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Monitoring Protocols (monitoring + protocol)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Life Sciences71%
Medical Sciences28%

Selected Abstracts

To Explant or Not to Explant: An Invasive and Noninvasive Monitoring Protocol to Determine the Need of Continued Ventricular Assist Device Support

CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE, Issue 2 2009
Satoru Osaki MD
Predictors of myocardial recovery after ventricular assist device (VAD) implantation are not well defined. The authors report their current VAD weaning protocol. Between 2003 and 2006, 38 patients received VAD implants. The authors performed 5 tests in 4 patients in whom echocardiography findings suggested myocardial recovery after implant. The protocol consists of assessing symptoms, electrocardiographic findings, hemodynamics, and cardiac function at baseline and as VAD support is weaned. As a result, 3 patients passed the weaning protocol and were explanted. There has been no recurrence of heart failure 667, 752, and 1007 days after explant, respectively. One patient failed the protocol after 151 days of support because of low cardiac index during the protocol. This patient was transplanted. This current experience of VAD weaning protocol is a novel tool to identify candidates for successful VAD explantation. [source]

Power to detect trends in ecological indicators in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2003
William D. Newmark
Abstract We evaluated the statistical power of monitoring protocols to detect, over a 10-year period, trends in indices of abundance of primates, hornbills and forest interior dung beetles and growth rates of epiphytic ferns in the Amani Nature Reserve, in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania. Local technicians are responsible for the day-to-day gathering of data. The existing monitoring protocols for blue monkey, silver-cheeked hornbills, trumpeter hornbills, forest interior dung beetles and Asplenium nidus have sufficient statistical power (>0.80) to detect trends of 65% or less over a 10-year period. Monitoring protocols for black and white colobus and Asplenium holstii have lower statistical power (<0.80). We therefore conclude that the majority of monitoring protocols of the East Usambara Ecological Monitoring Project have the capacity both logistically and statistically to detect long-term trends in important functional groups in the East Usambara Mountains. Résumé Nous avons évalué le pouvoir prédictif des protocoles de surveillance continue pour détecter, sur une période de 10 ans, la tendance des indices d'abondance des primates, des calaos et des bousiers de forêt, et des taux de croissance des fougères épiphytes dans la Réserve Nature d'Amani, dans les East Usambara Mountains, en Tanzanie. Des techniciens locaux sont responsables de la récolte quotidienne des données. Les protocoles actuels de surveillance continue des cercopithèques à diadème, des calaos Ceratogymna brevis et Cerratogymna bucinator, des bousiers de forêt et d'Asplenium nidus ont un pouvoir prédictif suffisant (>0.80) pour déceler des tendances de 65% ou moins sur 10 ans. Les protocoles de surveillance continue du colobe blanc et noir et d'Asplenium holstii ont un pouvoir prédictif plus faible (<0.80). Nous avons donc conclu que la majorité des protocoles de surveillance continue du Projet de Surveillance Écologique Continue des East Usambara avaient les capacités logistique et statistique, de déceler des tendances à long terme de groupes fonctionnels importants dans les East Usambara Mountains. [source]

Early immunological monitoring after pediatric liver transplantation: Cytokine immune deviation and graft acceptance in 40 recipients

LIVER TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 3 2007
Jérémie Gras
Cytokine deviation may be a factor contributing to graft acceptance. We analyze, in the context of liver transplantation, circulating cytokine levels and their mRNA precursors in liver biopsy samples to study a putative correlation with early immunologic outcome. Forty primary pediatric liver recipients were submitted to a prospective immune monitoring protocol, including 8 of 40 patients with an early, biopsy-proven acute rejection episode. The 32 patients with graft acceptance showed markedly increased interleukin (IL)-10 blood levels at 2 hours after reperfusion on days 1 and 4 after transplantation as compared with baseline, whereas patients with graft rejection only exhibited increased IL-10 levels at 2 hours. A good correlation was observed between IL-10 peripheral levels and levels ascertained by IL-10 reverse transcriptase,polymerase chain reaction at 2 hours and on day 7. Patients with graft acceptance also showed a decrease in interferon gamma (IFN-,) at 1 and 2 hours after reperfusion on days 1, 4, 7, 14, and 28 after transplantation. One patient with graft tolerance who had subsequent immunosuppression withdrawal after posttransplantation lymphoproliferative disease showed a similar intraoperative IL-10 pattern, whereas posttransplantation tumor necrosis factor alpha and IFN-, levels greatly decreased. The occurrence of cytokine immune deviation may therefore be related to early graft acceptance in children who receive liver transplants. Liver Transpl 13:426,433, 2007. © 2007 AASLD. [source]

Phase distribution of synthetic pyrethroids in runoff and stream water

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 1 2004
Weiping Liu
Abstract Synthetic pyrethroids (SPs) are a group of hydrophobic compounds with significant aquatic toxicity. Their strong affinity to suspended solids and humic materials suggests that SPs in natural surface water are distributed in solid-adsorbed, dissolved organic matter (DOM)-adsorbed, and freely dissolved phases. The freely dissolved phase is of particular importance because of its mobility and bioavailability. In the present study, we used solid-phase microextraction to detect the freely dissolved phase, and we evaluated the phase distribution of bifenthrin and permethrin in stream and runoff waters. In stream water, most SPs were associated with the suspended solids and, to a lesser extent, with DOM. The freely dissolved phase contributed only 0.4% to 1.0%. In runoff effluents, the freely dissolved concentration was 10% to 27% of the overall concentration. The predominant partitioning into the adsorbed phases implies that the toxicity of SPs in surface water is reduced because of decreased bioavailability. This also suggests that monitoring protocols that do not selectively define the freely dissolved phase can lead to significant overestimation of toxicity or water-quality impacts by SPs. [source]

