Effect of rejection on electrophysiologic function of canine intestinal grafts: Correlation with histopathology and na-k-ATPase activity

To investigate whether electrophysiologic changes can detect the early onset and progress of intestinal rejection, changes in in vitro electrophysiologic function, intestinal histopathology, and Na-K-ATPase activity were studied in dogs. Adult mongrel dogs of both sexes, weighing 18-24 kg, were used for auto and allo small bowel transplantation. The entire small bowels, except for short segments at the proximal and distal ends, were snitched between a pair of dogs (allograft). Animals receiving intestinal autotransplantation were used as controls. AIIograji recipients were sacrificed 3, 4, 5, 7, or 9 days after transplantation, and autograft recipients were sacrificed 3, 7, or 14 days afier transplantation. Immunosuppression was not used. Electrophysiologic measurements were done with an Ussing chamber. Histological analysis was performed blindly using whole thickness sections. Na-K-ATPase activity in the mucosal tissue, which is said to regulate the potential difference, was also measured. Potential difference, resistance, and Na-K-ATPase activity of the allografi intestine decreased with time and were significantly lower 7 and 9 days after transplantation compared to host intestine, normul intestine, and graft intestine of controls (autograft). Potential difference, resistance, and Na-K-ATPase activity of the native intestinal tissue and the autografts did not decrease with time. Detection of histologically mild rejection of the intestine, which is important for appropriate immunosup-pressive treatment in clinical cases, could not be achieved based on electrophysiology or Na-K-ATPase activity. Deterioration of electrophysiologic function during rejection correlated with the histological rejection process and Na-K-ATPase activity; however, electrophysiology my not be a reliable tool for monitoring grafrs, since it cannot detect early intestinal rejection. © 1995 Informa UK Ltd All rights reserved: reproduction in whole or part not permitted

The epidemiology of NCAA men’s lacrosse injuries, 2009/10-2014/15 academic years

BACKGROUND: Participation in lacrosse has grown at the collegiate levels. However, little research has examined the epidemiology of collegiate men's lacrosse injuries. This study describes the epidemiology of injuries in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) men's lacrosse during the 2009/10-2014/15 academic years. METHODS: Twenty-five men's lacrosse programs provided 63 team-seasons of data for the NCAA Injury Surveillance Program (NCAA-ISP) during the 2009/10-2014/15 academic years. Injuries occurred from participation in an NCAA-sanctioned practice or competition, and required attention from an AT or physician. Injuries were further classified as time loss (TL) injuries if the injury restricted participation for at least 24 h. Injuries were reported through electronic medical record application used by the team medical staff throughout the academic year. Injury rates per 1000 athlete-exposures (AE), injury rate ratios (RR), 95% confidence intervals (CI), and injury proportions were reported. RESULTS: Overall, 1055 men's lacrosse injuries were reported, leading to an injury rate of 5.29/1000AE; 95%CI: 4.98-5.61. The TL injury rate was 2.74/1000AE (95%CI: 2.51-2.96). The overall injury rate was higher in competition than practice (12.35 vs. 3.90/1000AE; RR = 3.16; 95%CI: 2.79-3.58). Most injuries were to the lower extremity (58.3%), particularly the ankle (14.1%) in competition and the upper leg (14.3%) in practice. Sprains and strains were the most common diagnoses in both competition (26.9 and 23.7%, respectively) and practice (20.2% and 27.4%, respectively). Most injuries in competitions and practices were due to player contact (32.8 and 17.5%, respectively) and non-contact (29.6 and 40.0%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS: Our estimated injury rates are lower than those from previous college men's lacrosse research. This may be due to increased injury awareness, advances in injury prevention exercise programs, or rule changes. Still, injury prevention can aim to continue reducing the incidence and severity of injury, particularly those sustained in competitions and to the lower extremity

