Improvement of lung preservation - From experiment to clinical practice

Background. Reperfusion injury represents a severe early complication following lung transplantation. Among the pathogenetic factors, the high potassium content of Euro-Collins(R) solution is discussed. Material and Methods: In a pig model of orthotopic left-sided lung transplantation we investigated the effect of Euro-Collins solution (EC: n=6) versus low potassium dextran (LPD: Perfadex(R): n = 6). Sham-operated (n = 6) animals served as control. Transplant function, cellular energy metabolism and endothelial morphology served as parameters. In a clinical investigation, 124 patients were evaluated following single (EC: n = 31; LPD n = 37) or double (EC: n = 17; LPD n = 39) lung transplantation, whose organs where preserved with EC (n = 48) or LPD (n = 76). Duration of ischemia, duration of ventilation and stay on ICU were registered. Primary transplant function was evaluated according to AaDO(2) values. Cause of early death (30 days) was declared. Results: Experimental results: After flush with EC and 18 h ischemia, a reduction of tissue ATP content (p < 0.01 vs inital value and LPD) was noted. Endothelial damage after ischemia was severe (p < 0.05 vs control), paO(2) was significantly decreased. Clinical results: In the LPD group, duration of ischemia was longer for the grafts transplanted first (SLTx and DLTx: p = 0.0009) as well as second (2. organ DLTx: p = 0.045). Primary transplant function was improved (day 0: SLTx: p = 0.0015; DLTx: p = 0.0095, both vs EC). Duration of ventilation and stay on ICU were shorter (n.s.). Reperfusion injury-associated death was reduced from 8% (EC) to 0 (LPD). Conclusion: In experimental lung preservation, LPD lead to an improved graft function. These results were confirmed in clinical lung transplantation. Clinical lung preservation, therefore, should be carried out by use of LPD. Copyright (C) 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel

Processing and Transmission of Information

Contains reports on three research projects

Bioeconomics and biodiversity in harvested metacommunities : a patch-occupancy approach

© The Author(s), 2015. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Ecosphere 6, no. 11 (2015): 1-18, doi:10.1890/ES14-00503.1.We develop a coupled economic-metacommunity model to investigate the trade-off between diversity and profit for multispecies systems. The model keeps track of the presence or absence of species in habitat patches. With this approach, it becomes (relatively) simple to include more species than can typically be included in models that track species population density. We use this patch-occupancy framework to understand how profit and biodiversity are impacted by (1) community assembly, (2) pricing structures that value species equally or unequally, and (3) the implementation of marine reserves. We find that when local communities assemble slowly as a result of facilitative colonization, there are lower profits and optimal harvest rates, but the trade-off with diversity may be either large or small. The trade-off is diminished if later colonizing species are more highly valued than early colonizers. When the cost of harvesting is low, maximizing profits tends to sharply reduce biodiversity and maximizing diversity entails a large harvesting opportunity cost. In the models we analyze, marine reserves are never economically optimal for a profit-maximizing owner. However, management using marine reserves may provide low-cost biodiversity protection if the community is over-harvested.This research was supported by The Seaver Institute and the National Science Foundation (OCE-1031256) through grants awarded to J. B. Kellner and M. G. Neubert. E. A. Moberg was funded by NSF GRFP number 1122374 and MIT's Ida Green Fellowship

Media events, spectacles and risky globalization: a critical review and possible avenues for future research

We review the research conducted to date on media events and media spectacles. We posit that the main phenomena challenging the current conceptualizations of media event and media spectacle are (1) the understanding of risk, (2) the context of disasters and (3) globalization and the mediation of news in the context of transnational and transitional societies. We suggest that more research on disruptive events is needed. In the context of the new media landscape in particular, the ritual researcher may need to take into account the concepts of temporality and unpredictability as inherent features of media events and rituals – the traumatic events researcher may benefit from the concept of global risk society. Finally, we argue that more research needs to be carried out on transitional societies, as we need to learn more about the role of mediation, events and spectacles in democratization processes and in contemporary revolutions. Overall, our findings indicate that in the context of global risk society, constant disruptions and unplanned events, together with the changes in news transmission, need to be taken as a starting point also in the research frames used to understand the mediation of events in contemporary society

Expression Profiling of the Wheat Pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici Reveals Genomic Patterns of Transcription and Host-Specific Regulatory Programs

