Haustorius jayneae, a New Species of Haustoriid Amphipod from the Northern Gulf of Mexico, with Notes on Its Ecology at Panama City Beach, Florida U.S.A.

A new species of sand-burrowing amphipod, Haustorius jayneae, is described from the swash zone and shallow subtidal sands along the north Florida and Mississippi Gulf coasts. It is most similar to H. canadensis from the American Atlantic coast, differing primarily in the presence of a distinct anterodistal spinous lobe on pereopod 6, article 5; a longer row of distal marginal spines on pereopod 7, article 4; and fewer proximal spines on the peduncle of uropod 1. A revised key to the known species of Haustorius is included and information on the ecology of H. jayneae n. sp. at Panama City Beach, Florida, is reviewed

Clinical outcomes with rapid detection of methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus isolates from routine blood cultures

Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of bacteremia with substantial impact on morbidity and mortality. Because of increasing rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin has become the standard empiric therapy. However, beta-lactam antibiotics remain the best treatment choice for methicillin- susceptible strains. Placing patients quickly on optimal therapy is one goal of antimicrobial stewardship. This retrospective, observational, single-center study compared 33 control patients utilizing only traditional full susceptibility methodology to 22 case patients utilizing rapid methodology with CHROMagar medium for detection and differentiation of methicillin-resistant and methicillin- susceptible Staphylococcus aureus strains hours before reporting full susceptibilities. Time to targeted therapy was statistically significantly different between control patients (mean 56.5 ± 13.6 hours) and case patients (44.3 ± 17.9 hours) (p=0.006). Intensive care unit status, time of day results emerged, and patient age did not make a difference in time to targeted therapy, either singularly or in combination. Neither length of stay (p=0.61) nor survival (p=1.0) was statistically significantly different. Rapid testing yielded a significant result with a difference of 12.2 hours in time to targeted therapy. However, there is still room for improvement as the difference in time to susceptibility test result between the full traditional methodology and CHROMagar was even larger (26.5 hours). This study supports the hypothesis that rapid testing plays a role in antimicrobial stewardship by getting patients on targeted therapy faster.Doctor of Pharmac

Karkar and Bagabag islands

p. 469-531 : ill., map ; 26 cm.Includes bibliographical references (p. 528-531)."We analyze the avifaunas of Karkar and Bagabag, two Quaternary volcanic islands off the northeast coast of New Guinea. Our discussion is based on collections and observations of birds, and incidental collections of mammals, made on these islands in 1969. The first part of our discussion considers general features of interest in the avifaunas, and the second part consists of individual species accounts. Most bats and nonvolant mammals of Karkar and Bagabag occur in the adjacent New Guinea lowlands and on other nearby islands. However, the bat Pteropus tonganus is otherwise absent from the New Guinea and Bismarck regions, though widespread on more remote Pacific archipelagoes from the New Hebrides eastward. As judged by distributions and subspecific affinities, most bird species have been derived from New Guinea, except for seven species (including four small-island specialists or 'supertramps') derived from the Bismarck Archipelago. There are no endemic forms. Most of the bird species are superior overwater colonists shared with other nearby islands. Altitudinal ranges are plotted for all resident species of Karkar. Species number decreases regularly with altitude. Altitudinal limits of different species show little tendency to coincide: i.e., there is little altitudinal zonation of the avifauna. Eight species on Karkar are confined to the mountains. Comparison of the resident avifauna of Karkar in 1969 with that determined by Meek's collectors in 1914 yields a minimum turnover rate of 0.34 percent of Karkar's bird populations turning over (immigrating or going extinct) per year. Karkar and Bagabag support only a fraction of the bird species found in similar habitats on New Guinea. Total population densities on Karkar and Bagabag are considerably below those on New Guinea. Due to this reduction in interspecific competition, half of the species on Karkar undergo niche shifts--i.e., occupy broader altitudinal, habitat, or vertical ranges or live at higher densities than do the source populations on New Guinea. Study of primary molt and gonad condition of collected specimens and nest records permit tentative conclusions about reproductive cycles for most species. Few species breed in the dry season except for frugivores. Some species, especially wide-ranging colonizers, increase their reproductive potential by molt-breeding overlap, adventitious breeding, or both. Our accounts of individual species report measurements and weights of collected specimens, color of soft parts, local names, breeding and molt data, stomach contents, taxonomic conclusions, and voice and other field observations"--P. 471

