In laboratory experiments, we investigated two task/ambient conditioning systems with air supplied from desk‐mounted air outlets to efficiently ventilate the breathing zone of heated manikins seated ...at desks. In most experiments, the task conditioning systems provided outside air while a conventional ventilation system provided additional space cooling but no outside air. Air change effectiveness (i.e., exhaust air age divided by age of air at the manikin's face) was measured with a tracer gas step‐up procedure. Other tracer gases simulated the release of pollutants from nearby occupants and from the floor covering, and the associated pollutant removal efficiencies (i.e., exhaust air concentrations divided by concentrations at manikin's face) were calculated. High values of air change effectiveness (∼1.3 to 1.9) and high values of pollutant removal efficiency (∼1.2 to 1.6) were measured when these task conditioning systems supplied 100% outdoor air at a flow rate of 7 to 9 L s‐1 per occupant. Air change effectiveness was reasonably well correlated with the pollutant removal efficiency. Overall, the experimental data suggest that these task/ambient conditioning systems can be used to improve ventilation and air quality or to save energy while maintaining a typical level of IAQ at the breathing zone.
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BFBNIB, DOBA, FZAB, GIS, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBMB, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Twenty-seven laboratory experiments were conducted in a simulated smoking room to quantify rates of environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) leakage to a nonsmoking area as a function of the physical and ...operational characteristics of the smoking room. Data are presented for the various types of leakage flows, the effect of these leaks on smoking room performance and nonsmoker exposure, and the relative importance of each leakage mechanism. The results indicate that the first priority for an effective smoking room is to maintain it depressurized with respect to adjoining nonsmoking areas. The amount of ETS pumped out by the smoking room door when it is opened and closed can be reduced significantly by substituting a sliding door for the standard swing-type door. An "open doorway" configuration used twice the ventilation flow of those with smoking room doors, but yielded less reduction in nonsmoker exposure. Measured results correlated well with results modeled with mass-balance equations (R
2
= 0.82-0.99). Most of these results are based on sulfur hexafluoride (SF
6
) tracer gas leakage. Because five measured ETS tracers showed good correlation with SF
6
, these conclusions should apply to ETS leakage as well. Field tests of a designated smoking room in an office building qualitatively agreed with model predictions.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
We measured health-related quality of life (HRQL) by using the Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short-Form (SF-36) in a cross-sectional study of 1,094 African American men and women with mild to ...moderate chronic renal insufficiency (mean glomerular filtration rate, 45.7 mL/min/1.73 m2) caused by hypertension before randomization onto the African American Study of Kidney Disease and Hypertension (AASK) Trial. Scales contributing to physical health and a summary measure, the Physical Component Summary (PCS) score (mean, 43.4 +/- 10.9 SD), were significantly lower than scales relating to mental health and the Mental Component Summary (MCS) score (51.3 +/- 10.3). All scales (except Role-Physical) and the PCS and MCS were significantly higher in men (44.3 +/- 10.9 and 51.8 +/- 10.0, respectively) than women (41.9 +/- 10.8 and 50.5 +/- 10.6, respectively). In multivariate analysis, employment status, education level, household income, body mass index, comorbid medical conditions, years of hypertension, number of antihypertensive drugs prescribed, exercise status, and male sex were significant independent predictors of PCS. Fewer factors predicted MCS and included employment status, marital status, current smoking, age, comorbid medical conditions, and male sex. In the entire AASK cohort, mean scores for individual scales, except Mental Health, and the PCS were lower, but the mean MCS score was slightly higher than values for the US general population. Values for individual scales of the SF-36 and the PCS were substantially higher among AASK participants compared with African-American hemodialysis patients. Six of the eight scales were lower in the AASK cohort compared with groups of racially mixed and exclusively African-American hypertensive subjects. We conclude that physical aspects of quality of life are substantially reduced compared with mental components among AASK participants, and a number of demographic and clinical characteristics significantly impact on HRQL.
