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Smaller Differences (smaller + difference)
Selected AbstractsHousehold Epidemics: Modelling Effects of Early Stage VaccinationBIOMETRICAL JOURNAL, Issue 3 2009Nyimvua Shaban Abstract A Markovian susceptible , infectious , removed (SIR) epidemic model is considered in a community partitioned into households. A vaccination strategy, which is implemented during the early stages of the disease following the detection of infected individuals is proposed. In this strategy, the detection occurs while an individual is infectious and other susceptible household members are vaccinated without further delay. Expressions are derived for the influence on the reproduction numbers of this vaccination strategy for equal and unequal household sizes. We fit previously estimated parameters from influenza and use household distributions for Sweden and Tanzania census data. The results show that the reproduction number is much higher in Tanzania (6 compared with 2) due to larger households, and that infected individuals have to be detected (and household members vaccinated) after on average 5 days in Sweden and after 3.3 days in Tanzania, a much smaller difference. [source] Altered cardiovascular vagal responses in nonelderly female patients with subclinical hyperthyroidism and no apparent cardiovascular diseaseCLINICAL ENDOCRINOLOGY, Issue 2 2007Renata Boschi Portella Summary Objective Subclinical hyperthyroidism (SH) has been associated with exercise intolerance, changes in cardiac morphology, atrial arrhythmias and sympathovagal imbalance. The aim of this study was to evaluate the vagal reserve and modulation by a sympathetic stimulus in nonelderly patients with SH without cardiovascular problems. Design We carried out a cross-sectional study, comparing data of the heart rate variability (HRV) of SH patients and healthy controls at rest and after vagal and sympathetic stimulation. Patients We studied 16 female patients with at least 6 months of SH and 16 healthy female controls with the same median age (40 vs. 34·5 years). Measurements We used the tilt test, with electrocardiographic record at rest, during the respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) manoeuvre and after tilting, in order to analyse HRV in the frequency domain (%high frequency (HF) and low/high frequency ratio (LF/HF) using Biopotentials Captation System software. Results The median TSH level was 0·03 mU/l in patients and 1·37 mUI/l in controls. The median free T4 was 1·37 ng/dl in patients and 1·20 ng/dl in controls. Patients demonstrated a significantly smaller difference between %HF during the RSA and %HF at rest than controls (median ,7·5 vs. 36·6, P < 0·001). There was a lower difference between LF/HF ratio after tilting and LF/HF ratio at rest in patients than in controls (1·5 vs. 5·3, P = 0·005). Conclusion Subclinical hyperthyroidism affects cardiovascular autonomic balance in otherwise apparently healthy nonelderly females by blunting vagal responses. [source] Density Functional Study of the Complexation Reaction of Sn(CH3)3X (X = F, Cl, Br and I) with Halide AnionsEUROPEAN JOURNAL OF INORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Issue 20 2003Frank De Proft Abstract The Lewis acid-base reaction between Sn(CH3)3X and Y, (with X, Y = F, Cl, Br and I) has been studied using quantum chemical calculations. Complexation energies were calculated at the Density Functional Theory (DFT) level and rationalized on the basis of a local application of the hard and soft acids and bases principle. It was observed that smaller differences in the local softness of the interacting sites in the Lewis acid and base correspond to stronger interactions. Moreover, the calculated sequences in complexation energies can be reproduced using equations containing chemical concepts introduced within the framework of conceptual density functional theory and rooted in the hard and soft acids and bases principle and referring only to the reactants. A method of treating the electronegativity and softness of the halide anions is presented based on a Taylor expansion of the electronegativity of the neutral halogens and the softness-polarizability proportionality. Experimental evidence for the calculated sequences was gathered from measured 117Sn chemical shifts and 1J (13C- 119/117Sn) coupling constant changes upon complexation. (© Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, 69451 Weinheim, Germany, 2003) [source] Activity of Serratia plymuthica IC1270 gene chiA promoter region in Escherichia coli mutants deficient in global regulators of transcriptionJOURNAL OF BASIC MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2005I. A. Khmel To study the regulation of expression of the Serratia plymuthica gene chiA encoding a 58-kDa endochitinase, its 586-bp-long upstream regulatory region was cloned, sequenced and fused to a promoterless lac operon in phage ,RS45 to obtain a single-copy transcriptional fusion (PF1chiA - lac ) in lysogens of Escherichia coli wild-type strains or their mutants deficient in various global regulators of transcription. The level of PF1chiA - lac expression increased about 20- and 90-fold, respectively, in E. coli K12 ,hns and double ,hns stpA mutants deficient in H-NS, and in both H-NS and StpA DNA-binding histone-like proteins, as compared to levels in the wild-type strain. In a ,lrp mutant deficient in the leucine-responsive transcriptional regulator Lrp, the level of PF1chiA - lac expression increased only up to threefold, whereas even smaller differences relative to the wild-type strain were observed in rpoS and ,crp mutants deficient in the ,S subunit of RNA polymerase and catabolite-repression protein (CRP), respectively. Deletion of the inverted-repeat sequences and curved DNA regions located in the upstream region of chiA essentially did not influence strain IC1270's chiA promoter activity in E. coli . (© 2005 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim) [source] Improving between-day kinematic reliability using a marker placement deviceJOURNAL OF ORTHOPAEDIC RESEARCH, Issue 11 2010Brian Noehren Abstract 3D motion analysis is commonly used to measure clinical outcomes, involving repeated measures over time. However, the day-to-day reliability of these measurements has been questioned and few attempts have been made to improve