Statistical and Probabilistic Extensions to Ground Operations' Discrete Event Simulation Modeling

NASA's human exploration initiatives will invest in technologies, public/private partnerships, and infrastructure, paving the way for the expansion of human civilization into the solar system and beyond. As it is has been for the past half century, the Kennedy Space Center will be the embarkation point for humankind's journey into the cosmos. Functioning as a next generation space launch complex, Kennedy's launch pads, integration facilities, processing areas, launch and recovery ranges will bustle with the activities of the world's space transportation providers. In developing this complex, KSC teams work through the potential operational scenarios: conducting trade studies, planning and budgeting for expensive and limited resources, and simulating alternative operational schemes. Numerous tools, among them discrete event simulation (DES), were matured during the Constellation Program to conduct such analyses with the purpose of optimizing the launch complex for maximum efficiency, safety, and flexibility while minimizing life cycle costs. Discrete event simulation is a computer-based modeling technique for complex and dynamic systems where the state of the system changes at discrete points in time and whose inputs may include random variables. DES is used to assess timelines and throughput, and to support operability studies and contingency analyses. It is applicable to any space launch campaign and informs decision-makers of the effects of varying numbers of expensive resources and the impact of off nominal scenarios on measures of performance. In order to develop representative DES models, methods were adopted, exploited, or created to extend traditional uses of DES. The Delphi method was adopted and utilized for task duration estimation. DES software was exploited for probabilistic event variation. A roll-up process was used, which was developed to reuse models and model elements in other less - detailed models. The DES team continues to innovate and expand DES capabilities to address KSC's planning needs

A 50 Year Accomplishment in Marine Science: A History of the Journal Published by the Gulf Coast Research Laboratory

The Gulf Coast Research Laboratory (GCRL) has a 50 year history of annual publication of the peer-reviewed journal Gulf and Caribbean Research (GCR, 2000-present; formerly Gulf Research Reports (GRR) from 1961—1999). Other extant journals serving the region during this time include Contributions in Marine Science (since 1945), Proceedings of the Gulf and Caribbean Fisheries Institute (since 1948), Bulletin of Marine Science (since 1951), Revista de Biología Tropical (since 1953), and Caribbean Journal of Science (since 1961). In the early years of the GCR publication, papers were primarily concerned with research in Mississippi and the northern Gulf of Mexico (GOM), and the majority of authors were from USM/GCRL or the GOM region. However, in the past 15 years, studies from Mexico and the Caribbean have dramatically increased, with a concurrent increase in the geographical diversity of authors. Overall, surveys and inventories, taxonomy, and life history studies have been most common, and taxa have been dominated by fish and crustaceans. Offshore, benthic and marsh habitats have been the most commonly studied during GCR’s 50 year history. In general, publications during the last 15 years are more similar to each other (≥ 65% similarity based on CLUSTER analysis and MDS ordinations) than to earlier publications for geography, taxon, habitat and subject areas. The journal is well cited in peer-reviewed literature, with 72% of the papers published in GRR and 65% of those published in GCR cited at least once. GCR provides an important outlet for peer-reviewed publications from the GOM and Caribbean region

Critical analysis of self-doping and water-soluble n-type organic semiconductors: structures and mechanisms

Self-doping organic semiconductors provide a promising route to avoid instabilities and morphological issues associated with molecular n-type dopants. Structural characterization of a naphthalenetetracarboxylic diimide (NDI) semiconductor covalently bound to an ammonium hydroxide group is presented. The dopant precursor was found to be the product of an unexpected base catalyzed hydrolysis, which was reversible. The reversible hydrolysis had profound consequences on the chemical composition, morphology, and electronic performance of the doped films. In addition, we investigated the degradation mechanism of the quaternary ammonium group and the subsequent doping of NDI. These findings reveal that the products of more than one chemical reaction during processing of films must be considered when utilizing this promising class of water-soluble semiconductors

