Compared to other cereal crops TGF-beta tumor such as wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), barley (Horderum vulgare L.) and oat (Avenasativa L.), rye has a number of positive and special attributes, such as outstanding cold hardiness, excellent drought tolerance and strong disease resistance. Apart from its use as a minor cereal crop and a donor of the R genome to triticale (×Triticosecale),

it has also been extensively used as an important germplasm source to introgress resistance genes into wheat [2]. Some rye attributes are conserved in triticale, an artificial hybrid species made by crossing wheat and rye [3]. Triticale is being explored for use as a novel bioindustrial crop in Canada. Starch synthesis is a complicated process in plants. The first step takes place inside and/or outside amylopasts via ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (AGPase, EC 2.7.7.27) for synthesis of ADP glucose, an activated glucosyl donor for starch synthesis [4], [5] and [6]. Subsequent steps lead to two separate pathways for amylose or amylopectin

synthesis. Granule-bound starch synthase (GBSS, EC 2.4.1.21), also known as waxy protein, is responsible for the synthesis of amylose polymers [6], [7] and [8]. Amylopectin synthesis results from the elongation of glucan chains with both α-(1,4)-linkage and α-(1,6)-linkage synthesized by the multiple subunits or isoforms of starch synthase (SS, EC 2.4.1.21), starch-branching enzyme (SBE, EC 2.4.1.18) Natural Product Library [9] and [10] and starch debranching enzymes (DBE). According to their different substrate specificities, DBEs are divided into two types: isoamylase (EC 3.2.1.68) and pullulanase (EC 3.2.1.41) [9] and [11]. Genotypic mutants with low starch but high water-soluble polysaccharides were

identified in maize (Zea mays L.) [5] and [12], rice (Oryza sativa L.) [13], barley [14] and Arabidopsis thaliana [15] and [16], demonstrating Dehydratase that DBEs, in conjunction with SS and SBE, play an essential role in development and accumulation of amylopectin [8] and [17]. Characterization of barley mutants, transgenic potato and rice also indicate that isoamylase plays a crucial role in initiating the development of starch granules [14], [18] and [19]. Starch is the most important carbohydrate in crop grains, but gene interaction in starch synthesis and accumulation in polyploid crops has not been well explored. Since rye has contributed one third of the hexaploid triticale genome, rye isoamylase must be one of the essential enzymes for amylopectin synthesis in triticale grains. However, there is no scientific report about the molecular features of rye isoamylase genes available in public databases.

Studies have also shown that physical execution of more demanding postural tasks was associated with higher activity in the supraspinal centers associated with postural control such as the cerebellum, the putamen, the brainstem and various neocortical structures (Ouchi et al., 1999). However, brain activity during

MI and AO of balance tasks is rarely known. Jahn et al., (2004) used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to demonstrate that activity of the thalamus, basal ganglia (left putamen), left frontal gyrus and spinocerebellum (cerebellar vermis) was increased when participants imagined they were standing rather than lying down. Furthermore, the pattern of activity during imagined standing was different GDC-0941 chemical structure from the pattern of Dabrafenib activity

obtained during imagined walking and running, in which a six times larger activity of the cerebellum could be detected. The authors therefore concluded that control of an undisturbed upright stance involves low intensity cerebellar activity and sensorimotor control via the thalamus and basal ganglia (Jahn et al., 2004). However, so far no previous study has investigated brain activity during MI or AO of balance tasks which require participants to counteract external perturbation. Therefore, the first aim of the current study was to compare brain activity during a dynamic balance task (medio-lateral perturbation) with activity in a less demanding static balance task (maintaining an upright stance). It is well known from non-postural tasks that MI (Gerardin et al., 2000, Grezes and Decety, 2001, Hallett et al., 1994, Jeannerod, 2001, Kimberley

et al., 2006, Lotze et al., 1999, Sirigu et al., 1995 and Stephan et al., 1995) and AO (Gallese et al., 1996, Grezes and Decety, 2001 and Neuper et al., 2005) activate brain regions that are also active during actual task execution. Ouchi et al., (1999) have further demonstrated that execution of more challenging standing tasks increased Interleukin-2 receptor brain activity; we therefore hypothesized that activity in motor centers would be higher in the more demanding dynamic task than during static standing. The second main aim of the current study was to explore differences in brain activity according to the way participants mentally involved in the balance task. In a recent review article, Vogt, Rienzo, Collet, Collins, and Guillot (2013) have pointed out that MI and AO have been largely studied in isolation from each other but that combining both seems very promising. This statement was based on studies using electroencephalography (Berends, Wolkorte, Ijzerman, & van Putten, 2013) and fMRI (Macuga and Frey, 2012, Nedelko et al., 2012, Villiger et al., 2013 and Vogt et al., 2013) to demonstrate higher brain activity during AO + MI compared with AO and MI, respectively, in non-postural tasks.