Host specialization by pathogens requires a repertoire of virulence factors as well as fine-tuned regulation of gene expression. The fungal wheat pathogen Zymoseptoria tritici (synonym Mycosphaerella graminicola) is a powerful model system for the discovery of genetic elements that underlie virulence and host specialization. We transcriptionally profiled the early stages of Z. tritici infection of a compatible host (wheat) and a noncompatible host (Brachypodium distachyon). The results revealed infection regulatory programs common to both hosts and genes with striking wheat-specific expression, with many of the latter showing sequence signatures of positive selection along the Z. tritici lineage. Genes specifically regulated during infection of wheat populated two large clusters of coregulated genes that may represent candidate pathogenicity islands. On evolutionarily labile, repeat-rich accessory chromosomes (ACs), we identified hundreds of highly expressed genes with signatures of evolutionary constraint and putative biological function. Phylogenetic analyses suggested that gene duplication events on these ACs were rare and largely preceded the diversification of Zymoseptoria species. Together, our data highlight the likely relevance for fungal growth and virulence of hundreds of Z. tritici genes, deepening the annotation and functional inference of the genes of this model pathogen

Smash and Bash Cricket? Affective Technological Innovations in the Big Bash

Focusing on the Australian KFC T20 Big Bash League (BBL), this article explores the innovative televisual technologies that represent T20 cricket as an action packed 'smash and bash' spectacle. An array of innovative technologies is deployed to aesthetically and affectively re-present the BBL. Cameras and microphones are embedded within the field of play, operate in highly mobile and fluid ways, and are framed in close proximity to the action - particularly when placed on the players themselves. The BBL provides intersecting affective layers for viewer engagement built upon tools for analysis, sites of commodification, visual renditions of pseudo-player perspectives and an emphasis on fast-paced entertainment. By constructing degrees of sensory invigoration and vicarious involvement for both casual and invested viewers, these innovative technologies mobilise 'smash and bash' cricket as an affective televisual spectacle

Socially sensitive lactation: Exploring the social context of breastfeeding

Many women report difficulties with breastfeeding and do not maintain the practice for as long as intended. Although psychologists and other researchers have explored some of the difficulties they experience, fuller exploration of the relational contexts in which breastfeeding takes place is warranted to enable more in-depth analysis of the challenges these pose for breastfeeding women. The present paper is based on qualitative data collected from 22 first-time breastfeeding mothers through two phases of interviews and audio-diaries which explored how the participants experienced their relationships with significant others and the wider social context of breastfeeding in the first five weeks postpartum. Using a thematic analysis informed by symbolic interactionism, we develop the overarching theme of ‘Practising socially sensitive lactation’ which captures how participants felt the need to manage tensions between breastfeeding and their perceptions of the needs, expectations and comfort of others. We argue that breastfeeding remains a problematic social act, despite its agreed importance for child health. Whilst acknowledging the limitations of our sample and analytic approach, we suggest ways in which perinatal and public health interventions can take more effective account of the social challenges of breastfeeding in order to facilitate the health and psychological well-being of mothers and their infants

The National Strategy-An Overview

Over the past two decades, the use of illegal drugs in the United States has spread at an unprecedented rate and has reached into every segment of society

A hydroclimatic assessment of the U.S. corn belt across spatial and temporal scales

The term hydroclimate is used to describe the climate of a given location as determined by the incident radiant energy (temperature) and the existence of water in its various forms on Earth. Two types of climate comprise the science of hydroclimatology: the climate as established by general global circulation patterns at specific locations on Earth (large-scale climate) and the climate established at Earth\u27s surface resulting from the daily fluxes of radiant energy and water in its various forms between the atmosphere, Earth\u27s surface, and the subsurface (local-scale climate) (Shelton 2009). This dissertation investigates different spatial and temporal scales of the U.S. Corn Belt hydroclimate and includes analysis of large- and local-scale hydroclimatic feedbacks. Large-scale hydroclimate research in this assessment investigates how general circulation patterns and teleconnections, specifically the El Ni?o-Southern Oscillation and the Arctic Oscillation, influence climate variability in the form of temperature and precipitation patterns across the U.S. Corn Belt with findings applicable to agricultural decision making. A large- and local-scale hydroclimatic assessment examines the rainfall contribution of land-falling tropical cyclones to the Eastern U.S. Corn Belt. Locale-scale hydroclimate research considers the role of land-surface feedbacks in the life cycle of land-falling tropical cyclones. Results from the assessments that comprise this dissertation show that the spatial and temporal scales at which hydroclimatic feedbacks are examined are important to the understanding of hydroclimate system interactions. It is suggested from the results of this comprehensive assessment that the newly identified, large- and local-scale hydroclimatic feedbacks be given stronger consideration in forecasts and climate projection models. Additionally, it is suggested that more hydroclimate assessments across spatial and temporal scales be completed to better prepare for and mitigate the effects of projected climate variability and climate change. A framework for climatological applications to agronomy is discussed in the first chapter, with the findings of the hydroclimatological assessments in subsequent chapters primarily applied to agronomic decision making