1,539 research outputs found
"Nuisance Dusts"- Validation and Application of a Novel Dry Deposition Method for Total Dust Fall
Scholarship Reconsidered: Role Definition and Its Impact on the Faculty
This article addresses issues concerning the role of faculty members in U.S. universities and colleges. With external pressures coming from state legislators and accrediting bodies, all of which are aimed at the role of the individual faculty member, many both on the inside and the outside of the university are expressing opinions about the work life of the faculty member. In fact, one might even be so bold as to suggest that everything we have traditionally accepted about scholarship is now up for grabs. This unstable environment has heaped added pressure upon the individual faculty member, who may well be perceiving that the rules are changing just as s/he has learned them. The faculty member is in a complex situation. National decisions are taking place which could change the job description of the professoriate
Genetic Variability of the European Corn Borer, Ostrinia nubilalis, Suggests Gene Flow Between Populations in the Midwestern United States
The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (HĂŒbner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is a widely distributed and serious economic pest to corn production in the U.S. Genetic variability of O. nubilalis was studied in 18 sub-populations in the upper Midwestern United States using amplified fragment length polymorphism. The relatively low GST values indicate that more variation exists within populations than between populations. High gene flow (Nm) values were indicated across the entire O. nubilalis population; the lowest degree of gene flow was in the northern samples (Nm = 1.96) and the highest degree of gene flow was in the southern samples (Nm = 2.77). The differences observed in the respective regions (north vs. south) may be explained by the voltinism patterns (univoltine vs. multivoltine, respectively) of O. nubilalis: southern multivoltine populations have opportunities for multiple matings for the duration of the year, further mix alleles. AMOVA results also indicated that most of the genetic variation was within sub-populations (â 81% of total variation); less variation (â 13%) was detected among populations within each of the three regions as designated for this study. However, the most striking and unexpected result was the low percentage of variation between all groups (â 6%), further supporting implications of a high degree of gene flow. These results provide support for current requirements of refugia corn planting in Bt-corn management. These results also indicate that if resistance to Bt were to evolve in O. nubilalis, quick action would be necessary to deter the rapid spread of the gene for resistance
Securing recruitment and obtaining informed consent in minority ethnic groups in the UK
Background: Previous health research has often explicitly excluded individuals from minority
ethnic backgrounds due to perceived cultural and communication difficulties, including studies
where there might be language/literacy problems in obtaining informed consent. This study
addressed these difficulties by developing audio-recorded methods of obtaining informed consent
and recording data. This report outlines 1) our experiences with securing recruitment to a
qualitative study investigating alternative methods of data collection, and 2) the development of a
standardised process for obtaining informed consent from individuals from minority ethnic
backgrounds whose main language does not have an agreed written form.
Methods: Two researchers from South Asian backgrounds recruited adults with Type 2 diabetes
whose main language was spoken and not written, to attend a series of focus groups. A screening
tool was used at recruitment in order to assess literacy skills in potential participants. Informed
consent was obtained using audio-recordings of the patient information and recording patients'
verbal consent. Participants' perceptions of this method of obtaining consent were recorded.
Results: Recruitment rates were improved by using telephone compared to face-to-face methods.
The screening tool was found to be acceptable by all potential participants. Audio-recorded
methods of obtaining informed consent were easy to implement and accepted by all participants.
Attrition rates differed according to ethnic group. Snowballing techniques only partly improved
participation rates.
Conclusion: Audio-recorded methods of obtaining informed consent are an acceptable
alternative to written consent in study populations where literacy skills are variable. Further
exploration of issues relating to attrition is required, and a range of methods may be necessary in
order to maximise response and participation
Annotation of two large contiguous regions from the Haemonchus contortus genome using RNA-seq and comparative analysis with Caenorhabditis elegans
The genomes of numerous parasitic nematodes are currently being sequenced, but their complexity and size, together with high levels of intra-specific sequence variation and a lack of reference genomes, makes their assembly and annotation a challenging task. Haemonchus contortus is an economically significant parasite of livestock that is widely used for basic research as well as for vaccine development and drug discovery. It is one of many medically and economically important parasites within the strongylid nematode group. This group of parasites has the closest phylogenetic relationship with the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, making comparative analysis a potentially powerful tool for genome annotation and functional studies. To investigate this hypothesis, we sequenced two contiguous fragments from the H. contortus genome and undertook detailed annotation and comparative analysis with C. elegans. The adult H. contortus transcriptome was sequenced using an Illumina platform and RNA-seq was used to annotate a 409 kb overlapping BAC tiling path relating to the X chromosome and a 181 kb BAC insert relating to chromosome I. In total, 40 genes and 12 putative transposable elements were identified. 97.5% of the annotated genes had detectable homologues in C. elegans of which 60% had putative orthologues, significantly higher than previous analyses based on EST analysis. Gene density appears to be less in H. contortus than in C. elegans, with annotated H. contortus genes being an average of two-to-three times larger than their putative C. elegans orthologues due to a greater intron number and size. Synteny appears high but gene order is generally poorly conserved, although areas of conserved microsynteny are apparent. C. elegans operons appear to be partially conserved in H. contortus. Our findings suggest that a combination of RNA-seq and comparative analysis with C. elegans is a powerful approach for the annotation and analysis of strongylid nematode genomes