25 Of the many pneumococcal

secreted or surface-expressed proteins, including LytC, PcsB, that have been identified as potential vaccine antigens, 26, 27, 28 and 29 work described here was limited to only 4 antigens due to sample constraints. These protein antigens were chosen because they are well characterized as playing a role in the pathogenesis of pneumococcal disease and demonstrated to be protective against carriage and/or invasive disease in humans and/or animal models. 30, 31, 32 and 33 Knowledge gained from these 4 protein antigens may be applicable to other novel protein vaccine candidates, as most of these protein antigens are fairly conserved among all pneumococcal isolates. A cocktail of 10 ug/ml tuberculin purified protein derivative (PPD; Statens Serum Ins.), 5 ug/ml purified tetanus toxoid (Merck Biosciences) and 1 ug/ml inactivated split virion influenza vaccine (Flu; Aventis check details Pasteur MSD) was used as a positive control and PBS alone as a negative control. As PBS generated very few spots, background was not subtracted. As the total number of cells recovered from each blood sample varied, it was not always possible to include find more all antigens in every assay. ASC were detected by incubation with IgG secondary antibody (Sigma) conjugated to alkaline phosphatase for

at least 6 h prior to development with an alkaline phosphatase substrate kit (Bio-Rad). ASC were counted using an AID ELISPOT reader and analysis software version 4.0 (AID Strasburg, Germany). Data were expressed as medians and interquartile ranges (IQR). Comparisons were made DOCK10 using Friedman’s test to evaluate the effect of ART across all time points (i.e. at baseline and all 3 follow-up times). Statistical analysis and graphical presentations were done using Stata 10 and GraphPad Prism software (version 4.0). Differences after comparisons were considered statistically significant if P < 0.05. Of the 45 children recruited, 2 died, 1 moved away from

Blantyre and 1 withdrew from the study. These 4 children were excluded from subsequent analysis and 41 HIV-infected children with median age 92 months at recruitment (IQR, 63–132 months) were included. None of these 41 children was malaria parasitemic at enrollment, all received cotrimoxazole prophylaxis and none were febrile at any of the follow-up visits. 18/41 (44%) were females and 23/40 (58%) had S. pneumoniae detected by culture of a nasopharyngeal swab obtained at enrollment. Pneumococcal carriage rates varied between 58 and 92% throughout the course of the study and the rate was 83% after 12 months of ART. The carriage rate in healthy controls with median age 92 months (IQR, 54–132 months) was 46%. 10 As expected, both absolute and percentage CD4+ T cell counts rose significantly (P < 0.

Then, once the experimental assays had finished the biodegradability of the substrates and co-digestions were analyzed in order to evaluate the level of anaerobic biodegradability learn more under the defined test conditions. To calculate the experimental biodegradability (BDexp)

the next Eqs. (6) and (7) have been established, using the initial and final volatile solids and chemical oxygen demand added (VS0,VSf, COD0 and CODf) for each substrate or co-digestion. The BDexpCOD based on the COD will be applied to the COD methodology and the BDexpVS based on the VS will be applied for the elemental and organic fraction composition methodologies. equation(6) BDexp⁡VS(%)=((VS0−VSf)VS0)×100 equation(7) BDexp⁡COD(%)=((COD0−CODf)COD0)×100 Finally, to evaluate the consistency of the methods describe below, the deviation between find more the experimental production BDexp and the theoretical production with the adjustment of the experimental BMPthBD is calculated to obtain the relative error according to Eq. (8): equation(8) error=BMPexp⁡−BMPthBDBMPexp Mathematically, the degradation rate of each group of compounds can be described by a differential kinetic equation. The knowledge of the biodegradation kinetics

