Evidence for the Priming Effect in a Planktonic Estuarine Microbial Community

The “priming effect,” in which addition of labile substances changes the remineralization rate of recalcitrant organic matter, has been intensively studied in soils, but is less well-documented in aquatic systems. We investigated the extent to which additions of nutrients or labile organic carbon could influence remineralization rates of 14C-labeled, microbially-degraded, phytoplankton-derived organic matter (OM) in microcosms inoculated with microbial communities drawn from Grove Creek Estuary in coastal Georgia, USA. We found that amendment with labile protein plus phosphorus increased remineralization rates of degraded, phytoplankton-derived OM by up to 100%, whereas acetate slightly decreased remineralization rates relative to an unamended control. Addition of ammonium and phosphate induced a smaller effect, whereas addition of ammonium alone had no effect. Counterintuitively, alkaline phosphatase activities increased in response to the addition of protein under P-replete conditions, indicating that production of enzymes unrelated to the labile priming compound may be a mechanism for the priming effect. The observed priming effect was transient: after 36 days of incubation roughly the same quantity of organic carbon had been mineralized in all treatments including no-addition controls. This timescale is on the order of the typical hydrologic residence times of well-flushed estuaries suggesting that priming in estuaries has the potential to influence whether OC is remineralized in situ or exported to the coastal ocean

Potential Use of American College of Radiology BI-RADS Mammography Atlas for Reporting and Assessing Lesions Detected on Dedicated Breast CT Imaging: Preliminary Study

Rationale and Objectives Dedicated breast computed tomography (DBCT) is an emerging and promising modality for breast lesions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential use of applying the BI-RADS Mammography Atlas 5th Edition for reporting and assessing breast lesions on DBCT. Currently, no atlas exists for DBCT. Materials and Methods Four radiologists trained in breast imaging were recruited in this institutional review board-approved, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act-compliant study. The enrolled radiologists, who were blinded to mammographic and histopathologic findings, individually reviewed 30 randomized DBCT cases that contained marked lesions. Thirty-four lesions were included in this study: 24 (70.6%) masses, 7 (20.6%) calcifications, and 3 (8.8%) architectural distortions. Eight (23.5%) lesions were malignant and 26 (76.5%) were benign. The reader was asked to specify according to the BI-RADS Mammography Atlas for each marked DBCT lesion: primary findings, features, breast density, and final assessment. We calculated readers' diagnostic performances for differentiating between benign and malignant lesions and interobserver variability for reporting and assessing lesions using a generalized estimating equation and the Fleiss kappa (κ) statistic. Results The estimated overall sensitivity of the readers was 0.969, and the specificity was 0.529. There were no significant differences in the sensitivity and the specificity between lesion types. For reporting the presence of a primary finding, the overall substantial agreement (κ = 0.70) was seen. In assigning the breast density and the final assessment, the overall agreement was moderate (κ = 0.53) and fair (κ = 0.30). Conclusion The use of the BI-RADS Mammography Atlas 5th Edition for DBCT showed high performance and good agreement among readers

AWBA Development Program

A survey is made of existing integral experiments for U233 systems and thorium-uranium based fuel systems. The aim is to understand to what extent they give a consistent test of ENDF/B-IV nuclear data. A principal result is that ENDF/B-IV leads to an underprediction of neutron leakage. Results from testing alternate thorium data sets are presented. For one evaluation due to Leonard, the results depict a possible growing discrepancy between measured integral parameters such as rho/sup 02/ and I/sup 232/ and the differential data, which underpredicts these parameters. Sensitivities to other nuclear data components, notably the fission neutron spectrum, were determined. A new harder U233 spectrum significantly reduces a bias trend in K/sub eff/ vs leakage

Using interactive model simulations in co-design : An experiment in urban design

This paper presents an experiment in which people performed a co-design task in urban design, using a multi-user touch table application with or without interactive model simulations. We hypothesised that using the interactive model simulations would improve communication and co-operation between co-design participants, would help participants to develop shared understanding and would positively affect the co-design process and its outcomes. However, our experiment (involving 60 people in 20 codesign sessions) only partly confirmed these hypotheses. People positively evaluated the interactive model simulation tools (an interactive map of an urban area, interactive models for traffic, sound, sight and safety, and ‘tangibles’), and these tools promoted communication and co-operation, and the exploration of design solutions. However, people’s experiences of social cohesion and their satisfaction with their own contribution to the co-design process were better without these tools, possibly because using these tools drew people’s attention towards these interactive model simulations and away from the dynamics between the participants. We therefore advocate using such tools selectively, for example, early on in a co-design process, to improve shared understanding of the contents of the problem, rather than later on, when people need to focus on their fellow participants and on the processes of communication and cooperation

The ability of high dose rosuvastatin to improve plaque composition in non-intervened coronary arteries: Rationale and design of the Integrated Biomarker and Imaging Study-3 (IBIS-3)

Aims: Acute coronary syndromes (ACS) are often caused by rupture of non-flow limiting "vulnerable" atherosclerotic plaque, characterised by a large necrotic core pool and a thin, inflamed fibrous cap that are unidentifiable with diagnostic coronary angiography. The implementation of novel invasive imaging modalities, such as intravascular ultrasound-virtual histology (IVUS-VH) and near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS), could help identify high-risk patients who are in need of aggressive medical therapy. The intake of high dose rosuvastatin has been shown to reduce plaque containing necrotic core in the carotid arteries, however it remains unknown whether there is a similar effect in the coronary arteries. Methods and results: The IBIS-3 study is a single centre, non-randomised study designed to evaluate the ability of 12-months high dose rosuvastatin treatment (40 mg daily po) to reduce the necrotic core of a nonintervened coronary segment assessed with IVUS-VH. All patients undergoing diag