Cardiovascular and Stride Frequency Differences During Land and Aquatic Treadmill Walking

This study examined heart rate (HR) and stride frequency (SF) values of 30 college-aged males and females during dry-land (DL) and aquatic walking (AW). Aquatic walking trials were completed in an underwater treadmill with the water depth at waist level; the water temperature (31℃ ± 0.1℃) and room temperature (26.6℃ ± 0.1℃) were maintained at thermoneutral levels throughout the study. During each walking condition, HR and SF were recorded at treadmill speeds of 1 mph, 2 mph, and 3 mph. Participants were instructed to walk with their hands at their sides swinging as they would when walking on dry-land unless they felt the need to use the handrails to steady themselves. Heart rate monitors were used to record cardiovascular changes, and strides were measured from consecutive left and right toe strikes. Results of the study indicated HR was significantly higher during DL than AW at 1 mph (p \u3c .001) and 3 mph (p \u3c .001) but was not significantly different (p = .64) at 2 mph. The SF of the participants was significantly lower (p \u3c .001) during AW than DL at all speeds. When comparing sex, females had significantly higher HR at 1 mph (p = .012), 2 mph (p = .007), and 3 mph (p \u3c .001) than males for DL conditions. No differences in HR were found during the AW conditions (F = 0.66, p = 0.44, ηp2 = 0.02). No differences in SF were observed between males and females in both DL (F = 2.96, p = 0.06, ηp2 = 0.09) and AW (F = 1.03, p = 0.32, ηp2 = 0.036) conditions. As a result, AW increased HR values similar to those of DL, but without the added stress to the lower extremities due to the buoyancy of the water. Thus, AW provided an exercise medium capable of meeting the ACSM intensity guidelines for PA and allowed adults to be physically active presumably with less stress on the lower body

The Habitable-Zone Planet Finder: A Stabilized Fiber-Fed NIR Spectrograph for the Hobby-Eberly Telescope

We present the scientific motivation and conceptual design for the recently funded Habitable-zone Planet Finder (HPF), a stabilized fiber-fed near-infrared (NIR) spectrograph for the 10 meter class Hobby-Eberly Telescope (HET) that will be capable of discovering low mass planets around M dwarfs. The HPF will cover the NIR Y & J bands to enable precise radial velocities to be obtained on mid M dwarfs, and enable the detection of low mass planets around these stars. The conceptual design is comprised of a cryostat cooled to 200K, a dual fiber-feed with a science and calibration fiber, a gold coated mosaic echelle grating, and a Teledyne Hawaii-2RG (H2RG) NIR detector with a 1.7$\mu$m cutoff. A uranium-neon hollow-cathode lamp is the baseline wavelength calibration source, and we are actively testing laser frequency combs to enable even higher radial velocity precision. We will present the overall instrument system design and integration with the HET, and discuss major system challenges, key choices, and ongoing research and development projects to mitigate risk. We also discuss the ongoing process of target selection for the HPF survey.Comment: 14 pages, 9 figures. To appear in the proceedings of the SPIE 2012 Astronomical Instrumentation and Telescopes conferenc

Distances and ages of globular clusters using Hipparcos parallaxes of local subdwarfs

We discuss the impact of Population II and Globular Cluster (GCs) stars on the derivation of the age of the Universe, and on the study of the formation and early evolution of galaxies, our own in particular. The long-standing problem of the actual distance scale to Population II stars and GCs is addressed, and a variety of different methods commonly used to derive distances to Population II stars are briefly reviewed. Emphasis is given to the discussion of distances and ages for GCs derived using Hipparcos parallaxes of local subdwarfs. Results obtained by different authors are slightly different, depending on different assumptions about metallicity scale, reddenings, and corrections for undetected binaries. These and other uncertainties present in the method are discussed. Finally, we outline progress expected in the near future.Comment: Invited review article to appear in: `Post-Hipparcos Cosmic Candles', A. Heck & F. Caputo (Eds), Kluwer Academic Publ., Dordrecht, in press. 22 pages including 3 tables and 2 postscript figures, uses Kluwer's crckapb.sty LaTeX style file, enclose

Study protocol: developing a decision system for inclusive housing: applying a systematic, mixed-method quasi-experimental design

Background Identifying the housing preferences of people with complex disabilities is a much needed, but under-developed area of practice and scholarship. Despite the recognition that housing is a social determinant of health and quality of life, there is an absence of empirical methodologies that can practically and systematically involve consumers in this complex service delivery and housing design market. A rigorous process for making effective and consistent development decisions is needed to ensure resources are used effectively and the needs of consumers with complex disability are properly met. Methods/Design This 3-year project aims to identify how the public and private housing market in Australia can better respond to the needs of people with complex disabilities whilst simultaneously achieving key corporate objectives. First, using the Customer Relationship Management framework, qualitative (Nominal Group Technique) and quantitative (Discrete Choice Experiment) methods will be used to quantify the housing preferences of consumers and their carers. A systematic mixed-method, quasi-experimental design will then be used to quantify the development priorities of other key stakeholders (e.g., architects, developers, Government housing services etc.) in relation to inclusive housing for people with complex disabilities. Stakeholders randomly assigned to Group 1 (experimental group) will participate in a series of focus groups employing Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) methodology. Stakeholders randomly assigned to Group 2 (control group) will participate in focus groups employing existing decision making processes to inclusive housing development (e.g., Risk, Opportunity, Cost, Benefit considerations). Using comparative stakeholder analysis, this research design will enable the AHP methodology (a proposed tool to guide inclusive housing development decisions) to be tested. Discussion It is anticipated that the findings of this study will enable stakeholders to incorporate consumer housing preferences into commercial decisions. Housing designers and developers will benefit from the creation of a parsimonious set of consumer-led housing preferences by which to make informed investments in future housing and contribute to future housing policy. The research design has not been applied in the Australian research context or elsewhere, and will provide a much needed blueprint for market investment to develop viable, consumer directed inclusive housing options for people with complex disability

