170,059 research outputs found
A primer on implementing compressed simulated annealing for the optimisation of a constrained simulation model in Microsoft Excel
No full textThis short paper provides a simple introduction on how a simulation model implemented in Microsoft Excel® can be optimised using Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) programming and the compressed simulated annealing algorithm (Ohlmann et al., 2004; Ohlmann and Thomas, 2007). The standard simulated annealing procedure enters as a special case. Practical advice for determining the parameters that guide the stochastic search process in an annealing algorithm is also given.Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,
The P2Y(1) receptor is normal in a patient presenting a severe deficiency of ADP-induced platelet aggregation - Further evidence for a distinct P2 receptor responsible for adenylyl cyclase inhibition
No full textADP is a key stimulus inducing platelet shape change and aggregation, a rise in internal calcium and inhibition of adenylyl cyclase. These signaling pathways are thought to be activated by three independent receptors, but to date only the P2Y1 receptor responsible for calcium mobilization and the ionotropic P2X1 receptor have been identified. We report here the characteristics of the P2Y1 receptor in a patient presenting a selective deficiency of ADP-induced aggregation. Cloning of the P2Y1 gene revealed that the patient's DNA and mRNA were normal. Pharmacological studies showed that the P2Y1 receptor was expressed and functional in patient's platelets. Hence, the P2Y1 receptor is not the cause of the impaired ADP-induced platelet aggregation in this patient. The PZX1 mRNA was also found to be present and normal. These findings add evidence to previous observations suggesting that a third P2 receptor coupled to adenylyl cyclase may be involved in ADP-induced platelet aggregation
Determining Transportation Mode Choice to Minimize Distribution Cost: Direct Shipping, Transit Point and 2-Routing
No full textThe platelet P2Y(12) receptor under normal and pathological conditions : assessment with the radiolabeled selective antagonist [(3)H]PSB-0413
No full textVarious radioligands have been used to characterize and quantify the platelet P2Y(12) receptor, which share several weaknesses: (a) they are metabolically unstable and substrates for ectoenzymes, (b) they are agonists, and (c) they do not discriminate between P2Y(1) and P2Y(12). We used the [(3)H]PSB-0413 selective P2Y(12) receptor antagonist radioligand to reevaluate the number of P2Y(12) receptors in intact platelets and in membrane preparations. Studies in humans showed that: (1) [(3)H]PSB-0413 bound to 425 ± 50 sites/platelet (K (D) = 3.3 ± 0.6 nM), (2) 0.5 ± 0.2 pmol [(3)H]PSB-0413 bound to 1 mg protein of platelet membranes (K (D) = 6.5 ± 3.6 nM), and (3) competition studies confirmed the known features of P2Y(12), with the expected rank order of potency: AR-C69931MX > 2MeSADP ≫ ADPβS > ADP, while the P2Y(1) ligand MRS2179 and the P2X(1) ligand α,β-Met-ATP did not displace [(3)H]PSB-0413 binding. Patients with severe P2Y(12) deficiency displayed virtually no binding of [(3)H]PSB-0413 to intact platelets, while a patient with a dysfunctional P2Y(12) receptor had normal binding. Studies in mice showed that: (1) [(3)H]PSB-0413 bound to 634 ± 87 sites/platelet (K (D) = 14 ± 4.5 nM) and (2) 0.7 pmol ± 0.3 [(3)H]PSB-0413 bound to 1 mg protein of platelet membranes (K (D) = 9.1 ± 5.3 nM). Clopidogrel and other thiol reagents like pCMBS or DTT abolished the binding both to intact platelets and membrane preparations. Therefore, [(3)H]PSB-0413 is an accurate and selective tool for radioligand binding studies aimed at quantifying P2Y(12) receptors, to identify patients with P2Y(12) deficiencies or quantify the effect of P2Y(12) targeting drugs
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
No full textThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Mitomycin C in highly myopic eyes - Author reply
No full textOphthalmology. 2005 Feb;112(2):208-18; discussion 219.
Mitomycin C modulation of corneal wound healing after photorefractive keratectomy in highly myopic eyes.
Gambato C, Ghirlando A, Moretto E, Busato F, Midena E.
