Record fledging count from a seven-egg clutch in the Cooper’s Hawk (\u3ci\u3eAccipiter cooperii\u3c/i\u3e)

Cooper’s Hawks (Accipiter cooperii) typically lay 3–5 eggs per clutch, rarely 6 eggs, and there are 2 accounts of 7-egg clutches and 1 record of a maximum 8-egg clutch for the species. Brood sizes of 3–5 young are common and the previous maximum brood count is 6 young. However, in 2019, we found an urban nest in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, with 7 eggs that resulted in a record high of 7 fledglings. We genetically confirmed that the attending male sired all the offspring and the attending female laid all 7 eggs. Larger body size of the tending adults may have been a factor in the exceptional reproduction reported here. El gavila´n Accipiter cooperii t´ıpicamente pone 3–5 huevos por puesta, rara vez 6. Hay 2 reportes de puestas de 7 huevos y 1 registro ma´ximo de una puesta de 8 huevos para esta especie. Los tama˜nos de nidada de 3–5 polluelos son comunes y la nidada ma´xima es de 6 polluelos. Sin embargo, en 2019 encontramos un nido urbano en Stevens Point, Wisconsin, con 7 huevos que result ´o en un r´ecord ma´ximo de 7 polluelos emancipados. Confirmamos gen´eticamente que el macho que los cuidaba era el padre de todos los polluelos y que la hembra que los cuidaba puso los 7 huevos. El tama˜no corporal de los adultos a cargo podr´ıa ser un factor en el evento de reproducci´on extraordinario que reportamos aqu´ı

Value within otolaryngology: Assessment of the cost-utility analysis literature

AbstractObjectiveTo assess the characteristics and quality of cost utility analyses (CUA) related to otolaryngology within the CEA registry and to summarize their collective results.MethodsAll cost-utility analyses published between 1976 and 2011 contained in the Cost-Effectiveness Analysis Registry (CEA Registry) were evaluated. Topics that fall within the care of an otolaryngologist were included in the review regardless of the presence of an otolaryngologist author. Potential associations between various study characteristics and CEA registry quality scores were evaluated using the Pearson product moment correlation coefficient.ResultsSixty-one of 2913 (2.1%) total CUA publications screened were related to otolaryngology. Eighteen of 61 (29.5%) publications included an otolaryngologist as an author. Fourteen studies agreed on the cost effectiveness of at least unilateral cochlear implantation and six of seven (85.7%) studies demonstrated the cost effectiveness of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Forty-six percent (28 of 61) of all manuscripts were published between 2008 and 2011. A more recent publication year was associated with a higher CEA registry quality score while the presence of an otolaryngologist author and journal impact factor had no significant correlation with the quality of the CUA.ConclusionBased on current evidence in the CEA registry, unilateral cochlear implantation for hearing loss and CPAP for OSA are both cost-effective therapeutic interventions. Although CUAs in otolaryngology have increased in quantity and improved in quality in more recent years, there is a relative lack of CUAs in otolaryngology in comparison to other subspecialties

3,3′Diindolylmethane Suppresses Vascular Smooth Muscle Cell Phenotypic Modulation and Inhibits Neointima Formation after Carotid Injury

3,3'Diindolylmethane (DIM), a natural phytochemical, has shown inhibitory effects on the growth and migration of a variety of cancer cells; however, whether DIM has similar effects on vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) remains unknown. The purpose of this study was to assess the effects of DIM on the proliferation and migration of cultured VSMCs and neointima formation in a carotid injury model, as well as the related cell signaling mechanisms.DIM dose-dependently inhibited the platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF)-BB-induced proliferation of VSMCs without cell cytotoxicity. This inhibition was caused by a G0/G1 phase cell cycle arrest demonstrated by fluorescence-activated cell-sorting analysis. We also showed that DIM-induced growth inhibition was associated with the inhibition of the expression of cyclin D1 and cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 as well as an increase in p27(Kip1) levels in PDGF-stimulated VSMCs. Moreover, DIM was also found to modulate migration of VSMCs and smooth muscle-specific contractile marker expression. Mechanistically, DIM negatively modulated PDGF-BB-induced phosphorylation of PDGF-recptorβ (PDGF-Rβ) and the activities of downstream signaling molecules including Akt/glycogen synthase kinase(GSK)3β, extracellular signal-regulated kinase1/2 (ERK1/2), and signal transducers and activators of transcription 3 (STAT3). Our in vivo studies using a mouse carotid arterial injury model revealed that treatment with 150 mg/kg DIM resulted in significant reduction of the neointima/media ratio and proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA)-positive cells, without affecting apoptosis of vascular cells and reendothelialization. Infiltration of inflammatory cells was also inhibited by DIM administration.These results demonstrate that DIM can suppress the phenotypic modulation of VSMCs and neointima hyperplasia after vascular injury. These beneficial effects on VSMCs were at least partly mediated by the inhibition of PDGF-Rβ and the activities of downstream signaling pathways. The results suggest that DIM has the potential to be a candidate for the prevention of restenosis

