Effective process for lipid reduction using high speed centrifugation compared with ultracentrifugation

Introduction: Reducing laboratory errors and improving patient safety is receiving a lot of attention. Lipaemic samples are cause of analytical errors and present challenges for laboratories, particularly for those without ultracentrifuges. Lipaemia can originate from physiological (postprandial metabo-lism), para-physiological causes (e.g. IV administration of lipids) as well as metabolic disturbances (e.g. hypertriglyceridaemia). Materials and methods: We have evaluated a procedure with 10 native lipaemic sample pools (triglyceride concentration range 11.6-42.7 mmol/L) for the ability to reduce lipid concentration using a high speed micro-centrifuge (double centrifuged at 21.885 x g for 15 min) compared with an ultracen-trifuge, and provide accurate results. Results of sodium, creatinine, urate, total protein, lactate dehydrogenase (LD), magnesium and, cholesterol and triglyceride analysis on a Beckman DxC800 analyser are presented. Results: Data from our tertiary level hospital showed ~0.7% of the samples received for lipid studies have triglyceride levels > 10 mmol/L which can potentially cause analytical interference. The mean differences from the neat aliquot to the ultracentrifuged and high speed centrifuged sample pools were: cholesterol 4.9 mmol/L and 3.1 mmol/L; and triglycerides 17.4 mmol/L and 15.0 mmol/L respectively. The data confirms high speed centrifugation is almost as effective as ultracentrifugation in lipid reduction. Conclusion: The procedure utilized in this study using a high speed micro-centrifuge showed it is effective in reducing lipid levels and provides a suitable alternative to ultracentrifuged samples to pro-vide accurate results

Quiet Clean Short-haul Experimental Engine (QCSEE). Double-annular clean combustor technology development report

A sector combustor technology development program was conducted to define an advanced double annular dome combustor sized for use in the quiet clean short haul experimental engine (QCSEE). A design which meets the emission goals, and combustor performance goals of the QCSEE engine program was developed. Key design features were identified which resulted in substantial reduction in carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbon emission levels at ground idle operating conditions, in addition to very low nitric oxide emission levels at high power operating conditions. Their significant results are reported

Procalcitonin in systemic and localized bacterial infection

Introduction: Procalcitonin (PCT) has been proposed as a marker of infection in critically ill patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate and compare the possible discriminative use of PCT together with other standard inflammatory parameters, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), platelets (PLT), white blood cell count (WBC) and immature granulocytes (IG) in differentiating systemic and localized bacterial infection in critically ill patients. Materials and methods: According to clinical sings and microbiologic findings, 25 patients were divided into two groups: group A - patients with systemic bacterial infection and group B - patients with localized bacterial infection. Concentration of PCT and CRP; PLT, WBC and IG count were determined in all patients. Results: The median concentration of PCT was 1.3 (range: 0.1-7.4) μg/L in group A and 0.2 (range: 0.1-9.1) μg/L in group B with differences between groups being statistically significant (P = 0.038). A significantly higher median PLT count (P = 0.012) was found in group B (327, range: 91-647 x 109/L) as compared to group A (140, range: 40-325 x 109/L). In contrast, there were no statistically significant differences in median values of CRP, WBC and IG between groups (P = 0.071; 0.189 and 0.239, respectively). According to ROC (receiver operating characteristic) analysis, the obtained cut-off value for PCT as the marker of systemic bacterial infection was 0.3 μg/L (sensitivity 91%, specificity 64%). Conclusion: According to our results, PCT concentrations and PLT counts showed better discrimination than other investigated standard inflammatory parameters for differentiating systemic from localized bacterial infection in critically ill patients

Procalcitonin in systemic and localized bacterial infection

Introduction: Procalcitonin (PCT) has been proposed as a marker of infection in critically ill patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate and compare the possible discriminative use of PCT together with other standard inflammatory parameters, such as C-reactive protein (CRP), platelets (PLT), white blood cell count (WBC) and immature granulocytes (IG) in differentiating systemic and localized bacterial infection in critically ill patients. Materials and methods: According to clinical sings and microbiologic findings, 25 patients were divided into two groups: group A - patients with systemic bacterial infection and group B - patients with localized bacterial infection. Concentration of PCT and CRP; PLT, WBC and IG count were determined in all patients. Results: The median concentration of PCT was 1.3 (range: 0.1-7.4) μg/L in group A and 0.2 (range: 0.1-9.1) μg/L in group B with differences between groups being statistically significant (P = 0.038). A significantly higher median PLT count (P = 0.012) was found in group B (327, range: 91-647 x 109/L) as compared to group A (140, range: 40-325 x 109/L). In contrast, there were no statistically significant differences in median values of CRP, WBC and IG between groups (P = 0.071; 0.189 and 0.239, respectively). According to ROC (receiver operating characteristic) analysis, the obtained cut-off value for PCT as the marker of systemic bacterial infection was 0.3 μg/L (sensitivity 91%, specificity 64%). Conclusion: According to our results, PCT concentrations and PLT counts showed better discrimination than other investigated standard inflammatory parameters for differentiating systemic from localized bacterial infection in critically ill patients

