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Context. Population studies have shown a trend in decreasing vitamin C status and increasing prevalence of osteoporosis in patients with diabetes and non-diabetic people. Dietary vitamin C consumption is linked to improvement in bone mineral density (BMD) in epidemiological studies. VCAM-1 and adiponectin are known to activate osteoclasts, which increase bone loss. Aim: This study examined whether there is any association between the circulating level of vitamin C and BMD and whether the beneficial effect of vitamin C on BMD was linked to a simultaneous decrease in circulating levels of adiponectin and VCAM-1 in subjects with diabetes. Methods: Patients with diabetes (T2D, n = 74) and age-matched non-diabetic controls (n = 26) were enrolled in this study. Fasting blood levels of glycemia, adiponectin, VCAM-1, inflammation biomarkers, and vitamin C were determined in both groups. The BMD of the lumbar spine (L1–L4), left femur, and right femur was determined using a DXA scan in subjects with diabetes. Results: Patients with diabetes had lower levels of vitamin C and higher levels of VCAM-1 and inflammatory cytokines. There was a significant positive association between vitamin C blood levels and lumbar spine BMD as well as a significant negative association between total adiponectin and VCAM-1 levels with that of vitamin C and lumbar BMD in patients with diabetes. Total adiponectin and VCAM-1 also showed a negative association with BMD of both the right and left femurs. The inter-relationship among the circulating levels of vitamin C and VCAM-1 and BMD was strong and is a novel finding. Conclusions: This study reports a positive association of circulating vitamin C levels and the BMD and that the beneficial effects of vitamin C on BMD could be linked to a simultaneous lowering in circulating VCAM-1 and total adiponectin levels. Thus, dietary vitamin C consumption has potential to lower inflammation and the risk of osteoporosis in subjects with diabetes.

Herein we describe an outer cannula sleeve-sheath with a coaxially inserted exchangeable drainage catheter (SCDC) for effective evacuation of recurrent symptomatic fluid collections in the thorax and abdomen on patients in lieu of, or failed, current evacuation catheters and methods. The design is an alternative to existing commercially available devices and adds distinct enhancements with the possibility of intrathoracic or intrabdominal trans outer sleeve-sheath diagnostic or therapeutic interventions. This device aims at requiring a single invasive procedure (thoracentesis and paracentesis) while offering catheter exchange and repositioning if malfunction or malposition occurs during the patient's lifetime. The SCDC outer sheath in the subcutaneous tissues of the thorax or abdomen has built-in two antibacterial cuffs to prevent infection. At the same time, the exchangeable coaxially inserted drainage catheter is deployed over a guidewire within the thoracic or abdominal cavities. The drainage catheter has a fluid dynamic proven efficient design to facilitate drainage and can recanalize its lumen if occluded by fibrin or tissue.

C-glycosylation reactions of glycosyl picolinates with allyltrimethylsilane or silyl enol ethers were developed. Picolinate as a chelation-assisted leaving group could be activated by Cu(OTf)(2) and avoided the use of harsh Lewis acids. The glycosylations were operated under mild neutral conditions and gave the corresponding C-glycosides in up to 95% yield with moderate to excellent stereoselectivities.

Although catheters are commonplace in hospital settings, there is scarce literature discussing the internal and external retention mechanisms used to aid in catheter fixation. Additionally, exact definitions and detailed information on internal and external retention mechanisms are almost non-existent in the literature. This article serves three primary purposes. The first purpose is to define internal and external catheter retention mechanisms, describe how they work, and provide examples of each that are routinely used in healthcare settings. The second goal of this paper is to provide a literature review comparing various aspects of the different types of internal and external catheter retention mechanisms discussed in the paper, including performance variance and the advantages and disadvantages of each. The third aim of this article is to provide a brief overview of catheter dislodgment, including the rates at which this occurs, the problems that can arise, and the best treatment option when this does occur.