and methane production could be helpful for the methane prediction of a specific substrate [11]. In this work, the ability to predict the methane potential of the co-substrates and co-digested mixtures was evaluated by two mathematical models applied to the experimental BMP tests. The prediction models consider the experimental biodegradability of the substrate during the Dichloromethane dehalogenase process, but there is also a relative error that should be calculated (Eq. (8)) in order to establish the perfect

conditions and models which fit with the experimental results. This simplified model assumes that the gas production follows first order kinetics in which biogas accumulation was simulated using exponential rise to a maximum [5]: equation(9) P=γ*(1−exp(−μt)) Two parameters are necessary for the prediction of the methane production (P); the maximum volume accumulated at an infinite digestion time (t) γ (mlCH4/gVS) and the specific microorganisms growing speed μ (d−1). Assuming that the biogas production is proportional to the microbial activity, the following modify Gompertz Eq. (10) is used to predict the methane production. This model was originally set to describe the growth of bacteria in batch mode [26]. equation(10) P=γexp⁡(−exp⁡(K(λ−t)e1γ+1))Three parameters are needed for the prediction of the methane production (P); the maximum volume accumulated at an infinite digestion time (t) γ (mlCH4/gVS), the specific rate constant K (mlCH4/gVS/d) and the lag phase time constant λ (d).

The enzyme was completely inhibited by iron chloride, silver nitrate and SDS in both concentrations tested. In the assay conditions, the denaturing action of SDS probably affected the integrity of the enzyme tridimensional structure which is fundamental for its catalytic activity. Inhibition caused by SDS (1 and 10 mM) was also demonstrated by Li, Jiang, Fan, and Liu (2012) for cloned β-glucosidase using metagenomic DNA from mangrove check details soil. D. hansenii UFV-1 β-glucosidase activity was greatly increased by β-mercaptoethanol,

glucose, urea and aluminium chlorid at both concentrations tested. Non-inhibition by EDTA implies that divalent cations are not essential to enzyme activity ( Chen, Li, & Zong, 2012b) and it is not a metalloenzyme. Many works reported that EDTA does not inhibit β-glucosidases as in the case of Pyrococcus furiosus β-glucosidase that was considered metal-independent ( Yeom et al., 2012). β-Mercaptoethanol was the agent which best promoted enzyme activation in both final concentrations tested. The activation by this BEZ235 reducing agent can be explained

by the fact that some reduced chemical ligations in the enzyme structure are favourable for the catalytic activity. Calcium and magnesium have a stimulatory effect on D. hansenii UFV-1 β-glucosidase. It has been reported that these two ions are enhancers of β-glucosidase activity ( Oyekola, Ngesi, & Whiteley, 2007). Glucose was found to be a competitive inhibitor of D. hansenii UFV-1 β-glucosidase and the Ki value was 11.36 mM. In general, β-glucosidases are inhibited

by glucose and this inhibition is competitive ( Yang et al., 2004). Soy molasses is a by-product generated in the production of soy protein concentrate, in which isoflavones and other phytochemicals are enriched 4��8C (Hosny & Rosazza, 1999). This by-product in the soy industry is used as an inexpensive animal feed, but the processing and use of soy molasses as a functional food has been suggested (Najafpour & Shan, 2003). The potential of D. hansenii UFV-1 intracellular β-glucosidase to hydrolyze isoflavones in soy molasses to their aglycon forms was demonstrated for the free β-glucosidase and the alginate immobilised cells containing this enzyme ( Table 4). Prior to hydrolysis, glucoside isoflavones were predominant in the soy molasses, representing approximately 80%, where aglycones made up about 10%. After 2 h of treatment with the free or immobilised β-glucosidase the isoflavone glucosides were almost completely hydrolyzed after which there remained about 3% of these compounds. There was no change in the amounts of isoflavone glucosides and aglycones after 4 or 8 h of enzymatic treatment of soy molasses compared to the assay after 2 h of hydrolysis (data not shown). This indicates that a short incubation period is preferred over a prolonged incubation with the free or immobilised enzyme.

