Influence of Climate on Long-Term Recovery of Adirondack Mountain Lakewater Chemistry from Atmospheric Deposition of Sulfur and Nitrogen

In this study, we assessed temporal patterns and long-term trends in nitrate (NO3-), two forms of aluminum (inorganic, Ali, and organic, Alo), and dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentrations in the water of 29 Adirondack Mountain, New York lakes, and the potential effects of ambient weather conditions (i.e., climatic variation) on these patterns and trends

Validation of CAT as an independent assessment tool in pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

The benefits of PR in COPD are well recognised but the practical assessment of patients undergoing PR can be complex. The COPD assessment test (CAT) is a recently introduced simple, validated 8-item questionnaire designed to assess the impact of COPD symptoms on quality of life (QOL). We hypothesized that CAT could be used as a screening tool and outcome measure to assess QOL in COPD. 60 patients with COPD enrolled in 8 weeks outpatient PR between January 2011 and October 2011 were studied. Patients completed CAT score, chronic respiratory disease questionnaire (CRDQ), hospital anxiety and depression (HAD) at baseline and at 8 weeks. Functional status (6 min walk test (6MWT) and incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT)), dyspnoea (MRCD) and body mass index (BMI) were measured. 52 COPD patients completed the 8 weeks PR and data were available for 37 patients with mean (SD) age 68.7 (9.2) yrs and FEV1 48.64 (20.79) % predicted. There was a significant difference in 6MWT (47.03m), ISWT (47.84m), MRCD (0.3 points), CRDQ (-3.02 points), Anxiety (1.5points), depression (0.6points) and CAT (3.63 points) post PR. CAT correlated closely with CRDQ at baseline and following PR whereas there was good correlation only with ISWT, anxiety and depression post PR. CAT is an independent, simple and highly responsive outcome measure that can also be utilized for screening patients with COPD for PR

Validation of CAT as an independent assessment tool in pulmonary rehabilitation (PR) for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)

The benefits of PR in COPD are well recognised but the practical assessment of patients undergoing PR can be complex. The COPD assessment test (CAT) is a recently introduced simple, validated 8-item questionnaire designed to assess the impact of COPD symptoms on quality of life (QOL). We hypothesized that CAT could be used as a screening tool and outcome measure to assess QOL in COPD. 60 patients with COPD enrolled in 8 weeks outpatient PR between January 2011 and October 2011 were studied. Patients completed CAT score, chronic respiratory disease questionnaire (CRDQ), hospital anxiety and depression (HAD) at baseline and at 8 weeks. Functional status (6 min walk test (6MWT) and incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT)), dyspnoea (MRCD) and body mass index (BMI) were measured. 52 COPD patients completed the 8 weeks PR and data were available for 37 patients with mean (SD) age 68.7 (9.2) yrs and FEV1 48.64 (20.79) % predicted. There was a significant difference in 6MWT (47.03m), ISWT (47.84m), MRCD (0.3 points), CRDQ (-3.02 points), Anxiety (1.5points), depression (0.6points) and CAT (3.63 points) post PR. CAT correlated closely with CRDQ at baseline and following PR whereas there was good correlation only with ISWT, anxiety and depression post PR. CAT is an independent, simple and highly responsive outcome measure that can also be utilized for screening patients with COPD for PR

Full Flight Envelope Direct Thrust Measurement on a Supersonic Aircraft

Direct thrust measurement using strain gages offers advantages over analytically-based thrust calculation methods. For flight test applications, the direct measurement method typically uses a simpler sensor arrangement and minimal data processing compared to analytical techniques, which normally require costly engine modeling and multisensor arrangements throughout the engine. Conversely, direct thrust measurement has historically produced less than desirable accuracy because of difficulty in mounting and calibrating the strain gages and the inability to account for secondary forces that influence the thrust reading at the engine mounts. Consequently, the strain-gage technique has normally been used for simple engine arrangements and primarily in the subsonic speed range. This paper presents the results of a strain gage-based direct thrust-measurement technique developed by the NASA Dryden Flight Research Center and successfully applied to the full flight envelope of an F-15 aircraft powered by two F100-PW-229 turbofan engines. Measurements have been obtained at quasi-steady-state operating conditions at maximum non-augmented and maximum augmented power throughout the altitude range of the vehicle and to a maximum speed of Mach 2.0 and are compared against results from two analytically-based thrust calculation methods. The strain-gage installation and calibration processes are also described

Changes in serum proteomic patterns by presurgical alpha-tocopherol and L-selenomethionine supplementation in prostate cancer

