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The quality of predicted plant‐, soil‐, and animal‐response values from near‐infrared (NIR) reflectance spectra depends on the ability to generate appropriate NIR models. The first step in the development of NIR models is collection of spectral data. Limited work, however, has been reported that compares NIR models for prediction of forage nutritive value when the spectra are obtained from devices with different spectral ranges and resolutions. The objectives of this study were to (a) develop and evaluate NIR spectroscopy models using a benchtop‐type (FOSS) and two handheld NIR devices (microPHAZIR and DLP NIRscan Nano EVM) to predict crude protein (CP), acid detergent fiber (ADF), amylase and sodium sulfite‐treated neutral detergent fiber (aNDF), and in vitro true dry matter digestibility (IVTD) of dried ground forage grass samples and (b) compare predictions among the three NIR devices. Switchgrass (Panicum virgatumL.) and bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon(L.) Pers] hay samples were scanned with the NIR devices and analyzed with wet chemistry for development of NIR prediction models. Among devices, the r2of validation values for aNDF models ranged from .81 to .87; all other r2values were >.86 and as high as .98 with standard error of prediction (SEP; g kg−1) ranging from 8.1 to 11.5 for CP, 19.1 to 23.8 for aNDF, 14.2 to 20.0 for ADF, and 26.8 to 49.9 for IVTD. The FOSS benchtop NIR prediction models consistently had the highest r2and lowest SEP values; however, the predictive power for both handheld devices was similar to the benchtop‐type device.

Casual observation in the “Park Street Area,” the commercial and residential heart of the large Puerto Rican community of Hartford, CT, suggests that smoking in the presence of children is a common event. Driving in cars with their families or ambling past storefronts with strollers or small hands in tow, parents regularly can be seen fumando un cigarillo(smoking a cigarette). Additionally, Hispanic Health Council researchers conducting home interviews with Puerto Rican parents over several years on various health topics (e.g., diet, pre-natal care, teen pregnancy) frequently have reported seeing parents smoking in front of their children. This recognition, and the growing awareness of the health risks of tobacco smoke exposure, led to the development of a pilot research study on the extent, spatial organization, and emic understanding of second-hand smoking among Puerto Rican families in Hartford. With a Latino population of approximately 50,000 people (the majority of whom self-identify as Puerto Rican), comprising about 40% of the city’s population and the majority of students in the local school system, Hartford was a prime site for such research. The study was submitted to and funded by the seed grant program of the Center for Health, Intervention and Prevention at the University of Connecticut. The purpose of this funding mechanism is to provide initial support to investigators to stimulate new research in health behavior change.

Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) compromises lung transplant outcomes and is characterised by airway epithelial damage and fibrosis. The process whereby the normal epithelial configuration is replaced by fibroblastic scar tissue is poorly understood, but recent studies have implicated epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). The primary aim of this study was to assess the utility of flow cytometry in detecting and quantifying EMT in bronchial epithelial cells.

Bronchiolitis obliterans syndrome (BOS) compromises lung transplant outcomes and is characterised by airway epithelial damage and fibrosis. The process whereby the normal epithelial configuration is replaced by fibroblastic scar tissue is poorly understood, but recent studies have implicated epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT). The primary aim of this study was to assess the utility of flow cytometry in detecting and quantifying EMT in bronchial epithelial cells.

This article focuses on a study on the structure and major cost drivers within the medical nonwovens pipeline presented at the 84th Textile Institute Annual World Conference. Medical textiles are products and constructions fabricated specifically for medical and biological applications. These products differ from most textile products in that their most relevant product factors are functionality, biocompatibility, cost and product approval, the latter of which includes rigorous governmental regulations. The focus of this study was the creation of a generic framework that accurately depicts the medical textiles nonwovens pipeline. The major costs within the pipeline consists of raw materials, labor, and overheads.

