774-5 Effect of Cardiac Translation on Measurement of Left Ventricular Wall Velocities: Implications for Doppler Imaging of Myocardium

Doppler imaging of the myocardium is a new application which has the potential to record myocardial velocities. These recorded velocities, however, include cardiac motion independent of ventricular contraction. A measured myocardial velocity, therefore, represents the net vector of contraction, translation, and rotation. To determine the effects of cardiac translation on myocardial velocities, 2-dimensional (2D) and M-mode echocardiographic recordings were obtained in 10 normal subjects. The average anteroseptal (AS) and posterior wall (PW) velocities were measured by 2D echo directed M-mode in the centerline of the parasternal short-axis view. Translation was measured from 2D echo cine-loop display as the displacement of the epicardial junction of the right ventricular free wall and interventricular septum during systole. The average translational velocity is reported as the component of the displacement vector parallel to the M-mode beam (+=toward transducer). The AS and PW velocities (cm/sec) displayed in the table represent net measured velocities, which include the translational vector.ResultsASPWTranslationMean±SD3.2±0.54.5±1.1+1.3±0.6Range2.4 to 4.03.4 to 6.9-l.4 to+2.4In 8/10 subjects the velocity vector was positive. The mean percent error in the M-mode derived velocities due to translation was 41% for the AS wall and 31% for the PW.Conclusions1) As measured by 2D echocardiography, the magnitude of the translational vector is significant when compared to the M-mode derived myocardial velocities. 2) The relative error demonstrated in the measured velocities may be further modified when applied in two dimensions, due to the angle of incidence of the Doppler beam. 3) New techniques for measuring myocardial velocities, such as Doppler imaging of the myocardium, should incorporate algorithms which correct for the translational vector

Cooperation between Referees and Authors Increases Peer Review Accuracy

Peer review is fundamentally a cooperative process between scientists in a community who agree to review each other's work in an unbiased fashion. Peer review is the foundation for decisions concerning publication in journals, awarding of grants, and academic promotion. Here we perform a laboratory study of open and closed peer review based on an online game. We show that when reviewer behavior was made public under open review, reviewers were rewarded for refereeing and formed significantly more cooperative interactions (13% increase in cooperation, P = 0.018). We also show that referees and authors who participated in cooperative interactions had an 11% higher reviewing accuracy rate (P = 0.016). Our results suggest that increasing cooperation in the peer review process can lead to a decreased risk of reviewing errors

Standardized Interpretation of Chest Radiographs in Cases of Pediatric Pneumonia From the PERCH Study.

BACKGROUND.: Chest radiographs (CXRs) are a valuable diagnostic tool in epidemiologic studies of pneumonia. The World Health Organization (WHO) methodology for the interpretation of pediatric CXRs has not been evaluated beyond its intended application as an endpoint measure for bacterial vaccine trials. METHODS.: The Pneumonia Etiology Research for Child Health (PERCH) study enrolled children aged 1-59 months hospitalized with WHO-defined severe and very severe pneumonia from 7 low- and middle-income countries. An interpretation process categorized each CXR into 1 of 5 conclusions: consolidation, other infiltrate, both consolidation and other infiltrate, normal, or uninterpretable. Two members of a 14-person reading panel, who had undertaken training and standardization in CXR interpretation, interpreted each CXR. Two members of an arbitration panel provided additional independent reviews of CXRs with discordant interpretations at the primary reading, blinded to previous reports. Further discordance was resolved with consensus discussion. RESULTS.: A total of 4172 CXRs were obtained from 4232 cases. Observed agreement for detecting consolidation (with or without other infiltrate) between primary readers was 78% (κ = 0.50) and between arbitrators was 84% (κ = 0.61); agreement for primary readers and arbitrators across 5 conclusion categories was 43.5% (κ = 0.25) and 48.5% (κ = 0.32), respectively. Disagreement was most frequent between conclusions of other infiltrate and normal for both the reading panel and the arbitration panel (32% and 30% of discordant CXRs, respectively). CONCLUSIONS.: Agreement was similar to that of previous evaluations using the WHO methodology for detecting consolidation, but poor for other infiltrates despite attempts at a rigorous standardization process

Exploring barriers to assessment of bereavement risk in palliative care: Perspectives of key stakeholders Psychosocial