The column oven temperature programs were 40 °C (4 min), 5 °C min−1 to 80 °C, 20 °C min−1 to 180 °C, and splitless mode was used. The analytical column was an Rtx-5MS. Carrier gas was helium at 1 mL min−1. The mass acquisition range was 35–400 m/z. The peaks were identified on the basis of their fragmentation patterns using the NIST Mass Spectral Search Program 05 (NIST, Washington, DC). The soft drinks were collected from supermarkets in Florianópolis (SC, Brazil). In this study several brands of soft drinks, flavours and types of packaging (PET and glass bottles, and cans) were taken into consideration. All samples were stored at 0 °C. SPME extraction was performed with carboxen–polidimetilsiloxano

(CAR–PDMS) Volasertib clinical trial fibre. The fibre was conditioned at 300 °C for 1 h prior to use. Blank desorptions were periodically carried out. Samples (20 mL) were transferred into vials (40 mL, Supelco) which contained 20% (w/v) sodium chloride salt, 150 μL sodium hydroxide 6 mol L−1. Internal standard at 50 and 25 μg L−1 of, respectively,

Akt inhibitor dichloromethane and diiodomethane were used. The incubation and extraction temperature was 30 °C. The samples were equilibrated for 8 min before the extraction step. The speed of the magnetic stirring was 1000 rpm. The fibre was immersed in the headspace of the sample for 15 min, immediately drawn back into the needle and transferred without delay (less than 5 s) into the injection port of the GC. A desorption time of 3 min at 280 °C was used in this study. All analysis was performed in triplicate. When a soft drink bottle is opened, the pressure is reduced to the atmospheric pressure, causing decomposition of the carbonic acid releasing CO2. To avoid this

problem, the addition of NaOH to the sample can significantly reduce the carbonic acid concentration mafosfamide due to the formation of Na2CO3 and NaHCO3. The effect of CO2 on the extraction of THMs from soft drink was studied comparing the extraction efficiency of adding or not adding 150 μL of NaOH 6 mol L−1 to a 20 mL soft drink sample. CAR–PDMS fibre, extraction time of 10 min, extraction temperature at 20 °C and stirring magnetic speed of 500 rpm were used in this study. As can be seen from Fig. 1, the best extraction efficiency occurs with addition of NaOH 6 mol L−1, except for chloroform which is the more volatile of the target analytes. The improvement of the extraction efficiency for the other THMs was up to 35%. The analytes are released from the aqueous phase to the gas phase when the pressure in the headspace is closed to atmospheric pressure. In the case of the soft drink samples, the transfer of the analytes between the two phases occurs easily when the CO2 is not present at high levels in the small headspace volume. The appropriate choice of fibre is essential to the establishment of a sensitive method in SPME, and it is dependent on the chemical nature of compounds of interest (Cancho, Ventura, & Galceran, 2001).

It is parenthetically detected, asymptomatic, and treatment is not often indicated.

The first case of thoracic splenosis was reported in 1937 by Shaw and Shafi in a 20-year old Akt inhibitor Egyptian man, and ever since, less than 50 new cases have been reported in the literature [1]. It involves 16%–67% of patients with past splenic trauma and or past splenectomy [2]. Pathogenesis of thoracic splenosis is depicted in Fig. 3[3]. Autotransplanted spleens have no hilum and the arterial supply can pass through any site in the capsule; however, accessory spleens have hilum where the arteries enter [4]. Splenosis is microscopically identical to normal spleen with both having thick capsule, trabeculae, and white and red pulp [4] and [5]. Although it is usually asymptomatic and diagnosed incidentally; it can occasionally present as hemoptysis and pleuritic chest pain [6]. Diagnosis can be challenging without knowledge of preceding

splenic injury, often leading to the use of biopsy, video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) and even thoracotomy for diagnosis, causing significant morbidity and mortality among patient population [7] and [8]. There is a wide list of differentials for thoracic splenosis which include low grade lymphoma, thymoma, primary lung carcinoma, mesothelioma, thoracic endometriosis, mediastinal tumor, neurogenic tumors KRX 0401 and metastatic lesions. It may present as soliatary (25% cases) or multiple nodules (75% of cases) on CT scans [8]. Scintigraphy performed with heat-damaged 99Tc-labelled red blood cells is considered the most sensitive and specific imaging

