Objectives
This study aimed to determine if changes in myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels correlate with response to cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) and the potential role of MPO as a predictor of ...response to CRT.
Background
CRT is a well-established treatment option in chronic heart failure (CHF) with 50–80% of patients benefiting. Inflammation and oxidative stress play a key role in CHF pathophysiology. Previous studies have demonstrated increased levels of MPO in CHF patients, but the correlation with CRT response remains incompletely understood.
Methods
Fifty-three patients underwent CRT implantation. During follow-up, patients were divided into two groups, responders and non-responders to CRT, based on improved physical capacity and NYHA classification. Levels of MPO and NT-pro-brain-natriuretic-peptide (NT-proBNP) were determined prior to implantation, 30 and 90 days after. Physical capacity, including a 6-min walking-test, NYHA class, and LVEF were evaluated at baseline and during follow-up.
Results
Thirty-four patients (64%) responded to CRT, showing improved physical capacity and LVEF. All responders revealed a significant decrease of MPO levels (503.8 ng/ml vs. 188.4 ng/ml;
p
< 0.001). Non-responding patients did not show any significant changes in clinical parameters or MPO levels (119.6 ng/ml vs. 134.3 ng/ml;
p
= 0.672) during follow-up. At baseline, physical capacity and NYHA class, as well as MPO levels differed significantly between both groups (
p
< 0.001). A ROC analysis identified an MPO cut-off value for response to CRT of 242 ng/ml with a sensitivity of 93.5% and specificity of 71.4%. There was a strong correlation between MPO and improvement of LVEF (Spearman’s rho: − 0.453;
p
= 0.005) and physical capacity (Spearman’s rho: − 0.335;
p
= 0.042).
Conclusions
Response to CRT and course of MPO levels correlate significantly. MPO levels differ between responders and non-responders prior to CRT, which may indicate an additional value of MPO as a predictor for CRT response. Further randomized studies are required to confirm our data in larger patient cohorts.
Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura) (Diptera: Drosophilidae) is a pest of small fruits and cherries, and has also been noted to infest a variety of wild, ornamental, and uncultivated hosts. Identifying ...alternative hosts is critical for pest management. Research objectives were to: 1) survey fruits in the field for natural infestation of D. suzukii, 2) determine the susceptibility of fruits in laboratory no-choice studies, and 3) evaluate short-range preference between simultaneously ripe alternative hosts and cultivated fruits in laboratory choice studies. Field surveys identified new hosts or confirmed previously reported hosts including: Berberis aquifolium Pursh, Oregon grape; Cornus spp., dogwood; Cotoneaster lacteus W.W. Smith, milkflower cotoneaster; Elaeagnus umbellata Thunberg, Autumn olive; Frangula purshiana (de Candolle) A. Gray, cascara buckthorn; Lindera benzoin (L.) Blume, spicebush; Lonicera caerulea L., blue honeysuckle; Morus sp., mulberry; Phytolacca americana L., pokeweed; Prunus avium (L.) L., wild cherry; Prunus laurocerasus L., cherry laurel; Prunus lusitanica L., Portuguese laurel; Rubus armeniacus Focke, Himalaya blackberry; Rubus spectabilis Pursh, salmonberry; Sambucus nigra L., black elderberry; Sarcococca confusa Sealy, sweet box; Solanum dulcamara L., bittersweet nightshade; and Symphoricarpos albus (L.) S.F. Blake, snowberry. High fruit infestations were observed in S. confusa during April—May and Lonicera spp. in June before most commercial fruits ripen. From both field and laboratory studies, there was no evidence of susceptibility during the estimated ripe period Crataegus L. ‘Autumn Glory,’ hawthorn; Ilex crenata Thunberg, Japanese holly; Nandina domestica Thunberg, sacred bamboo; Rhaphiolepis umbellata (Thunberg) Makino, yeddo hawthorne; Rosa acicularis Lindley, prickly rose; Skimmia japonica Thunberg, Japanese skimmia; and Viburnum davidii Franchet, David's viburnum. Lastly, laboratory choice tests identified that several fall-ripening alternative hosts were more susceptible than ‘Pinot noir’ or ‘Pinot gris’ wine grapes. By understanding host use, growers can identify high-risk areas where coordinated action may reduce infestation of D. suzukii in crops.
BACKGROUND: The spotted wing Drosophila, Drosophila suzukii (Matsumura, 1931) (Diptera: Drosophilidae), is an invasive pest of small‐fruit crops. Unlike most other Drosophila, this insect is able to ...oviposit into and damage ripe and ripening fruit, making it unmarketable. Because this is a new pest in the United States, it is necessary to identify registered insecticides to manage this insect effectively in conventional and organic production systems. RESULTS: The present laboratory bioassays and field trials identified a number of insecticides representing various modes of action that are effective in controlling D. suzukii. Products that performed well in the laboratory bioassay also performed well in the field, indicating that screening of new chemistries in the laboratory is a worthy exercise. Field application of pyrethoids, organophosphates or spinosyns provided 5–14 days of residual control of D. suzukii. The efficacy of the neonicotinoids as adulticides was not satisfactory compared with the other contact‐mode‐of‐action chemistries. Based on the zero tolerance by the small‐fruit industry and the individual effects mentioned above, neonicotinoids are not currently recommended for D. suzukii management. CONCLUSIONS: There are effective insecticides registered for controlling D. suzukii infestations in susceptible small‐fruit crops.