In the Dahl salt-sensitive hypertensive rat, a diet containing L-arginine, the natural substrate for nitric oxide synthase, abrogates the hypertension. We postulated that nitric oxide synthase inhibition might induce a salt-sensitive form of hypertension and that this salt sensitivity might be linked to a loss of the regulatory effect of sodium ingestion on angiotensin II (Ang II) and angiotensinogen. Male Wistar-Kyoto rats were randomised to a diet containing 0.008 %, 2.2 % or 4.4 % sodium chloride and to treatment with the NO synthase inhibitor L-NAME (10 mg kg-1 day-1) in the drinking water, or drinking water alone (Controls) for 4 weeks. Blood pressure was measured by tail cuff plethysmography twice weekly. After 4 weeks, the rats were anaesthetised and truncal blood collected for determination of angiotensinogen, renin, angiotensin I (Ang I), Ang II and aldosterone concentrations as well as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) activity. Systolic blood pressure increased with increasing dietary sodium intake in the L-NAME-treated rats (P < 0.05). Plasma renin and aldosterone concentrations decreased with increasing dietary sodium intake in both Control and L-NAME-treated rats. Ang I and ACE activity were unchanged by increasing dietary sodium intake. In contrast, the plasma concentration of Ang II and angiotensinogen increased with increasing dietary sodium (P < 0.05 and P < 0.005, respectively). Treatment with the Ang II receptor blocker, losartan, reversed the blood pressure increase. We conclude that treatment with L-NAME induces an increase in blood pressure that is at least in part salt sensitive. Further, the salt-sensitive component appears to be Ang II-dependent, as it was associated with increasing plasma Ang II levels and could be reversed by treatment with an Ang II receptor antagonist. Experimental Physiology (2002) 87.1, 1-8.

In the Dahl salt‐sensitive hypertensive rat, a diet containing L‐arginine, the natural substrate for nitric oxide synthase, abrogates the hypertension. We postulated that nitric oxide synthase inhibition might induce a salt‐sensitive form of hypertension and that this salt sensitivity might be linked to a loss of the regulatory effect of sodium ingestion on angiotensin II (Ang II) and angiotensinogen. Male Wistar‐Kyoto rats were randomised to a diet containing 0.008%, 2.2% or 4.4% sodium chloride and to treatment with the NO synthase inhibitor L‐NAME (10 mg kg−1day−1) in the drinking water, or drinking water alone (Controls) for 4 weeks. Blood pressure was measured by tail cuff plethysmography twice weekly. After 4 weeks, the rats were anaesthetised and truncal blood collected for determination of angiotensinogen, renin, angiotensin I (Ang I), Ang II and aldosterone concentrations as well as angiotensin‐converting enzyme (ACE) activity. Systolic blood pressure increased with increasing dietary sodium intake in the L‐NAME‐treated rats (P < 0.05). Plasma renin and aldosterone concentrations decreased with increasing dietary sodium intake in both Control and L‐NAME‐treated rats. Ang I and ACE activity were unchanged by increasing dietary sodium intake. In contrast, the plasma concentration of Ang II and angiotensinogen increased with increasing dietary sodium (P < 0.05 and P < 0.005, respectively). Treatment with the Ang II receptor blocker, losartan, reversed the blood pressure increase. We conclude that treatment with L‐NAME induces an increase in blood pressure that is at least in part salt sensitive. Further, the salt‐sensitive component appears to be Ang II‐dependent, as it was associated with increasing plasma Ang II levels and could be reversed by treatment with an Ang II receptor antagonist.

