Effect of GPS Feedback on Lactate Threshold Pacing in Intercollegiate Distance Runners

International Journal of Exercise Science 6(1) : 74-80, 2013. In their roles as coaches, the authors have observed that first-year collegiate distance runners often have difficulty running at prescribed training paces during lactate threshold (LT) training runs. Previous research has validated the accuracy of global positioning system (GPS) devices in providing distance and velocity feedback during running. The purpose of this study was to determine the efficacy of using the Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS watch (Garmin) to reduce deviations from prescribed training paces during LT runs with first-year collegiate runners. Participants were two groups of varsity cross country runners who completed a three-week LT training intervention either with (n = 5) or without (n = 6) a Garmin device. Prescribed training paces were based off an initial time-trial. In both the pre- and post-test runs, in which all runners ran without a Garmin device, differences were calculated between the prescribed pace and actual pace. The comparisons revealed a significant difference between the training groups in the post-test. Those runners who trained with the Garmin device had a significant decrease in pacing variability. This suggests that GPS pacing feedback appears to be an effective tool at improving LT pacing in first-year collegiate distance runners

Utilizing Performance Management to Harness the Power of Quality Improvement in Public Health

Widespread adoption of quality improvement activities in public health trails other U.S. sectors. Launching the national public health accreditation program of the Public Health Accreditation Board (PHAB) has propelled health department momentum around quality improvement uptake. Domain 9 of the PHAB standards focuses on evaluation and improvement of performance, and is acting as a strong driver for quality improvement and performance management implementation within health departments. Several performance management models have received broad acceptance, including among government and nonprofits, and have direct public health application. Turning Point is a model designed specifically for public health users. All models in current use reinforce customer centricity; streamlined, value added processes; and strategic alignment. Importantly, all are structured to steer quality improvement efforts toward organizational priorities, ensuring that quality improvement complements performance management

Making Activated Carbon by Wet Pressurized Pyrolysis

A wet pressurized pyrolysis (wet carbonization) process has been invented as a means of producing activated carbon from a wide variety of inedible biomass consisting principally of plant wastes. The principal intended use of this activated carbon is room-temperature adsorption of pollutant gases from cooled incinerator exhaust streams. Activated carbon is highly porous and has a large surface area. The surface area depends strongly on the raw material and the production process. Coconut shells and bituminous coal are the primary raw materials that, until now, were converted into activated carbon of commercially acceptable quality by use of traditional production processes that involve activation by use of steam or carbon dioxide. In the wet pressurized pyrolysis process, the plant material is subjected to high pressure and temperature in an aqueous medium in the absence of oxygen for a specified amount of time to break carbon-oxygen bonds in the organic material and modify the structure of the material to obtain large surface area. Plant materials that have been used in demonstrations of the process include inedible parts of wheat, rice, potato, soybean, and tomato plants. The raw plant material is ground and mixed with a specified proportion of water. The mixture is placed in a stirred autoclave, wherein it is pyrolized at a temperature between 450 and 590 F (approximately between 230 and 310 C) and a pressure between 1 and 1.4 kpsi (approximately between 7 and 10 MPa) for a time between 5 minutes and 1 hour. The solid fraction remaining after wet carbonization is dried, then activated at a temperature of 500 F (260 C) in nitrogen gas. The activated carbon thus produced is comparable to commercial activated carbon. It can be used to adsorb oxides of sulfur, oxides of nitrogen, and trace amounts of hydrocarbons, any or all of which can be present in flue gas. Alternatively, the dried solid fraction can be used, even without the activation treatment, to absorb oxides of nitrogen

Prepsolv (TM): The optimum alternative to 1,1,1-trichloroethane and methyl ethyl ketone for hand-wipe cleaning of aerospace materials