Background: Palliative care standards advocate support for grieving caregivers, given that some bereaved people fail to integrate their loss, experience ongoing emotional suffering and adverse health outcomes. Research shows that bereavement support tends to be delivered on an ad hoc basis without formal assessment of risk or need. To align support with need, assessment of bereavement risk is necessary. The overall aim is to develop a bereavement risk assessment model, based on a three-tiered public health model, congruent with palliative care bereavement standards for use in palliative care in Western Australia. The specific aim of this phase of the study was to explore the perspectives of key stakeholders and to highlight issues in relation to the practice of bereavement risk assessment in palliative care. Methods: Action research, a cyclical process that involves working collaboratively with stakeholders, was considered as the best method to effect feasible change in practice. The nine participants were multidisciplinary health professionals from five palliative care services, and a bereaved former caregiver. Data were obtained from participants via three 90 min group meetings conducted over five weeks. An inductive thematic analysis approach was used to analyse data following each meeting until saturation was reached, and the research team was satisfied that the themes were congruent with research aims.Results: Existing measures were found unsuitable to assess bereavement risk in palliative care. Assessment following the patient's death presented substantial barriers, directing assessment to the pre-death period. Four themes were identified relating to issues in need of consideration to develop a risk assessment model. These were systems of care, encompassing logistics of contact with caregivers; gatekeeping; conflation between caregiver stress, burden and grief; and a way forward. Conclusions: These group discussions provide a data-driven explanation of the issues affecting bereavement risk assessment in palliative care settings. A number of barriers will need to be overcome before assessment can become routine practice. We recommend the development of a brief, pre-death caregiver self-report measure of bereavement risk that may empower caregivers, lead to early intervention, and allow staff to remain focused on patient care, reducing burden on staff and palliative care services

The effect of artificial selection on phenotypic plasticity in maize

Remarkable productivity has been achieved in crop species through artificial selection and adaptation to modern agronomic practices. Whether intensive selection has changed the ability of improved cultivars to maintain high productivity across variable environments is unknown. Understanding the genetic control of phenotypic plasticity and genotype by environment (G × E) interaction will enhance crop performance predictions across diverse environments. Here we use data generated from the Genomes to Fields (G2F) Maize G × E project to assess the effect of selection on G × E variation and characterize polymorphisms associated with plasticity. Genomic regions putatively selected during modern temperate maize breeding explain less variability for yield G × E than unselected regions, indicating that improvement by breeding may have reduced G × E of modern temperate cultivars. Trends in genomic position of variants associated with stability reveal fewer genic associations and enrichment of variants 0–5000 base pairs upstream of genes, hypothetically due to control of plasticity by short-range regulatory elements

Evaluation of the Impact of the Trivedi Effect® -Energy of Consciousness on the Structure and Isotopic Abundance Ratio of Magnesium Gluconate Using LC-MS and NMR Spectroscopy

Magnesium gluconate is a classical pharmaceutical/nutraceutical compound used as a magnesium ion source for the prevention and treatment of hypomagnesemia. The present study was aimed to investigate the effect of The Trivedi Effect® - Energy of Consciousness Healing Treatment (Biofield Energy Healing Treatment) on magnesium gluconate for the change in the structural properties and isotopic abundance ratio (PM+1/PM and PM+2/PM) using LC-MS and NMR spectroscopy. Magnesium gluconate was divided into two parts – one part was control, and another part was treated with The Trivedi Effect® - Biofield Energy Healing Treatment remotely by twenty renowned Biofield Energy Healers and defined as The Trivedi Effect® Treated sample. The LC-MS analysis of both the control and treated samples indicated the presence of mass of the protonated magnesium gluconate at m/z 415 at the retention time of 1.52 min and fragmentation pattern of the both sample were almost similar. The relative peak intensities of the fragment ions were significantly changed in the treated sample compared with the control sample. The proton and carbon signals for CH, CH2 and CO groups in the proton and carbon NMR spectra were observed almost similar for the control and the treated samples. The percentage change in the isotopic abundance ratio of PM+1/PM (2H/1H or 13C/12C or 17O/16O or 25Mg/24Mg) was significantly decreased in the treated sample by 17.51% compared with the control sample. Consequently, the isotopic abundance ratio of PM+2/PM (18O/16O or 26Mg/24Mg) in the treated sample was significantly increased by 79.44% compared to the control sample. Briefly, 13C, 2H, 17O, and 25Mg contributions from (C12H23MgO14)+ to m/z 416; 18O and 26Mg contributions from (C12H23MgO14)+ to m/z 417 in treated sample were significantly altered compared with the control sample. Thus, The Trivedi Effect® Treated magnesium gluconate might be supportive to design the novel potent enzyme inhibitors using its kinetic isotope effects. Consequently, The Trivedi Effect® Treated magnesium gluconate would be valuable for designing better pharmaceutical and/or nutraceutical formulations through its changed physicochemical and thermal properties, which might be providing better therapeutic response against various diseases such as diabetes mellitus, allergy, aging, inflammatory diseases, immunological disorders, and other chronic infections. Source: https://www.trivedieffect.com/science/evaluation-of-the-impact-of-the-trivedi-effect-energy-of-consciousness-on-the-structure-and-isotopic-abundance-ratio-of-magnesium-gluconate-using-lc-ms-and-nmr-spectroscopy http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo?journalid=655&doi=10.11648/j.ajbls.20170501.1