AbstractCAMCORE has visited 33 populations of Pinus caribaeavar. hondurensisin Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Quintana Roo, Mexico. Seed collections have been made in 29 provenances from 1,325 mother trees. A total of 21 provenances and sources of Pinus caribaeavar. hondurensiswere tested in 48 provenance/progeny trials in Brazil, South Africa, and Venezuela. Growth rates in Brazil and Venezuela were quite promising, and were less encouraging in Colombia. In Brazil and Venezuela, heights were around 12m and mean DBH was around 18 cm at age 8. Growth in Colombia was substantially slower, with mean height less than 8 m at age 8, and mean DBH around 13 em, Assuming 1111 stems/ha with 85% survival, these growth rates correspond approximately to volumes (outside bark) of 14 - 15 m3of wood/ha/year on sites in Brazil and Venezuela, and 4 - 5 m3/ha/yr in Colombia. Since these data represent the mean of unimproved material from all provenances, substantially larger values should be expected from selected material from the best provenances planted on suitable sites.Forking and foxtailing percentages were high in some tests in Brazil and Venezuela. There were generally higher incidences offoxtailing in Venezuela (greater than 25% at ages 5 and 8) than in Brazil (7 to 13% at ages 5 and 8). Forking was more similar, with means around 30%in Brazil and Venezuela. Provenances had relatively similar growth rankings in the different countries, with a Type B provenance correlation of 0.59. BLUP predictions of provenance effects were made for Brazil, Colombia andVenezuela. The best native provenances were Limon (Honduras) and Melinda (Belize), and Guanaja (Honduras) also performed well. Improved sources from Queensland Forest Research Institute (Australia) and SouthAfrican Forest Research Institute were 6 to 12% better than the mean of the unimproved provenances, depending on the country where they were planted.

Most of the investigatory studies of cytokine production by cells have been performed on purified cells or cell lines by measuring the secreted cytokine levels in the bulk culture supernatant. However, results of cytokine production from isolated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) cultivated in synthetic media, have been reported to be inaccurate and of low reproducibility. Isolation procedures have been shown to be toxic to certain cells. We hypothesised that purified cell culture techniques may result in increased levels of apoptosis of cells compared with whole blood culture techniques. To compare the effects on cell viability between PBMCs and whole blood techniques, an Annexin V binding assay was utilised. The effect of different cell concentration and serum/plasma concentrations on apoptosis levels in the various leukocyte subsets in PBMC and whole blood cultures following stimulation was investigated. There were significantly increased levels of apoptosis of cells in PBMC compared to whole culture at similar plasma concentrations, suggesting that cell viability was plasma concentration-dependent. There were significantly increased levels of apoptosis in PBMC cultures at the same cell concentration to whole blood techniques, suggesting that interaction between all cellular elements (as in whole blood techniques) is important in maintaining cell viability. These results suggest that whole blood culture techniques provide the best conditions for study of leukocyte cytokine production. If PBMC culture is performed, similar plasma and cell concentration to whole blood will best preserve cell viability.

1. The various angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors have structural differences which affect their affinities for the catalytic sites on converting enzyme. We postulated that such differences might result in differences in renoprotective efficacy. We investigated this in the diabetic spontaneous hypertensive rat. We also investigated whether these differences might reflect variations in glomerular or plasma angiotensin-converting enzyme activity. 2. One week after induction of diabetes, rats were started on antihypertensive therapy: enalapril, 10 mg · day−1 · kg−1, or perindopril, 4 mg · day−1 · kg−1, in the drinking water. After 3 months, the rats were killed, blood samples were taken and tissues were harvested. Angiotensin-converting enzyme activity in isolated glomeruli and plasma was measured by fluorimetric assay. Glomerular protein content was also determined. 3. Urinary protein excretion was significantly lower in perindopril-treated rats than in either controls (P < 0.0005) or enalapril-treated rats P < 0.05). Glomerular protein content was also lower in perindopril-treated rats (P < 0.05 versus enalapril; P < 0.005 versus control). There was no difference in glomerular angiotensin-converting enzyme activity between the two inhibitors although both were lower than control values (enalapril P < 0.025; perindopril P < 0.025). Plasma angiotensin-converting enzyme activity was significantly lower in the perindopril group than in either control (P < 0.005) or the enalapril group (P < 0.01). 4. We conclude that in the spontaneous hypertensive rat with streptozotocin-induced diabetes, perindopril is more effective than enalapril in reducing proteinuria and glomerular protein accumulation. This difference does not result from differences in glomerular-converting enzyme activity.