SourceRefractive Surgery Service and Antimetabolite Therapy Research Unit, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Padova, Padova, Italy.
Abstract
PURPOSE: To evaluate the role of topical mitomycin C in corneal wound healing (CWH) after photorefractive keratectomy (PRK) in highly myopic eyes.
DESIGN: Prospective, double-masked, randomized clinical trial.
PARTICIPANTS: Seventy-two eyes of 36 patients affected by high (>7 diopters) myopia.
METHODS: In each patient, one eye was randomly assigned to PRK with intraoperative topical 0.02% mitomycin C application, and the fellow eye was treated with a placebo. Postoperatively, mitomycin C-treated eyes received artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months), whereas the fellow eye was treated with fluorometholone sodium 2% and artificial tears (3 times daily, tapered in 3 months).
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Uncorrected visual acuity (UCVA) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity, manifest refraction, and biomicroscopy. Contrast sensitivity was determined using the Pelli-Robson chart. Corneal confocal microscopy documented CWH.
RESULTS: Mean follow-up was 18 months (range, 12-36). No side effects or toxic effects were documented. At 12-month follow-up examination, UCVAs (logarithm of the minimum angle of resolution) were 0.4+/-0.48 and 0.5+/-0.53 (P = .03) in mitomycin C-treated eyes and corticosteroid-treated eyes, respectively. At 1 year, corneal haze developed in 20% of corticosteroid-treated eyes, versus 0% of mitomycin C-treated eyes. At 12, 24, and 36 months, corneal confocal microscopy showed activated keratocytes and extracellular matrix significantly more evident in untreated eyes (Ps = 0.004, 0.024, and 0.046, respectively).
CONCLUSION: Topical intraoperative application of 0.02% mitomycin C can reduce haze formation in highly myopic eyes undergoing PRK.
Comment in
Ophthalmology. 2006 Feb;113(2):357; author reply 357-8
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
No full textWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Deficiency of (P-33)2MeS-ADP binding sites on platelets with secretion defect, normal granule stores and normal thromboxane A(2) production - Evidence that ADP potentiates platelet secretion independently of the formation of large platelet aggregates and thromboxane A(2) production
No full textBy the term 'Primary Secretion Defect' (PSD), we mean a common heterogeneous group of congenital defects of platelet secretion, characterized by a normal primary wave of platelet aggregation induced by ADP and other agonists, a normal concentration of platelet granule contents, and normal production of thromboxane A2. The biochemical abnormalities responsible for PSD are not well known. Since a secretion defect similar to PSD is found in platelets that are severely deficient of binding sites for the ADP analogue 2MeS-ADP and do not aggregate in response to ADP, we tested the hypothesis that PSD platelets have moderately decreased 2MeS-ADP binding sites, which may be sufficient for normal ADP-induced aggregation but not for potentiating platelet secretion. The specific binding of [33P]2MeS-ADP to platelets from 3 PSD patients (347, 443 and 490 sites/platelet; KD 2.8-3.9 nM) was lower than to platelets from 24 normal subjects (647 [530-1102]; KD = 3.8 [2.3-7.3]) (median [range]). Normal values were found in a fourth PSD patient (710; KD 3.7). The degree of inhibition of PGE1-induced cAMP increase by 0.1 μM ADP was lower in patients than in controls. The secretion induced by the endoperoxide analogue U46619 from normal, acetylsalicylic acid-treated platelets under conditions that prevented the formation of large aggregates was potentiated by 1 μmol/l ADP and inhibited by apyrase. These findings indicate that a partial deficiency of the platelet ADP receptor(s) might be responsible for the defect of platelet secretion in some PSD patients and that ADP potentiates platelet secretion independently of the formation of large aggregates and thromboxane A2 production
A Multi-Language Comparison of Influences on Author Verification using Character N-Grams
No full textWe create a new multi-language corpus for author verification based on Wikipedia talkpages, and evaluate the influence that differences in topic and time have on character n-gram author profiles. Topic alignment between two texts is found to increase author verification precision, and an authors writing style is found to change over time, but not more significantly after 3 years than after 1 year.Information ArchitectureWISElectrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Scienc
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