Engineers at Hercules Aerospace, a rocket motor manufacturer in Utah, have worked closely with chemists at Glidco Organics to study the feasibility of using terpenes for zero-residue wipe cleaning. The result of this work is a technological breakthrough, in which the barrier to ultra-low non-volatile residue formation has been broken. After 2 years of development and testing, SCM Glidco Organics has announced the availability of Glidsafe(registered trademark) Prepsolv(TM): a state-of-the-art ultra-low residue terpene wipe cleaning agent that does not require rinsing. Prepsolv(TM) can successfully be used in simple hand-wipe cleaning processes without fear of leaving surface residues. Industry testing has confirmed that Prepsolv(TM) is not only highly effective, but can even be less expensive to use than traditional cleaning solvents like methyl chloroform. This paper addresses the features and benefits of Prepsolv(TM), and presents performance and material compatibility data that characterizes this unique cleaning agent. Since its commercialization, Hercules Aerospace has chosen Prepsolv(TM) as the optimum cleaning agent to replace ozone-depleting solvents in their weapons factory in Magna, UT. Likewise, Boeing has approved Prepsolv(TM) for cleaning components in the manufacture of commercial aircraft at their facilities in Seattle, WA and Wichita, KS. Additional approvals are forthcoming for this uniquely safe and effective solvent

Metabolic balance studies and dietary protein requirements in patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Metabolic balance studies and dietary protein requirements in patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Balance studies for nitrogen, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus, and calcium were carried out in eight men undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) to determine dietary protein requirements and mineral balances. Patients were fed high energy diets for 14 to 33 days which provided either 0.98 (seven studies) or 1.44g (six studies) of primarily high biological value protein/kg body wt/day. Mean nitrogen balance was neutral with the lower protein diet (+0.35 ± 0.83SEMg/day) and strongly positive with the higher protein diet (+2.94 ± 0.54g/day). With the higher protein diet the balances for potassium, magnesium, and phosphorus were strikingly positive, there was an increase in body weight in all patients, and a rise in mid-arm muscle circumference in five of the six patients. The relation between protein intake and nitrogen balance suggests that the daily protein requirement for clinically stable CAPD patients should be at least 1.1g/kg/day; to account for variability among subjects 1.2 to 1.3g protein/kg/day is probably preferable. Potassium balance correlated directly with nitrogen balance (r = 0.81). High fecal potassium losses (19 ± 1.2 mEq/day) in all patients probably helped maintain normal serum potassium concentrations. Mean serum magnesium was increased (3.1 ± 0.1 mg/dl), and magnesium balances were positive suggesting that the dialysate magnesium of 1.85 mg/dl is excessive. The netgain of calcium from dialysate was 84 ± 18 mg/day; this correlated inversely with serum calcium levels (r = -0.90).Bilans métaboliques et besoins protéiques alimentaires de malades en dialyse péritonéale continue ambulatoire. Des études de bilan de l'azote, du potassium, du magnésium, du phosphore et du calcium, étaient fait en sept hommes en dialyse péritonéale continue ambulatoire (CAPD), pour déterminer leurs besoins protéiques alimentaires et leur bilan minéral. Les malades ont reçu pendant 14 à 33 jours des régimes hautement énergétiques, apportant soit 0,98 (sept études), soit 1,44g (six études) de protéines de haute valeur biologique par kg de poids et par jour. Le bilan azoté moyen etait nul avec le régime comportant la plus faibie teneur protéique (+ 0,35 ± 0,88g/jSEM) et était fortement positive avec le régime à plus forte teneur protéique (+2,94 ± 0,54g/j). Avec le régime à haute teneur en protéine, les bilans potassique, magnésien et phosphoré étaient fortement positifs; le poids corporel s'est élevé chez tous les malades; la circonférence musculaire mesurée du milieu du bras a augmenté chez cinq sur six malades. La relation existant entre l'apport protéique et le bilan azoté suggère que les besoins journaliers en protéines pour des malades cliniquement stables en CAPD devraient être au moins de 1,1g/kg/j; 1,2 à 1,3g de protéines/kg/j sont sans doute préférables pour tenir compte de la variabilité entre les sujets. Le bilan potassique était directement corrélé avec la balance azotée (r = 0,81). De fortes pertes potassiques fécales (19 ± 1,2 mEq/j) chez tous les malades ont probablement contribué à maintenir normales les concentrations sériques du potassium. La magnésémie moyenne était élevée (3,1 ± 0,1 mg/dl), et les bilans magnésiens aient positifs suggérant que le magnésium du dialysat (1,85 18 mg/dl) était trop élevé. Le gain net en calcium à partir du dialysat était de 84 ± 18 mg/j; ce gain était inversement corrélé avec la calcémie (r = 0,90)