The application and underlying assumptions of formulae used to estimate the variance of variance components and ratios of variance components are fully described for (1) variance components estimated using Henderson's Method 3 (HM3) and Restricted Maximum Likelihood (REML) and (2) ratios of variance components commonly used in genetic tests — biased and unbiased heritabilities. A first-order Taylor series approximation is often used to estimate the variance of a ratio of two random variables (e.g., heritability), however the formula is complicated, thus making calculations prone to errors. Dickerson's approximation is considerably simpler, though relatively rarely used. In case studies using data from 148 slash pine full-sib progeny tests, Dickerson's method was found to be slightly more conservative than the Taylor series approximation when estimating the variance of heritability estimates, regardless of test size, age, or the trait (volume, which is a continuous trait, and rust resistance, which is a bernoulli trait). Both the Taylor series and Dickerson approximations compared favorably with an empirical estimate of the variance of heritability estimates, however there is some evidence of small-sample bias associated with the use of the asymptotic variance-covariances from REML variance component estimation.

Best Linear Prediction (BLP) was used to predict breeding values for 1,396 parents from progeny test data in an operational slash pine breeding program. BLP rankings of parents were compared to rankings of averaged standard scores, a common approach in forestry. Using BLP rankings, selection of higher ranking parents tends to choose parents in a larger number of more precise progeny tests. The trend is the opposite with standard scores; higher ranking parents tend to be those in fewer, less precise tests. BLP and a related methodology, Best Linear Unbiased Prediction (BLUP), were developed by dairy cattle breeders and have not been used widely outside of animal breeding for predicting breeding values from messy progeny test data. Application of either of these techniques usually requires simplifying assumptions to keep the problem computationally tractable. The more appropriate technique for a given application depends upon which set of assumptions are better for the given problem. An assumption of homogeneous genetic and error variances and covariances, generally made by animal breeders when applying BLUP, was inappropriate for our data. We employed an approach that treated fixed effects as known and treated the same trait measured in different environments as different traits with heterogeneous variance structures. As tree improvement programs become more complex, the ease with which BLP and BLUP handle messy data and incorporate diverse sources of information should make these techniques appealing to forest tree breeders.

Genetic-parameter estimates and parental breeding-value predictions were compared from open-pollinated and control-pollinated progeny populations of Eucalyptus globulus and two populations of E. nitens. For E. globulus there were two types of open-pollinated populations (native stand open-pollinated and seed orchard open-pollinated) and two types of control-pollinated populations (intra-provenance and interprovenance full-sib families). For E. nitens there were two populations, a seed orchard open-pollinated population and intra-provenance full-sib families. Progeny tests were established across multiple sites and 2-year height and diameter were measured and volume calculated. Genetic parameters from native stand open-pollinated E. globulus were unlike the parameters from the other three E. globulus populations; heritability estimates were severely inflated, presumably due to high levels, and possibly differential levels, of inbreeding depression relative to the other populations. Estimates of dominance variance in the E. globulus full-sib populations were high, but were zero in the E. nitens population. Correlations among parental breeding values, predicted using data from the different populations, were generally low and non-significant, with two exceptions: predictions from the two E. globulus full-sib populations were significantly correlated (r=0.54, P = 0.001), as were predictions from the E. nitens seed orchard OP and full-sib population (r = 0.61, P = 0.08). There was some indication that superior parents of E. globulus native stand open-pollinated families also tended to have above-average breeding values based on the performance of intra-provenance full-sib offspring. The consequences of these results for exploitation of base-population collections from native stands are discussed.

Computer simulation was used to compare minimum variance quadratic estimation (MIVQUE), minimum norm quadratic unbiased estimation (MINQUE), restricted maximum likelihood (REML), maximum likelihood (ML), and Henderson's Method 3 (HM3) on the basis of variance among estimates, mean square error (MSE), bias and probability of nearness for estimation of both individual variance components and three ratios of variance components. The investigation also compared three procedures for dealing with negative estimates and included the use of both individual observations and plot means as the experimental unit of the analysis. The structure of data simulated (field design, mating designs, genetic architecture and imbalance) represented typical analysis problems in quantitative forest genetics. Results of comparing the estimation techniques demonstrated that: estimates of probability of nearness did not discriminate among techniques; bias was discriminatory among procedures for dealing with negative estimates but not among estimation techniques (except ML); sampling variance among estimates was discriminatory among procedures for dealing with negative estimates, estimation techniques and unit of observation; and MSE provided no additional information to variance of the estimates. HM3 and REML were the closest competitors under these criteria; however, REML demonstrated greater robustness to imbalance. Of the three negative estimate procedures, two are of practical significance and guidelines for their application are presented. Estimates from individual observations were always preferable to those from plot means over the experimental levels of this study.