Excess rumen-soluble Cu and Zn can alter rumen microbial populations and reduce fiber digestibility. Because of differences in particle size and chemical composition, ruminal and total-tract ...digestibility of fiber from forage- and by-product–based diets can differ. We hypothesized that, because of differences in mineral solubility, diets with hydroxy rather than sulfate trace minerals would have greater fiber digestibility, but the effect may depend on source of fiber. Eighteen multiparous cows were used in a split-plot replicated Latin square with two 28-d periods to evaluate the effects of Cu, Zn, and Mn source (sulfates or hydroxy; Micronutrients USA LLC, Indianapolis, IN) and neutral detergent fiber (NDF) source (forage diet = 26% NDF vs. by-product = 36%) on total-tract nutrient digestibility. During the entire experiment (56 d) cows remained on the same fiber treatment, but source of supplemental trace mineral was different for each 28-d period so that all cows were exposed to both mineral treatments. During each of the two 28-d periods, cows were fed no supplemental Cu, Zn, or Mn for 16 d followed by 12 d of feeding supplemental Cu, Zn, and Mn from either sulfates or hydroxy sources. Supplemental minerals for each of the mineral sources fed provided approximately 10, 35, and 32 mg/kg of supplemental Cu, Zn, and Mn, respectively, for both fiber treatments. Total dietary concentrations of Cu, Zn, and Mn were approximately 19, 65, and 70 mg/kg for the forage diets and 21, 85, and 79 mg/kg for the by-product diets, respectively. Treatment had no effect on dry matter intake (24.2 kg/d) or milk production (34.9 kg/d). Milk fatty acid profiles were altered by fiber source, mineral source, and their interaction. Cows fed the by-product diets had lower dry matter (65.9 vs. 70.2%), organic matter (67.4 vs. 71.7%), and crude protein digestibility (58.8 vs. 62.1%) but greater starch (97.5 vs. 96.3%) and NDF digestibility (50.5 vs. 44.4%) compared with cows fed the forage treatment. Feeding increased concentrations of by-products decreased total digestible nutrients regardless of mineral source. Feeding hydroxy Cu, Zn, and Mn increased NDF digestibility (48.5 vs. 46.4%) but had no effect on total digestible nutrients.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
The ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger is one of the main elements of the first stage of event selection for the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The input stage consists of a mixed analogue/digital ...component taking trigger sums from the ATLAS calorimeters. The trigger logic is performed in a digital, pipelined system with several stages of processing, largely based on FPGAs, which perform programmable algorithms in parallel with a fixed latency to process about 300 Gbyte/s of input data. The real-time output consists of counts of different types of physics objects and energy sums. The production of final modules started in 2006, and installation of these modules and the necessary infrastructure at ATLAS has been underway for some time, with the intention of having a full system in situ during 2007, before first collisions at the LHC. The first experiences of commissioning and running the full scale system will be presented, along with results from integration tests performed with the upstream calorimeters, and the downstream trigger and data flow systems.
T. G. Sandercock, J. A. Faulkner, J. W. Albers and P. H. Abbrecht
Muscle fatigue is defined as a loss of tension development during constant
stimulation. Although the relationship is not well ...documented, muscle
fatigue has been inferred from electromyogram (EMG) signals. The purpose of
this study was to determine the relationship between the amplitude and
duration of single motor unit action potentials (MUAPs) and the loss of
tension development (fatigue) in the medial gastrocnemius muscles of cats.
Single motor units were fatigued by continuous stimulation at 10 or 80 Hz
or with trains of 40-Hz stimuli. When motor units were stimulated at 10 Hz
and with trains at 40 Hz (low frequency), tension declined and remained
depressed during recovery. The changes in the MUAP correlated poorly with
changes in tension. During and after stimulation at 80 Hz (high frequency),
changes in the amplitude and duration of MUAPs correlated highly with
changes in tension development. Since the EMG signal is dependent on a
summation and cancellation of individual MUAPs, the EMG provides a
reasonable estimate of high-frequency fatigue but an unreliable measure of
low-frequency fatigue.
A prospective and consecutive series of 225 patients with severe head injuries who were managed in a uniform way was analyzed to relate outcome to several clinical variables. Good recovery or ...moderate disability were achieved by 56% of the patients, 10% remained severely disabled or vegetative, and 34% died. Factors important in predicting a poor outcome included the presence of intracranial hematoma, increasing age, abnormal motor responses, impaired or absent eye movements or pupil light reflexes, early hypotension, hypoxemia or hypercarbia, and elevation of intracranial pressure over 20 mm Hg despite artificial ventilation. Most of these predictive factors were assessed on admission, but a subset of 158 patients was identified in whom coma was present on admission and was known to have persisted at least until the following day. Although the mortality in this subset (40%) was higher than in the total series, it was lower than in several comparable reported series of patients with severe head injury. Predictive correlations were equally strong in the entire series and in the subset of 158 patients with coma. A plea is made for inclusion in the definition of "severe head injury" of all patients who do not obey commands or utter recognizable words on admission to the hospital after early resuscitation.
Flavopiridol is a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor that prevents cell cycle progression and tumor growth. In initial phase I studies, encouraging responses were seen in advanced renal cell cancer ...(RCC). In a phase II study of flavopiridol given as a 72-h continuous infusion every 2 weeks in RCC, a response rate of 6% was seen but with considerable grade 3 or 4 asthenia, diarrhea, and thrombosis. Subsequently, an alternative 1-h bolus schedule was reported to have enhanced tolerability in a phase I trial. We therefore conducted a phase II study of this bolus regimen.
A total of 38 patients with advanced RCC were entered into this multi-institutional phase II study. Flavopiridol (50 mg/m(2) per day) was administered by bolus intravenous injection daily for three consecutive days, repeated every 3 weeks.
Out of 34 eligible patients, one complete response and three partial responses were observed, for an overall response rate of 12% (95% CI 3-27%). Of the 34 patients, 14 (41%) had stable disease (SD). The probability of not failing treatment by 6 months was 21% (95% CI 9-35%). Median overall survival time was 9 months (95% CI 8-18 months). The most common grade 3 or 4 toxicities were diarrhea (35%) and tumor pain (12%) along with anemia, dyspnea, and fatigue (9% each).
Flavopiridol at this dose and schedule is feasible with an acceptable toxicity profile. Flavopiridol has some modest biologic activity against advanced RCC, as evidenced by its single-agent objective response and SD rates.
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EMUNI, FIS, FZAB, GEOZS, GIS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, MFDPS, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, SBMB, SBNM, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VKSCE, ZAGLJ
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