Academic Computing Newsletter: April 1994

Academic Computing Newsletter (Vol 9 Number 3, April1994) is published on an irregular schedule by Academic Computing Services, State University of New York, College at Brockport. This issue focuses on policies, workshops, and Educational Technology Initiative awards.https://digitalcommons.brockport.edu/lits_news/1048/thumbnail.jp

An Analysis of Robert Mccall's self-actualization in the equalizer movie

viii, 34 hlm.; ilus.; 25 cm

IL-1, IL-6 and TNF-? concentrations in the peritoneal fluid of women with pelvic adhesions

Background: pelvic adhesions are a significant cause of morbidity and are associated with infertility and pain. The three pro-inflammatory cytokines interleukin (IL)-1, IL-6 and tumour necrosis factor (TNF)-alpha are involved in adhesion formation/reformation. Methods: the concentration of these three cytokines was examined in the peritoneal fluid of women undergoing laparoscopy, in order to examine the factors affecting their concentrations, with specific reference to the presence or absence of adhesions. Results: we found that the concentration of TNF-alpha in the peritoneal fluid was significantly correlated to the menstrual cycle day (P &lt; 0.01), with increasing concentration as the menstrual cycle progressed from the follicular to the luteal phase. In contrast, IL-1 and IL-6 levels did not show any variation throughout the menstrual cycle. Increased TNF-alpha was found in patients with pelvic adhesions compared with those with normal pelvis; the concentration of TNF-alpha was highest in mild compared with severe adhesions. In contrast, IL-1 concentration was higher in the presence of severe adhesions. IL-6 levels were significantly correlated with the grade of endometriosis (P &lt; 0.05), but there were no significant correlations of either TNF-alpha or IL-1 concentrations with the various grades of endometriosis. Conclusions: the exact role of TNF-alpha and IL-1 in adhesion formation is still unknown, but the results from this study suggest that their concentration in the peritoneal fluid is associated with the degree of adhesions present.<br/

Air pollution Exposure Model for Individuals (EMI) in health studies: Evaluation for ambient PM_2.5 in Central North Carolina.

Air pollution health studies of fine particulate matter (diameter &le;2.5 &mu;m, PM2.5) often use outdoor concentrations as exposure surrogates. Failure to account for variability of indoor infiltration of ambient PM2.5 and time indoors can induce exposure errors. We developed and evaluated an exposure model for individuals (EMI), which predicts five tiers of individual-level exposure metrics for ambient PM2.5 using outdoor concentrations, questionnaires, weather, and time-location information. We linked a mechanistic air exchange rate (AER) model to a mass-balance PM2.5 infiltration model to predict residential AER (Tier 1), infiltration factors (Tier 2), indoor concentrations (Tier 3), personal exposure factors (Tier 4), and personal exposures (Tier 5) for ambient PM2.5. Using cross-validation, individual predictions were compared to 591 daily measurements from 31 homes (Tiers 1-3) and participants (Tiers 4-5) in central North Carolina. Median absolute differences were 39% (0.17 h(-1)) for Tier 1, 18% (0.10) for Tier 2, 20% (2.0 &mu;g/m(3)) for Tier 3, 18% (0.10) for Tier 4, and 20% (1.8 &mu;g/m(3)) for Tier 5. The capability of EMI could help reduce the uncertainty of ambient PM2.5 exposure metrics used in health studies