modality for the diagnosis of splenosis [9], [10] and [11] and can demonstrate splenic tissue even when minimally present. This is because splenic tissue takes up more than 90% of damaged red blood cells [12] and [13]. Removal of thoracic splenic tissue is inadvisable especially in patients without functional abdominal splenic tissue may render the patient a splenic, increasing the risk of infection, although this notion is still debatable [14]. Surgical removal is considered in symptomatic patients and patients with hematological disease [3] and [8]. In conclusion, if a patient has an appropriate Non-specific serine/threonine protein kinase history of splenic injury and multiple, asymptomatic, left-side pleural lesions, intrathoracic splenosis should be considered in the differential diagnosis. “
“Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death globally. According to the World Health Organization, CVD was responsible for 30% of all deaths in 2005. Although typically considered a disease of developed countries, its incidence is increasing in the developing world as well. CVD usually stems from vascular dysfunction, for example, as a result of atherosclerosis, thrombosis, or high blood pressure, which then compromises organ function. Most notably, the heart and brain can be affected, as in myocardial infarction and stroke, respectively.

“
“Ecological click here restoration has become a dominant paradigm for the management of many public forests across the United States (USDA Forest Service, 2012a and USDA Forest Service, 2012b). Ecological restoration is “the process of assisting the recovery of an ecosystem that has been degraded, damaged, or destroyed” (SER, 2004). Within western states, this present focus on restoration is largely in response to the widespread degradation

of terrestrial and aquatic habitats and uncharacteristic fire, insect, and disease outbreaks resulting from a century or more of wildfire suppression, intensive harvesting, grazing, and mining (Brown et al., 2004, Franklin et al., 2008, Hessburg and Agee, 2003, Hessburg et al., 2005, North et al., 2009, Peterson et al., 2005 and Schoennagel et al., 2004). Since 2010 $20 to $40 million has been appropriated annually for the ecological restoration of federal forests through the Collaborative Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP; H.R. 5263, fs.fed.us/restoration/CFLRP). www.selleckchem.com/products/PLX-4032.html In addition to CFLRP, the USDA Forest Service has undertaken a number of initiatives in recent years to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration including but not limited to implementing a new forest planning rule (USDA Forest Service, 2012a), the Watershed Condition Framework (USDA Forest Service,

2011a), and a bark beetle strategy (USDA Forest Service, 2011b). Similarly, state governments in Oregon, Washington and elsewhere are promoting both the ecological and economic benefits of forest restoration. For example, the Oregon Federal Forest Health

Package (SB 5521 passed by the Oregon Legislature in 2013) is providing nearly $2.9 million for technical assistance and scientific support needed to increase the pace and scale of collaboratively developed management efforts and to pilot a new business model that contributes funding directly to help increase the pace and scale of implementing restoration work on national forests. aminophylline Despite highly publicized calls to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration (Rasmussen et al., 2012 and USDA Forest Service, 2012b) we lack a comprehensive understanding of forest restoration needs. In many, but not all, of the interior Pacific Northwest forest ecosystems previous studies have documented patterns of departure from historical conditions (e.g., Everett et al., 2000, Hagmann et al., 2013, Haugo et al., 2010, Hessburg et al., 2005, Hessburg et al., 2000b, Heyerdahl et al., 2014, Perry et al., 2011 and Wright and Agee, 2004). However these studies are not able to provide a systematic evaluation of where, how much, and what types of treatments are needed to restore forest structure at regional scales (100,000s–1,000,000s of ha). Until recently most restoration planning and implementation has occurred at scales of watersheds or smaller (⩽5000 ha).

Engaging inpatients in outpatient treatment programs before discharge has been found to increase adherence to outpatient services (Boyer, McAlpine, Pottick, & Olfson, 2000). However, serious gaps in the continuity of care have been recurrently reported (Adair et al., 2003) and many patients receive no immediate or much delayed outpatient aftercare (Boyer et al., 2000). Psychological treatments for inpatients are not readily available on acute inpatient units (Mullen, 2009). When such treatments are available,

they rarely span over the critical transition period between inpatient and outpatient services. The DZNeP solubility dmso lack of psychological services in acute inpatient settings is perhaps explained by complicating features of the ward milieu such as short

