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

Parents' and clinicians' views of an interactive booklet about respiratory tract infections in children: a qualitative process evaluation of the EQUIP randomised controlled trial

Background: ‘When should I worry?’ is an interactive booklet for parents of children presenting with respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in primary care and associated training for clinicians. A randomised controlled trial (the EQUIP study) demonstrated that this intervention reduced antibiotic prescribing and future consulting intentions. The aims of this qualitative process evaluation were to understand how acceptable the intervention was to clinicians and parents, how it was implemented, the mechanisms for any observed effects, and contextual factors that could have influenced its effects.<p></p> Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 parents and 13 clinicians who participated in the trial. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using a framework approach, which involved five stages; familiarisation, development of a thematic framework, indexing, charting, and interpretation.<p></p> Results: Most parents and clinicians reported that the ‘When should I worry’ interactive booklet (and online training for clinicians) was easy to use and valuable. Information on recognising signs of serious illness and the usual duration of illness were most valued. The interactive use of the booklet during consultations was considered to be important, but this did not always happen. Clinicians reported lack of time, lack of familiarity with using the booklet, and difficulty in modifying their treatment plan/style of consultation as barriers to use. Increased knowledge and confidence amongst clinicians and patients were seen as key components that contributed to the reductions in antibiotic prescribing and intention to consult seen in the trial. This was particularly pertinent in a context where decisions about the safe and appropriate management of childhood RTIs were viewed as complex and parents reported frequently receiving inconsistent messages. Conclusions: The ‘When should I worry’ booklet, which is effective in reducing antibiotic prescribing, has high acceptability for clinicians and parents, helps address gaps in knowledge, increases confidence, and provides a consistent message. However, it is not always implemented as intended. Plans for wider implementation of the intervention in health care settings would need to address clinician-related barriers to implementation

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

DEMAND AND SUPPLY ASSESSMENT FOR THE MICHIGAN FROZEN POTATO INDUSTRY

This report presents a general assessment of the demand and supply conditions affecting the Michigan frozen potato industry. The information has been drawn from various secondary sources and interviews with key industry informants. The report is one of the major outputs of an ongoing study being prepared for the Michigan Potato Industry Commission and funded by the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station. This analysis was necessitated by the 80% reduction in Michigan frozen processing potato acreage by Simplot in 1997. This reduction of 5,000 acres for the Grand Rapids processing facility has created both short-term and long-term concerns for the Michigan potato industry. This assessment provides broad background information relevant to determining why this cutback occurred and its likely impact if continued in the future. The report begins with a consideration of demand conditions, including both domestic and international demand trends for consumption and consumer preferences. The report then discusses supply issues, including current North American production capacity, international sourcing trends, competition from Canadian imports, cost considerations, processing innovation, and industry consolidation. The report concludes with a section addressing key strategic issues suggested by the demand and supply trends. NOTE: This staff paper contains text only. For charts and graphs (exhibits 1-17b) which have been omitted, contact Christopher Peterson at ([email protected]).Crop Production/Industries,

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