Protecting Critical I Infrastructure Along Eroding Streams Using Bioengineering Techhniques and Stream Restoration Methoodolo

2014 S.C. Water Resources Conference - Informing Strategic Water Planning to Address Natural Resource, Community and Economic Challenge

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Using Insights from Psychology and Language to Improve How People Reason with Description Logics

Inspired by insights from theories of human reasoning and language, we propose additions to the Manchester OWL Syntax to improve comprehensibility. These additions cover: functional and inverse functional properties, negated conjunction, the definition of exceptions, and existential and universal restrictions. By means of an empirical study, we demonstrate the effectiveness of a number of these additions, in particular: the use of solely to clarify the uniqueness of the object in a functional property; the replacement of and with intersection in conjunction, which was particularly beneficial in negated conjunction; the use of except as a substitute for and not; and the replacement of some with including and only with noneOrOnly, which helped in certain situations to clarify the nature of these restrictions

An Evaluation of Technology to Remove Problematic Organic Compounds from the International Space Station Potable Water

Since activation of the Water Processor Assembly (WPA) on the International Space Station (ISS) in November of 2008, there have been three events in which the TOC (Total Organic Carbon) in the product water has increased to approximately 3 mg/L and has subsequently recovered. Analysis of the product water in 2010 identified the primary component of the TOC as dimethylsilanediol (DMSD). An investigation into the fate of DMSD in the WPA ultimately determined that replacement of both Multifiltration (MF) Beds is the solution to recovering product water quality. The MF Beds were designed to ensure that ionic breakthrough occurs before organic breakthrough. However, DMSD saturated both MF Beds in the series, requiring removal and replacement of both MF Beds with significant life remaining. Analysis of the MF Beds determined that the adsorbent was not effectively removing DMSD, trimethylsilanol, various polydimethylsiloxanes, or dimethylsulfone. Coupled with the fact that the current adsorbent is now obsolete, the authors evaluated various media to identify a replacement adsorbent as well as media with greater capacity for these problematic organic contaminants. This paper provides the results and recommendations of this collaborative study

Influence of Blood Pressure on the Effectiveness of a Fixed-Dose Combination of Isosorbide Dinitrate and Hydralazine in the African-American Heart Failure Trial

OBJECTIVES: This study sought to assess the effect of baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) and changes in SBP on the effectiveness of treatment with fixed-dose combination of isosorbide dinitrate and hydralazine (FDC I/H) in patients with heart failure (HF). BACKGROUND: Low SBP is a risk factor for adverse outcomes in patients with HF. However, FDC I/H lowered SBP in the A-HeFT (African-American Heart Failure Trial) and yet prolonged survival. Whether blood pressure (BP) lowering is critical to the efficacy of FDC I/H and whether a low BP limits its effectiveness is unclear. METHODS: The effects of FDC I/H on SBP and on mortality and hospitalization were compared in patients with a low or high baseline SBP using multivariable Cox regression models. The interaction between the effect of treatment and baseline SBP was examined. RESULTS: Mean +/- SD baseline SBP in all of the patients was 126 +/- 18 mm Hg. Patients with baseline SBP equal to or below the median (126 mm Hg) had features of more severe HF. Baseline SBP equal to or below the median was an independent risk factor for death (hazard ratio [HR] 2.09; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.02 to 4.29) or first hospitalization for HF (HR 1.66; 95% CI 1.18 to 2.34). The FDC I/H treatment reduced BP in patients with SBP above the median but not in patients with SBP below 126 mm Hg. The FDC I/H treatment was associated with a similar decrease in mortality or hospitalization for HF in patients with SBP below the median and above the median. The effects of FDC I/H on mortality alone were also similar. CONCLUSIONS: In A-HeFT, patients with lower SBP had a greater risk but a similar relative benefit from the use of FDC I/H as those with higher SBP. The FDC I/H treatment did not reduce SBP in patients with low SBP. An asymptomatic low SBP should not be considered a contraindication to use of FDC I/H in patients with HF

The genetic architecture of type 2 diabetes

The genetic architecture of common traits, including the number, frequency, and effect sizes of inherited variants that contribute to individual risk, has been long debated. Genome-wide association studies have identified scores of common variants associated with type 2 diabetes, but in aggregate, these explain only a fraction of heritability. To test the hypothesis that lower-frequency variants explain much of the remainder, the GoT2D and T2D-GENES consortia performed whole genome sequencing in 2,657 Europeans with and without diabetes, and exome sequencing in a total of 12,940 subjects from five ancestral groups. To increase statistical power, we expanded sample size via genotyping and imputation in a further 111,548 subjects. Variants associated with type 2 diabetes after sequencing were overwhelmingly common and most fell within regions previously identified by genome-wide association studies. Comprehensive enumeration of sequence variation is necessary to identify functional alleles that provide important clues to disease pathophysiology, but large-scale sequencing does not support a major role for lower-frequency variants in predisposition to type 2 diabetes

Protocol for a systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis of prognostic factors of foot ulceration in people with diabetes: the international research collaboration for the prediction of diabetic foot ulcerations (PODUS)

Background Diabetes–related lower limb amputations are associated with considerable morbidity and mortality and are usually preceded by foot ulceration. The available systematic reviews of aggregate data are compromised because the primary studies report both adjusted and unadjusted estimates. As adjusted meta-analyses of aggregate data can be challenging, the best way to standardise the analytical approach is to conduct a meta-analysis based on individual patient data (IPD). There are however many challenges and fundamental methodological omissions are common; protocols are rare and the assessment of the risk of bias arising from the conduct of individual studies is frequently not performed, largely because of the absence of widely agreed criteria for assessing the risk of bias in this type of review. In this protocol we propose key methodological approaches to underpin our IPD systematic review of prognostic factors of foot ulceration in diabetes. Review questions; 1. What are the most highly prognostic factors for foot ulceration (i.e. symptoms, signs, diagnostic tests) in people with diabetes? 2. Can the data from each study be adjusted for a consistent set of adjustment factors? 3. Does the model accuracy change when patient populations are stratified according to demographic and/or clinical characteristics? Methods MEDLINE and EMBASE databases from their inception until early 2012 were searched and the corresponding authors of all eligible primary studies invited to contribute their raw data. We developed relevant quality assurance items likely to identify occasions when study validity may have been compromised from several sources. A confidentiality agreement, arrangements for communication and reporting as well as ethical and governance considerations are explained. We have agreement from the corresponding authors of all studies which meet the eligibility criteria and they collectively possess data from more than 17000 patients. We propose, as a provisional analysis plan, to use a multi-level mixed model, using “study” as one of the levels. Such a model can also allow for the within-patient clustering that occurs if a patient contributes data from both feet, although to aid interpretation, we prefer to use patients rather than feet as the unit of analysis. We intend to only attempt this analysis if the results of the investigation of heterogeneity do not rule it out and the model diagnostics are acceptable. Discussion This review is central to the development of a global evidence-based strategy for the risk assessment of the foot in patients with diabetes, ensuring future recommendations are valid and can reliably inform international clinical guidelines

Impact of Optimized Breastfeeding on the Costs of Necrotizing Enterocolitis in Extremely Low Birthweight Infants

To estimate risk of NEC for ELBW infants as a function of preterm formula and maternal milk (MM) intake and calculate the impact of suboptimal feeding on NEC incidence and costs