Simulation of unsteady inviscid flow on an adaptively refined Cartesian grid

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/76130/1/AIAA-1992-443-336.pd

Molecular Adaptation of Borrelia burgdorferi in the Murine Host

An analysis of expression of 137 lipoprotein genes on the course of murine infection revealed a two-step molecular adaptation by Borrelia burgdorferi, the Lyme disease spirochete. For the first step, regardless whether the initial inocula of B. burgdorferi expressed either all (cultured spirochetes) or less than 40 (host-adapted spirochetes) of the 137 lipoprotein genes, the spirochetes were modulated to transcribe 116 of the genes within 10 d after being introduced to the murine host. This step of adaptation was induced by the microenvironment of the host tissue. During the second step, which was forced by host immune selection pressure and occurred between 17 and 30 d after infection, B. burgdorferi down-regulated most of the lipoprotein genes and expressed less than 40 of the 137 genes. This novel adaptation mechanism could be a critical step for B. burgdorferi to proceed to chronic infection, as the pathogen would be cleared at the early stage of infection if the spirochetes failed to undergo this process

Ammonia Emissions from USA Broiler Chicken Barns Managed with New Bedding, Built-up Litter, or Acid-Treated Litter

Poultry producers in the United States have attempted to maintain barn aerial ammonia (NH3) levels below 25 ppm to improve air quality, and more recently to decrease aerial emissions to the atmosphere. Our objective was to investigate the influence of litter management strategies on NH3 emissions from commercial broiler barns employing new bedding, acid-treated built-up litter (sodium bisulphate), or untreated built-up litter (normal practice). Nearly 400 barn-days of NH3 emissions data were collected from 12 broiler barns on four farms monitored in 48-hour episodes over one year. On each study farm, the barns were paired for repetition of conditions. Emission was calculated as the product of gas concentration of the exhaust air and barn ventilation rate. Use of new bedding for every flock led to consistently lower NH3 emission (averaging 0.35 g NH3/(bird d)) at day 21 of the 42-day flock grow-outs, followed by flocks raised on the annual cleanout with new bedding (0.52 g NH3/(bird d)). Built-up litter without any treatment had the highest emission (0.73 g NH3/(bird d)), followed by the built-up litter with acid treatment (0.63 g NH3/(bird d)). One study site was managed with two barns using litter treatment and two identical barns with untreated, built-up litter for a side-by-side comparison of results under field conditions. Ammonia emissions from treated built-up litter barns were similar to those from untreated built-up litter barns, however, the temporal pattern of emissions provided evidence that ammonia held in the acid-treated litter at the beginning of the flock was released during the latter period of the flock cycle

BRIDGE: An Open-Label Phase II Trial Evaluating the Safety of Bevacizumab + Carboplatin/Paclitaxel as First-Line Treatment for Patients with Advanced, Previously Untreated, Squamous Non-small Cell Lung Cancer

Background:Patients with predominantly squamous non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) have been generally excluded from studies of bevacizumab treatment, because squamous histology was identified as a possible risk factor for severe (grade ≥3) pulmonary hemorrhage (PH) in a phase II study. BRIDGE was designed to determine whether delaying initiation of bevacizumab treatment and selecting patients without baseline risk factors for PH would lower the incidence of severe PH among patients with squamous NSCLC.Methods:Patients in this open-label, single-arm study were treated with carboplatin/paclitaxel for two cycles, followed by carboplatin/paclitaxel and bevacizumab in cycles 3 to 6, followed by bevacizumab until progression or unacceptable toxicity. Eligible patients had stage IIIb, stage IV, or recurrent squamous NSCLC. The primary end point was incidence of grade ≥3 PH.Results:Grade ≥3 PH occurred in 1 of 31 patients who received ≥1 dose of bevacizumab: estimated incidence was 3.2% (90% confidence interval 0.3–13.5%). The patient experienced grade 3 PH, discontinued from the study, then experienced grade 4 PH 10 days later, and died of progressive disease. No other serious bleeding events occurred. Nine patients (29.0%) experienced grade 3 adverse events, including five with hypertension; five patients experienced grade 4 adverse events (dyspnea, PH, basal ganglia infarction, cerebral ischemia, and pain). Median progression-free survival was 6.2 months (95% confidence interval 5.32–7.62 months).Conclusions:The incidence of grade ≥3 PH was 3.2% (one patient). No new safety signals were identified. Although the rate of PH was low, the number of patients in this study was also low. Treatment of squamous NSCLC with bevacizumab should be considered experimental