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Upper Threshold (upper + threshold)
Selected AbstractsThe accuracy of cystatin C and commonly used creatinine-based methods for detecting moderate and mild chronic kidney disease in diabetesDIABETIC MEDICINE, Issue 4 2007R. J. MacIsaac Abstract Background, The accuracy of measuring serum cystatin C levels for detecting various stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) in diabetes is still unclear. Methods In a cross-sectional study of 251 subjects, a reference glomerular filtration rate (GFR) was measured using 99cTc-DTPA plasma clearance (iGFR). Multivariate analysis was used to identify independent clinical and biochemical associations with serum cystatin C and iGFR levels. The diagnostic accuracy of cystatin C and commonly used creatinine-based methods of measuring renal function (serum creatinine, the MDRD four-variable and Cockcroft,Gault formulae) for detecting mild and moderate CKD was also compared. Results, In the entire study population the same five variables, age, urinary albumin excretion rates, haemoglobin, history of macrovascular disease and triglyceride levels were independently associated with both cystatin C and iGFR levels. A serum cystatin C level cut-off > 82.1 nmol/l (1.10 mg/l) had the best test characteristics as a screening tool for detecting moderate CKD (< 60 ml/min per 1.73 m2) when compared with creatinine-based methods. At the upper threshold for mild CKD (< 90 ml/min per 1.73 m2), cystatin C also had greater diagnostic accuracy than creatinine, but had similar diagnostic accuracy when compared with creatinine-based formulae for predicting renal function. Conclusions, This study suggests that the clinical and biochemical parameters associated with serum cystatin C levels are closely linked to those associated with GFR and highlights the potential usefulness of screening for moderate or mild CKD in subjects with diabetes by simply measuring serum cystatin C levels. [source] Morphometric Controls and Basin Response in The Cascade MountainsGEOGRAFISKA ANNALER SERIES A: PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY, Issue 3 2001Fes De Scally Morphometric variables associated with 36 debris torrent, 78 snow avalanche, 45 composite debris torrent and snow avalanche and 14 streamflow basins in the Cascade Mountains of southwestern British Columbia, Canada are examined. The results show significant statistical differences in top and bottom elevations, relief, channel length and gradient, basin area, fan gradient and area, and basin ruggedness between snow avalanche basins and the two basin types affected by debris torrents, reflecting the very different nature of these processes. Only top and bottom elevations and fan area differ significantly between debris torrent and debris torrent-snow avalanche basins, implying that the latter are probably debris torrent basins in origin. As many as six morphometric variables are significantly different between streamflow basins and the other basin types, allowing the former to be differentiated despite their small, steep character. Discriminant analysis indicates that bottom elevation and channel or path gradient are the best variables for classifying the four basin types by process. Generally strong correlations exist between basin area on the one hand and relief, channel length and channel gradient on the other in debris torrent, debris torrent-snow avalanche, and streamflow basins. Fan gradient and area are, however, weakly or modestly correlated with basin area or ruggedness. No such morphometric relations are present in snow avalanche basins. The results of this study also indicate that in debris torrent-prone basins the fan gradient and Melton's R have identifiable lower thresholds while basin area has an upper threshold, but use of these thresholds for identification of debris torrent hazard is complicated by overlapping thresholds for streamflow basins. [source] Relevance of incubation temperature for Vibrio salmonicida vaccine productionJOURNAL OF APPLIED MICROBIOLOGY, Issue 6 2002D.J. Colquhoun Aims:,To investigate the relationships between water temperature, bacterial growth, virulence and antigen expression in Vibrio salmonicida, the causal agent of cold water vibriosis in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar L.). Methods and Results:,The significance of sea temperature was investigated using historical clinical and oceanographic data. An upper threshold for disease of approx. 10°C was established. The effects of culture temperature and media type on bacterial growth were studied on solid and in liquid media. The highest rates of cell division were identified at 15°C on solid media and 10°C in liquid media. Outer membrane protein (OMP) expression and serological response in Atlantic salmon were studied using sodium dodecyl sulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, Western blotting and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. A novel 76-kDa OMP produced in unshaken cultures at 10°C was not found to stimulate a specific humoral response. Conclusions:,Diagnostic agar plate-based incubation of suspected V. salmonicida should be carried out at 15°C. High yield broth cultures for vaccine production should be incubated at 10°C or lower. Significance and Impact of the Study:,This study is, to the best of our knowledge, the first to identify different optimal temperatures in a bacterial species cultured on physically different types of media. The evidence presented suggests that V. salmonicida and possibly other bacteria