale data on native plant species richness and vertebrate species richness. For example, if biodiversity could be sustained on even 25% of existing unprotected, natural and semi-natural lands, we estimate that the habitat of more than 6,000 species could be represented. This analysis suggests that if unprotected natural and semi-natural lands are managed in a manner that allows for persistence of native species, we can realize significant additional biodiversity gains. Lasting biodiversity protection at the scale needed requires unprecedented collaboration among stakeholders to promote conservation both inside and outside of traditional protected areas, including on lands where people live and work

Insect threats and conservation through the lens of global experts

While several recent studies have focused on global insect population trends, all are limited in either space or taxonomic scope. As global monitoring programs for insects are currently not implemented, inherent biases exist within most data. Expert opinion, which is often widely available, proves to be a valuable tool where hard data are limited. Our aim is to use global expert opinion to provide insights on the root causes of potential insect declines worldwide, as well as on effective conservation strategies that could mitigate insect biodiversity loss. We obtained 753 responses from 413 respondents with a wide variety of spatial and taxonomic expertise. The most relevant threats identified through the survey were agriculture and climate change, followed by pollution, while land management and land protection were recognized as the most significant conservation measures. Nevertheless, there were differences across regions and insect groups, reflecting the variability within the most diverse class of eukaryotic organisms on our planet. Lack of answers for certain biogeographic regions or taxa also reflects the need for research in less investigated settings. Our results provide a novel step toward understanding global threats and conservation measures for insects.Peer reviewe

A constructive approach for discovering new drug leads: Using a kernel methodology for the inverse-QSAR problem

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The inverse-QSAR problem seeks to find a new molecular descriptor from which one can recover the structure of a molecule that possess a desired activity or property. Surprisingly, there are very few papers providing solutions to this problem. It is a difficult problem because the molecular descriptors involved with the inverse-QSAR algorithm must adequately address the forward QSAR problem for a given biological activity if the subsequent recovery phase is to be meaningful. In addition, one should be able to construct a feasible molecule from such a descriptor. The difficulty of recovering the molecule from its descriptor is the major limitation of most inverse-QSAR methods.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>In this paper, we describe the reversibility of our previously reported descriptor, the vector space model molecular descriptor (VSMMD) based on a vector space model that is suitable for kernel studies in QSAR modeling. Our inverse-QSAR approach can be described using five steps: (1) generate the VSMMD for the compounds in the training set; (2) map the VSMMD in the input space to the kernel feature space using an appropriate kernel function; (3) design or generate a new point in the kernel feature space using a kernel feature space algorithm; (4) map the feature space point back to the input space of descriptors using a pre-image approximation algorithm; (5) build the molecular structure template using our VSMMD molecule recovery algorithm.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The empirical results reported in this paper show that our strategy of using kernel methodology for an inverse-Quantitative Structure-Activity Relationship is sufficiently powerful to find a meaningful solution for practical problems.</p