Change of Scale and Forecasting with the Control-Function Method in Logit Models

Endogeneity is a model misspecification that precludes the consistent estimation of the model parameters. The control-function method is the most suitable tool to address endogeneity for several discrete choice models that are relevant in transportation research. However, the estimators obtained with the control-function method are consistent only up to a scale. In this paper, we first depict the determinants of this change of scale by adapting an existing result for omitted orthogonal attributes in logit models. Then, we study the problem of forecasting under these circumstances. We show that a procedure proposed in previous literature may lead to significant biases, and we suggest novel alternatives to be used with synthetic populations. We use Monte Carlo experimentation and real data on residential location choice to illustrate these results. The paper finishes by summarizing the findings of this investigation and suggesting future lines of research in this area.MIT-Portugal Progra

Faraday Rotation as a diagnostic of Galactic foreground contamination of CMB maps

The contribution from the residuals of the foreground can have a significant impact on the temperature maps of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB). Mostly, the focus has been on the galactic plane, when foreground cleaning has taken place. However, in this paper, we will investigate the possible foreground contamination, from sources outside the galactic plane in the CMB maps. We will analyze the correlation between the Faraday rotation map and the CMB temperature map. The Faraday rotation map is dependent on the galactic magnetic field, as well as the thermal electron density, and both may contribute to the CMB temperature. We find that the standard deviation for the mean cross correlation deviate from that of simulations at the 99.9% level. Additionally, a comparison between the CMB temperature extrema and the extremum points of the Faraday rotation is also performed, showing a general overlap between the two. Also we find that the CMB Cold Spot is located at an area of strong negative cross correlation, meaning that it may be explained by a galactic origin. Further, we investigate nearby supernova remnants in the galaxy, traced by the galactic radio loops. These super nova remnants are located at high and low galactic latitude, and thus well outside the galactic plane. We find some correlation between the Faraday Rotation and the CMB temperature, at select radio loops. This indicate, that the galactic foregrounds may affect the CMB, at high galactic latitudesComment: 13 pages, 22 figures, 6 table

Esophageal intramural pseudodiverticulosis characterized by barium esophagography: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Esophageal intramural pseudodiverticulosis is a rare condition characterized by the dilatation of the submucosal glands.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present a case of esophageal intramural pseudodiverticulosis in a 72-year-old Caucasian man who presented with dysphagia and with a background history of alcohol abuse. An upper gastrointestinal endoscopy of our patient showed an esophageal stricture with abnormal mucosal appearances, but no malignant cells were seen at biopsy. Appearances on a barium esophagram were pathognomonic for esophageal intramural pseudodiverticulosis.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We demonstrate the enduring usefulness of barium esophagography in the characterization of abnormal mucosal appearances at endoscopy.</p

Liquefaction features produced by the 2010-2011 Canterbury earthquake sequence in southwest Christchurch, New Zealand, and preliminary assessment of Paleoliquefaction features

Liquefaction features and the geologic environment in which they formed were carefully studied at two sites near Lincoln in southwest Christchurch. We undertook geomorphic mapping, excavated trenches, and obtained hand cores in areas with surficial evidence for liquefaction and areas where no surficial evidence for liquefaction was present at two sites (Hardwick and Marchand). The liquefaction features identified include (1) sand blows (singular and aligned along linear fissures), (2) blisters or injections of subhorizontal dikes into the topsoil, (3) dikes related to the blows and blisters, and (4) a collapse structure. The spatial distribution of these surface liquefaction features correlates strongly with the ridges of scroll bars in meander settings. In addition, we discovered paleoliquefaction features, including several dikes and a sand blow, in excavations at the sites of modern liquefaction. The paleoliquefaction event at the Hardwick site is dated at A.D. 908-1336, and the one at the Marchand site is dated at A.D. 1017-1840 (95% confidence intervals of probability density functions obtained by Bayesian analysis). If both events are the same, given proximity of the sites, the time of the event is A.D. 1019-1337. If they are not, the one at the Marchand site could have been much younger. Taking into account a preliminary liquefaction-triggering threshold of equivalent peak ground acceleration for an Mw 7.5 event (PGA7:5) of 0:07g, existing magnitude-bounded relations for paleoliquefaction, and the timing of the paleoearthquakes and the potential PGA7:5 estimated for regional faults, we propose that the Porters Pass fault, Alpine fault, or the subduction zone faults are the most likely sources that could have triggered liquefaction at the study sites. There are other nearby regional faults that may have been the source, but there is no paleoseismic data with which to make the temporal link