BACKGROUND: Evidence of the chemopreventive effects of the dietary antioxidants alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E) and l-selenomethionine (selenium) comes from secondary analysis of two phase III clinical trials that found treatment with these antioxidants reduced the incidence of prostate cancer. To determine the effects of selenium and vitamin E in blood and prostate tissue, we undertook a preoperative feasibility study complementary to the currently ongoing Selenium and Vitamin E Cancer Prevention Trial. METHODS: Forty-eight patients with clinically localized prostate cancer enrolled on this 2 x 2 factorial design study were randomized to take selenium, vitamin E, both, or placebo for 3 to 6 weeks before prostatectomy. Sera were collected from patients before and after dietary supplementation. Thirty-nine patients were evaluable, and 29 age-matched disease-free men served as controls. Mass profiling of lipophilic serum proteins of lower molecular weight (2-13.5 kDa) was conducted, and mass spectra data were analyzed using custom-designed software. RESULTS: Weighted voting analyses showed a change in sera classification from cancerous to healthy for some patients with prostate cancer after dietary intervention. ANOVA analysis showed significantly different treatment effects on prediction strength changes among the four groups at a 95% confidence level. Eliminating an outlying value and performing post hoc analysis using Fisher\u27s least significant difference method showed that effects in the group treated with the combination were significantly different from those of the other groups. CONCLUSION: In sera from patients with prostate cancer, selenium and vitamin E combined induced statistically significant proteomic pattern changes associated with prostate cancer-free status

European Respiratory Society guidelines for the management of adult bronchiectasis

Bronchiectasis in adults is a chronic disorder associated with poor quality of life and frequent exacerbations in many patients. There have been no previous international guidelines.The European Respiratory Society guidelines for the management of adult bronchiectasis describe the appropriate investigation and treatment strategies determined by a systematic review of the literature.A multidisciplinary group representing respiratory medicine, microbiology, physiotherapy, thoracic surgery, primary care, methodology and patients considered the most relevant clinical questions (for both clinicians and patients) related to management of bronchiectasis. Nine key clinical questions were generated and a systematic review was conducted to identify published systematic reviews, randomised clinical trials and observational studies that answered these questions. We used the GRADE approach to define the quality of the evidence and the level of recommendations. The resulting guideline addresses the investigation of underlying causes of bronchiectasis, treatment of exacerbations, pathogen eradication, long term antibiotic treatment, anti-inflammatories, mucoactive drugs, bronchodilators, surgical treatment and respiratory physiotherapy.These recommendations can be used to benchmark quality of care for people with bronchiectasis across Europe and to improve outcomes

Post hoc Analysis for Detecting Individual Rare Variant Risk Associations Using Probit Regression Bayesian Variable Selection Methods in Case-Control Sequencing Studies

Rare variants (RVs) have been shown to be significant contributors to complex disease risk. By definition, these variants have very low minor allele frequencies and traditional single-marker methods for statistical analysis are underpowered for typical sequencing study sample sizes. Multimarker burden-type approaches attempt to identify aggregation of RVs across case-control status by analyzing relatively small partitions of the genome, such as genes. However, it is generally the case that the aggregative measure would be a mixture of causal and neutral variants, and these omnibus tests do not directly provide any indication of which RVs may be driving a given association. Recently, Bayesian variable selection approaches have been proposed to identify RV associations from a large set of RVs under consideration. Although these approaches have been shown to be powerful at detecting associations at the RV level, there are often computational limitations on the total quantity of RVs under consideration and compromises are necessary for large-scale application. Here, we propose a computationally efficient alternative formulation of this method using a probit regression approach specifically capable of simultaneously analyzing hundreds to thousands of RVs. We evaluate our approach to detect causal variation on simulated data and examine sensitivity and specificity in instances of high RV dimensionality as well as apply it to pathway-level RV analysis results from a prostate cancer (PC) risk case-control sequencing study. Finally, we discuss potential extensions and future directions of this work

Bacterial and Archaea Community Present in the Pine Barrens Forest of Long Island, NY: Unusually High Percentage of Ammonia Oxidizing Bacteria

Of the few preserved areas in the northeast of United States, the soil in the Pine Barrens Forests presents a harsh environment for the microorganisms to grow and survive. In the current study we report the use of clustering methods to scientifically select the sampling locations that would represent the entire forest and also report the microbial diversity present in various horizons of the soil. Sixty six sampling locations were selected across the forest and soils were collected from three horizons (sampling depths). The three horizons were 0–10 cm (Horizon O); 11–25 cm (Horizon A) and 26–40 cm (Horizon B). Based on the total microbial substrate utilization pattern and K-means clustering analysis, the soil in the Pine Barrens Forest can be classified into four distinct clusters at each of the three horizons. One soil sample from each of the four clusters were selected and archaeal and bacterial populations within the soil studied using pyrosequencing method. The results show the microbial communities present in each of these clusters are different. Within the microbial communities present, microorganisms involved in nitrogen cycle occupy a major fraction of microbial community in the soil. High level of diversity was observed for nitrogen fixing bacteria. In contrast, Nitrosovibrio and Nitrosocaldus spp are the single bacterial and archaeal population respectively carrying out ammonia oxidation in the soil