The Infectious Diseases Data Observatory (IDDO, https://www.iddo.org) has launched a clinical data platform for the collation, curation, standardisation and reuse of individual participant data (IPD) on treatments for two of the most globally important neglected tropical diseases (NTDs), schistosomiasis (SCH) and soiltransmitted helminthiases (STHs). This initiative aims to harness the power of data-sharing by facilitating collaborative joint analyses of pooled datasets to generate robust evidence on the efficacy and safety of anthelminthic treatment regimens. A crucial component of this endeavour has been the development of a Research Agenda to

One of the proposed mechanisms of ventilator-associated lung injury is cyclic recruitment of atelectasis. Collapse of dependent lung regions with every breath should lead to large oscillations in PaO2 as shunt varies throughout the respiratory cycle. We placed a fluorescence-quenching PO2 probe in the brachiocephalic artery of six anesthetized rabbits after saline lavage. Using pressure-controlled ventilation with oxygen, ventilator settings were varied in random order over three levels of positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP), respiratory rate (RR), and plateau pressure minus PEEP (Delta). Dependence of the amplitude of PaO2 oscillations on PEEP, RR, and Delta was modeled by multiple linear regression. Before lavage, arterial PO2 oscillations varied from 3 to 22 mm Hg. After lavage, arterial PO2 oscillations varied from 5 to 439 mm Hg. Response surfaces showed markedly nonlinear dependence of amplitude on PEEP, RR, and Delta. The large PaO2 oscillations observed provide evidence for cyclic recruitment in this model of lung injury. The important effect of RR on the magnitude of PaO2 oscillations suggests that the static behavior of atelectasis cannot be accurately extrapolated to predict dynamic behavior at realistic breathing frequencies.

The potential to exploit single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) in advanced electronics represents a continuing, major source of interest in these materials. However, scalable integration of SWNTs into circuits is challenging because of difficulties in controlling the geometries, spatial positions, and electronic properties of individual tubes. We have implemented solutions to some of these challenges to yield radio frequency (RF) SWNT analog electronic devices, such as narrow band amplifiers operating in the VHF frequency band with power gains as high as 14 dB. As a demonstration, we fabricated nanotube transistor radios, in which SWNT devices provide all of the key functions, including resonant antennas, fixed RF amplifiers, RF mixers, and audio amplifiers. These results represent important first steps to practical implementation of SWNTs in high-speed analog circuits. Comparison studies indicate certain performance advantages over silicon and capabilities that complement those in existing compound semiconductor technologies.

Cats have rapid absorption and elimination kinetics with LMWH therapy. On the basis of pharmacokinetic modeling, cats will require higher dosages and more frequent administration of LMWH to achieve human therapeutic anti-factor Xa activity of 0.5-1 U/mL. Peak anti-Xa activity is predicted at 2 hours after administration of LMWH.

Alveolar ventilation/perfusion ratio (V A /Q) is a key parameter in functional imaging of the lung. Herein, regional V A /Q was calculated from regional values of alveolar partial pressure of oxygen (P A O 2 ) measured by hyperpolarized 3 He gas MRI (HP 3 He MRI). Yorkshire pigs (n ‫؍‬ 7, mean weight ‫؍‬ 25 kg) were paralyzed and maintained under isoflurane anesthesia. Animals were placed into a birdcage coil, then transferred to the bore of a 1.5 T MRI unit. Prior to imaging, animals were manually ventilated with room air for 5 min, then a 3 He gas mixture was administered during breathhold and imaging performed. P A O 2 was measured based on the decay rate of 3 He signal. Subjects' blood gas concentrations were measured and these values and Imaging techniques for pulmonary disorders have traditionally focused on anatomic and pathologic descriptions of lung parenchyma, airways, and vasculature. Functional imaging of the lung is a relatively recent development in pulmonary imaging that seeks to image physiologic variables. Recent developments in imaging methods for regional measurements of function have generated considerable interest because of the potential for high-resolution, regional distributions of functional variables to enhance detection of lung pathologies. Additionally, regional measurements of function can provide fundamental insights into the pathophysiologic mechanisms of disease.Several methods have been reported recently for imaging of functional variables: local compliance (1-3), local ventilation (4 -6), local perfusion from arterial spin tagging techniques (7-9) and contrast washout kinetics (5,10,11), and regional determinations of the alveolar ventilation/perfusion ratio (V A /Q) by PET (12-16), CT (17), and MRI-based methods (8,18,19). Regional determinations of V A /Q are of particular interest because of the key role of V A /Q in gas exchange (20), and because V A /Q can be disturbed by pathology that affects either ventilation or perfusion. Local measurements and imaging of V A /Q therefore have the potential to serve as a sensitive marker for lung disease.MR-based functional imaging methods offer a unique combination of potentially high spatial resolution and high temporal resolution. Although proton MRI can be used for lung imaging (21), this approach is generally at a disadvantage in that contrast in signal between tissue and gas phases is low (22). Recently, several investigators have used hyperpolarized (HP) 3 He gas for high-resolution imaging of the airways (23,24), and most recently as a method to assess regional ventilation (4). One complicating factor that all HP 3 He methods share is the oxygen-dependent decay of signal due to spin transfer (25).The Mainz group used this oxygen-dependence of polarized spin decay to measure regional alveolar partial pressure of oxygen (P A O 2 ) in the lung, and suggested that these local measurements of P A O 2 and their correlation with decrease rate could reflect matching of ventilation and perfusion (26 -30). It has long been known that the...

Volutrauma and atelectrauma have been proposed as mechanisms of ventilator-associated lung injury, but few studies have compared their relative importance in mediating lung injury. The objective of our study was to compare the injury produced by stretch (volutrauma) vs. cyclical recruitment (atelectrauma) after surfactant depletion. In saline-lavaged rabbits, we used high tidal volume, low respiratory rate, and low positive end-expiratory pressure to produce stretch injury in nondependent lung regions and cyclical recruitment in dependent lung regions. Tidal changes in shunt fraction were assessed by measuring arterial Po(2) oscillations. After ventilating for times ranging from 0 to 6 h, lungs were excised, sectioned gravitationally, and assessed for regional injury by evaluation of edema formation, chemokine expression, upregulation of inflammatory enzyme activity, and alveolar neutrophil accumulation. Edema formation, lung tissue interleukin-8 expression, and alveolar neutrophil accumulation progressed more rapidly in dependent lung regions, whereas macrophage chemotactic protein-1 expression progressed more rapidly in nondependent lung regions. Temporal and regional heterogeneity of lung injury were substantial. In this surfactant depletion model of acute lung injury, cyclical recruitment produced more injury than stretch.

A top-gated carbon nanotube (CNT) field-effect transistor (FET) was fabricated on a quartz substrate. We used a novel measurement approach and demonstrated for the first time frequency-independent performance of a CNT FET for frequencies as high as 23GHz. This observed maximum operating frequency represents a significant breakthrough in the realization of carbon nanotube-based electronics for high frequency applications.

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