Getting into the Game: The Trickster in American Ethnic Fiction

Trickster novels, especially those by Gerald Vizenor and Maxine Hong Kingston, can be used to destabilize and undermine ethnic stereotypes. As many studies show, the trickster him/herself cannot be stable and thus resists the limitations of definition as the embodiment of ambiguity. Both insider and outsider, s/he plays with the whole concept of sides so as to erase the distinction between them. The trickster plays the game, including the game of language, in order to break and exploit its rules and thus destabilizes linguistic markers. Kingston and Vizenor use their novels to subvert the rules of the linguistic game and free perception from stereotypic rigidity. Perceptions of race and ethnicity are frequently codified in the form of stereotypes with which we are all familiar. Once established, they, of course, prove remarkably difficult to dismantle however false or misleading they might be with regard to the race or ethnicity in question; and thus they continue to exacerbate the social tensions with which we are equally familiar. Ethnic American literature has frequently addressed this issue; in this essay I intend to look at one narrative strategy which is specifically designed to question, challenge, exploit, and even manipulate perception

Time-resolved Microwave Conductivity. Part 2.-Quantum-sized TiO_2 and the Effect of Adsorbates and Light Intensity on Charge-carrier Dynamics

Charge-carrier recombination dynamics after a pulsed laser excitation are investigated by time-resolved microwave conductivity (TRMC) for quantum-sized (Q-) TiO_2 and P25, a bulk-phase TiO_2. Adsorbed scavengers such as HNO_3, HC, HCIO_4, isopropyl alcohol, trans-decalin, tetranitromethane, and methyl viologen dichloride result in different charge-carrier recombination dynamics for Q-TiO_2 and P25. The differences include a current doubling with isopropyl alcohol for which electron injection into Q-TiO_2 is much slower than into P25 and relaxation of the selection rules of an indirect-bandgap semiconductor due to size quantization. However, the faster interfacial charge transfer predicted for Q-TiO_2 due to a 0. 2 eV gain in redox overpotentials is not observed. The effect of light intensity is also investigated. Above a critical injection level, fast recombination channels are opened, which may be a major factor resulting in the dependence of the steady-state photolysis quantum yields on l^(–1/2). The fast recombination channels are opened at lower injection levels for P25 than for Q-TiO_2, and a model incorporating the heterogeneity of surface-hole traps is presented

Physical Education Curriculum for Boys Senior High School, Edwards County Community Unit District #1, Albion, Illinois

No abstract provided by author

Duality Twisted Reductions of Double Field Theory of Type II Strings

We study duality twisted reductions of the Double Field Theory (DFT) of the RR sector of massless Type II theory, with twists belonging to the duality group $Spin^+(10,10)$. We determine the action and the gauge algebra of the resulting theory and determine the conditions for consistency. In doing this, we work with the DFT action constructed by Hohm, Kwak and Zwiebach, which we rewrite in terms of the Mukai pairing: a natural bilinear form on the space of spinors, which is manifestly $Spin(n,n)$ invariant. If the duality twist is introduced via the $Spin^+(10,10)$ element $S$ in the RR sector, then the NS-NS sector should also be deformed via the duality twist $U = \rho(S)$, where $\rho$ is the double covering homomorphism between $Pin(n,n)$ and $O(n,n)$. We show that the set of conditions required for the consistency of the reduction of the NS-NS sector are also crucial for the consistency of the reduction of the RR sector, owing to the fact that the Lie algebras of $Spin(n,n)$ and $SO(n,n)$ are isomorphic. In addition, requirement of gauge invariance imposes an extra constraint on the fluxes that determine the deformations.Comment: chapter 4 revised and expanded, references added, published versio

A survey of teacher feeling in selected areas concerned with evaluation of teacher service to children

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit