West Nile Virus Detection in American Crows

A dipstick immunochromatographic assay used for West Nile virus (WNV) detection in mosquitoes was investigated for application to testing of fecal, saliva, and tissue samples from dead American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos). Results suggest that VecTest may be an efficient method for WNV detection in field-collected, dead American Crows, although confirmation of results and further investigation are warranted

Duplex Ultrasonography to Predict Internal Carotid Artery Stenoses Exceeding 50% and 70% as Defined by NASCET: The Need for Multiple Criteria

Carotid duplex scanning is being used more frequently as the sole preoperative diagnostic imaging modality for patients considered candidates for carotid endarterectomy. The North American Symptomatic Carotid Endarterectomy Trial (NASCET) has demonstrated the benefit of surgical treatment in patients with carotid stenoses exceeding 70%. The purpose of this study was to determine duplex criteria that accurately predict carotid stenoses exceeding 50% and 70% as defined by NASCET arteriographic criteria. One hundred forty-one patients (264 carotid arteries) considered surgical candidates were prospectively studied over a 2-year period by use of both duplex scanning and digital subtraction cerebral arteriography. Carotid artery stenosis was determined by a single radiologist using NASCET arteriographic criteria. Peak systolic velocity (PSV) and enddiastolic velocity (EDV) were measured in the internal carotid (ICA) and common carotid (CCA) arteries by use of duplex scanning. ICA/CCA velocity ratios were calculated for PSV and EDV. Sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and accuracy were calculated. PSVICA/CCA provided the highest sensitivity, and EDVICA the highest specificity in this study. Arteriographic stenoses exceeding 50% and 70% were reliably predicted with use of these duplex criteria. It is concluded that duplex criteria can predict carotid stenoses exceeding 50% and 70% as defined by NASCET arteriographic criteria. These criteria should be independently validated by other vascular laboratories.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68440/2/10.1177_153857449903300508.pd

West Nile Virus Detection in American Crows

A dipstick immunochromatographic assay used for West Nile virus (WNV) detection in mosquitoes was investigated for application to testing of fecal, saliva, and tissue samples from dead American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos). Results suggest that VecTest may be an efficient method for WNV detection in field-collected, dead American Crows, although confirmation of results and further investigation are warranted

Noninvasive evaluation of hand circulation before radial artery harvest for coronary artery bypass grafting

AbstractObjective: Radial artery harvesting for coronary artery bypass may lead to digit ischemia if collateral hand circulation is inadequate. The modified Allen's test is the most common preoperative screening test used. Unfortunately, this test has high false-positive and false-negative rates. The purpose of this study was to compare the results of a modified Allen's test with digit pressure change during radial artery compression for assessing collateral circulation before radial artery harvest. Methods: One hundred twenty-nine consecutive patients were studied before coronary artery bypass operations. A modified Allen's test was performed with Doppler ultrasound to assess blood flow in the superficial palmar arch before and during radial artery compression. A decreased audible Doppler signal after radial artery compression was considered a positive modified Allen's test. First and second digit pressures were measured before and during radial artery compression. A decrease in digit pressure of 40 mm Hg or more (digit ΔP) with radial artery compression was considered positive. Results: Seven of 14 dominant extremities (50%) and 8 of the 16 nondominant extremities (50%) with a positive modified Allen's test had a digit ΔP of less than 40 mm Hg (false positive). Sixteen of 115 dominant extremities (14%) and 5 of 112 nondominant extremities (4%) with a negative Allen's test had a digit ΔP of 40 mm Hg or more with radial artery compression (false negative). Conclusion: Use of the modified Allen's test for screening before radial artery harvest may unnecessarily exclude some patients from use of this conduit and may also place a number of patients at risk for digit ischemia from such harvest. Direct digit pressure measurement is a simple, objective method that may more precisely select patients for radial artery harvest. Additional studies are needed to define objective digital pressure criteria that will accurately predict patients at risk for hand ischemia after radial harvest. (J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 1999;117:261-6

Effect of exercise training on glucose tolerance, in vivo insulin sensitivity, lipid and liproprotein concentrations in middle-aged men with mild hypertriglyceridemia

