Weakening of Indian Summer Monsoon Rainfall due to Changes in Land Use Land Cover.

Weakening of Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) is traditionally linked with large-scale perturbations and circulations. However, the impacts of local changes in land use and land cover (LULC) on ISMR have yet to be explored. Here, we analyzed this topic using the regional Weather Research and Forecasting model with European Center for Medium range Weather Forecast (ECMWF) reanalysis data for the years 2000-2010 as a boundary condition and with LULC data from 1987 and 2005.

Expanded spatial extent of the Medieval Climate Anomaly revealed in lake-sediment records across the boreal region in northwest Ontario.

Multi-decadal to centennial-scale shifts in effective moisture over the past two millennia are inferred from sedimentary records from six lakes spanning a ~250 km region in northwest Ontario. This is the first regional application of a technique developed to reconstruct drought from drainage lakes (open lakes with surface outlets). This regional network of proxy drought records is based on individual within-lake calibration models developed using diatom assemblages collected from surface sediments across a water-depth gradient.

Inconsistencies between Pangean reconstructions and basic climate controls.

The supercontinent Pangea dominated our planet from the Permian into the Jurassic. Paleomagnetic reconstructions have been used to estimate the latitudinal position of Pangea during this 100-million-year period. Atmospheric circulation, recorded by eolian sandstones in the southwestern United States, shows a broad sweep of northeasterly winds over their northernmost extent, curving to become northwesterly in the south: This evidence is consistent with paleomagnetic reconstructions of the region straddling the equator in the Early Permian but is at odds with its northward movement to about 20 degrees N by the Early Jurassic.

Large wind shift on the great plains during the medieval warm period.

Spring-summer winds from the south move moist air from the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Plains. Rainfall in the growing season sustains prairie grasses that keep large dunes in the Nebraska Sand Hills immobile. Longitudinal dunes built during the Medieval Warm Period (800 to 1000 years before the present) record the last major period of sand mobility.

New-onset gout after kidney transplantation: incidence, risk factors and implications.

Background: Although cyclosporine use has been associated with an increased risk of new-onset gout after renal transplantation, the incidence and risk factors for new-onset gout have not been reported in the era of modern immunosuppression.

Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of Medicare primary renal transplant patients reported in the United States Renal Data System (USRDS), using Medicare claims data to determine the incidence of new-onset gout. Cox regression analysis was used to calculate adjusted hazard ratios (AHR) for cyclosporine (including separate analysis of Neoral) compared directly with tacrolimus, for the risk of new-onset gout, adjusted for baseline demographic factors and posttransplant renal function.

Maintenance immunosuppression use and the associated risk of avascular necrosis after kidney transplantation in the United States.

Background: Avascular necrosis (AVN) after renal transplantation has been largely attributed to the use of corticosteroids. However, other risk factors such as microvascular thrombosis and hyperlipidemia have been well described and may be of increased importance in the era of early steroid cessation and avoidance. We hypothesized that maintenance immunosuppressive medications known to be associated with these risk factors for AVN would also be associated with a higher risk of AVN.

A 36-year-old military recruit with recurrent myalgias and weakness.

The objective of this study was to discuss a comprehensive yet cost-effective approach to working up active duty patients with recurrent rhabdomyolysis. A 36-year-old male Army recruit was evaluated at Walter Reed Army Medical Center for recurrent rhabdomyolysis. This case illustrates a practical and cost-effective approach to this goal.

Lake sediments record large-scale shifts in moisture regimes across the northern prairies of North America during the past two millennia.

Six high-resolution climatic reconstructions, based on diatom analyses from lake sediment cores from the northern prairies of North America, show that shifts in drought conditions on decadal through multicentennial scales have prevailed in this region for at least the last two millennia. The predominant broad-scale pattern seen at all sites is a major shift in moisture regimes from wet to dry, or vice versa (depending on location), that occurred after a period of relative stability. These large-scale shifts at the different sites exhibit spatial coherence at regional scales.

Hospitalizations for total hip arthroplasty after renal transplantation in the United States.

The national incidence of and factors associated with total hip arthroplasty in renal transplant recipients has not been reported. We conducted an historical cohort study of 42096 renal transplant recipients in the United States between 1 July 1994 and 30 June 1998. Primary outcomes were associations with hospitalizations for a primary discharge code of total hip arthroplasty (ICD9 procedure code 81.

Hospitalized avascular necrosis after renal transplantation in the United States.

Background: The national incidence of and risk factors for hospitalized avascular necrosis (AVN) in renal transplant recipients has not been reported.

Methods: This historical cohort study consisted of 42,096 renal transplant recipients enrolled in the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) between 1 July 1994 and 30 June 1998. The data source was USRDS files through May 2000.

Abnormal expression of various molecular forms and distribution of T cell receptor zeta chain in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

Objective: T cells from the majority of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) display antigen receptor-mediated signaling aberrations associated with defective T cell receptor (TCR) zeta chain expression. The TCR zeta chain, a critical signaling molecule, exists in multiple molecular forms and membrane fractions with distinct functions in antigen-mediated signaling processes. This study was undertaken to investigate the complete spectrum of expression of the different forms and distribution of the TCR zeta chain in SLE T cells.