Draft Genome of Shewanella frigidimarina Ag06-30, a Marine Bacterium Isolated from Potter Peninsula, King George Island, Antarctica

We present the draft genome of Shewanella frigidimarina Ag06-30, a marine bacterium from King George Island, Antarctica,which encodes the carbapenemase SFP-1. The assembly contains 4,799,218 bp (GC content 41.24%). This strain harbors severalmobile genetic elements that provide insight into lateral gene transfer and bacterial plasticity and evolution.Fil: Parmeciano Di Noto, Gisela Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; ArgentinaFil: Vázquez, Susana Claudia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Nanobiotecnología. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Nanobiotecnología; ArgentinaFil: MacCormack, Walter P.. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Nanobiotecnología. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica. Instituto de Nanobiotecnología; Argentina. Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores, Comercio Interno y Culto. Dirección Nacional del Antártico. Instituto Antártico Argentino; ArgentinaFil: Iriarte, Andrés. Universidad de la República; Uruguay. Instituto de Investigaciones Biológicas ; UruguayFil: Quiroga, Cecilia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones en Microbiología y Parasitología Médica; Argentin

Experimental test of a trace formula for two-dimensional dielectric resonators

Resonance spectra of two-dimensional dielectric microwave resonators of circular and square shapes have been measured. The deduced length spectra of periodic orbits were analyzed and a trace formula for dielectric resonators recently proposed by Bogomolny et al. [Phys. Rev. E 78, 056202 (2008)] was tested. The observed deviations between the experimental length spectra and the predictions of the trace formula are attributed to a large number of missing resonances in the measured spectra. We show that by taking into account the systematics of observed and missing resonances the experimental length spectra are fully understood. In particular, a connection between the most long-lived resonances and certain periodic orbits is established experimentally.Comment: 14 pages, 12 figures, 1 tabl

Enhancement of photoacoustic detection of inhomogeneities in polymers

We report a series of experiments on laser pulsed photoacoustic excitationin turbid polymer samples addressed to evaluate the sound speed in the samples and the presence of inhomogeneities in the bulk. We describe a system which allows the direct measurement of the speed of the detected waves by engraving the surface of the piece under study with a fiduciary pattern of black lines. We also describe how this pattern helps to enhance the sensitivity for the detection of an inhomogeneity in the bulk. These two facts are useful for studies in soft matter systems including, perhaps, biological samples. We have performed an experimental analysis on Grilon(R) samples in different situations and we show the limitations of the method.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figure

Do parental reflective functioning and parental competence affect the socioemotional adjustment of children?

Parental reflective functioning refers to the parents’ ability to reflect on their children’s mental states, and is increasingly considered to be a key feature of competent parenting. However, to date, no study has empirically investigated this assumption. The main objective of the present study was therefore to investigate the mediating role of parental competence in the relationship between parental reflective functioning and children’s socioemotional adjustment. We also investigated whether these relationships were similar for mothers and fathers. The study was carried out in a sample of 433 mothers and 113 fathers of infants aged from 2 to 36 months. Participants had to complete the Spanish version of the Perceived Parental Competence Scale, the Parental Reflective Functioning Questionnaire and the Ages & Stages Questionnaire. Results showed, as expected, that parental competence mediated the association between parental reflective functioning and infants’ emotional adjustment. Multigroup analysis supported the invariance of the structural model across mothers and fathers. The implications of these results for pediatric and primary care are discussed

Retrieval of publications addressing shared decision making: an evaluation of full-text searches on medical journal websites.

BACKGROUND: Full-text searches of articles increase the recall, defined by the proportion of relevant publications that are retrieved. However, this method is rarely used in medical research due to resource constraints. For the purpose of a systematic review of publications addressing shared decision making, a full-text search method was required to retrieve publications where shared decision making does not appear in the title or abstract. OBJECTIVE: The objective of our study was to assess the efficiency and reliability of full-text searches in major medical journals for identifying shared decision making publications. METHODS: A full-text search was performed on the websites of 15 high-impact journals in general internal medicine to look up publications of any type from 1996-2011 containing the phrase "shared decision making". The search method was compared with a PubMed search of titles and abstracts only. The full-text search was further validated by requesting all publications from the same time period from the individual journal publishers and searching through the collected dataset. RESULTS: The full-text search for "shared decision making" on journal websites identified 1286 publications in 15 journals compared to 119 through the PubMed search. The search within the publisher-provided publications of 6 journals identified 613 publications compared to 646 with the full-text search on the respective journal websites. The concordance rate was 94.3% between both full-text searches. CONCLUSIONS: Full-text searching on medical journal websites is an efficient and reliable way to identify relevant articles in the field of shared decision making for review or other purposes. It may be more widely used in biomedical research in other fields in the future, with the collaboration of publishers and journals toward open-access data