The effects of 9 weeks of aerobic exercise training with maintenance of stable body weight upon insulin sensitivity and upon glucose, lipid, and lipoprotein concentrations were studied in 10 middle-aged men with mild hypertriglyceridemia. Following training, mean maximum oxygen consumption improved from 33.5 +/- 1.9 to 39.3 +/- 1.9 mL/kg/min ( +/- SEM), (P P P P P P 2. Serum cholesterol levels declined from 211 +/- 8.9 to 193 +/- 11.9 mg/dL (P < 0.01), and the ratio of HDL-cholesterol to total cholesterol was improved. This study demonstrates that exercise training at a level of intensity feasible for many middle-aged men has beneficial effects on several factors that have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25746/1/0000306.pd

THE IDEA OF A DEMOCRATIC CULTURE: THE EVOLUTION OF POPULAR MUSIC FROM 1955 TO 1975

This project seeks an understanding of the contributions of popular culture in contemporary America. Using popular music as an indicator of popular culture, this work examines the tension between the creative and commercial intentions in offering popular songs to a mass audience. In following the process of creation and appreciation of these songs, attention is given both to the artists and the industry which promote popular music and to the audience which supports them. This examination of popular music in the everyday world is conducted with the intent of revealing a democratic model of culture. By offering a model of democratic culture two goals will be attained. First of all by revealing a model of culture that is philosophically grounded, the language and thought of American culture will be liberated from the dominant patterns of the elite model. The elite model that is examined is grounded upon an a priori dualism of high culture--low culture. This dualism, which lies unexamined at the base of the elite model, is reviewed and replaced by a continuum of expression that better reflects the flux and process of cultural and social reality. The democratic model of culture is grounded by a phenomenologically based methodology appropriate to the investigation of social and cultural reality. Drawing upon this methodology, the democratic model proposes a new understanding of the relations between the products of culture and their audience. Operating from a critical philosophical stance the democratic model offers an understanding of the products of mass culture as we relate to them in the everyday world

The Effects Of Physical Training On (carbon-14 Labeled)-acetate Incorporation Into Tissue Lipids.

PhDAnatomy & physiologyAnimalsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/190748/2/7425244.pd

Chemical Ecology of Defense Compounds in Anasa Species (Heteroptera: Coreidae) and Volatile Attractants for Diabrotica Species (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae) (Attractants, Glands, Corn Rootworms, Electron Microscopy, Squash Bug)

178 p.Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1986.Two separate investigations of insect chemical ecology were conducted. The first study elucidated the ultrastructure of the metathoracic scent glands of Anasa tristis and the chemical composition of secretions from the metathoracic glands of A. tristis and A. armigera and the abdominal glands of A. tristis. Lateral glands from A. tristis consist of secretory cells and duct cells, surrounding the central lumen of a gland tubule. The secretory cell possesses an electron dense collecting area and a microvillar network that projects into the cytoplasm. The secretory cell has numerous mitochondria, grouped glycogen deposits, free ribosomes, and tracheoles, suggesting a high metabolic activity. Multivesicular bodies (MVB) were frequently found adjacent to the end-apparatus (microvilli and collecting area) and may function in secretory or autolytic activities. The duct cells surround cuticular-lined ductules and the lumen of the gland tubule. Septate desomosomes and membranous folds are evident at the junctions of duct cells and secretory cells and between duct cells and the lumen of the gland tubule.The chemical composition of reservoir contents from adult A. tristis and A. armigera include acetic acid, hexanal, hexanol, hexyl acetate, and several minor components, some of which have been tentatively identified as hexyl butanoate, octyl or decyl acetate, and a hexanal trimer. Occasionally, some secretions contained only acetic acid or hexanal. Topical application of hexyl acetate to houseflies, Musca domestica, resulted in a prolonged knockdown (greater than twenty minutes). The secretions from the abdominal glands of A. tristis are biphasic; the clear phase is primarily 4-oxo-trans-2-hexenal and the yellow phase, trans-2-hexenal.In the second part of this thesis, field tests showed that Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi, D. virgifera virgifera, and D. barberi are attracted, in a species-specific manner, to structurally related phenyl-compounds. The most effective attractants for D. u. howardi were veratrole and phenylacetaldehyde; for D. v. virgifera, estragole, trans-anethole, and indole; and for D. barberi, eugenol and isoeugenol. To varying degrees, Diabrotica adults exhibit seasonal and sexual variations in their response to these semiochemicals. The attractivity of these compounds may be related to pollen-finding by adult beetles.U of I OnlyRestricted to the U of I community idenfinitely during batch ingest of legacy ETD