Louisiana waterthrushes (Seiurus motacilla) and habitat assessments as cost-effective indicators of instream biotic integrity

FRESHWATER BIOLOGY, Issue 10 2006
B. J. MATTSSON
Summary 1. Benthic stream animals, in particular macroinvertebrates, are good indicators of water quality, but sampling can be laborious to obtain accurate indices of biotic integrity. Thus, tools for bioassessment that include measurements other than macroinvertebrates would be valuable additions to volunteer monitoring protocols. 2. We evaluated the usefulness of a stream-dependent songbird, the Louisiana waterthrush (waterthrush, Seiurus motacilla) and the Environmental Protection Agency Visual Habitat Assessment (EPA VHA) as indicators of the macrobenthos community in headwater streams of the Georgia Piedmont, U.S.A. We sampled macrobenthos, surveyed waterthrushes and measured habitat characteristics along 39 headwater reaches across 17 catchments ranging from forested to heavily urbanised or grazed by cattle. 3. Of the indicators considered, waterthrush occupancy was best for predicting relative abundances of macrobenthic taxa, while the EPA VHA was best for predicting Ephemeroptera,Plecoptera,Trichoptera (EPT) richness. Individual components of EPA VHA scores were much less useful as indicators of EPT richness and % EPT when compared with the total score. Waterthrushes were found along streams with higher % EPT, a lower Family Biotic Index (FBI) values and greater macrobenthos biomass. 4. While macroinvertebrates remain one of the most direct indicators of stream water quality, stream bird surveys and reach-scale habitat assessments can serve as cost-effective indicators of benthic macroinvertebrate communities. Using stream-dependent birds as an early warning signal for degradation of stream biotic integrity could improve the efficacy of catchment monitoring programmes in detecting and identifying perturbations within the catchment. [source]

Power to detect trends in ecological indicators in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania

AFRICAN JOURNAL OF ECOLOGY, Issue 4 2003
William D. Newmark
Abstract We evaluated the statistical power of monitoring protocols to detect, over a 10-year period, trends in indices of abundance of primates, hornbills and forest interior dung beetles and growth rates of epiphytic ferns in the Amani Nature Reserve, in the East Usambara Mountains, Tanzania. Local technicians are responsible for the day-to-day gathering of data. The existing monitoring protocols for blue monkey, silver-cheeked hornbills, trumpeter hornbills, forest interior dung beetles and Asplenium nidus have sufficient statistical power (>0.80) to detect trends of 65% or less over a 10-year period. Monitoring protocols for black and white colobus and Asplenium holstii have lower statistical power (<0.80). We therefore conclude that the majority of monitoring protocols of the East Usambara Ecological Monitoring Project have the capacity both logistically and statistically to detect long-term trends in important functional groups in the East Usambara Mountains. Résumé Nous avons évalué le pouvoir prédictif des protocoles de surveillance continue pour détecter, sur une période de 10 ans, la tendance des indices d'abondance des primates, des calaos et des bousiers de forêt, et des taux de croissance des fougères épiphytes dans la Réserve Nature d'Amani, dans les East Usambara Mountains, en Tanzanie. Des techniciens locaux sont responsables de la récolte quotidienne des données. Les protocoles actuels de surveillance continue des cercopithèques à diadème, des calaos Ceratogymna brevis et Cerratogymna bucinator, des bousiers de forêt et d'Asplenium nidus ont un pouvoir prédictif suffisant (>0.80) pour déceler des tendances de 65% ou moins sur 10 ans. Les protocoles de surveillance continue du colobe blanc et noir et d'Asplenium holstii ont un pouvoir prédictif plus faible (<0.80). Nous avons donc conclu que la majorité des protocoles de surveillance continue du Projet de Surveillance Écologique Continue des East Usambara avaient les capacités logistique et statistique, de déceler des tendances à long terme de groupes fonctionnels importants dans les East Usambara Mountains. [source]

Establishing survey and monitoring protocols for the assessment of conservation status of fish populations in river Special Areas of Conservation in the UK

AQUATIC CONSERVATION: MARINE AND FRESHWATER ECOSYSTEMS, Issue 1 2009
I.G. Cowx
Abstract 1.Under the EC Habitats Directive (92/43/EEC), several rivers in the UK have been designated Special Areas of Conservation (SACs) because they support important populations of fish species. Several factors need to be considered when establishing survey protocols to assess the conservation status of fish species in these rivers. 2.It is important to understand the biology and habitat requirements of fish species and to design appropriate monitoring surveys that adequately assess the status of the fish populations. This information can, in turn, provide the basis for establishing sustainable conservation targets for specific stocks, a process known as condition assessment. 3.Favourable condition of fish species in SAC rivers is assessed using three criteria. The first relates to density of fish in various life stages against pre-set targets, assuming that an appropriate number of sites is surveyed to account for natural spatial and temporal variations in fish populations. The second is evaluation of the demographic structure to demonstrate continued recruitment success. Third, by mapping the distribution of the target species in individual rivers and where favourable condition is only achieved where there has been no reduction in the distribution range river between surveys. 4.The framework described was developed from limited survey data. As more monitoring and assessment data become available, the threshold criteria for favourable condition for each species should be improved, and uncertainty in the procedures reduced. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]