2009 Focused Update Incorporated Into the ACC/AHA 2005 Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Management of Heart Failure in Adults A Report of the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association Task Force on Practice Guidelines Developed in Collaboration With the International Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation
Heart failure (HF) is a major and growing public health problem in the United States. Approximately 5 million patients in this country have HF, and over 550,000 patients are diagnosed with HF for the first time each year. The disorder is the primary reason for 12 to 15 million office visits and 6.5 million hospital days each year. From 1990 to 1999, the annual number of hospitalizations has increased from approximately 810,000 to over 1 million for HF as a primary diagnosis and from 2.4 to 3.6 million for HF as a primary or secondary diagnosis. In 2001, nearly 53 000 patients died of HF as a primary cause. The number of HF deaths has increased steadily despite advances in treatment, in part because of increasing numbers of patients with HF due to better treatment and âsalvageâ of patients with acute myocardial infarctions (MIs) earlier in life. Heart failure is primarily a condition of the elderly, and thus the widely recognized âaging of the populationâ also contributes to the increasing incidence of HF. The incidence of HF approaches 10 per 1000 population after age 65, and approximately 80% of patients hospitalized with HF are more than 65 years old. Heart failure is the most common Medicare diagnosis-related group (i.e., hospital discharge diagnosis), and more Medicare dollars are spent for the diagnosis and treatment of HF than for any other diagnosis. The total estimated direct and indirect costs for HF in 2005 were approximately 2.9 billion annually is spent on drugs for the treatment of HF
Towards local electromechanical probing of cellular and biomolecular systems in a liquid environment
Electromechanical coupling is ubiquitous in biological systems with examples
ranging from simple piezoelectricity in calcified and connective tissues to
voltage-gated ion channels, energy storage in mitochondria, and
electromechanical activity in cardiac myocytes and outer hair cell stereocilia.
Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) has originally emerged as a technique to
study electromechanical phenomena in ferroelectric materials, and in recent
years, has been employed to study a broad range of non-ferroelectric polar
materials, including piezoelectric biomaterials. At the same time, the
technique has been extended from ambient to liquid imaging on model
ferroelectric systems. Here, we present results on local electromechanical
probing of several model cellular and biomolecular systems, including insulin
and lysozyme amyloid fibrils, breast adenocarcinoma cells, and
bacteriorhodopsin in a liquid environment. The specific features of SPM
operation in liquid are delineated and bottlenecks on the route towards
nanometer-resolution electromechanical imaging of biological systems are
identified.Comment: 37 pages (including refs), 8 figure
Recommended from our members
PNGV Battery Performance Testing and Analyses
In support of the Partnership for a New Generation of Vehicles (PNGV), the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) has developed novel testing procedures and analytical methodologies to assess the performance of batteries for use in hybrid electric vehicles (HEVâs). Tests have been designed for both Power Assist and Dual Mode applications. They include both characterization and cycle life and/or calendar life. At periodic intervals during life testing, a series of Reference Performance Tests are executed to determine changes in the baseline performance of the batteries. Analytical procedures include a battery scaling methodology, the calculation of pulse resistance, pulse power, available energy, and differential capacity, and the modeling of calendar- and cycle-life data. PNGV goals, test procedures, analytical methodologies, and representative results are presented
Recommended from our members
Implications of NiMH Hysteresis on HEV Battery Testing and Performance
Nickel Metal-Hydride (NiMH) is an advanced high-power battery technology that is presently employed in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (HEVs) and is one of several technologies undergoing continuing research and development by FreedomCAR. Unlike some other HEV battery technologies, NiMH exhibits a strong hysteresis effect upon charge and discharge. This hysteresis has a profound impact on the ability to monitor state-of-charge and battery performance. Researchers at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL) have been investigating the implications of NiMH hysteresis on HEV battery testing and performance. Experimental results, insights, and recommendations are presented
Recommended from our members
A Search for Dark Higgs Bosons
Recent astrophysical and terrestrial experiments have motivated the proposal
of a dark sector with GeV-scale gauge boson force carriers and new Higgs
bosons. We present a search for a dark Higgs boson using 516 fb-1 of data
collected with the BABAR detector. We do not observe a significant signal and
we set 90% confidence level upper limits on the product of the Standard
Model-dark sector mixing angle and the dark sector coupling constant.Comment: 7 pages, 5 postscript figures, published version with improved plots
for b/w printin
- âŠ