Increased Adenine Nucleotide Degradation in Skeletal Muscle Atrophy

Adenine nucleotides (AdNs: ATP, ADP, AMP) are essential biological compounds that facilitate many necessary cellular processes by providing chemical energy, mediating intracellular signaling, and regulating protein metabolism and solubilization. A dramatic reduction in total AdNs is observed in atrophic skeletal muscle across numerous disease states and conditions, such as cancer, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, heart failure, COPD, sepsis, muscular dystrophy, denervation, disuse, and sarcopenia. The reduced AdNs in atrophic skeletal muscle are accompanied by increased expression/activities of AdN degrading enzymes and the accumulation of degradation products (IMP, hypoxanthine, xanthine, uric acid), suggesting that the lower AdN content is largely the result of increased nucleotide degradation. Furthermore, this characteristic decrease of AdNs suggests that increased nucleotide degradation contributes to the general pathophysiology of skeletal muscle atrophy. In view of the numerous energetic, and non-energetic, roles of AdNs in skeletal muscle, investigations into the physiological consequences of AdN degradation may provide valuable insight into the mechanisms of muscle atrophy

The combinatorics of open covers (II)

We continue to investigate various diagonalization properties for sequences of open covers of separable metrizable spaces introduced in Part I. These properties generalize classical ones of Rothberger, Menger, Hurewicz, and Gerlits-Nagy. In particular, we show that most of the properties introduced in Part I are indeed distinct. We characterize two of the new properties by showing that they are equivalent to saying all finite powers have one of the classical properties above (Hurewicz property in one case and in the Menger property in other). We consider for each property the smallest cardinality of metric space which fails to have that property. In each case this cardinal turns out to equal another well-known cardinal less than the continuum. We also disprove (in ZFC) a conjecture of Hurewicz which is analogous to the Borel conjecture. Finally, we answer several questions from Part I concerning partition properties of covers

Farm-Level Impacts of Banning Growth- Promoting Antibiotic Use in U.S. Pig Grower/Finisher Operations

Antibiotics have been used by pig producers for several decades, and are now used routinely. This study documents the current productivity and economic impacts of the use of antibiotics for growth promotion (AGP) by pig grower/finishers at the farm level. We evaluate the impacts of an AGP ban, and use of AGP by all pig grower/finishers for 61S90 days (a more production-efficient level), using data from the National Animal Health Monitoring System Swine 2000 Survey. Findings indicate that pig productivity improves with AGP. Relative to current use, an AGP ban would decrease producer profits by $1,400 per 1,020-head barn, and profits would increase by$1,992 for each grower/finisher barn when AGP is fed for 61 to 90 days. There is increasing concern about the use of antibiotics in animal production, partly because of the selection for antibiotic resistance. Thus, a careful examination of the value of AGP in pork production is warranted.antibiotics, antimicrobial resistance, growth promotion, pigs, production, Agricultural and Food Policy, Health Economics and Policy, Livestock Production/Industries,

PRODUCER INCENTIVES FOR ANTIBIOTIC USE IN U.S. PORK PRODUCTION

Antibiotics have been used in animal production for several decades. Antibiotics are used routinely now in pork production (NAHMS 2002). There is increasing concern about the use of antibiotics in animal production. There is no hard evidence supporting the link of antibiotic use in animals to observations of antibiotic resistance infections in people. Nonetheless a careful examination of the value of continued antibiotic use in agricultural, and in pork production in particular is warranted. Therefore, the objective of our study is to validate the productivity and economic impacts of antibiotic use for pig producers at the farm level. We use data from the NAHMS 2000 swine survey. We estimate the combined affects from antibiotics used for growth promotion (AGP) and antibiotics used for disease prevention (ADP) on 4 productivity measures. We also estimate the economic impact of AGP and ADP for individual pig producers. We estimate these 4 productivity measures using seemingly unrelated regression analysis. We evaluate 4 scenarios which ban antibiotic use, and use a simple synthetic firm partial budget to estimate the economic consequences of these scenarios. We find that pig productivity is improved with AGP, but decreased with ADP. A total ban on AGP would cost pig producers $1,271 in lost profits per 1,020 head pig barn. A total ban on ADP however, would result in pig producers improving profits slightly. This occurs because productivity is negatively influenced by ADP. A ban of both AGP and ADP results in a small loss of producer profits ($376/1,020 head barn) because of the offsetting effects of ADP compared to AGP. Producers have higher profits when AGP and ADP are applied at levels where pig productivity is maximized. In this case, producers gain $4,146 for each 1,020 head barn compared to no antibiotic use.Livestock Production/Industries,

Discrete Predictive Analysis in Probabilistic Safety Assessment

This paper presents methods for predicting future numbers of component failures for probabilistic safety assessments (PSAs). The research is motivated and illustrated by discrete failure data from the nuclear industry, including failure counts for emergency diesel generators, pumps, and motor operated valves. Failure counts are modeled with Poisson and binomial distributions. Multiple-failure environments create extra problems for predictive inference, and are a primary focus of this paper. Common cause failures (CCFs), in particular, refer to the simultaneous failure of system components due to an external event. CCF prediction is investigated, and approximate inference methods are derived for various CCF models

"Employee knowledge of a managed pharmacy benefit in a large corporation"

Michael J. Miller is Assistant Professor of Social and Administrative Sciences in Pharmacy (Pharmacy Practice) in the College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. He can be contacted at [email protected] about prescription drug benefits is necessary for consumers to choose appropriate health benefits plans in a consumer-directed health plan market. The objective of this study was to describe employees' knowledge of their prescription drug benefits. A one-group, cross-sectional survey of full-time university employees with a tiered pharmacy benefit was performed. Correct responses to knowledge questions were described individually and as an aggregate index score. Respondent understanding of pharmacy benefits was low to moderate. Specifically, knowledge of pharmacy benefits was most limited with respect to formulary management, cost sharing, and financial implications of out-of-network use and the selection of a branded or generic medication. Future research should refine methods for assessing knowledge of pharmacy benefits, explore knowledge of pharmacy benefits in diverse samples, and assess the consequences associated with variations in knowledge of prescription drug benefits.Copyright 2005 by Medicom International. All rights reserved

Mid-Cretaceous thrusting in the southern Coast Belt, British Columbia and Washington, after strike-slip fault reconstruction

A major thrust system of mid-Cretaceous age is present along much of the Coast Belt of northwestern North America. Thrusting was concurrent, and spatially coincided, with emplacement of a great volume of are intrusives and minor local strike-slip faulting. In the southern Coast Belt (52 degrees to 47 degrees N), thrusting was followed by major dextral-slip faulting, which resulted in significant translational shuffling of the thrust system. In this paper, we restore the displacements on major dextral-slip faults of the southern Coast Belt and then analyze the mid-Cretaceous thrust system. Two reconstructions were made that use dextral faulting on the Yalakom fault (115 km), Castle Pass and Ross Lake faults (10 km), and Fraser fault (100 km). The reconstructions differ in the amount of dextral offset on the Straight Creek fault (160 and 100 km) and how much the NE part of the Cascades crystalline core expanded (30 km and 0 km) during Eocene extension. Reconstruction A produces the best match of lithotectonic units and thrust systems. Our synthesis shows that the southern Coast Belt thrust system was greater than or equal to 250 - 180 km wide after thrusting. The thrust system was mainly southwest vergent but had a belt of northeast vergent back thrusts on the northeast side associated with the Tyaughton-Methow basin, which may indicate large-scale tectonic wedging. Thrust faults are commonly low to moderate angle, but high angle faults also occur, especially as late stage, out-of-sequence, structures involving plutons. The amount of thrust displacement across the system is unknown but must be at least 100 km and may be many hundreds of kilometers. Most thrusting occurred from similar to 100 to similar to 80 Ma and did not migrate systematically until after similar to 90 Ma, when thrusting and magmatism shifted to the northeast for a few million years. Widespread thrusting occurred both near plutons and where there are no (or small) plutons, which strongly suggests that thrust faulting was caused by regional- to plate-scale forces such as rapid plate convergence and/or are-continent collision