RNA plays a myriad of roles in the body including the coding, decoding, regulation, and expression of genes. RNA oligonucleotides have garnered significant interest as therapeutics via antisense oligonucleotides or small interfering RNA strategies for the treatment of diseases ranging from hyperlipidemia, HCV, and others. Additionally, the recently developed CRISPR-Cas9 mediated gene editing strategy also relies on Cas9-associated RNA strands. However, RNA presents numerous challenges as both a synthetic target and a potential therapeutic. RNA is inherently unstable, difficult to deliver into cells, and potentially immunogenic by itself or upon modification. Despite these challenges, with the help of chemically modified oligonucleotides, multiple RNA-based drugs have been approved by the FDA. The progress is made possible due to the nature of chemically modified oligonucleotides bearing advantages of nuclease stability, stronger binding affinity, and some other unique properties. This review will focus on the chemical synthesis of RNA and its modified versions. How chemical modifications of the ribose units and of the phosphatediester backbone address the inherent issues with using native RNA for biological applications will be discussed along the way.

A general method has been developed for the formation of glycosyl chlorides and bromides from picolinic esters under mild and neutral conditions. Benchtop stable picolinic esters are activated by a copper (II) halide species to afford the corresponding products in high yields with a traceless leaving group. Rare β glycosyl chlorides are accessible via this route through neighboring group participation. Additionally, glycosyl chlorides with labile protecting groups previously not easily accessible can be prepared.

On September 22 2001 NASA’s Deep Space 1 (DS1) spacecraft passed 2171 km from the nucleus of comet 19P/Borrelly. DS1, the first mission in NASA’s New Millennium Program (NMP), was also the first mission to use solar electric propulsion (SEP) as primary propulsion. In addition, it was NASA’s first spacecraft with both an imaging system and a plasma mass spectrometer to encounter a comet The primary focus of the NMP is to identify and flight validate new, advanced technologies that hold great promise for revolutionizing observations from earth orbit or in deep space. Such technologies, despite being technically mature, have not been demonstrated in space and hence are perceived to present a fairly high risk to missions that propose to use them for the first time. In order to help reduce the costs and risks to future missions that use these technologies, NMP oversees a series of dedicated “technology validation” missions into deep space and around Earth to validate these technologies and prove that they perform as intended in space. Since DS1 there have been four completed follow-on NMP validation activities (DS2, Earth Observing I, Space Technology 5 (ST5), and ST 6 Autonomous Sciencecraft Experiment) and four more are under development (ST 6 Inertial Stellar Compass, ST7 Disturbance Reduction System, ST8 and five concepts in Phase A for ST9). NMP projects can be either stand alone missions or payloads on other earth orbiting or deep space missions. The DS1 payload contained a set of technologies that were successfully validated in the first phase of the mission. The principal, or project defining technology validated on DS1 was SEP. The SEP primary propulsion system on DS1 ionized xenon gas in a thrust

A survey of the literature on Old Saxon derivational suffixes and suffixoids does not yield a neat and clear-cut picture of forms. The reason is that some researchers take a diachronic view of the data, while others take a synchronic view. In this article I recommend apanchronicview of the data in hopes of clarifying the situation. As part of the discussion I argue that affixoids are a good example of grammaticalization. I thus also discuss and—as far as research on German is concerned—aim to resurrect the notion of AFFIXOID as a linguistic category. If successful, the results of this paper may be applied to other languages.

Amanita rubescens Pers., Lactarius affinis Pk., Leccinum aurantiacum (Fr.) S.F. Gray, Tylopilus felleus (Bull. ex Fe.) Karsten, and two isolates of Suillus intermedius (Smith & Thiers) Smith & Thiers collected from an approximately 55-year-old Pinus resinosa Ait. plantation, and Pisolithus tinctorius (Pers.) Coker & Couch obtained from another source, were tested for their abilities to grow with protein as the primary source of nitrogen. Protein plates contained 63 mg l–1 N as bovine serum albumen and 7 mg l–1 N as arginine. Control plates contained only 7 mg l–1 N as arginine. All isolates except Leccinum aurantiacum and one isolate of S. intermedius attained greater dry weight with protein as the primary source of N. Lactarius affinis, Leccinum aurantiacum, P. tinctorius, and both isolates of S. intermedius had higher tissue densities on protein medium. Amanita rubescens had lower tissue density. To determine if increase in tissue density was an effect of total N concentration or an effect of N source (protein versus arginine), we performed a second experiment in which arginine concentration was increased (7 mg l–1 N versus 70 mg l–1 N). The second experiment also included Cenococcum geophilum Fr. but excluded T. felleus. Higher tissue densities with increased nutrients were found in C. geophilum, Lactarius affinis, Leccinum aurantiacum, and both isolates of S. intermedius. Only A. rubescens and P. tinctorius did not have increased densities. The results suggest that these ectomycorrhizal fungi alter their growth forms according to N concentration. At low N concentrations, a growth form likely to promote exploitation of a large volume of medium for a given biomass is produced. At high concentrations, a growth form likely to promote exploitation of a rich source of N is produced. Whether ectomycorrhizal fungi growing in association with roots would act in a similar fashion is not known.