Experimental Test of a Two-dimensional Approximation for Dielectric Microcavities

Open dielectric resonators of different shapes are widely used for the manufacture of microlasers. A precise determination of their resonance frequencies and widths is crucial for their design. Most microlasers have a flat cylindrical geometry, and a two-dimensional approximation, the so-called method of the effective index of refraction, is commonly employed for numerical calculations. Our aim has been an experimental test of the precision and applicability of a model based on this approximation. We performed very thorough and accurate measurements of the resonance frequencies and widths of two passive circular dielectric microwave resonators and found significant deviations from the model predictions. From this we conclude that the model generally fails in the quantitative description of three-dimensional dielectric resonators.Comment: 10 pages, 13 figure

The Post-Common Envelope and Pre-Cataclysmic Binary PG 1224+309

We have made extensive spectroscopic and photometric observations of PG 1224+309, a close binary containing a DA white dwarf primary and an M4+ secondary. The H alpha line is in emission due to irradiation of the M-star by the hot white dwarf and is seen to vary around the orbit. From the radial velocities of the H alpha line we derive a period of P = 0.258689 +/- 0.000004 days and a semi-amplitude of K_Halpha = 160 +/- 8 km/s. We estimate a correction Delta_K = 21 +/- 2 km/s, where K_M = K_Halpha + Delta_K. Radial velocity variations of the white dwarf reveal a semi-amplitude of K_WD = 112 +/- 14 km/s. The blue spectrum of the white dwarf is well fit by a synthetic spectrum having T_eff = 29,300 K and log(g) = 7.38. The white dwarf contributes 97% of the light at 4500 Angstroms and virtually all of the light blueward of 3800 Angstroms. No eclipses are observed. The mass inferred for the white dwarf depends on the assumed mass of the thin residual hydrogen envelope: 0.40 < M_WD < 0.45 solar masses for hydrogen envelope masses of 0 < M_H < 4.0E-4 solar masses. We argue that the mass of the white dwarf is closer to 0.45 solar masses, hence it appears that the white dwarf has a relatively large residual hydrogen envelope. The mass of the M-star is then M_M = 0.28 +/- 0.05 solar masses, and the inclination is i = 77 +/- 7 degrees. We discuss briefly how PG 1224+309 may be used to constrain theories of close binary star evolution, and the past and future histories of PG 1224+309 itself. The star is both a ``post-common envelope'' star and a ``pre-cataclysmic binary'' star. Mass transfer by Roche-lobe overflow should commence in about 10 Gyr.Comment: 17 pages, 8 figures, AAS LaTeX, to appear in AJ, March 199

Publication trends of shared decision making in 15 high impact medical journals: a full-text review with bibliometric analysis.

BACKGROUND: Shared Decision Making (SDM) is increasingly advocated as a model for medical decision making. However, there is still low use of SDM in clinical practice. High impact factor journals might represent an efficient way for its dissemination. We aimed to identify and characterize publication trends of SDM in 15 high impact medical journals. METHODS: We selected the 15 general and internal medicine journals with the highest impact factor publishing original articles, letters and editorials. We retrieved publications from 1996 to 2011 through the full-text search function on each journal website and abstracted bibliometric data. We included publications of any type containing the phrase "shared decision making" or five other variants in their abstract or full text. These were referred to as SDM publications. A polynomial Poisson regression model with logarithmic link function was used to assess the evolution across the period of the number of SDM publications according to publication characteristics. RESULTS: We identified 1285 SDM publications out of 229,179 publications in 15 journals from 1996 to 2011. The absolute number of SDM publications by journal ranged from 2 to 273 over 16 years. SDM publications increased both in absolute and relative numbers per year, from 46 (0.32% relative to all publications from the 15 journals) in 1996 to 165 (1.17%) in 2011. This growth was exponential (P &lt; 0.01). We found fewer research publications (465, 36.2% of all SDM publications) than non-research publications, which included non-systematic reviews, letters, and editorials. The increase of research publications across time was linear. Full-text search retrieved ten times more SDM publications than a similar PubMed search (1285 vs. 119 respectively). CONCLUSION: This review in full-text showed that SDM publications increased exponentially in major medical journals from 1996 to 2011. This growth might reflect an increased dissemination of the SDM concept to the medical community