A trip to healthcare

This narrative shares how my experience with two colonoscopies and three surgeries in one year taught me that I am not so good at engaging in treatment decisions. I thought I was. This essay sets out where I made my mistakes, why I believe I made those mistakes, and how the hospitals, intentionally or not, made good decision-making harder. I offer two suggestions for enhancing the role of the patient in decision-making including 1) Every doctor in a diagnostic-decision-making interview should use the sentence “You have some choices here.” The doctor will have preferences, of course, but the patient needs to hear that there is more than one way to take the next step and 2) For diagnostic-decision-making moments, all doctors (and hospitals) should provide patients with support personnel to help the patients use decision-aids, prepare for discussions with doctors, and make the decisions. I conclude with why this is critical in healthcare today

Isolation and characterization of novel green fluorescent proteins from copepods

The isolation and characterization of two protein isoforms collected green fluorescent copepods is described herein. The new Pontella mimocerami GFP-like isoforms pmimGFP1 and pmimGFP2 of the present invention are quick to mature and rapidly produce a fluorescent signal. The two isoforms are very similar in molar extinction coefficients (ME) with 105,000 M−1 cm−1 for pmimGFP1 and 103,000 M−1cm−1 for pmimGFP2, respectively. The relative brightness of these two new copepod GFP-like proteins is the highest measured for any isolated GFP-like protein.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste

Profiles

Biographical sketches of 4 accountants: Edward P. Moxey, Jr. By Adolph Matz; John McDonald By Harvey Mann; George Soule By Vahe Baladouni; Willard J. Graham By R. E. Ziegler

Capabilities of GRO/OSSE for observing solar flares

The launch of the Gamma Ray Observatory (GRO) near solar maximum makes solar flare studies early in the mission particularly advantageous. The Oriented Scintillation Spectrometer Experiment (OSSE) on GRO, covering the energy range 0.05 to 150 MeV, has some significant advantages over the previous generation of satellite-borne gamma-ray detectors for solar observations. The OSSE detectors will have about 10 times the effective area of the Gamma-Ray Spectrometer (GRS) on Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) for both photons and high-energy neutrons. The OSSE also has the added capability of distinguishing between high-energy neutrons and photons directly. The OSSE spectral accumulation time (approx. 4s) is four times faster than that of the SMM/GRS; much better time resolution is available in selected energy ranges. These characteristics will allow the investigation of particle acceleration in flares based on the evolution of the continuum and nuclear line components of flare spectra, nuclear emission in small flares, the anisotropy of continuum emission in small flares, and the relative intensities of different nuclear lines. The OSSE observational program will be devoted primarily to non-solar sources. Therefore, solar observations require planning and special configurations. The instrumental and operational characteristics of OSSE are discussed in the context of undertaking solar observations. The opportunities for guest investigators to participate in solar flare studies with OSSE is also presented

Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts in der Hörerziehung – drei methodische Ansätze

Der Beitrag plädiert für eine stärkere Berücksichtigung der Musik des 20. Jahrhunderts im Curriculum Hörerziehung. Dies geschieht nicht zuletzt in Hinblick auf die Befruchtung, welche hierdurch der ›klassische‹ Bereich erfährt. Aus der Arbeit mit Neuer Musik in der Gehörbildung werden drei Schwerpunkte vorgestellt: Lars Edlunds Modus Novus, die Arbeit mit Lückentexten und die speziell für Hörübungen mit nichttonaler Musik entwickelte Methode der Klangskizze.This article makes the case for the stronger consideration of twentieth-century music in the aural-skills curricula. The argument addresses among other things the benefits this brings for “classical” repertoire. Three priorities are set based on the author’s experience with new music in aural-skills class: Lars Edlund’s Modus Novus, fill-in-the-blank activities, and a method of sketching sound developed particularly for the training of aural skills regarding non-tonal music

Effects of Thermal Stress on Amount, Composition, and Antibacterial Properties of Coral Mucus

Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California, Santa Barbara, CA, United States of America ABSTRACT The surface mucus layer of reef-building corals supports feeding, sediment clearing, and protection from pathogenic invaders. As much as half of the fixed carbon supplied by the corals\u27 photosynthetic symbionts is incorporated into expelled mucus. It is therefore reasonable to expect that coral bleaching (disruption of the coralfialgal symbiosis) would affect mucus production. Since coral mucus serves as an important nutrient source for the entire reef community, this could have substantial ecosystemwide consequences. In this study, we examined the effects of heat stress-induced coral bleaching on the composition and antibacterial properties of coral mucus. In a controlled laboratory thermal challenge, stressed corals produced mucus with higher protein (D 2:1, p \u3c 0:001) and lipid content (D 15:7, p D 0:02) and increased antibacterial activity (likelihood ratio D 100, p \u3c 0:001) relative to clonal controls. These results are likely explained by the expelled symbionts in the mucus of bleached individuals. Our study suggests that coral bleaching could immediately impact the nutrient flux in the coral reef ecosystem via its effect on coral mucus

The effects of the Mazama tephra-falls : a geoarchaeological approach

About 7,000 years ago two major tephra-falls blanketed the Pacific Northwest in volcanic ash. These two tephra-falls, identified as the Llao and climatic tephra-falls, were a part of the eruptive events that led up to the collapse of Mount Mazama to form Crater Lake in the southern Oregon Cascades. The tephra-falls occurred about 200 years apart at around 7,000 years B.P. and 6,800 years B.P. for the Llao and climatic eruptions respectively. The effects of the tephra-falls on the flora, fauna, and people of the period have been characterized by different researchers as ranging from minimal to catastrophic. In an attempt to better understand the affects of these two events on the flora, fauna, and people, a model is presented to help organize the various lines of research into a coherent whole and to suggest profitable areas of research which have not yet been completed. The model is based on ecological and anthropological theory with a strong reliance on analogy with modern ecosystems and volcanic hazards research. The model makes use of the ecosystem concept as the framework for the interaction of the abiotic, or nonliving habitat, with the biotic, or living system. The biotic organisms are adapted to the characteristics of the abiotic habitat and in many respects the composition, frequencies, and distributions of biotic organisms are determined by their tolorance levels to these characteristics. Tephra-falls act as environmental disturbances which change the abiotic habitat of the ecosystem. Therefore, any changes caused by such a disturbance in the abiotic characteristics that are not optimal or are outside of the tolorance limits of the biotic (flora and fauna) components should cause changes in the composition, distribution, and frequency of organisms within the ecosystem. The changes brought about by the tephra-falls may be described by successional and evolutionary processes through analysis of pollen and faunal remains, population demography as described by mortality profiles, and research into the reaction of specific flora and fauna within adaptational types to the properties of tephra-falls and the tephra as a soil body. The state factors used to describe the abiotic component of the ecosystem are: time, distribution, material properties, climate, and geomorphology. The state factor of time involves the determination of the occurrence in time of the event(s), the duration of the event(s), the season of occurrence of the event(s), and the residence time of tephra in the ecosystem. This state factor is used to define the specific point in time and duration of the effects of the tephra-fall(s) for individual ecosystems. The state factor of distribution describes the aerial extent and thickness of the air-fall deposits. This state factor determines the extent of the initial disturbance. The state factor of climate describes the specific components of rainfall, wind, and temperature which control ecosystem composition and development, and the changes to the climate which may have occurred due to volcanic aerosols associated with the eruption. The state factor of geomorphology describes the location of tephra and nontephra bodies across the landscape and through time as the tephra is reworked by wind, water, and gravity from the initial air-fall positions. The determination of the long term distribution of the tephra is important in determining post-event influences on ecosystems as described by the material properties of the tephra. It is argued that most people were not greatly harmed by the Mazama tephra-fall events themselves, but instead may have been greatly affected by a loss of food resources during and after the events. Changes in food resource availability and exploitation locations due to the tephra-falls may have resulted in changes in both settlement and subsistence activities. Changes in settlement and subsistence activities may be seen in a corresponding change in differential frequencies of functional tool types across space and time. The kind and amount of expected changes in settlement and subsistence systems are linked to distance from the source of the tephra, the stability and compostion of pre-disturbance ecosystems, the types and intensity of resource exploitation, and the amount of variability in subsistence and settlement traits which were available to the sociocultural system