Biological Assessments of Six Selected Fishes, Amphibians, and Mussels in Illinois

ID: 8758; issued November 1, 1996INHS Technical Report prepared for Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Division of Natural Heritag

Freshwater mollusk sampling along the southern I-294 corridor.

Sampled 8 sites at 6 stream crossings• Spent 13.5 person-hours surveying (average of 2.3 mussels collected/hr)• Encountered 31 live individuals of 3 mussel species• Only 2 of the 8 sites had mussels• Recorded the following species:▷Giant Floater, Pyganodon grandis (n=29, 94%), most common▷Paper Pondshell, Utterbackia imbecillus (n=1, 3%)▷Lilliput, Toxolasma parvum (n=1, 3%)▷One native snail, Liver Elimia, Elimia livescens, was abundant in Salt Creek• Invasive Asian Clams, Corbicula fluminea, were common at sites▷Upstream reach of I-294 to Bemis Woods littered with relict shells of native unionidsIllinois State Toll Highway Authorityunpublishednot peer reviewe

Biotic Integrity of macroinvertebrate communities along the I-294 corridor

Sampled macroinvertebrates following ILEPA protocol at 7 sites in August–September 2015 in the I-294 corridor and calculated biotic integrity metrics • Assessed sites based on the Qualitative Stream Habitat Assessment Procedure (SHAP) • Measured physical (width, depth, velocity) and chemical (pH, conductivity, salinity, total dissolved solids) characteristics • Habitat assessment showed impairment compared to Illinois reference conditions at all sites • Macroinvertebrate Index of Biotic Integrity rated 6 sites as “Poor” and one as “Fair” ▷▷ Total taxa richness ranged from 10 to 19 across sites ▷▷ 4 of the 7 sites had no EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) taxa ▷▷ No Plecoptera (stoneflies) were collected at any siteIllinois State Toll Highway Authorityunpublishednot peer reviewe

Physicians' ability to predict the risk of coronary heart disease

BACKGROUND: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. Previous research examining physicians ability to estimate cardiovascular risk has shown that physicians' generally overestimate the absolute risk of CHD events. This question has, however, only studied risk prediction for a limited number of patient care scenarios. The aim of this study is to measure the ability of physicians to estimate the risk of CHD events in patients with no previous history of coronary heart disease. METHODS: Twelve primary prevention scenarios with a 5-year risk of CHD events were developed. This questionnaire was surveyed at 3 university teaching hospitals where the participants were a convenience sample of internal medicine residents and fellows or attending physicians in general internal medicine or cardiology. For each scenario, physicians were asked to estimate the baseline 5-year risk of a coronary heart disease event and the revised risk if the patient were to receive lipid-lowering drug therapy. Estimates of the baseline 5-year risk were compared with values calculated from Framingham risk equations. Inaccurate responses were defined as those with a ratio of estimated to actual risk of more than 1.5 or less than 0.67. Physicians' estimates of the relative risk reduction with therapy were considered to be accurate if they were between 25% and 40%. RESULTS: 79 physicians (53 residents, 8 fellows, 18 attending physicians) completed the survey. Only 24% of physicians' risk estimates were accurate. In most cases, physicians overestimated the absolute risk of cardiovascular events without therapy (proportion overestimating ranged from 32–92% for the 12 individual scenarios). Physicians made larger errors in patient scenarios involving patients with high total or LDL cholesterol levels. Physicians' estimates of the relative risk reduction from treatment were more accurate: 43% of estimates were between 25 and 40%. Over 85% of physicians recommended treatment in 10 of 12 scenarios. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians overestimate the absolute risk of CHD events and the potential absolute benefit of drug therapy

Plans for a 10-m Submillimeter-wave Telescope at the South Pole

A 10 meter diameter submillimeter-wave telescope has been proposed for the NSF Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station. Current evidence indicates that the South Pole is the best submillimeter-wave telescope site among all existing or proposed ground-based observatories. Proposed scientific programs place stringent requirements on the optical quality of the telescope design. In particular, reduction of the thermal background and offsets requires an off-axis, unblocked aperture, and the large field of view needed for survey observations requires shaped optics. This mix of design elements is well-suited for large scale (square degree) mapping of line and continuum radiation from submillimeter-wave sources at moderate spatial resolutions (4 to 60 arcsecond beam size) and high sensitivity (milliJansky flux density levels). the telescope will make arcminute angular scale, high frequency Cosmic Microwave Background measurements from the best possible ground-based site, using an aperture which is larger than is currently possible on orbital or airborne platforms. Effective use of this telescope will require development of large (1000 element) arrays of submillimeter detectors which are background-limited when illuminated by antenna temperatures near 50 K.Comment: 12 pages, 3 figure

