From 1966 to 1971 the First Australian Task Force was part of the counterinsurgency campaign in South Vietnam. Though considered a small component of the Free World effort in the war, these troops ...from Australia and New Zealand were in fact the best trained and prepared for counterinsurgency warfare. However, until now, their achievements have been largely overlooked by military historians. The Search for Tactical Success in Vietnam sheds new light on this campaign by examining the thousands of small-scale battles that the First Australian Task Force was engaged in. The book draws on statistical, spatial and temporal analysis, as well as primary data, to present a unique study of the tactics and achievements of the First Australian Task Force in Phuoc Tuy Province, South Vietnam. Further, original maps throughout the text help to illustrate how the Task Force's tactics were employed.
This research attempted to focus upon the African American consumer and to investigate the impact of consumers' levels of ethnic identity on their purchase behaviors. The current research took a ...major departure from existing theories of minority consumer spending by incorporating survey measures to assess participants' level of ethnic identity as well as their levels of self esteem. Several local area minority organizations and churches were contacted for participation in the project, which included completing the Rosenberg Self Esteem Scale, Baldwin's African Self-Consciousness Scale, demographic indexes and several questionnaires to assess their purchase behaviors across various categories. A series of correlations and ANOVAs were conducted. Although the results of the survey do not support our hypotheses, they do provide a strong foundation for future research into the evolving minority consumer segment.
The early stages of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) are characterized by the accumulation of fat in the liver (steatosis). This can lead to cell injury and inflammation resulting in ...nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). To determine whether lipid profiling of liver tissue can identify metabolic signatures associated with disease presence and severity, we explored liquid extraction surface analysis mass spectrometry (LESA–MS) as a novel sampling tool. Using LESA–MS, lipids were extracted directly from the surface of ultrathin slices of liver tissue prior to detection by high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS). An isotopically labeled internal standard mix was incorporated into the extraction solvent to attain semiquantitative data. Data mining and multivariate statistics were employed to evaluate the generated lipid profiles and abundances. With this approach, we were able to differentiate healthy and NAFLD liver in mouse and human tissue samples, finding several triacylglyceride (TAG) and free fatty acid (FFA) species to be significantly increased. Furthermore, LESA–MS was able to successfully differentiate between simple steatosis and more severe NASH, based on a set of short-chain TAGs and FFAs. We compared the data obtained by LESA–MS to that from liquid chromatography (LC)–MS and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization MS. Advantages of LESA–MS include rapid analysis, minimal sample preparation, and high lipid coverage. Furthermore, since tissue slices are routinely used for diagnostics in clinical settings, LESA–MS is ideally placed to complement traditional histology. Overall LESA–MS is found to be a robust, fast, and discriminating approach for determining NAFLD presence and severity in clinical samples.
Background and Aims
Hepatocytes undergo profound metabolic rewiring when primed to proliferate during compensatory regeneration and in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the metabolic control ...of these processes is not fully understood. In order to capture the metabolic signature of proliferating hepatocytes, we applied state‐of‐the‐art systems biology approaches to models of liver regeneration, pharmacologically and genetically activated cell proliferation, and HCC.
Approach and Results
Integrating metabolomics, lipidomics, and transcriptomics, we link changes in the lipidome of proliferating hepatocytes to altered metabolic pathways including lipogenesis, fatty acid desaturation, and generation of phosphatidylcholine (PC). We confirm this altered lipid signature in human HCC and show a positive correlation of monounsaturated PC with hallmarks of cell proliferation and hepatic carcinogenesis.
Conclusions
Overall, we demonstrate that specific lipid metabolic pathways are coherently altered when hepatocytes switch to proliferation. These represent a source of targets for the development of therapeutic strategies and prognostic biomarkers of HCC.
In this prospective, population-based survey of children under the age of 5 years, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) was shown to be associated with 20% of hospitalizations, 18% of emergency ...department visits, and 15% of office visits for acute respiratory infections during the winter. Only 3% of the outpatient RSV infections were specifically diagnosed.
In children under the age of 5 years, respiratory syncytial virus was shown to be associated with 20% of hospitalizations, 18% of emergency department visits, and 15% of office visits for acute respiratory infections during the winter.
The primary role of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in causing lower respiratory disease among infants has made its control a worldwide priority.
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However, in the United States, the total burden of RSV infection during the first 5 years of life remains poorly defined, particularly in the outpatient setting. Previous studies have been limited because they were retrospective, of short duration, lacked laboratory confirmation of RSV infection, or focused only on hospitalizations or bronchiolitis.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) initiated the New Vaccine Surveillance Network (NVSN), a prospective, population-based inpatient and outpatient surveillance for acute respiratory . . .
Background. Rhinoviruses frequently cause the common cold but have not been considered important causes of acute respiratory hospitalizations in children. Methods. A population-based surveillance ...study was performed among children <5 years of age who were hospitalized with respiratory symptoms or fever and who resided within counties encompassing Nashville, Tennessee, or Rochester, New York, from October 2000 through September 2001. Data collected included questionnaires, nasal and throat swabs for viral culture and polymerase chain reaction testing, and chart review. Rates of rhinovirus-associated hospitalizations were calculated. Results. Of 592 children enrolled, 156 (26%) were rhinovirus positive, representing 4.8 (95% confidence interval CI, 4.3–5.2) rhinovirus-associated hospitalizations/1000 children. Age-specific rates per 1000 children were 17.6 (95% CI, 14.9–20.6) for 0–5-month-olds, 6.0 (95% CI, 5.0–7.0) for 6–23-month-olds, and 2.0 (95% CI, 1.6, 2.4) for 24–59-month-olds (P<.01) Children with a history of wheezing/asthma had significantly more rhinovirusassociated hospitalizations than those without a history (25.3/1000 children 95% CI, 21.6–29.5/1000 children vs. 3.1/1000 children 95% CI, 2.7–3.5/1000 children). Conclusions. Rhinoviruses were associated with nearly 5 hospitalizations/1000 children <5 years of age and were highest in children with a history of wheezing/asthma.
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) can progress from simple steatosis (i.e., nonalcoholic fatty liver NAFL) to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), cirrhosis, and cancer. Currently, the driver ...for this progression is not fully understood; in particular, it is not known how NAFLD and its early progression affects the distribution of lipids in the liver, producing lipotoxicity and inflammation. In this study, we used dietary and genetic mouse models of NAFL and NASH and translated the results to humans by correlating the spatial distribution of lipids in liver tissue with disease progression using advanced mass spectrometry imaging technology. We identified several lipids with distinct zonal distributions in control and NAFL samples and observed partial to complete loss of lipid zonation in NASH. In addition, we found increased hepatic expression of genes associated with remodeling the phospholipid membrane, release of arachidonic acid (AA) from the membrane, and production of eicosanoid species that promote inflammation and cell injury. The results of our immunohistochemistry analyses suggest that the zonal location of remodeling enzyme LPCAT2 plays a role in the change in spatial distribution for AA‐containing lipids. This results in a cycle of AA‐enrichment in pericentral hepatocytes, membrane release of AA, and generation of proinflammatory eicosanoids and may account for increased oxidative damage in pericentral regions in NASH. Conclusion: NAFLD is associated not only with lipid enrichment, but also with zonal changes of specific lipids and their associated metabolic pathways. This may play a role in the heterogeneous development of NAFLD. (Hepatology 2017;65:1165‐1180)
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