Ezetimibe therapy: mechanism of action and clinical update.

The lowering of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) is the primary target of therapy in the primary and secondary prevention of cardiovascular events. Although statin therapy is the mainstay for LDL-C lowering, a significant percentage of patients prescribed these agents either do not achieve targets with statin therapy alone or have partial or complete intolerance to them. For such patients, the use of adjuvant therapy capable of providing incremental LDL-C reduction is advised. One such agent is ezetimibe, a cholesterol absorption inhibitor that targets uptake at the jejunal enterocyte brush border. Its primary target of action is the cholesterol transport protein Nieman Pick C1 like 1 protein. Ezetimibe is an effective LDL-C lowering agent and is safe and well tolerated. In response to significant controversy surrounding the use and therapeutic effectiveness of this drug, we provide an update on the biochemical mechanism of action for ezetimibe, its safety and efficacy, as well as the results of recent randomized studies that support its use in a variety of clinical scenarios

Academic Library Leadership: Race and Gender

Nearly 80% of American librarians are women. Similarly, the majority of American librarians are White; people of color – e.g., African Americans, Asian Americans, and Latino Americans – represent a small percentage of the U.S. library work-force. Throughout history, library leadership positions, regardless of the type of library (e.g., academic, public, or special), have been held by White males.  This library leadership landscape was significantly altered following the enactment of a number of progressive laws and affirmative action programs, starting with the passage of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The problem, however, is that not every underrepresented group benefits from these laws and programs (hereafter policies). In fact, based on the present study, it appears that these policies have done little to help increase the number of people of color who are library directors in some of America’s largest and most prestigious academic libraries

On-line planning and scheduling: an application to controlling modular printers

We present a case study of artificial intelligence techniques applied to the control of production printing equipment. Like many other real-world applications, this complex domain requires high-speed autonomous decision-making and robust continual operation. To our knowledge, this work represents the first successful industrial application of embedded domain-independent temporal planning. Our system handles execution failures and multi-objective preferences. At its heart is an on-line algorithm that combines techniques from state-space planning and partial-order scheduling. We suggest that this general architecture may prove useful in other applications as more intelligent systems operate in continual, on-line settings. Our system has been used to drive several commercial prototypes and has enabled a new product architecture for our industrial partner. When compared with state-of-the-art off-line planners, our system is hundreds of times faster and often finds better plans. Our experience demonstrates that domain-independent AI planning based on heuristic search can flexibly handle time, resources, replanning, and multiple objectives in a high-speed practical application without requiring hand-coded control knowledge

Performance Analysis for NOMA Relaying System in Next-Generation Networks with RF Energy Harvesting

In this chapter, we investigate the performance of the non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) relaying network with radio-frequency (RF) power transfer. Specifically, this considered system consists of one RF power supply station, one source, one energy-constrained relay, and multiple energy-constrained NOMA users. The better user and relay can help the source to forward the message to worse user by using the energy harvested from the power station. The triple-phase harvest-transmit-forward transmission protocol is proposed for this considered system. The exact closed-form expressions of outage probability and throughput for each link and whole system are derived by using the statistical characteristics of signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) of transmission links. In order to understand more detail about the behavior of this considered system, the numerical results are provided according to the system key parameters, such as the transmit power, number of users, time switching ratio, and power allocation coefficients. The simulation results are also provided to confirm the correctness of our analysis

Nonlinear Dynamic Analysis of Cracked Beam on Elastic Foundation Subjected to Moving Mass

This paper presents a finite element algorithm for nonlinear dynamic analysis of cracked beams on an elastic foundation subjected to moving mass. Quantity surveying with parameters of varied cracks, foundation and loads shows their influence levels on the nonlinear dynamic response of the beams. The findings of the paper are the basis for the analysis, evaluation, and diagnosis of damages of beam structures on the elastic foundation subjected to moving loads, in which the common defects of the beams such as cracks are considered in order to improve the system's operational efficiency in a wide range of engineering applications

Observation of Chiral character deep in the topological insulating regime in Bi1−x_{1-x}Sbx_x

Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$ is a topological insulator (TI) for $x \approx 0.03$--$0.20$. Close to the Topological phase transition at $x = 0.03$, a magnetic field induced Weyl semi-metal (WSM) state is stabilized due to the splitting of the Dirac cone into two Weyl cones of opposite chirality. A signature of the Weyl state is the observation of a Chiral anomaly [negative longitudnal magnetoresistance (LMR)] and a violation of the Ohm's law (non-linear $I-V$). We report the unexpected discovery of a Chiral anomaly in the whole range ($x = 0.032, 0.072, 0.16$) of the TI state. This points to a field induced WSM state in an extended $x$ range and not just near the topological transition at $x = 0.03$. Surprisingly, the strongest Weyl phase is found at $x = 0.16$ with a non-saturating negative LMR much larger than observed for $x = 0.03$. The negative LMR vanishes rapidly with increasing angle between $B$ and $I$. Additionally, non-linear $I$--$V$ is found for $x = 0.16$ indicating a violation of Ohm's law. This unexpected observation of a strong Weyl state in the whole TI regime in Bi$_{1-x}$Sb$_x$ points to a gap in our understanding of the detailed electronic structure evolution in this alloy system.Comment: 5 Pages, 4 figure

Utility of 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association Cholesterol Guidelines in HIV-Infected Adults With Carotid Atherosclerosis.

BackgroundAlthough HIV is associated with increased atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk, it is unknown whether guidelines can identify HIV-infected adults who may benefit from statins. We compared the 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association and 2004 Adult Treatment Panel III recommendations in HIV-infected adults and evaluated associations with carotid artery intima-media thickness and plaque.Methods and resultsCarotid artery intima-media thickness was measured at baseline and 3 years later in 352 HIV-infected adults without clinical atherosclerotic CVD and not on statins. Plaque was defined as IMT >1.5 mm in any segment. At baseline, the median age was 43 (interquartile range, 39-49), 85% were men, 74% were on antiretroviral medication, and 50% had plaque. The American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines were more likely to recommend statins compared with the Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines, both overall (26% versus 14%; P<0.001), in those with plaque (32% versus 17%; P=0.0002), and in those without plaque (16% versus 7%; P=0.025). In multivariable analysis, older age, higher low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, pack per year of smoking, and history of opportunistic infection were associated with baseline plaque. Baseline IMT (hazard ratio, 1.18 per 10% increment; 95% confidence interval, 1.05-1.33; P=0.005) and plaque (hazard ratio, 2.06; 95% confidence interval, 1.02-4.08; P=0.037) were each associated with all-cause mortality, independent of traditional CVD risk factors.ConclusionsAlthough the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association guidelines recommended statins to a greater number of HIV-infected adults compared with the Adult Treatment Panel III guidelines, both failed to recommend therapy in the majority of HIV-affected adults with carotid plaque. Baseline carotid atherosclerosis but not atherosclerotic CVD risk scores was an independent predictor of mortality. HIV-specific guidelines that include detection of subclinical atherosclerosis may help to identify HIV-infected adults who are at increased atherosclerotic CVD risk and may be considered for statins

The low-energy electron point source microscope as a tool for transport measurements of free-standing nanometer scale objects: application to carbon nanotubes

We have developed a simple and reliable technique for two-terminal transport measurements of free-standing wire-like objects. The method is based on the low-energy electron point source microscope. The field emission tip of the microscope is used as a movable electrode to make a well-defined local electrical contact on a controlled place of a nanometer-size object. This allows transport measurements of the object to be conducted. The technique was applied to carbon nanotube ropes.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures; submitted to J. Vac. Sci. Tech.

Single Z' production at CLIC based on e^- gamma collisions

We analyze the potential of CLIC based on e- gamma collisions to search for new $Z'$ gauge boson. Single Z' production at e-gamma colliders in two SU(3)_C X SU(3)_L X U(1)_N models: the minimal model and the model with right-handed (RH) neutrinos is studied in detail. Results show that new Z' gauge bosons can be observed at the CLIC, and the cross sections in the model with RH neutrinos are bigger than those in the minimal one.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figures, To appear in JET