Maize Germplasm Conservation in Southern California's Urban Gardens: Introduced Diversity Beyond ex situ and in situ Management.

Contemporary germplasm conservation studies largely focus on ex situ and in situ management of diversity within centers of genetic diversity. Transnational migrants who transport and introduce landraces to new locations may catalyze a third type of conservation that combines both approaches. Resulting populations may support reduced diversity as a result of evolutionary forces such as genetic drift, selection, and gene flow, yet they may also be more diverse as a result of multiple introductions, selective breeding and cross pollination among multiple introduced varietals. In this study, we measured the amount and structure of maize molecular genetic diversity in samples collected from home gardens and community gardens maintained by immigrant farmers in Southern California. We used the same markers to measure the genetic diversity and structure of commercially available maize varieties and compared our data to previously reported genetic diversity statistics of Mesoamerican landraces. Our results reveal that transnational dispersal creates an opportunity for the maintenance of maize genetic diversity beyond its recognized centers of diversity

A systematic review of the cost and cost effectiveness of using standard oral nutritional supplements in the hospital setting

Background & aims: There is limited information about the economic impact of nutritional support despite its known clinical benefits. This systematic review examined the cost and cost effectiveness of using standard (non-disease specific) oral nutritional supplements (ONS) administered in the hospital setting only. Methods: A systematic literature search of multiple databases, data synthesis and analysis were undertaken according to recommended procedures. Results: Nine publications comprising four full text papers, two abstracts and three reports, one of which contained 11 cost analyses of controlled cohort studies, were identified. Most of these were based on retrospective analyses of randomised controlled trials designed to assess clinically relevant outcomes. The sample sizes of patients with surgical, orthopaedic and medical problems and combinations of these varied from 40 to 1.16 million. Of 14 cost analyses comparing ONS with no ONS (or routine care), 12 favoured the ONS group, and among those with quantitative data (12 studies) the mean cost saving was 12.2%. In a meta-analysis of five abdominal surgical studies in the UK, the mean net cost saving was $746 per patient (se$338; P = 0.027). Cost savings were typically associated with significantly improved outcomes, demonstrated through the following meta-analyses: reduced mortality (Risk ratio 0.650, P < 0.05; N = 5 studies), reduced complications (by 35% of the total; P < 0.001, N = 7 studies) and reduced length of hospital stay (by ~2 days, P < 0.05; N = 5 surgical studies) corresponding to ~13.0% reduction in hospital stay. Two studies also found ONS to be cost effective, one by avoiding development of pressure ulcers and releasing hospital beds, and the other by gaining quality adjusted life years. Conclusion: This review suggests that standard ONS in the hospital setting produce a cost saving and are cost effective. The evidence base could be further strengthened by prospective studies in which the primary outcome measures are economic

A systematic review of the cost and cost effectiveness of using standard oral nutritional supplements in community and care home settings

Background & aims: Despite the clinical benefits of using standard (non-disease specific) oral nutritional supplements (ONS) in the community and care homes, there is uncertainty about their economic consequences. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken according to recommended procedures to assess whether ONS can produce cost savings and cost-effective outcomes. Results: 19 publications with and without a hospital component were identified: 9 full text papers, 9 abstracts, and 1 report with retrospective analyses of 6 randomised controlled trials. From these publications a total of 31 cost and 4 cost-effectiveness analyses were identified. Most were retrospective analyses based on clinical data from randomised controlled trials (RCTs). In 9 studies/economic models involving ONS use for 0.05; 5 studies). In RCTs, ONS accounted for less than 5% of the total costs and the investment in the community produced a cost saving in hospital. Meta-analysis indicated that ONS reduced hospitalisation significantly (16.5%; P < 0.001; 9 comparisons) and mortality non-significantly (Relative risk 0.86 (95% CI, 0.61, 1.22); 8 comparisons). Many clinically relevant outcomes favouring ONS were reported: improved quality of life, reduced infections, reduced minor post-operative complications, reduced falls, and functional limitations. Of the cost-effectiveness analyses involving quality adjusted life years or functional limitations, most favoured the ONS group. The care home studies (4 cost analyses; 2 cost-effectiveness analyses) had differing aims, designs and conclusions. Conclusions: Overall, the reviewed studies, mostly based on retrospective cost analyses, indicate that ONS use in the community produce an overall cost advantage or near neutral balance, often in association with clinically relevant outcomes, suggesting cost effectiveness. There is a need for prospective studies designed to examine primary economic outcomes

Technique for producing wind-tunnel heat-transfer models

Inexpensive thin skinned wind tunnel models with thermocouples on certain surface areas were fabricated. Thermocouples were designed for measuring aerodynamic heat transfer in wind tunnels

Extraction of the Electron Self-Energy from Angle Resolved Photoemission Data: Application to Bi2212

The self-energy $\Sigma({\bf k},\omega)$, the fundamental function which describes the effects of many-body interactions on an electron in a solid, is usually difficult to obtain directly from experimental data. In this paper, we show that by making certain reasonable assumptions, the self-energy can be directly determined from angle resolved photoemission data. We demonstrate this method on data for the high temperature superconductor $Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_{8+x}$ (Bi2212) in the normal, superconducting, and pseudogap phases.Comment: expanded version (6 pages), to be published, Phys Rev B (1 Sept 99