Patterns of wood carbon dioxide efflux across a 2,000-m elevation transect in an Andean moist forest

During a 1-year measurement period, we recorded the CO2 efflux from stems (RS) and coarse woody roots (RR) of 13–20 common tree species at three study sites at 1,050, 1,890 and 3,050 m a.s.l. in an Andean moist forest. The objective of this work was to study elevation changes of woody tissue CO2 efflux and the relationship to climate variation, site characteristics and growth. Furthermore, we aim to provide insights into important respiration–productivity relationships of a little studied tropical vegetation type. We expected RS and RR to vary with dry and humid season conditions. We further expected RS to vary more than RR due to a more stable soil than air temperature regime. Seasonal variation in woody tissue CO2 efflux was indeed mainly attributable to stems. At the same time, temperature played only a small role in triggering variations in RS. At stand level, the ratio of C release (g C m−2 ground area year−1) between stems and roots varied from 4:1 at 1,050 m to 1:1 at 3,050 m, indicating the increasing prevalence of root activity at high elevations. The fraction of growth respiration from total respiration varied between 10 (3,050 m) and 14% (1,050 m) for stems and between 5 (1,050 m) and 30% (3,050 m) for roots. Our results show that respiratory activity and hence productivity is not driven by low temperatures towards higher elevations in this tropical montane forest. We suggest that future studies should examine the limitation of carbohydrate supply from leaves as a driver for the changes in respiratory activity with elevation

Genetic Structure Among 50 Species of the Northeastern Pacific Rocky Intertidal Community

Comparing many species' population genetic patterns across the same seascape can identify species with different levels of structure, and suggest hypotheses about the processes that cause such variation for species in the same ecosystem. This comparative approach helps focus on geographic barriers and selective or demographic processes that define genetic connectivity on an ecosystem scale, the understanding of which is particularly important for large-scale management efforts. Moreover, a multispecies dataset has great statistical advantages over single-species studies, lending explanatory power in an effort to uncover the mechanisms driving population structure. Here, we analyze a 50-species dataset of Pacific nearshore invertebrates with the aim of discovering the most influential structuring factors along the Pacific coast of North America. We collected cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) mtDNA data from populations of 34 species of marine invertebrates sampled coarsely at four coastal locations in California, Oregon, and Alaska, and added published data from 16 additional species. All nine species with non-pelagic development have strong genetic structure. For the 41 species with pelagic development, 13 show significant genetic differentiation, nine of which show striking FST levels of 0.1–0.6. Finer scale geographic investigations show unexpected regional patterns of genetic change near Cape Mendocino in northern California for five of the six species tested. The region between Oregon and Alaska is a second focus of intraspecific genetic change, showing differentiation in half the species tested. Across regions, strong genetic subdivision occurs more often than expected in mid-to-high intertidal species, a result that may reflect reduced gene flow due to natural selection along coastal environmental gradients. Finally, the results highlight the importance of making primary research accessible to policymakers, as unexpected barriers to marine dispersal break the coast into separate demographic zones that may require their own management plans

Ligand-controlled Regioselective Cu-Catalyzed Trifluoromethylation to Generate Trifluoromethylallenes

“Cu–CF3” species have been used historically for a broad spectrum of nucleophilic trifluoromethylation reactions. Although recent advancements have employed ligands to stabilize and harness the reactivity of this key organometallic intermediate, the ability of a ligand to differentiate a regiochemical outcome of a Cu–CF3-mediated or -catalyzed reaction has not been previously reported. Herein, we report the first example of a Cu-catalyzed trifluoromethylation reaction in which a ligand controls the regiochemical outcome. More specifically, we demonstrate the ability of bipyridyl-derived ligands to control the regioselectivity of the Cu-catalyzed nucleophilic trifluoromethylation reactions of propargyl electrophiles to generate trifluoromethylallenes. This method provides a variety of di-, tri- and tetra-substituted trifluoromethylallenes, which can be further modified to generate complex fluorinated substructures

Supersite of immune vulnerability on the glycosylated face of HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein gp120

A substantial fraction of broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) in certain HIV-infected donors recognizes glycan-dependent epitopes on HIV-1 gp120. Here, we elucidate how bnAb PGT 135 recognizes its Asn332 glycan-dependent epitope from its crystal structure with gp120, CD4 and Fab 17b at 3.1 Å resolution. PGT 135 interacts with glycans at Asn332, Asn392 and Asn386, using long CDR loops H1 and H3 to penetrate the glycan shield to access the gp120 protein surface. Electron microscopy reveals PGT 135 can accommodate the conformational and chemical diversity of gp120 glycans by altering its angle of engagement. The combined structural studies of PGT 135, PGT 128 and 2G12 show this Asn332-dependent epitope is highly accessible and much more extensive than initially appreciated, allowing for multiple binding modes and varied angles of approach, thereby representing a supersite of vulnerability for antibody neutralization