The 2005 Lake Malawi Scientific Drilling Project

No abstract available. doi:10.2204/iodp.sd.2.04.2006</a

Glucose absorption during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis

Glucose absorption during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis. Patients undergoing continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD) are exposed to a continuous infusion of glucose via their peritoneal cavity. We performed studies to quantitate the amount of energy derived from dialysate glucose. Net glucose absorption averaged 182 ± (SD) 61 g/day in 19 studies with a dialysate dextrose concentration of 1.5 or 4.25 g/dl. The amount of glucose absorbed per liter of dialysate (y) varied with the concentration of glucose in dialysate (x), (y = 11.3x - 10.9, r = 0.96), The amount of glucose absorbed per day during a given dialysis regimen was constant. Energy intake from dialysate glucose was 8.4 ± 2.8 kcal/kg of body wt per day, or 12 to 34% of total energy intake. This additional energy may contribute to the anabolic effect reported during CAPD. The ability to vary glucose absorption by altering the dialysate glucose concentration may prove a useful tool to modify energy intake.Absorption de glucose au cours de la dialyse péritonéale continue ambulatoire. Les malades soumis à la dialyse péritonéale continue ambulatoire (CAPD) sont exposés à une administration continue de glucose via leur cavité péritonéale. La quantité d'énergie qui dérive du glucose du dialysat a été quantifiée. L'absorption nette de glucose est en moyenne de 182 ± (SD) 61 g/jour au cours de 19 études avec un dialysat contenant du dextrose, 1,5 ou 4,25 g/dl. La quantité de glucose absorbée par litre de dialysat (y) varie avec la concentration de glucose dans le dialysat (x), (y = 11,3x - 10,9, r = 0,96). La quantité de glucose absorbée par jour pour un type donné de dialyse a été constante. L'entrée d'énergie à partir du glucose du dialysat était de 8,4 ± 2,8 kcal/kg de poids par jour, soit 12 à 34% de l'entrée totale d'énergie. Cette énergie supplémentaire peut contribuer à l'effet anabolique rapporté au cours de CAPD. La possibilité de faire varier l'absorption de glucose en modifiant la concentration de glucose dans le dialysat peut être un moyen utile pour influencer l'entrée d'énergie

Neutral Evolution as Diffusion in phenotype space: reproduction with mutation but without selection

The process of `Evolutionary Diffusion', i.e. reproduction with local mutation but without selection in a biological population, resembles standard Diffusion in many ways. However, Evolutionary Diffusion allows the formation of local peaks with a characteristic width that undergo drift, even in the infinite population limit. We analytically calculate the mean peak width and the effective random walk step size, and obtain the distribution of the peak width which has a power law tail. We find that independent local mutations act as a diffusion of interacting particles with increased stepsize.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures. Paper now representative of published articl

Environmental, biochemical and genetic drivers of DMSP degradation and DMS production in the Sargasso Sea

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2011. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here by permission of John Wiley & Sons for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Environmental Microbiology 14 (2012): 1210-1223, doi:10.1111/j.1462-2920.2012.02700.x.Dimethylsulfide (DMS) is a climatically relevant trace gas produced and cycled by the surface ocean food web. Mechanisms driving intraannual variability in DMS production and dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP) degradation in open-ocean, oligotrophic regions were investigated during a 10 month time-series at the Bermuda Atlantic Time-series Study site in the Sargasso Sea. Abundance and transcription of bacterial DMSP degradation genes, DMSP lyase enzyme activity, and DMS and DMSP concentrations, consumption rates, and production rates were quantified over time and depth. This interdisciplinary dataset was used to test current hypotheses of the role of light and carbon supply in regulating upper-ocean sulfur cycling. Findings supported UV-A dependent phytoplankton DMS production. Bacterial DMSP degraders may also contribute significantly to DMS production when temperatures are elevated and UV-A dose is moderate, but may favor DMSP demethylation under low UV-A doses. Three groups of bacterial DMSP degraders with distinct intraannual variability were identified and niche differentiation was indicated. The combination of genetic and biochemical data suggest a modified ‘bacterial switch’ hypothesis where the prevalence of different bacterial DMSP degradation pathways is regulated by a complex set of factors including carbon supply, temperature, and UV-A dose.This research was funded by National Science Foundation (NSF) grants OCE- 0525928, OCE-072417, and OCE-042516. Additional funding was provided by the NSF Center for Microbial Oceanography Research and Education (CMORE), the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Scurlock Fund, the Ocean Ventures Fund, a National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate Fellowship, and an Environmental Protection Agency STAR Graduate Fellowship