138 research outputs found
Maternal-fetal conflict during placental malaria: hypertension, trophoblast sVEGFR1 expression and maternal inflammation
No full textThesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006.The maternal-fetal relationship is hypothesized to be in genetic conflict over nutrient allocation. Fetal mechanisms that elevate maternal blood pressure increase blood flow to the placenta, nourishing the fetus. This relationship becomes pathological during hypertensive diseases in pregnancy, such as preeclampsia. During placental malaria, a third organism, Plasmodium falciparum , occupies the maternal side of the placenta, and maternal inflammation ensues which results in low birth weight. Both placental malaria and preeclampsia are more common during first pregnancies. This dissertation examines the maternal fetal relationship during placental malaria, specifically regarding maternal blood pressure. Chapter 1 is a review of the literature. Chapter 2 presents the epidemiology of placental malaria and hypertension based on data collected from the Mother Offspring Malaria Project in Muheza, Tanzania. Chapter 3 presents data that placental malaria involves vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its soluble inhibitor sVEGFR1, a preeclampsia biomarker. Chapter 4 characterizes the maternal inflammatory response in placental malaria, and finds correlation with sVEGFR1 expression.In summation these chapters present data that hypertension occurs in first time mothers with chronic placental malaria, and that genetic conflict occurs between mother and fetus during placental malaria, whereby maternal macrophages in the placenta express the proinflammatory mediator VEGF, and the fetal trophoblast expresses its soluble inhibitor sVEGFR1. Because placental inflammation causes poor fetal outcomes, fetal mechanisms that promote sVEGFR1 expression may be under selective pressure in malaria endemic areas, particularly during first pregnancies, and may have influenced the evolution of preeclampsia
J Cutan Pathol
No full textFree-living amebae are ubiquitous in our environment, but rarely cause cutaneous infection. Balamuthia mandrillaris has a predilection for infecting skin of the central face. Infection may be restricted to the skin or associated with life-threatening central nervous system (CNS) involvement. We report a case of a 91-year-old woman, who presented with a non-healing red plaque over her right cheek. Several punch biopsies exhibited non-specific granulomatous inflammation without demonstrable fungi or mycobacteria in histochemical stains. She was treated empirically for granulomatous rosacea, but the lesion continued to progress. A larger incisional biopsy was performed in which amebae were observed in hematoxylin-eosin stained sections. These were retrospectively apparent in the prior punch biopsy specimens. Immunohistochemistry and polymerase chain reaction studies identified the organisms as Balamuthia mandrillaris. Cutaneous infection by B. mandrillaris is a rare condition that is sometimes complicated by life-threatening CNS involvement and which often evades timely diagnosis due to its rarity and nonspecific clinical manifestations. Moreover, these amebae are easily overlooked in histopathologic sections because of their small number and their resemblance to histiocytes. Dermatopathologists should be familiar with the histopathologic appearance of these organisms and include balamuthiasis and other amebic infections in the differential diagnosis of granulomatous dermatitis.CC999999/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States
J Histotechnol
No full text, a bacterial tickborne pathogen that causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever (RMSF), stains poorly or not at all with conventional tissue Gram techniques, and contemporary visualization of the pathogen in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues has relied almost entirely on immunohistochemical staining methods that are generally limited to specialized research laboratories or national reference centers. To our knowledge, previously described argyrophil-based histochemical techniques have not successfully detected rickettsiae in formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded tissues. To investigate the ability of standard silver impregnation techniques to demonstrate the occurrence and distribution of | in tissues of patients with RMSF confirmed by molecular and immunohistochemical methods, three widely recognized and commercially available silver impregnation methods (Warthin-Starry, Steiner, and Dieterle's) were applied to various tissues obtained at autopsy from 10 patients with fatal RMSF. | bacteria were demonstrated in one or more tissues of all patients, using each of the argyrophil-based methods, and appeared as small, dark brown-to-black lanceolate rods, often in pairs and occasionally surrounded by a faint halo. Rickettsiae were identified most consistently in small arteries and arterioles of liver, kidney, and leptomeninges, and were localized predominantly to the cytoplasm of endothelial cells and less often within the internal elastic lamella and smooth muscle of the media. This validation of argyrophilic techniques to detect | demonstrates the utility of inexpensive core histochemical methods in the diagnosis of infectious agents in pathology specimens and may have utility in certain resource-limited settings where RMSF is endemic.CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States