The recent arrival of Drosophila suzukii, an invasive pest of soft‐skinned fruit with a wide host range, has resulted in increased production costs for growers and the need for additional insecticide ...applications each growing season. There are few effective organic insecticides for D. suzukii, and insecticide use in conventional farms may be disruptive to natural enemies, suggesting a need for effective biological control to combat D. suzukii. Commercially available natural enemies were evaluated for their potential use in augmentative releases, including: the predators Orius insidiosus and Dalotia coriaria; the entomopathogenic fungi Metarhizium anisopliae, Beauveria bassiana and Paecilomyces fumosoroseus; and the entomopathogenic nematodes Heterorhabditis bacteriophora, Steinernema feltiae and S. carpocapsae. This suite of natural enemies was chosen to target D. suzukii adults as well as larvae in hanging or dropped fruit. Of the cultured fungal strains tested, only M. anisopliae significantly decreased D. suzukii survival, but it had low residual activity and no effect on D. suzukii fecundity. O. insidiosus decreased D. suzukii survival in simple laboratory arenas but not on potted blueberries or bagged blueberry branches outdoors. D. coriaria did not decrease D. suzukii survival in infested blueberries in simple laboratory arenas. The nematodes tested showed low infection rates and were not able to affect D. suzukii survival. Although this suite of natural enemies showed limited ability to suppress D. suzukii under the tested conditions, these and related natural enemies are present as part of the endemic natural enemy community in agricultural fields, where they may contribute to D. suzukii suppression.
Several physical effects that limit the reliability and performance of multilevel flash memories induce errors that have low magnitudes and are dominantly asymmetric. This paper studies block codes ...for asymmetric limited-magnitude errors over q-ary channels. We propose code constructions and bounds for such channels when the number of errors is bounded by t and the error magnitudes are bounded by l . The constructions utilize known codes for symmetric errors, over small alphabets, to protect large-alphabet symbols from asymmetric limited-magnitude errors. The encoding and decoding of these codes are performed over the small alphabet whose size depends only on the maximum error magnitude and is independent of the alphabet size of the outer code. Moreover, the size of the codes is shown to exceed the sizes of known codes (for related error models), and asymptotic rate-optimality results are proved. Extensions of the construction are proposed to accommodate variations on the error model and to include systematic codes as a benefit to practical implementation.
Rank Modulation for Flash Memories Anxiao Jiang; Mateescu, R.; Schwartz, M. ...
IEEE transactions on information theory,
06/2009, Letnik:
55, Številka:
6
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
We explore a novel data representation scheme for multilevel flash memory cells, in which a set of n cells stores information in the permutation induced by the different charge levels of the ...individual cells. The only allowed charge-placement mechanism is a ldquopush-to-the-toprdquo operation, which takes a single cell of the set and makes it the top-charged cell. The resulting scheme eliminates the need for discrete cell levels, as well as overshoot errors, when programming cells. We present unrestricted Gray codes spanning all possible n-cell states and using only "push-to-the-top" operations, and also construct balanced Gray codes. One important application of the Gray codes is the realization of logic multilevel cells, which is useful in conventional storage solutions. We also investigate rewriting schemes for random data modification. We present both an optimal scheme for the worst case rewrite performance and an approximation scheme for the average-case rewrite performance.
Drosophila suzukii
(Matsumura) is an economic pest of small fruits and cherries that attacks intact ripening fruits. Host susceptibility may be influenced by characteristics such as flesh firmness, ...penetration force of the skin, total soluble solids (TSS, also known as °Brix), and pH. Improved knowledge of factors affecting fruit susceptibility is needed for developing thresholds and risk prediction models for IPM. A combination of laboratory and field studies was conducted to develop prediction and potential management tools. First, a direct bioassay was used to calculate the probability of oviposition in a given fruit based on various characteristics as determined across laboratory and field trials in Oregon and North Carolina, US. When multiple characteristics were evaluated simultaneously, oviposition probability consistently increased as penetration force decreased and pH increased. Oviposition probability sometimes increased as TSS increased. Second, raspberries and blueberries in unsprayed fields had substantially lower infestation in ripening fruit compared to ripe fruit. There was no or minimal infestation in green fruit. Third, given that skin penetration force influences oviposition, practices used to improve fruit quality were examined in laboratory no-choice cages for potential reduction of oviposition. Blueberry fruit sprayed with calcium silicate in the field had greater penetration force and firmness and reduced number of eggs laid by
D. suzukii
compared to untreated fruit. Other calcium-based treatments increased Ca content and firmness of fruit relative to untreated fruit. Timing of insecticide spray for
D. suzukii
might be delayed until fruit become susceptible.
Cyclic Lowest Density MDS Array Codes Cassuto, Y.; Bruck, J.
IEEE transactions on information theory,
04/2009, Letnik:
55, Številka:
4
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Three new families of lowest density maximum-distance separable (MDS) array codes are constructed, which are cyclic or quasi-cyclic. In addition to their optimal redundancy (MDS) and optimal update ...complexity (lowest density), the symmetry offered by the new codes can be utilized for simplified implementation in storage applications. The proof of the code properties has an indirect structure: first MDS codes that are not cyclic are constructed, and then transformed to cyclic codes by a minimum-distance preserving transformation.
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