PULMONARY ABSCESS FOLLOWING TONSILLECTOMY. PRESENTED BY DR. L. J. BAKER. A girl aged 6 years had her tonsils and adenoids removed on June 17, under open ether anesthesia. The postoperative course to recovery was uneventful. On June 25 she was apparently healthy, and the tonsillar fossae were healing. On July 14 she was referred to the hospital with the following symptoms (1) fever of one week's duration, the temperature ranging from 100 to 102 F.; (2) explosive coughing; (3) foul-smelling greenish sputum, and (4) loss of weight and loss of appetite. Dulness and faint breath sounds were noted in the apex of the right lung, extending to the third rib. The clinical impression was abscess of the upper lobe of the right lung. Roentgenograms showed a shadow about 5 cm. in diameter, with a fluid level. Postural drainage was begun.After four days about 3 cm. of the right third

THE COEXISTENCE of disease of the biliary tract and disease of the heart is well known. Willius and Brown1 analyzed eighty-six unselected consecutive necropsies on patients with proved coronary sclerosis. Chronic cholecystitis with or without cholelithiasis was present in 26 per cent. Laird2 found cardiac lesions in 77 per cent of a series of 65 patients with disease of the gallbladder. In 109 cases of cholecystitis Schwartz and Herman3 found evidence of cardiac disease in 63 per cent. An incidence of only 41 per cent was found in another 109 medical patients without clinically recognized disease of the biliary tract or cardiac disease.These and other reports show that there is an increased incidence of cardiac disorders in patients with disease of the biliary tract. There are many physiopathologic factors common to the two diseases, such as age, disturbed metabolism, obesity, diet and infection.Surgical intervention for

HEMATOMA OF THE FACIAL NERVE FOLLOWING SIMPLE MASTOIDECTOMY; DECOMPRESSION OF THE FACIAL NERVE WITH GRADUAL RECOVERY OF FUNCTION. PRESENTED BY DR. A. O. FREEDMAN. A youth aged 19 was admitted to the Jewish General Hospital on March 17, 1939, complaining of a purulent discharge from his right ear and a vague feeling of discomfort around that ear. He had been well until about three weeks previous to admission, when he had an attack of the "grip." At this time his temperature was 103 F. A week later he had pain in the right ear and spontaneous bloody discharge, which later became purulent. The discharge and discomfort in the ear persisted. There was a history of both ears having been lanced when the patient was a child. The tonsils and adenoids had been removed. There was no history of frequent colds or of any sinus disease.On admission the patient appeared

NASAL SINUSITIS AND ASTHMA: A THESIS. PRESENTED BY DR. FRANCIS M. RACKEMANN*, AND DR. FRANCIS L. WEILLE†, BOSTON. In a recent paper on "Intrinsic Asthma," one of us (Rackemann, F. M.: Intrinsic Asthma, J. Allergy, to be published) presented the reasons for thinking that asthma might have a cause different from allergy. Certainly there are cases in which it is quite impossible to show a cause which is allergic in the ordinary sense. Whereas allergy is often an adequate explanation of asthma, there is reason to think that it is only one of several causes which can precipitate the asthmatic syndrome.The relation of the nose and throat to asthma is important for two principal reasons: 1. Lesions of the sinuses and polypi in the nose are so common as almost to be expected in cases in which asthma has become severe. 2. In the presence of a lesion, it