Organotypic slice cultures containing the preBotzinger complex generate respiratory-like rhythms

Study of acute brain stem slice preparations in vitro has advanced our understanding of the cellular and synaptic mechanisms of respiratory rhythm generation, but their inherent limitations preclude long-term manipulation and recording experiments. In the current study, we have developed an organotypic slice culture preparation containing the preBotzinger complex (preBotC), the core inspiratory rhythm generator of the ventrolateral brain stem. We measured bilateral synchronous network oscillations, using calcium-sensitive fluorescent dyes, in both ventrolateral (presumably the preBotC) and dorsomedial regions of slice cultures at 7-43 days in vitro. These calcium oscillations appear to be driven by periodic bursts of inspiratory neuronal activity, because whole cell recordings from ventrolateral neurons in culture revealed inspiratory-like drive potentials, and no oscillatory activity was detected from glial fibrillary associated protein-expressing astrocytes in cultures. Acute slices showed a burst frequency of 10.9 +/- 4.2 bursts/min, which was not different from that of brain stem slice cultures (13.7 +/- 10.6 bursts/min). However, slice cocultures that include two cerebellar explants placed along the dorsolateral border of the brainstem displayed up to 193% faster burst frequency (22.4 +/- 8.3 bursts/min) and higher signal amplitude (340%) compared with acute slices. We conclude that preBotC-containing slice cultures retain inspiratory-like rhythmic function and therefore may facilitate lines of experimentation that involve extended incubation (e.g., genetic transfection or chronic drug exposure) while simultaneously being amenable to imaging and electrophysiology at cellular, synaptic, and network levels

AEGIS: Enhancement of Dust-enshrouded Star Formation in Close Galaxy Pairs and Merging Galaxies up to z ~ 1

Using data from the DEEP2 Galaxy Redshift Survey and HST/ACS imaging in the Extended Groth Strip, we select nearly 100 interacting galaxy systems including kinematic close pairs and morphologically identified merging galaxies. Spitzer MIPS 24 micron fluxes of these systems reflect the current dusty star formation activity, and at a fixed stellar mass (M_{*}) the median infrared luminosity (L_{IR}) among merging galaxies and close pairs of blue galaxies is twice (1.9 +/- 0.4) that of control pairs drawn from isolated blue galaxies. Enhancement declines with galaxy separation, being strongest in close pairs and mergers and weaker in wide pairs compared to the control sample. At z ~ 0.9, 7.1% +/- 4.3% of massive interacting galaxies (M_{*} > 2*10^{10} M_{solar}) are found to be ULIRGs, compared to 2.6% +/- 0.7% in the control sample. The large spread of IR luminosity to stellar mass ratio among interacting galaxies suggests that this enhancement may depend on the merger stage as well as other as yet unidentified factors (e.g., galaxy structure, mass ratio, orbital characteristics, presence of AGN or bar). The contribution of interacting systems to the total IR luminosity density is moderate (<= 36 %).Comment: 12 pages, 2 figures, 1 table, minor changes to match the proof version, accepted for publication in the ApJL AEGIS Special Issu

Distribution, habitat, and zoogeography of the semifossorial red-bellied snake Storeria occipitomaculata (Storer) in Illinois

The examination of 387 preserved red-bellied snakes, Storeria occipitomaculata, from 18 museums and collections, literature records, and unpublished records revealed distributional records throughout much of Illinois, in contrast to earlier studies which found a more limited distribution. Seventy-one records of habitat types from museum records, field notes, and literature indicated that the species occupies woodlands but is not primarily forest adapted. It also inhabits prairie and prairielike habitats in Illinois. The common occurrence of this species in this type of habitat has not heretofore been reported elsewhere in the range of the snake. Our findings do not support an older zoogeographic theory that assumed the snake was nonadapted for prairie and thus excluded from the Prairie Peninsula. We propose that the species was able to occupy the area near the ice rim of the Wisconsin Episode glaciation, and followed the glaciation as it retreated because of the snake’s cold tolerance, ability to inhabit northern prairies and coniferous forests, vivipary which allows thermoregulation by gravid females, and the relatively temperate climate along the glacial rim. Within recent times, it seems likely that the snake was extirpated throughout much of the former prairie by destructive changes associated with agriculture.is peer reviewe