In this article the development of Germankönnen, dürfen, sollen, mögen, müssen, andwollenis examined in the light of grammaticalization theory. It is assumed that these verbs form a class (or subclass) of modal auxiliaries. Some of the assertions made on the development of modal verbs across languages are examined. For example, do the modal meanings develop from nonmodal meanings? Do the epistemic uses of these auxiliaries evolve from deontic ones? Can such an evolution be described in terms of metaphor and can the development of these verbs be described as following a distinct “path” that is “unidirectional”? Some of these questions are answered in the affirmative, but new question arise in the course of the investigation.

Plusieurs chercheurs ont conteste la theorie de la bifurcation de Theo Vennemann, qui propose un nouvel inventaire des consonnes pour le proto germanique, tout en reconceptualisant le Second Changement de Consonne. Vennemann a, quant a lui, continue a publier de nouveaux arguments et de nouvelles preuves pour etayer sa theorie controversee. Ces nouvelles preuves reposent sur la chronologie relative de la syncope et de l'anaptyxe ouest germaniques et du Second Changement de Consonne. Dans cet article, l'A. montre que la plupart de ces preuves ne sont pas plus convaincantes que les anciennes et qu'un scepticisme soutenu est de rigueur. Il examine en detail la syncope et l'anaptyxe ouest germaniques, le probleme des emprunts au latin et la theorie de la repression et propose une solution aux problemes poses par l'analyse traditionnelle du Second Changement de Consonne

One of the key charges to NASA's Mission to Planet Earth (MTPE) is to ensure the continuity of future Landsat data. The New Millennium Program's (NMP) first Earth orbiting flight will validate technologies contributing to the reduction in cost of Landsat follow-on missions. The centerpiece is an advanced land imager (ALI) instrument. The EO-1 imaging system will also incorporate alternative and innovative approaches to future land imaging, including two different hyperspectral imaging techniques. One of these is a hyperspectral wedge spectrometer and the other is a miniature hyperspectral grating spectrometer.

A contemporary underground coal mine in eastern Kentucky was assessed in order to determine potential off-site and on-site environmental impacts associated with the mining system in the given environmental setting. A 4 section, continuous room and pillor mine plan was developed for an appropriate site in eastern Kentucky. Potential environmental impacts were identified, and mitigation costs determined. The major potential environmental impacts were determined to be: acid water drainage from the mine and refuse site, uneven subsidence of the surface as a result of mining activity, and alteration of ground water aquifers in the subsidence zone. In the specific case examined, the costs of environmental impact mitigation to levels prescribed by regulations would not exceed $1/ton of coal mined, and post mining land values would not be affected.

An ultrasonic interferometric technique of measuring blood flow with an extravascular probe is presented and analyzed. The difference in phase between pulses of ultrasonic energy transmitted simultaneously from a pair of barium titanate crystals diagonally through the vessel and received by the same pair of crystals is employed as the basic measurement of blood flow velocity. It is shown that the sensitivity is influenced mainly by variability in the internal diameter of the vessel and the zero-flow baseline voltage position is influenced principally by variations in the level of energy reflected from the vessel surfaces. Baseline stability is enhanced by the use of an asymmetrical probe which minimizes the variable reflection components. This measurement technique is currently being employed in long term telemetry implants in which flow measurements have been satisfactorily performed for periods in excess of three months duration.