this reliability. Our purpose was to determine if a marker placement device (MPD) could improve day-to-day kinematic reliability as compared to manual marker placement. Ten healthy runners participated. Day-to-day comparisons of peak angles were made between manual marker placement and the use of an MPD. Reliability of each method was determined with intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC) and standard errors of measurement (SEM). The ICC and SEM values improved with the MPD. With the MPD, 7 out of 9 ICC values were >0.9 compared to only 3 when using manual marker placement. Additionally, the largest reduction in SEM values was in the transverse plane. Use of the MPD increases the power to detect smaller differences in studies of where gait is assessed over time. © 2010 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 28:1405,1410, 2010 [source] Gender-Related Traits in Gay Men, Lesbian Women, and Heterosexual Men and Women: The Virtual Identity of Homosexual-Heterosexual Diagnosticity and Gender DiagnosticityJOURNAL OF PERSONALITY, Issue 5 2000Richard A. Lippa Three studies investigated the relationship between gender-related traits and sexual orientation. Study 1 showed that gay men and lesbians in an unselected sample of 721 college students differed from same-sex heterosexuals most strongly on gender diagnosticity (GD) measures, which assess male- versus female-typicality of interests (effect sizes of 2.70 for men and .96 for women) and least strongly on measures of instrumentality (I) and expressiveness (E). In Study 2, GD measures showed large differences between 95 gay and 136 heterosexual men (effect sizes of 1.61 and 1.83) and between 46 lesbian and 225 heterosexual women (effect sizes of .98 and 1.28), whereas I and E showed much smaller differences. In Study 3, GD showed large differences between 90 gay and 81 heterosexual men (effect sizes of 1.76 and 1.97) and between 82 lesbians and 108 heterosexual women (effect sizes 1.67 and 1.70), whereas I and E showed much smaller differences. Using data from Studies 2 and 3, ,gay-heterosexual diagnosticity' measures were computed for men and ,lesbian-heterosexual diagnosticity' measures for women, based on occupational and hobby preferences. These measures correlated very strongly with GD measures. [source] EFFECTS OF DAM IMPOUNDMENT ON THE FLOOD REGIME OF NATURAL FLOODPLAIN COMMUNITIES IN THE UPPER CONNECTICUT RIVER,JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN WATER RESOURCES ASSOCIATION, Issue 6 2002Keith H. Nislow ABSTRACT: Understanding the effects of dams on the inundation regime of natural floodplain communities is critical for effective decision making on dam management or dam removal. To test the implications of hydrologic alteration by dams for floodplain natural communities, we conducted a combined field and modeling study along two reaches in the Connecticut River Rapids Macrosite (CRRM), one of the last remaining flowing water sections of the Upper Connecticut River. We surveyed multiple channel cross sections at both locations and concurrently identified and surveyed the elevations of important natural communities, native species of concern, and nonnative invasive species. Using a hydrologic model, HEC-RAS, we routed estimated pre-and post-impoundment discharges of different design recurrence intervals (two year through 100 year floods) through each reach to establish corresponding reductions in elevation and effective wetted perimeter following post-dam discharge reductions. By comparing (1) the frequency and duration of flooding of these surfaces before and after impoundment and (2) the total area flooded at different recurrence intervals, our goal was to derive a spatially explicit assessment of hydrologic alteration, directly relevant to natural floodplain communities. Post-impoundment hydrologic alteration profoundly affected the subsequent inundation regime, and this impact was particularly true of higher floodplain terraces. These riparian communities, which were flooded, on average, every 20 to 100 years pre-impoundment, were predicted to flood at 100 , 100 year intervals, essentially isolating them completely from riverine influence. At the pre-dam five to ten year floodplain elevations, we observed smaller differences in predicted flood frequency but substantial differences in the total area flooded and in the average flood duration. For floodplain forests in the Upper Connecticut River, this alteration by impoundment suggests that even if other stresses facing these communities (human development, invasive exotics) were alleviated, this may not be sufficient to restore intact natural communities. More generally, our approach provides a way to combine site specific variables with long term gage records in assessing the restorative potential of dam removal. [source] Rice leaf growth and water potential are resilient to evaporative demand and soil water deficit once the effects of root system are neutralizedPLANT CELL & ENVIRONMENT, Issue 8 2010BORIS PARENT ABSTRACT Rice is known to be sensitive to soil water deficit and evaporative demand, with a greatest sensitivity of lowland-adapted genotypes. We have analysed the responses of plant water relations and of leaf elongation rate (LER) to soil water status and evaporative demand in seven rice genotypes belonging to different species, subspecies, either upland- or lowland-adapted. In the considered range of soil water potential (0 to ,0.6 MPa), stomatal conductance was controlled in such a way that the daytime leaf water potential was similar in well-watered, droughted or flooded conditions (isohydric behaviour). A low sensitivity of LER to evaporative demand was observed in the same three conditions, with small differences between genotypes and lower sensitivity than in maize. The sensitivity of LER to soil water deficit was similar to that of maize. A tendency towards lower sensitivities was observed in upland than lowland genotypes but with smaller differences than expected. We conclude that leaf water status and leaf elongation of rice are not particularly sensitive to water deficit. The main origin of drought sensitivity in rice may be its poor root system, whose effect was alleviated in the study presented here by growing plants in pots whose soil was entirely colonized by roots of all genotypes. [source] | ||||||||||