Measurement of the neutral pion cross section in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s}=200GeV with PHENIX

The inclusive cross section for neutral pion production in the range 1<p_T<13GeV/c in |eta|<0.35 has been measured by the PHENIX experiment in proton-proton collisions at sqrt{s}=200GeV. An NLO pQCD calculation is, within the experimental and theoretical uncertainties, consistent with the measurement.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures. Talk presented at Quark Matter 2002, Nantes, France, July 18-24, 2002. To appear in the proceedings (Nucl. Phys. A

Medical Error Recognition and Teamwork during Simulated Asystole

A discussion of LUCOM research with first-year medical students applying teamwork training from aviation to mitigate errors during a simulated cardiac arrest event. The presenters will review training, debrief their research findings, and engage in a roundtable discussion of next steps

Does a powerlifting inspired exercise programme better compliment pain education compared to bodyweight exercise for people with chronic low back pain? A multicentre, single-blind, randomised controlled trial

Background Contemporary management of chronic low back pain involves combined exercise and pain education. Currently, there is a gap in the literature for whether any exercise mode better pairs with pain education. The purpose of this study was to compare general callisthenic exercise with a powerlifting style programme, both paired with consistent pain education, for chronic low back pain. We hypothesised powerlifting style training may better compliment the messages of pain education. Methods An 8-week single-blind randomised controlled trial was conducted comparing bodyweight exercise (n  =  32) with powerlifting (n  =  32) paired with the same education, for people with chronic low back pain. Exercise sessions were one-on-one and lasted 60-min, with the last 5–15 min comprising pain education. Pain, disability, fear, catastrophizing, self-efficacy, anxiety, and depression were measured at baseline, 8-weeks, 3-months, and 6-months. Results No significant between-group differences were observed for pain (p≥0.40), or disability (p≥0.45) at any time-point. Within-group differences were significantly improved for pain (p ≤ 0.04) and disability (p ≤ 0.04) at all time-points for both groups, except 6-month disability in the bodyweight group (p  =  0.1). Behavioural measures explained 39–60% of the variance in changes in pain and disability at each time-point, with fear and self-efficacy emerging as significant in these models (p ≤ 0.001) Conclusions Both powerlifting and bodyweight exercise were safe and beneficial when paired with pain education for chronic low back pain, with reductions in pain and disability associated with improved fear and self-efficacy. This study provides opportunity for practitioners to no longer be constrained by systematic approaches to chronic low back pain

A Study of Parkland Student Social Life

This slide presentation is the result of an ethnography assignment for Anthropology 103. The group conducted two random surveys and several in-person interviews and found that the majority of students questioned participate in student activities sometime or often, but that only a very small percentage reported making good friends at Parkland. Other findings indicated that over half the students surveyed were actively seeking friendships, but only about one third were actively involved in clubs. All surveyed indicated that technology has impacted how we socialize

DRISEE overestimates errors in metagenomic sequencing data

© The Author(s), 2013. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Briefings in Bioinformatics 15 (2014): 783-787, doi:10.1093/bib/bbt010.The extremely high error rates reported by Keegan et al. in ‘A platform-independent method for detecting errors in metagenomic sequencing data: DRISEE’ (PLoS Comput Biol 2012;8:e1002541) for many next-generation sequencing datasets prompted us to re-examine their results. Our analysis reveals that the presence of conserved artificial sequences, e.g. Illumina adapters, and other naturally occurring sequence motifs accounts for most of the reported errors. We conclude that DRISEE reports inflated levels of sequencing error, particularly for Illumina data. Tools offered for evaluating large datasets need scrupulous review before they are implemented.National Institutes of Health [1UH2DK083993 to M.L.S.]; National Science Foundation [BDI- 096026 to S.M.H.]