Evaluation of the Physicochemical, Structural, Thermal, and Behavioral Properties of the Energy of Consciousness Healing Treated Zinc Chloride

Zinc chloride is a source of zinc used in various pharmaceutical/nutraceutical formulations. The objective of the current study was to investigate the impact of The Trivedi Effect® - Energy of Consciousness Healing Treatment (Biofield Energy Treatment) on physical, structural, thermal, and behavioral properties of zinc chloride using PXRD, PSD, FT-IR, UV-vis, and DSC analysis. Zinc chloride was divided into two parts – one part was control, while another part was treated with The Trivedi Effect® remotely by twenty renowned Biofield Energy Healers and defined as The Trivedi Effect® Treated sample. A significant alteration of the crystallite size and relative intensities of the PXRD peaks was observed in The Trivedi Effect® treated sample compared with the control sample. The average crystallite size of the treated sample was significantly increased by 23.18% compared with the control sample. The particle size values at d10, d50, and d90 values were significantly decreased by 3.70%, 4.13%, and 6.13%, respectively in the treated sample compared with the control sample. Therefore, the surface area of the treated sample was increased by 4.21% compared with the control sample. The FT-IR spectroscopic analysis revealed that Zn-Cl stretching in the control sample was found at 512 cm-1, whereas it was significantly shifted upward to 520 cm-1 in the treated sample. The UV-vis analysis exhibited that wavelength of the maximum absorbance (λmax) of the control and treated samples were at 197.6 nm and 197.1 nm, respectively. The DSC analysis exhibited that the melting temperature was decreased by 0.22%, while decomposition temperature was increased by 2.56% in the treated sample compared to the control sample. The latent heat of fusion of the treated sample (320.44 J/g) was significantly decreased by 16.70% compared with the control sample (284.67 J/g). Similarly, the enthalpy of decomposition of the treated sample (952.53 J/g) was significantly increased by 122.61% compared with the control sample (427.90 J/g). Thus, the results indicated that the thermal stability of the treated zinc chloride was improved compared with the control sample. The current study anticipated that The Trivedi Effect® - Energy of Consciousness Healing Treatment might lead to produce a thermally stable new polymorphic form of zinc chloride, which would be more soluble and bioavailable compared with the untreated compound. Hence, the treated zinc chloride would be very useful to design better nutraceutical/pharmaceutical formulations that might offer better therapeutic response against inflammatory diseases, immunological disorders, aging, stress, cancer, etc. https://www.trivedieffect.com/science/evaluation-of-the-physicochemical-structural-thermal-and-behavioral-properties-of-the-energy-of-consciousness-healing-treated-zinc-chloride http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/paperinfo?journalid=217&doi=10.11648/j.bio.20170502.1

Maize Genomes to Fields: 2014 and 2015 field season genotype, phenotype, environment, and inbred ear image datasets

Objectives: Crop improvement relies on analysis of phenotypic, genotypic, and environmental data. Given large, well-integrated, multi-year datasets, diverse queries can be made: Which lines perform best in hot, dry environments? Which alleles of specific genes are required for optimal performance in each environment? Such datasets also can be leveraged to predict cultivar performance, even in uncharacterized environments. The maize Genomes to Fields (G2F) Initiative is a multi-institutional organization of scientists working to generate and analyze such datasets from existing, publicly available inbred lines and hybrids. G2F’s genotype by environment project has released 2014 and 2015 datasets to the public, with 2016 and 2017 collected and soon to be made available. Data description: Datasets include DNA sequences; traditional phenotype descriptions, as well as detailed ear, cob, and kernel phenotypes quantified by image analysis; weather station measurements; and soil characterizations by site. Data are released as comma separated value spreadsheets accompanied by extensive README text descriptions. For genotypic and phenotypic data, both raw data and a version with outliers removed are reported. For weather data, two versions are reported: a full dataset calibrated against nearby National Weather Service sites and a second calibrated set with outliers and apparent artifacts removed

The astrobiology primer: An outline of general knowledge - Version 1, 2006

Peer reviewe

Global data set of long-term summertime vertical temperature profiles in 153 lakes

Climate change and other anthropogenic stressors have led to long-term changes in the thermal structure, including surface temperatures, deepwater temperatures, and vertical thermal gradients, in many lakes around the world. Though many studies highlight warming of surface water temperatures in lakes worldwide, less is known about long-term trends in full vertical thermal structure and deepwater temperatures, which have been changing less consistently in both direction and magnitude. Here, we present a globally-expansive data set of summertime in-situ vertical temperature profiles from 153 lakes, with one time series beginning as early as 1894. We also compiled lake geographic, morphometric, and water quality variables that can influence vertical thermal structure through a variety of potential mechanisms in these lakes. These long-term time series of vertical temperature profiles and corresponding lake characteristics serve as valuable data to help understand changes and drivers of lake thermal structure in a time of rapid global and ecological change