Characterizing neuromorphologic alterations with additive shape functionals

The complexity of a neuronal cell shape is known to be related to its function. Specifically, among other indicators, a decreased complexity in the dendritic trees of cortical pyramidal neurons has been associated with mental retardation. In this paper we develop a procedure to address the characterization of morphological changes induced in cultured neurons by over-expressing a gene involved in mental retardation. Measures associated with the multiscale connectivity, an additive image functional, are found to give a reasonable separation criterion between two categories of cells. One category consists of a control group and two transfected groups of neurons, and the other, a class of cat ganglionary cells. The reported framework also identified a trend towards lower complexity in one of the transfected groups. Such results establish the suggested measures as an effective descriptors of cell shape

Food, Fuel, and Freeways: An Iowa perspective on how far food travels, fuel usage, and greenhouse gas emissions

Most consumers do not understand today’s highly complex global food system. Much of the food production and processing occurs far away from where they live and buy groceries. External environmental and community costs related to the production, processing, storage, and transportation of the food are seldom accounted for in the food’s price, nor are consumers made aware of these external costs. Examples of external environmental costs are the increased amount of fossil fuel used to transport food long distances, and the increase in greenhouse gas emissions resulting from the burning of these fuels

Effects of perioperative intravenous omega-3 fatty acids in colon cancer patients:a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Background: The postoperative inflammatory response contributes to tissue healing and recovery but overwhelming inflammation is associated with postoperative complications. n-3 (ω-3) PUFAs modulate inflammatory responses and may help to prevent a proinflammatory cascade. Objectives: We aimed to investigate the effects of perioperative intravenous n-3 PUFAs on inflammatory cytokines in colon cancer surgery. Methods: This study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Forty-four patients undergoing elective colon resection for nonmetastasized cancer were randomly assigned to 2 intravenous n-3 PUFA or saline control infusions the night before and the morning after surgery. Blood was sampled at 6 perioperative time points for changes in cytokines in serum and in LPS-stimulated whole blood samples and leukocyte membrane fatty acid profiles. Results: Twenty-three patients received saline and 21 patients received n-3 PUFAs. Patient and operation characteristics were equal between groups, except for open resection (saline n = 5 compared with n-3 PUFA n = 0, P = 0.056). Ex-vivo IL-6 after LPS stimulation was significantly higher in the n-3 PUFA group at the first day after surgery (P = 0.014), but not different at the second day after surgery (P = 0.467). White blood cell count was higher in the n-3 PUFA group at the fourth day after surgery (P = 0.029). There were more patients with infectious complications in the n-3 PUFA group (8 compared with 3, P = 0.036). There were no overall differences in serum IL-6, IL-10, C-reactive protein, and length of stay. The administration of n-3 PUFAs resulted in rapid increases in leukocyte membrane n-3 PUFA content. Conclusions: In the n-3 PUFA group a clear relation with serum and LPS-stimulated cytokines was not found but, unexpectedly, more infectious complications occurred. Caution is thus required with the off-label use of a perioperative intravenous n-3 PUFA emulsion as a standalone infusion in the time sequence reported in the present study in colon resections with primary anastomosis. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT02231203

A Biodistribution and Toxicity Study of Cobalt Dichloride–NAcetyl Cysteine (C4) as an Implantable MRI Marker for Prostate Cancer Treatment

Purpose—C4, a cobalt dichloride–N-acetyl cysteine complex, is being developed as a positivesignal magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) marker to localize implanted radioactive seeds in prostate brachytherapy. We evaluated the toxicity and biodistribution of C4 in rats with the goal of simulating systemic effects of potential leakage from C4 MRI markers within the prostate. Methods—9 μl doses (equivalent to leakage from 120 markers in a human) of control (0.9% sodium chloride), 1% (proposed for clinical use) and 10% C4 solution were injected into the prostates of male Sprague-Dawley rats via laparotomy. Organ toxicity and cobalt disposition in plasma, tissues, feces and urine were evaluated. Results—No C4-related morbidity or mortality was observed in the biodistribution arm (60 rats). Biodistribution was measurable following 10% C4 injection: cobalt was cleared rapidly from periprostatic tissue; mean concentrations in prostate were 163 μg/g and 268 μg/g at 5 and 30 minutes but were undetectable by 60 minutes. Expected dual renal-hepatic elimination was observed with % injected dose recovered in tissues of 39.0 ±5.6% (liver) \u3e 11.8 ±6.5% (prostate) \u3e 5.3 ±0.9% (kidney) with low plasma concentrations detected up to 1 hr (1.40 μg/ml at 5–60 minutes). Excretion in urine was 13.1 ±4.6 % with 3.1 ±0.54 % recovered in feces by 24 hours. In the toxicity arm, three animals died in the control group and 1 each in the 1% and 10% groups from surgical or anesthesia-related complications; all others survived to scheduled termination at 14 days. No C4-related adverse clinical signs or organ toxicity was observed. Conclusion—C4-related toxicity was not observed at exposures at least 10-fold that proposed for human use. This data demonstrating lack of systemic toxicity with dual routes of elimination in the event of in-situ rupture suggests C4 warrants further investigation as an MRI marker for prostate brachytherapy