Effects of Normobaric Hypoxia on Oculomotor Dynamics of Aviator Students during a Simulated Flight Task

Hypoxia occurs when the body\u27s tissues are unable to obtain adequate oxygen supply and is the primary environmental factor present when pilots are exposed to increasing altitude levels. Hypoxia leads to impaired vision, cognition, and motor control function, which can negatively affect performance and become deadly if a pilot becomes incapacitated. Thus, objective identification of early-onset hypoxia is critical to increase the time of useful consciousness and prevent physiological episodes. Of the few studies utilizing eye-tracking, there is disagreement and mixed results concerning saccadic eye metrics as a means to measure and detect hypoxia. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate saccadic velocity changes driven by acute normobaric hypoxia. Using a noninvasive infrared-based eye-tracking device, we recorded saccadic average peak velocity during flight tasks at simulated altitudes of 0 ft, 12,500 ft, and 19,000 ft. No changes were observed in saccadic average peak velocity among different altitude exposures. As time on task increased, saccadic average peak velocity decreased, suggesting that eye metrics can serve as an indicator of mental fatigue

Compact Brillouin devices through hybrid integration on Silicon

A range of unique capabilities in optical and microwave signal processing have been demonstrated using stimulated Brillouin scattering. The desire to harness Brillouin scattering in mass manufacturable integrated circuits has led to a focus on silicon-based material platforms. Remarkable progress in silicon-based Brillouin waveguides has been made, but results have been hindered by nonlinear losses present at telecommunications wavelengths. Here, we report a new approach to surpass this issue through the integration of a high Brillouin gain material, As2S3, onto a silicon chip. We fabricated a compact spiral device, within a silicon circuit, achieving an order of magnitude improvement in Brillouin amplification. To establish the flexibility of this approach, we fabricated a ring resonator with free spectral range precisely matched to the Brillouin shift, enabling the first demonstration of Brillouin lasing in a silicon integrated circuit. Combining active photonic components with the SBS devices shown here will enable the creation of compact, mass manufacturable optical circuits with enhanced functionality

Adverse Intrauterine Environment and Cardiac miRNA Expression.

Placental insufficiency, high altitude pregnancies, maternal obesity/diabetes, maternal undernutrition and stress can result in a poor setting for growth of the developing fetus. These adverse intrauterine environments result in physiological changes to the developing heart that impact how the heart will function in postnatal life. The intrauterine environment plays a key role in the complex interplay between genes and the epigenetic mechanisms that regulate their expression. In this review we describe how an adverse intrauterine environment can influence the expression of miRNAs (a sub-set of non-coding RNAs) and how these changes may impact heart development. Potential consequences of altered miRNA expression in the fetal heart include; Hypoxia inducible factor (HIF) activation, dysregulation of angiogenesis, mitochondrial abnormalities and altered glucose and fatty acid transport/metabolism. It is important to understand how miRNAs are altered in these adverse environments to identify key pathways that can be targeted using miRNA mimics or inhibitors to condition an improved developmental response

Morphologic change in rabbit femoral arteries induced by storage at four degrees Celsius and by subsequent reperfusion

AbstractPurpose: Cold-stored arteries function well as microvascular autografts, but little is known of the morphologic changes that occur in them during cold storage or of further changes during reperfusion.Methods: In part A of the study, rabbit femoral arteries were stored at 4° C for up to 6 months. In part B rabbit femoral arteries were stored at 4° C for up to 6 months, inserted as end-to-end autografts into contralateral femoral arteries, and reperfused for 24 hours. Tissue was examined by histologic study, transmission and scanning electron microscopy, histochemical study, immunohistochemical study, and tissue culture.Results: Cell viability declined gradually at 4° C, so that by 4 weeks no viable cells remained. However, the extracellular framework and elastic lamellae remain intact. If cold-stored arteries are reinserted as autografts for 24 hours, this accelerates breakdown of necrotic cells and reduces the thickness of the medial wall and internal elastic lamina but does not alter the extracellular framework.Conclusions: Cold storage results in acellular vascular grafts with intact extracellular frameworks. After 24 hours reperfusion there is no major change to the extracellular framework. (J VASC SURG 1995;22:769-79.