Comparison of MAGIC and Diatom paleolimnological model hindcasts of lakewater acidification in the Adirondack region of New York

Thirty-three lakes that had been statistically selected as part of the US Environmental Protection Agency's Eastern Lake Survey and Direct Delayed Response Project (DDRP) were used to compare the MAGIC (watershed) and Diatom (paleolimnological) models. The study lakes represented a well-defined group of Adirondack lakes, each larger than 4 ha in area and having acid-neutralizing capacity (ANC) <400 {mu}eq L{sup {minus}1}. The study first compared current and pre-industrial (before 1850) pH and ANC estimates from Diatom and MAGIC as they were calibrated in the preceding Paleocological Investigation of Recent Lake Acidification (PIRLA) and DDRP studies, respectively. Initially, the comparison of hindcasts of pre-industrial chemistry was confounded by seasonal and methodological differences in lake chemistry data used in calibration of the model. Although certain differences proved to be of little significance for comparison, MAGIC did predict significantly higher pre-industrial ANC and pH values than did Diatom, using calibrations in the preceding studies. Both models suggest acidification of low ANC Adirondack region lakes since preindustrial times, but differ primarily in that MAGIC inferred greater acidification and that acidification has occurred in all lakes in the comparison, whereas Diatom inferred that acidification has been restricted to low ANC lakes (<about 50 {mu}eq L{sup {minus}1}). 133 refs., 30 figs., 16 tabs

Effect of blood glucose level on standardized uptake value (SUV) in F-18- FDG PET-scan : a systematic review and meta-analysis of 20,807 individual SUV measurements

Objectives To evaluate the effect of pre-scan blood glucose levels (BGL) on standardized uptake value (SUV) in F-18-FDG-PET scan. Methods A literature review was performed in the MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane library databases. Multivariate regression analysis was performed on individual datum to investigate the correlation of BGL with SUVmax and SUVmean adjusting for sex, age, body mass index (BMI), diabetes mellitus diagnosis, F-18-FDG injected dose, and time interval. The ANOVA test was done to evaluate differences in SUVmax or SUVmean among five different BGL groups (200 mg/dl). Results Individual data for a total of 20,807 SUVmax and SUVmean measurements from 29 studies with 8380 patients was included in the analysis. Increased BGL is significantly correlated with decreased SUVmax and SUVmean in brain (p <0.001, p <0.001,) and muscle (p <0.001, p <0.001) and increased SUVmax and SUVmean in liver (p = 0.001, p = 0004) and blood pool (p=0.008, p200 mg/dl had significantly lower SUVmax. Conclusion If BGL is lower than 200mg/dl no interventions are needed for lowering BGL, unless the liver is the organ of interest. Future studies are needed to evaluate sensitivity and specificity of FDG-PET scan in diagnosis of malignant lesions in hyperglycemia.Peer reviewe

Immunolocalization of steroidogenic enzymes in the vaginal mucous of Galea spixii during the estrous cycle

Abstract\ud \ud Background\ud The synthesis of sex steroids is controlled by several enzymes such as17α-hydroxylase cytochrome P450 (P450c17) catalyzing androgen synthesis and aromatase cytochrome P450 (P450arom) catalyzing estrogen synthesis, both of which must complex with the redox partner NADPH-cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (CPR) for activity. Previous studies have identified expression of steroidogenic enzymes in vaginal tissue, suggesting local sex steroid synthesis. The current studies investigate P450c17, P450aromatase and CPR expression in vaginal mucosa of Galea spixii (Spix cavy) by immuno-histochemical and western immunoblot analyses.\ud \ud \ud Methods\ud Stages of estrous cyclicity were monitored by vaginal exfoliative cytology. After euthanasia, vaginal tissues were retrieved, fixed and frozen at diestrus, proestrus, estrus and metestrus. The ovaries and testis were used as positive control tissues for immunohistochemistry.\ud \ud \ud Results\ud Data from cytological study allowed identification of different estrous cycle phases. Immunohistochemical analysis showed different sites of expression of steroidogenic enzymes along with tissue response throughout different phases of the estrous cycle. However, further studies are needed to characterize the derived hormones synthesized by, and the enzymes activities associated with, vaginal tissues.\ud \ud \ud Conclusion\ud Current results not only support the expression of enzymes involved in sex steroid synthesis in the wall of the vagina, they also indicate that expression changes with the stage of the cycle, both the levels and types of cells exhibiting expression. Thus, changes in proliferation of vaginal epithelial cells and the differentiation of the mucosa may be influenced by local steroid synthesis as well as circulating androgens and estrogens.This work was supported by grants from São Paulo Research Foundation/\ud FAPESP, Sao Paulo, Brazil (Process Number: 2011/03655-2) and the National\ud Council of Scientific Researches/CNPq (Process Number: 402220/2010-2)