The purpose of this paper is to report what is believed to be a rare case of carcinoma of the uterine fundus with metastasis to the brain. In a review of the literature, we found several reports mentioning the occurrence of metastatic cerebral lesions from a carcinoma of the uterine fundus. However, in no report are the criteria of diagnosis of this lesion given, and we have found no case in which both the primary and the secondary site were examined grossly and microscopically during life. INCIDENCE OF METASTATIC TUMORS OF THE BRAIN Meagher and Eisenhardt,1 in reviewing 1,850 cases of intracranial neoplasm, found that 57, or 3 per cent, were metastatic. Elkington2 reported 72 cases of metastatic tumors of the brain in a series of 805 cases of cerebral tumor, an incidence of 9 per cent. Dandy3 estimated the incidence of metastatic cerebral tumor to be

During the past fifteen years widespread interest in the relationship of bronchiectasis to infection of the paranasal sinuses has been shown by the numerous articles which have appeared in the medical literature, especially in journals devoted to otolaryngology. This interest has been increased by the stimulating advances made in the fields of bronchoscopy, roentgenology and thoracic surgery and particularly by the increased knowledge of the reaction of the mucous membranes of the respiratory tract to allergy and to infection. The knowledge, however, of some of the phases of this relationship is still obscure. A brief résumé of the literature will help to summarize the present views on the subject.CAUSAL RELATIONSHIPAs early as 1914 Thomson1 suggested that persistent bronchorrhea might be due to chronic suppuration of the sinuses. Later Sergent,2 Rist,3 Webb and Gilbert4 and others, noting the presence of sinusitis in patients with

The article proposes the use of microelectromechnical systems technology along with radio frequency transceivers for the online measurement of yarn tension variation in a direct cabling mechanism. This article presents the development of a wireless sensing device that could measure and control yarn tension on a direct cabling machine. Benefits of the implementation of the sensors on the direct cabling machine includes the possibility of having a yarn tension controller that can be integrated with the operating system.

The Tevatron liquefier is operated from a control room located on the second floor of the Liquefier Building at Fermilab. The entire plant is monitored and controlled by operators in the control room. The control system is electronic and consists of loop controllers, sequencers and digital readouts installed in an operations console with interactive process display. Process readings from the plant are checked for out-of-limits values by the sequencers each 8.3 ms. The sequencers can display warning messages in color on the operations console to alert the plant operators to changes in the process. In the case of an alarm, one of the operators can correct the process from the control room by manually altering the loop controllers while monitoring the readouts of the process variables. The sequencers are capable of shutting down part or all of the process system if the combination of alarms is serious. A spectrographic nitrogen detector has been designed and installed to continuously monitor contamination at the 1 ppm level in the helium process. Gas from the process stream is excited to produce photon emission. A grating monochrometer is used to select light of one wavelength. A photomultiplier measures the intensity level of the wavelength corresponding to nitrogen contamination. The high intensity of spectral lines from the helium process is ignored by this detection method. The system is a continuous monitor with a rapid response.

We describe a rare case of a primary retroperitoneal neurilemoma that was confused initially on ultrasonography and computerized tomography for a renal carcinoma. These tumors vary in vascularity on arteriography, are more often solid than cystic and usually are benign in the absence of von Recklinghausen’s disease. The preferred treatment is wide surgical excision.

A problem of major proportions in the treatment of the secondary aspects of the deeper burns is the presence in the burned area of devitalized or injured tissues. The tissues involved depend on the site and depth of the burn, but for practical purposes the chief component for consideration consists of a mass of interlacing collagen fibers which extend throughout the dermis to connect with like material in the subcutaneous tissue and between the muscle fibers. The material, whether treated with severe coagulatory agents, simple ointments or wet dressings, forms a strongly adherent layer which separates but slowly from the tissues beneath. This layer constitutes a serious impediment to management of the case. Infection is liable to develop within the material or beneath it. Further, even if infection does not occur, the layer may impede healing and preparation of the area for skin grafting. It would appear that occasions might

Seventy-three patients with prostatic adenocarcinoma who were believed to have disease limited to the pelvis without evidence of node or bone extension were assigned randomly to either full-field pelvic radiation (40) or delayed hormonal therapy (33). The interval to first evidence of treatment failure was used as the end point of the study. Failures occurred in 13 patients who received radiation therapy and 11 who received delayed hormonal therapy. No difference in disease response could be identified between the 2 treatment groups.