Sustainable Land Use: Methodology and Application

The chapters in this volume are edited versions of papers presented at the NATO Ad- vanced Research Workshop on Environmental Change Adaptation and Security held in Budapest, Hungary, from October 16 - 18, 1997. As is evident in this volume, the papers ranged from descriptions of environmental and health issues in Russia and Eastern Europe to models of sustainable land use. This diversity of perspectives on environ- ment and security is indicative of both the breadth of this new area of research as well as the varied background of the researchers involved. The discussions at the NATO workshop were remarkably animated and exciting, not surprising given the interest in the topic. I think this vitality is reflected in the papers in this volume as well. The main purpose of the NATO ARW is to foster research links among researchers from NATO countries and Central and Eastern European States, Russia, and the Newly Independent States. In editing this volume, a decision was made to keep to the spirit of this purpose and-if at all possible-include all papers prepared for the workshop. This required extensive editing and rewriting of some of the papers (and consequent delays in production). A determination was made early in the process by the workshop steering committee that the value of publishing the entire collection of articles out- weighed the advantages of accepting only a limited number

Hydrogeologic settings of A/M Area: Framework for groundwater transport. Book 2, Hydrogeological Plates

This document provides hydrogeologic plates providing the hydrogeologic setting of the A/M Area for the Groundwater Transport Framework Study

Hydrogeologic settings of A/M Area: Framework for groundwater transport: Book 6, Appendix B, Time/concentration graphs A/M Area monitoring wells

This document presents the time/concentration graphs for the Savannah River A/M monitoring wells. This Appendix B is part of the determination of the hydrogeologic setting of the A/M Area as a part of ground water transport studies

Influence of gender on the performance of urine dipstick and automated urinalysis in the diagnosis of urinary tract infections at the emergency department

BACKGROUND: Urinary tract infections (UTIs) are frequently encountered at the Emergency Department (ED). Given the anatomical differences between men and women, we aimed to clarify differences in the diagnostic performance of urinary parameters at the ED. METHODS: A cohort study of adults presenting at the ED with fever and/or clinical suspected UTI. Performance of urine dipstick (UD) and automated urinalysis (UF-1000i) were analysed for the total study population and men and women separately. We focused on 1) UTI diagnosis and 2) positive urine culture (UC, ≥105 CFU/ml) as outcome. RESULTS: In 360 of 917 cases (39.3%) UTI was established (men/women 35.1%/43.6%). Diagnostic accuracy of UD was around 10% lower in women compared to men. Median automated leucocyte and bacterial count were higher in women compared to men. Diagnostic performance by receiver operating analysis was 0.851 for leucocytes (men/women 0.879/0.817) and 0.850 for bacteria (men/women 0.898/0.791). At 90% sensitivity, cut-off values of leucocyte count (men 60/µL, women 43/µL), and bacterial count (men 75/µL, women 139/µL) showed performance differences in favour of men. In both men and women, diagnostic performance using specified cut-off values was not different between normal and non-normal bladder evacuation. UC was positive in 327 cases (men/women 149/178), as with UTI diagnosis, diagnostic values in men outperformed women. CONCLUSIONS: Overall diagnostic accuracy of urinary parameters for diagnosing UTI is higher in men. The described differences in cut-off values for leukocyte and bacterial counts for diagnosing UTI necessitates gender-specific cut-off values, probably reflecting the influence of anatomical and urogenital differences