and unpredictable admission lengths, diverse and preliminary diagnoses, high symptom severity, behavioral disturbance, lack of relevant staff training, and occasional staff skepticism towards psychotherapy (Curran et al., 2007 and Mullen, 2009). Research indicates that cognitive and behavioral therapies (CBTs) can be successfully adapted for inpatients with depression (Cuijpers et al., 2011) as well as mixed diagnostic groups (Durrant et al., 2007, Lynch et al., 2011 and Veltro et al., 2008). The research is however preliminary and the magnitude of psychotherapy selleck chemicals llc effects may be smaller than the ones observed in other contexts (Cuijpers et al., 2011). The effectiveness of CBTs for depressed inpatients has been argued to improve if outpatient sessions are scheduled after discharge as it ensures consolidation of skills learned during admission (Stuart et al., 1997 and Thase and Wright, 1991). There is promising data from inpatient depression trials where CBTs start during inpatient treatment and continue after discharge (Miller et al., 1985, Miller et al., 1989, Scott, 1992 and Whisman et al., 1991). Behavioral activation (BA) has been proposed to be particularly well suited to deal with the challenges of the inpatient milieu (Curran, Lawson, Houghton, & Gournay, 2007). We will highlight a few arguments for this and for why we believe it acetylcholine could serve as a treatment

to bridge the gap between inpatient and outpatient services. First, data from a large clinical trial (Dimidjian et al., 2006) suggested that BA was more effective than cognitive therapy (CT) in the acute treatment of severe depression. BA was also equally effective to pharmacotherapy and evidenced superior retention. In a reanalysis of the data, Coffman and colleagues (2007) found that BA did not evidence the same nonresponse pattern as did CT for a subset of patients with functional impairment, problems in the primary support group, and severe depression. Second, Hopko and colleagues (2003) reported that their brief protocol Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression (BATD; Lejuez et al., 2001) evidenced significantly larger improvements from baseline to posttreatment in depression compared to supportive therapy.

Within this observation remains the caveat that a substantial portion of the suspended load is mineral-bound P, and may not be immediately available to lake phytoplankton and is instead likely rapidly exported to the sediments. Moreover, variations within the data suggest some seasonality, with TN:TP relationships being generally lower in these samples during the August to October period each year. The result is that these inputs provide for variable molar TN:TP ratios (from < 25 to > 100) in both the waters at the very entrance of Lake Erie as well as farther into the western basin (Chaffin

et al., 2013). Overall the data continue to suggest a potential cryptic yet seasonal role for N input than historical theories dictate as well as selleck screening library support for seasonal variations in limiting nutrients (Chaffin et al., 2013 and Hartig and Wallen, 1984). We are indebted to Dr. Peter Richards for bringing the error to our attention and working with us in correcting it. “
“Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) often require mechanical ventilatory support using positive pressure ventilation (Rouby et al., 2004). Estimation of lung variables benefits these patients because they help the clinician to determine the most suitable values in therapeutic measures such as positive end-expired pressure (PEEP). They could also help to avoid the common

problem of ventilator induced lung injury (VILI). Three key lung variables are: 1. alveolar

volume Mannose-binding protein-associated serine protease at the end of an expiration, VA Current techniques for measuring these variables can require the cooperation of the patient, or Galunisertib a modification of the patient’s ventilator system. ICU patients depend on complex life support and monitoring equipment, and thus are usually unable to cooperate with the physician. These patients are therefore some of the most difficult to assess using conventional lung function tests. Zwart et al. pioneered the non-invasive oscillating gas-forcing technique (Zwart et al., 1976 and Zwart et al., 1978), and used halothane as the forcing gas at a very low concentration (around 0.02, v/vv/v) to measure the average ventilation-perfusion ratio ( V˙/Q˙) in the lung. Hahn et al. further developed this method by using biologically inert gases such as nitrous oxide (N2O) and argon (instead of halothane) to measure V  A, V  D, and Q˙P non-invasively ( Hahn et al., 1993 and Williams et al., 1994). They later proposed that oxygen (O2) can be used to measure V  A and V  D ( Hahn, 1996 and Hamilton, 1998). When O2 was used together with N2O, their model can also be used to measure Q˙P. However, their initial technique required a respiratory mass spectrometer that presented considerable difficulty when used in the ICU due to its size, noise, complexity, high maintenance requirements, and lack of portability ( Farmery, 2008). Moreover, their prototype gas mixer is not compatible with modern ICU ventilators.