Design and Deployment Alternatives ATMS and ATIS Components of IVHS [White Paper]
No full text009636211992PDFResearch PaperAdvanced traffic management systemsAdvanced traveler information systemsIntelligent transportation systemsProgram managementDesign build constructionAlternatives analysisAdministration and ManagementOperations and Traffic ManagementUnited StatesUnited States. Joint Program Office for Intelligent Transportation SystemsKay, Jack L.JHK & AssociatesIntelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program OfficeThis paper is part of a series of papers being prepared under the title "Ways to Improve Traditional Opportunities for IVHS Deployment". It addresses the specific issue of alternative procedures to be considered for the deployment of the time critical Advanced Traffic Management System (ATMS) and Advanced Traveller Information System (ATIS) components of IVHS. Further, the ATIS component is restricted to the field infrastructure and does not include the in-vehicle component. The alternatives considered are defined as Program Management and Design/Build. These approaches are compared to the more traditional Engineer/Contractor approach. It is the author's opinion that three methods described in the paper all offer potential and that all will be used. It is also the opinion of the author that none of the three, in isolation, are likely to meet the expectations of the IVHS program. The engineer/contractor approach is to slow and cumbersome and may not adequately treat technology based projects, and neither program management or design/build will be accepted by all public agencies, with the design/build likely to meet the strongest resistance by some agencies75
ADOT map book
No full textabstract: The Arizona Department of Transportation Map Book samples the numerous uses made of ADOT’s base centerline file, commonly known as Arizona Transportation Information System (ATIS) Roads. ATIS Roads is a Geographic Information System (GIS) coverage, or layer, of Arizona roads and streets. The GIS community in the Arizona state government is a diverse group with a strong commitment to cooperative data sharing. Without this cooperative effort, many of the maps presented here could not have been produced
Measuring the Effectiveness of Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS)
No full textThe objective of this study was to develop valid methodologies for addressing several limitations of the current Advanced Traveler Information Systems (ATIS) evaluation tools. This study was focused mainly on three enhancements. First, the queue propagation algorithm of the selected tool (DYNASMART-P) was modified to more realistically model traffic congestion. The author proposed the addition of transfer flow capacity and backward gated flow constraints for more accurately calculating transfer flow rate. Second, the study modeled the natural diversion behaviors of drivers who do not receive traveler information. Lastly, statistical models of user responses to traveler information were developed using binary and multinomial logit methods to understand and model the relationship between drivers’ socio-economic characteristics and their responses to traveler information. Among these three enhancements, the first two (improved queue propagation and natural diversion behavior algorithms) were implemented in the enhanced model. The user behavior models, however, were not implemented because their predictive power was not acceptable due to limitations in the data set. The enhanced model was applied to two case studies: 1) verifying the capabilities of the model under a recurring bottleneck scenario on I-40 corridor in the Triangle region of North Carolina, and 2) demonstrating the capability of the enhanced model to measure the effectiveness of U-Transportation (similar to the Vehicle Infrastructure Integration [VII] program in the USA) which has been under development in Korea. The first case study results showed that the improved queue propagation algorithm simulated the bottleneck queue much closer to the real data than the original model. The simulation results also indicated that the actual diversion rate under recurring congestion in the study network was very low. The results of the second case study demonstrated that the enhanced model can evaluate the network impact of new advanced technology in flooding situations and can evaluate the effect of market penetration of the communication technology
Analysis of apartment market development in Riga
No full textAtis Blinds Dzīvokļu tirgus attīstības tendenču analīze Rīgā
Maģistra darbs satur: 103 lpp (bez pielikumiem), 6 tabulas, 45 attēlus un 1 pielikumu
Nozare, kas Latvijā ir attīstījusies ļoti interesanti, it īpaši pēdējos gados, ir nekustamo īpašumu tirgus un tieši dzīvokļu segments. Dzīvokļu tirgus attīstība principā visus gadus bija novērojama tikai augšupejošā virzienā, bet būtiskas izmaiņas notika pavisam nesen – 2007. gadā, kad pirmo reizi Latvijas vēsturē pēc neatkarības atgūšanas bija novērojams dzīvokļu cenu, pirkuma līguma skaita, izsniegto hipotekāro kredītu daudzuma un citu svarīgu rādītāju samazinājums. Kāpēc tas tā notika, tam, protams, ir vairāki izskaidrojumi, tāpēc šī maģistra darba mērķis ir veikt nekustamo īpašumu tirgus dzīvokļu segmenta analīzi, balstoties uz tirgus attīstības un izpētes teorētiskajiem principiem, lai noskaidrotu visus galvenos faktorus, kas ir ietekmējuši un veicinājuši šādu un ne savādāku dzīvokļu tirgus attīstību un lai varētu izdarīt tirgus nākotnes prognozi.