K-shell photoionization of ground-state Li-like boron ions [B2+^{2+}]: Experiment and Theory

Absolute cross sections for the K-shell photoionization of ground-state Li-like boron [B$^{2+}$(1s$^2$2s $^2$S)] ions were measured by employing the ion-photon merged-beams technique at the Advanced Light Source synchrotron radiation facility. The energy ranges 197.5--200.5 eV, 201.9--202.1 eV of the [1s(2s\,2p)$^3$P]$^2$P${\rm ^o}$ and [1s(2s\,2p)$^1$P] $^2$P${\rm ^o}$ resonances, respectively, were investigated using resolving powers of up to 17\,600. The energy range of the experiments was extended to about 238.2 eV yielding energies of the most prominent [1s(2$\ell$\,n$\ell^{\prime}$)]$^2$P$^o$ resonances with an absolute accuracy of the order of 130 ppm. The natural linewidths of the [1s(2s\,2p)$^3$P] $^2$P${\rm ^o}$ and [1s(2s\,2p)$^1$P] $^2$P${\rm ^o}$ resonances were measured to be $4.8 \pm 0.6$ meV and $29.7 \pm 2.5$ meV, respectively, which compare favourably with theoretical results of 4.40 meV and 30.53 meV determined using an intermediate coupling R-matrix method.Comment: 6 figures and 2 table

Noncovalent Interactions by QMC: Speedup by One-Particle Basis-Set Size Reduction

While it is empirically accepted that the fixed-node diffusion Monte-Carlo (FN-DMC) depends only weakly on the size of the one-particle basis sets used to expand its guiding functions, limits of this observation are not settled yet. Our recent work indicates that under the FN error cancellation conditions, augmented triple zeta basis sets are sufficient to achieve a benchmark level of 0.1 kcal/mol in a number of small noncovalent complexes. Here we report on a possibility of truncation of the one-particle basis sets used in FN-DMC guiding functions that has no visible effect on the accuracy of the production FN-DMC energy differences. The proposed scheme leads to no significant increase in the local energy variance, indicating that the total CPU cost of large-scale benchmark noncovalent interaction energy FN-DMC calculations may be reduced.Comment: ACS book chapter, accepte

Loop amplitudes in gauge theories: modern analytic approaches

This article reviews on-shell methods for analytic computation of loop amplitudes, emphasizing techniques based on unitarity cuts. Unitarity techniques are formulated generally but have been especially useful for calculating one-loop amplitudes in massless theories such as Yang-Mills theory, QCD, and QED.Comment: 34 pages. Invited review for a special issue of Journal of Physics A devoted to "Scattering Amplitudes in Gauge Theories." v2: typesetting macro error fixe

K-shell photoionization of ground-state Li-like carbon ions [C3+^{3+}]: experiment, theory and comparison with time-reversed photorecombination

Absolute cross sections for the K-shell photoionization of ground-state Li-like carbon [C$^{3+}$(1s$^2$2s $^2$S)] ions were measured by employing the ion-photon merged-beams technique at the Advanced Light Source. The energy ranges 299.8--300.15 eV, 303.29--303.58 eV and 335.61--337.57 eV of the [1s(2s2p)$^3$P]$^2$P, [1s(2s2p)$^1$P]$^2$P and [(1s2s)$^3$S 3p]$^2$P resonances, respectively, were investigated using resolving powers of up to 6000. The autoionization linewidth of the [1s(2s2p)$^1$P]$^2$P resonance was measured to be $27 \pm 5$ meV and compares favourably with a theoretical result of 26 meV obtained from the intermediate coupling R-Matrix method. The present photoionization cross section results are compared with the outcome from photorecombination measurements by employing the principle of detailed balance.Comment: 3 figures and 2 table