Research Triangle Park

About: Research Triangle Park is a nonprofit organization based out in Durham, North Carolina, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Environmental exposure. The organization has 24961 authors who have published 35800 publications receiving 1684504 citations. The organization is also known as: RTP.

Mice lacking inducible nitric oxide synthase are not resistant to lipopolysaccharide-induced death.

Abstract: Nitric oxide produced by cytokine-inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) is thought to be important in the pathogenesis of septic shock. To further our understanding of the role of iNOS in normal biology and in a variety of inflammatory disorders, including septic shock, we have used gene targeting to generate a mouse strain that lacks iNOS. Mice lacking iNOS were indistinguishable from wild-type mice in appearance and histology. Upon treatment with lipopolysaccharide and interferon gamma, peritoneal macrophages from the mutant mice did not produce nitric oxide measured as nitrite in the culture medium. In addition, lysates of these cells did not contain iNOS protein by immunoblot analysis or iNOS enzyme activity. In a Northern analysis of total RNA, no iNOS transcript of the correct size was detected. No increases in serum nitrite plus nitrate levels were observed in homozygous mutant mice treated with a lethal dose of lipopolysaccharide, but the mutant mice exhibited no significant survival advantage over wild-type mice. These results show that lack of iNOS activity does not prevent mortality in this murine model for septic shock.

Development and cross-cultural translations of a 31-item quality of life in epilepsy inventory.

Abstract: Summary: Purpose: We report the development of a questionnaire to assess health-related quality-of-life (HRQOL) in people with epilepsy and the process of cross-cultural translations of the questionnaire. Methods: A sample of 304 adults with epilepsy from 25 seizure clinics in the United States was used to derive an abbreviated questionnaire focusing on epilepsy-related issues from a longer, 89-item instrument (QOLIE-89). A rigorous forward-backward-forward system was used for cross-cultural translation. Results: A 3 1 -item questionnaire (QOLIE-3 1, version 1 .O) resulted, comprising seven subscales covering general and epilepsy-specific domains. Subscale and total scores can be calculated. The subscales were grouped into two factors: EmotionallPsychological Effects (seizure worry, overall QOL, emotional well-being, energy/fatigue subscales) and Medical/Social Effects (medication effects, work-driving-social limits, cognitive function subscales). Cross-cultural translations were made from US.-English into Danish, Dutch, German, Canadian French, French, Italian, Spanish, Swedish, and U.K. English Versions 1.1 . Conclusions: Our results support the reliability and validity of the QOLIE-31 (U.S.-English version 1.0) as a measure of HRQOLIE. Cross-cultural translations into nine other languages make it feasible to use the QOLIE-3 1 (version 1.1) in multinational clinical trials after validation in each population or concurrent with the clinical trial. Key Words: Health-related quality-of-life-Dimensions of health-Construct validityQuality-of-Life in Epilepsy Inventory-Epilepsy-Translocations.

Performance Evaluation of Bridgeless PFC Boost Rectifiers

Abstract: In this paper, a systematic review of bridgeless PFC boost rectifiers, also called dual boost PFC rectifiers, is presented. Performance comparison between the conventional PFC boost rectifier and a representative member of the bridgeless PFC boost rectifier family is performed. Design considerations and experimental results in both CCM and DCM/CCM boundary operations are provided.