Clinical Outcomes with Rapid Detection of Methicillin-Resistant and Methicillin-Susceptible Staphylococcus aureus Isolates from Routine Blood Cultures

Staphylococcus aureus is a common cause of bacteremia, with a substantial impact on morbidity and mortality. Because of increasing rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, vancomycin has become the standard empirical therapy. However, beta-lactam antibiotics remain the best treatment choice for methicillin-susceptible strains. Placing patients quickly on the optimal therapy is one goal of antimicrobial stewardship. This retrospective, observational, single-center study compared 33 control patients utilizing only traditional full-susceptibility methodology to 22 case patients utilizing rapid methodology with CHROMagar medium to detect and differentiate methicillin-resistant and methicillin-susceptible Staphylococcus aureus strains hours before full susceptibilities were reported. The time to targeted therapy was statistically significantly different between control patients (mean, 56.5 ± 13.6 h) and case patients (44.3 ± 17.9 h) (P = 0.006). Intensive care unit status, time of day results emerged, and patient age did not make a difference in time to targeted therapy, either singly or in combination. Neither length of stay (P = 0.61) nor survival (P = 1.0) was statistically significantly different. Rapid testing yielded a significant result, with a difference of 12.2 h to targeted therapy. However, there is still room for improvement, as the difference in time to susceptibility test result between the full traditional methodology and CHROMagar was even larger (26.5 h). This study supports the hypothesis that rapid testing plays a role in antimicrobial stewardship by getting patients on targeted therapy faster

Tracing river chemistry in space and time : dissolved inorganic constituents of the Fraser River, Canada

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2013. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of Elsevier for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 124 (2014): 283-308, doi:10.1016/j.gca.2013.09.006.The Fraser River basin in southwestern Canada bears unique geologic and climatic features which make it an ideal setting for investigating the origins, transformations and delivery to the coast of dissolved riverine loads under relatively pristine conditions. We present results from sampling campaigns over three years which demonstrate the lithologic and hydrologic controls on fluxes and isotope compositions of major dissolved inorganic runoff constituents (dissolved nutrients, major and trace elements, 87Sr/86Sr, δD). A time series record near the Fraser mouth allows us to generate new estimates of discharge-weighted concentrations and fluxes, and an overall chemical weathering rate of 32 t km-2 y-1. The seasonal variations in dissolved inorganic species are driven by changes in hydrology, which vary in timing across the basin. The time series record of dissolved 87Sr/86Sr is of particular interest, as a consistent shift between higher (“more radiogenic”) values during spring and summer and less radiogenic values in fall and winter demonstrates the seasonal variability in source contributions throughout the basin. This seasonal shift is also quite large (0.709 – 0.714), with a discharge-weighted annual average of 0.7120 (2 s.d. = 0.0003). We present a mixing model which predicts the seasonal evolution of dissolved 87Sr/86Sr based on tributary compositions and water discharge. This model highlights the importance of chemical weathering fluxes from the old sedimentary bedrock of headwater drainage regions, despite their relatively small contribution to the total water flux.This work was supported by the WHOI Academic Programs Office and MIT PAOC Houghton Fund to BMV, a WHOI Arctic Research Initiative grant to ZAW, NSF-ETBC grant OCE-0851015 to BPE and TIE, and NSF grant EAR-1226818 to BPE

Impact of a Rapid Microarray-Based Assay for Identification of Positive Blood Cultures for Treatment Optimization for Patients with Streptococcal and Enterococcal Bacteremia

Implementation of the Verigene Gram-positive blood culture test led to reductions in time to acceptable antibiotic overall (1.9 versus 13.2 h, respectively; P = 0.04) and time to appropriate antibiotic for patients with vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus (4.2 versus 43.7 h; P = 0.006) and viridans group Streptococcus (0.2 versus 7.1 h; P = 0.02)