Kidney transplantation in children

Transplantation in children with kidney failure once presented many technical, immunologic, and logistic problems that led to worse patient and allograft survival, as compared with adults. Advances in all these areas and the development of pediatric-trial groups have resulted in dramatic improvements, such that young children now have the best long-term graft survival among all age groups, including adults

Steady improvement in renal allograft survival among North American children: A five year appraisal by the North American Pediatric Renal Transplant Cooperative Study

Steady improvement in renal allograft survival among North American children. From 1987 through 1994, the North American Pediatric Renal Transplant Cooperative Study (NAPRTCS) has enrolled 1641 cadaver donor transplants. For this study, we have analyzed one and two year graft survival by annual cohorts for the years 1987 through 1991. For the 1987 cohort one and two year graft survival was 72% and 65%, respectively, and for the 1991 cohort it was 83% and 78%, respectively. Using a proportional hazards model, and comparing the 1987 cohort to the 1991 cohort, the relative risk for graft failure was 1.40 (P = 0.02). Analysis of practice patterns revealed the following changes which may have been associated with this improved graft survival: (1) use of T cell induction antibody, 38% in 1987 and 67% in 1991 (P ≤ 0.001); (2) the increased use of cyclosporine (CsA) post-transplant: in 1987, 87% were maintained on CsA at day 30 compared to 97% in 1991 (P < 0.001); (3) the mean higher daily maintenance CsA dose at 12 months post-transplant which in 1987 was 6.5 mg/kg compared to 7.5 mg/kg in 1991 (P = 0.03); (4) the decreased use of random transfusions, 54% receiving >5 transfusions in 1987 compared to 37% in 1991 (P < 0.001); and (5) decreased use of younger cadaver donors between 1987 and 1991 (P < 0.001)

Gamma ray monitoring of a AGN and galactic black hole candidates by the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory

The Compton Gamma-Ray Observatory's Burst and Transient Source Experiment (BATSE) has a powerful capability to provide nearly uninterrupted monitoring in the 25 keV-10 MeV range of both active galactic nuclei (AGN) and galactic black hole candidates (GBHC) such as Cygnus X-1, using the occultation of cosmic sources by the Earth. Since the Crab is detected by the BATSE Large Area Detectors with roughly 25(sigma) significance in the 15-125 keV range in a single rise or set, a variation by a factor of two of a source having one-tenth the strength of Cygnus X-1 should be detectable within a day. Methods of modeling the background are discussed which will increase the accuracy, sensitivity, and reliability of the results beyond those obtainable from a linear background fit with a single rise or set discontinuity

Cross-biome transplants of plant litter show decomposition models extend to a broader climatic range but lose predictability at the decadal time scale

We analyzed results from 10-year long field incubations of foliar and fine root litter from the Long-term Intersite Decomposition Experiment Team (LIDET) study. We tested whether a variety of climate and litter quality variables could be used to develop regression models of decomposition parameters across wide ranges in litter quality and climate and whether these models changed over short to long time periods. Six genera of foliar and three genera of root litters were studied with a 10-fold range in the ratio of acid unhydrolyzable fraction (AUF, or ‘lignin’) to N. Litter was incubated at 27 field sites across numerous terrestrial biomes including arctic and alpine tundra, temperate and tropical forests, grasslands and warm deserts. We used three separate mathematical models of first-order (exponential) decomposition, emphasizing either the first year or the entire decade. One model included the proportion of relatively stable material as an asymptote. For short-term (first-year) decomposition, nonlinear regressions of exponential or power function form were obtained with r 2 values of 0.82 and 0.64 for foliar and fine-root litter, respectively, across all biomes included. AUF and AUF : N ratio were the most explanative litter quality variables, while the combined temperature-moisture terms AET (actual evapotranspiration) and CDI (climatic decomposition index) were best for climatic effects. Regressions contained some systematic bias for grasslands and arctic and boreal sites, but not for humid tropical forests or temperate deciduous and coniferous forests. The ability of the regression approach to fit climate-driven decomposition models of the 10-year field results was dramatically reduced from the ability to capture drivers of short-term decomposition. Future work will require conceptual and methodological improvements to investigate processes controlling decadal-scale litter decomposition, including the formation of a relatively stable fraction and its subsequent decomposition.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78615/1/j.1365-2486.2009.02086.x.pd

Pediatric transplantation

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/75084/1/j.1600-6143.3.s4.6.x.pd

Aquilegia, Vol. 18 No. 3, May-June 1994: Newsletter of the Colorado Native Plant Society

https://epublications.regis.edu/aquilegia/1071/thumbnail.jp

Bostonia: The Boston University Alumni Magazine. Volume 10

Founded in 1900, Bostonia magazine is Boston University's main alumni publication, which covers alumni and student life, as well as university activities, events, and programs

Sexual Signal Evolution Outpaces Ecological Divergence during Electric Fish Species Radiation

Natural selection arising from resource competition and environmental heterogeneity can drive adaptive radiation. Ecological opportunity facilitates this process, resulting in rapid divergence of ecological traits in many celebrated radiations. In other cases, sexual selection is thought to fuel divergence in mating signals ahead of ecological divergence. Comparing divergence rates between naturally and sexually selected traits can offer insights into processes underlying species radiations, but to date such comparisons have been largely qualitative. Here, we quantitatively compare divergence rates for four traits in African mormyrid fishes, which use an electrical communication system with few extrinsic constraints on divergence. We demonstrate rapid signal evolution in the Paramormyrops species flock compared to divergence in morphology, size, and trophic ecology. This disparity in the tempo of trait evolution suggests that sexual selection is an important early driver of species radiation in these mormyrids. We also found slight divergence in ecological traits among closely related species, consistent with a supporting role for natural selection in Paramormyrops diversification. Our results highlight the potential for sexual selection to drive explosive signal divergence when innovations in communication open new opportunities in signal space, suggesting that opportunity can catalyze species radiations through sexual selection, as well as natural selection