Maģistra darba pirmajā nodaļā tiek dots teorētiskais ieskats par tirgu un tā attīstības un izpētes galvenajiem nosacījumiem. Tiek noskaidrots, kādi ir parametri, lai tirgus vispār varētu pastāvēt un funkcionēt, kādi ir iespējamie tirgus tipi un veidi, kāds ir tirgus izpētes process un tā nozīme un pēc tam tiek raksturoti visi galvenie tirgus izpētes virzieni. Otrajā nodaļā tiek pētīts dzīvokļu tirgus Rīgā. Analizējot dažādus datus un informāciju, tiek noskaidroti galvenie faktori, kas ir ietekmējuši tirgus attīstību, kādi rādītāji tā ietekmē ir samazinājušies un kādi ir palielinājušies. Pēdējā trešajā nodaļā tiek veikts dzīvokļu tirgus nākotnes attīstības novērtējums, kurā ietilpst gan tirgus krīzes situācijas izvērtējums trijos scenārijos, gan arī tirgus prognoze.
Maģistra darbā izdarītie priekšlikumi ir paredzēti tirgus galvenajiem dalībniekiem – potenciālajiem dzīvokļu pircējiem un pārdevējiem, kā arī Latvijas valsts valdībai un tās pārvaldes institūcijām, kas tieši regulē dzīvokļu, vispārējo nekustamo īpašumu tirgus un Latvijas ekonomikas attīstību.Atis Blinds
Analysis of apartment market development in Riga
Master thesis consist of: 103 pages (without appendixes), 6 tables, 45 images and 1 appendix
The industry that has developed very interesting during the last year is real estate market and especially apartment segment. There was a constant upward development of apartment market for many years. However, year 2007 came with substantial changes in the market. A decrease in prices, number of purchase contracts, amount of issued loans and other figures was observable for the first time in the history of Latvia since retrieval of its independence. There are several reasons behind this fact. Hence, the aim of this master thesis is to conduct analysis of the apartment segment of the real estate market, based on the theoretical principles of market development, in order to find out the most important factors that have influenced such development pattern and make future market forecast.
The first chapter deals with theoretical insight into a market and the main principles of its development and analysis. It is examined what parameters exist and operate, what the possible types of market are, how the process of market analysis looks like as well as what the main directions of market research are. The second chapter deals with apartment market in Riga. By analyzing different data and information, it is examined what the main factors behind the market development are, and which figures have decreased and increased as a result of the future development of the market development. Evaluation of the future development of the apartment market is included in the third chapter, including evaluation of the market crisis in three scenarios as well as market prognosis.
The suggestions made by the master thesis author can be directed towards the market participants – buyers, sellers and the government and involved institutions that have a direct influence on apartment and overall real estate market as well as the economic development of Latvia
An unusual presentation of placental malaria: a single persisting nidus of sequestered parasites.
No full textPlacental malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum is a public health concern in tropical countries. Peripheral blood smears to detect placental malaria are often negative, and recrudescences are common during pregnancy. We performed placental histology on a series of first-time mothers delivering in an area endemic for P falciparum. A single nidus of malaria-infected erythrocytes was identified by placental histology in a single intervillous space from a woman who had no other evidence of peripheral or placental blood parasitemia. This finding suggests ring stage-infected erythrocytes sequester in vivo, or P falciparum can persist as a dormant blood stage form
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