A Prescription for Value: Building Automation in a Competitive Energy Market

As markets for electric power open to competition, business stands at the edge of a breakthrough in the efficient, cost-effective use of energy. To companies disappointed with the pace and benefits of deregulation, that statement may seem radical. To those thinking longer term and following advances in building control and energy management technology, it is not radical at all. For years, utility regulation has masked inefficiencies. Competition will expose them and strip them away, and power prices will fall. But marginally cheaper kilowatt hours are only the beginning. The rules of the emerging market will change forever the way companies buy and use energy. The benefits will dwarf those of traditional efforts to cut consumption and curb demand. That is because competition coincides with the arrival of powerful new tools to monitor, analyze and control energy consumption. Low-cost computing power now puts sophisticated energy management within the reach of small as well as large companies. Internet connections make central monitoring and control of multiple facilities simple and inexpensive, regardless of distance. Gas-fueled chillers and generators reduce reliance on electricity as the sole energy source, providing more flexibility and more price options. Savings opportunities abound. In the competitive market, companies content simply to shop for the cheapest fixed-priced energy contracts will realize some savings. Bigger winners will be companies that learn to manage both energy supply and demand, controlling their consumption patterns to capture marketplace price incentives. The biggest winners will be companies that go even farther, using energy information to help guide strategic business decisions: When to invest in new equipment, where to price a product or service, how to schedule building occupancy, whether to build or expand a facility. Using energy to the fullest means being not just intelligent but agile. Many companies already own a potent tool for gathering, dissecting and acting quickly on energy information. A building automation system (BAS), fed with real-time data and loaded with sophisticated software, serves as the ultimate utility meter. Far from passively recording energy consumption, a BAS becomes a nerve center that executes a company's energy strategy. Properly configured, the BAS can automatically control building functions to use energy in the most cost-effective manner possible. More important, it can deliver energy information in clear, compelling formats, directly to the desktops of people best equipped to translate it into value for the organization. The technical capability exists today. Competitive energy markets will only magnify the possibilities. " If you sign up for a long-term, fixed-price contract today, you are leaving a lot on the table.

Technology Application Centers: Facilitating Technology Transfer

Industrial DSM programs cannot succeed unless customers learn about and implement new technologies in a timely manner. Why? Because this expeditious transfer of new technologies represents the key challenge for the 1990s. This paper explores the viability of using technology application centers (TACs) to help utilities facilitate the diffusion of new technologies to customers. Technology represents a key component in integrating industrial customers' needs with utility objectives. A&C Enercom's approach to technology deployment seeks to blend an industrial customer's priorities with the utility's marketing and customer service objectives. A&C Enercom sees technology deployment as the sum of an equation: technology deployment equals technology transfer plus technology application. A&C Enercom has learned from experience that technology deployment will not occur unless utilities achieve both technology transfer (e.g, the dissemination of information) and technology application (e.g., the direct application of electrotechnologies to a customer's processes and systems). TACs represent a key tool that will help utilities meet the technology deployment challenge. A TAC's focus is to serve customers. It should house all technology deployment components and represent the platform from which all services are offered to the industrial customer. Today's utilities must become proactive partners in technology deployment or see customers switch to more astute, technologically-oriented competitors. TACs will help utilities make the right choices and better serve their customers

You Can't Manage What You Can't Measure

"Energy information and power management will be a critical component to utilities, energy service providers and especially to commercial and industrial end users as they consider their options in a competitive energy market and begin to formulate an energy purchasing strategy. It will be imperative to develop a comprehensive, detailed understanding of power usage and service requirements in order to participate and take advantage of the competition in the supply of electricity. Energy information and power management consists of a metering system to capture energy data as well as provide a means for storage, management, manipulation, communication, and control of that data. The paper will discuss the system concept and methodology of energy information and power management and investigate the benefits of that can be derived from such a system in terms of energy utilization, cost management, measurement and verification, power quality, system reliability, productivity, and safety. Other issues that will be incorporated into the paper include revenue metering, power contract management, demand management, load monitoring and control.