destined for vaccine use in poikilothermic organisms should be cultured at temperatures consistent with that at which disease occurs. [source] Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon residues in the sediments of a dune lake as a result of power boatingLAKES & RESERVOIRS: RESEARCH AND MANAGEMENT, Issue 1 2001Thorsten D. Mosisch Abstract The potential chemical effects of motorized recreational activities (power boating, water skiing, jet skiing) on Brown Lake, an Australian perched, acid dune lake, were investigated. The objective of this study was to identify and quantify polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon compounds (PAHs) that may have accumulated in the water and/or the organic bottom sediments of the test lake as a result of the operation of powered recreational watercraft, and to evaluate any risk to aquatic biota. To achieve this, a detailed sampling and analysis programme of the lake water and sediments was implemented. Basic water quality, ionic and nutrient data gave no indication of any deterioration in the water quality of the lake, which was attributable to human usage in general or motorized recreational activities in particular. However, analysis of samples taken from the organic bottom sediments of the lake revealed the presence of 10 PAH, including benzo(a)pyrene, chrysene, fluoranthene, phenanthrene and pyrene, which are known to be indicative of fossil fuel combustion processes. Three PAH compounds were found at all survey sites: benzo(a)pyrene (in 46% of samples), fluoranthene (in 53% of samples) and pyrene (in 44% of samples). Results of the analyses were compared with values from published guidelines for residues in freshwaters and sediments, as well as with previous studies dealing with the effects of fossil fuel combustion products on lakes. The highest PAH concentrations in sediments were recorded for benzo(a)pyrene, with three values (830, 955 and 1070 ,g kg,1 dryweight) exceeding the upper threshold recommended in the draft Canadian freshwater sediment quality guidelines. Benzo(a)pyrene also exceeded the lower Canadian sediment threshold in 51 (40%) samples. These results indicate a significant level of chemical contamination of Brown Lake as a consequence of four decades of motorized recreational activities and present a significant risk to aquatic biota, particularly benthic and littoral invertebrates associated with the contaminated sediments. [source] Mycophenolate Blood Level Monitoring: Recent ProgressAMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 7 2009T. Van Gelder The concentration,effect relationship for mycophenolic acid (MPA), and the high variability in MPA concentrations in patients on standard dose mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) therapy, for some centers has provided enough evidence to implement therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) for MMF in daily practice. Two randomized trials Adaption de Posologie du MMF en Greffe Renale (APOMYGRE) and fixed-dose versus concentration controlled (FDCC) investigated the added benefit of TDM for MMF in renal transplant recipients. The APOMYGRE study showed a significant reduction in the incidence of acute rejection in concentration-controlled patients, while the FDCC study had a negative outcome, despite a similar study design. Although it was expected that these prospective trials would give the final answer to the question of whether or not TDM for MMF would be of benefit, it seems that the studies have not had much impact on patient management. Several trials have shown the importance of early adequate exposure to MPA in the first week after transplantation. As it will be hard to improve MPA exposure with TDM, this early, ongoing study now investigates the use of an increased starting dose. The increased starting dose will avoid underexposure to MPA in higher proportions of patients shortly after transplantation but may result in more toxicity in patients with MPA exposures exceeding the upper threshold of the therapeutic window. [source] Morphometric controls and geomorphic responses on fans in the Southern Alps, New ZealandEARTH SURFACE PROCESSES AND LANDFORMS, Issue 3 2004Fes A. de Scally Abstract Morphometric variables associated with 41 debris-,ow and 18 ,uvial fans and their basins in the Southern Alps of New Zealand are examined. The results show statistically signi,cant differences in the area, maximum elevation, relief and ruggedness (Melton's R) of the basin and the area, gradient, and apex and toe elevations of the fan between debris-,ow and ,uvial sites. Concavity of the fan longitudinal pro,le also differs between the two fan types, although this could not be tested statistically. Most of these morphometric differences re,ect differences in processes and environmental controls on them. Discriminant analysis indicates that basin area and fan gradient best differentiate the two fan types by process. Moderately strong correlations exist, on both debris-,ow and ,uvial fans, between basin area or Melton's R and fan area. Correlations between basin area or Melton's R and fan gradient are generally weaker. The results of this study also indicate that on debris-,ow-prone fans the fan gradient and basin Melton's R have lower thresholds which overlap little with upper thresholds associated with basins where only stream,ow reaches the fan. These thresholds may therefore have value in preliminary morphometric assessments of debris-,ow hazard on fans in the Southern Alps. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | |||||||||||||