Three venepuncture techniques in babies: a comparative study

Modifying hyodermic needles for blood sampling in babies is common. However, such techniques mean that medical devices are not always used as manufacturers intend and potential and actual risks associated with their use occur. A number of new devices have recently been designed to overcome safety issues. However, whether new devices are any more effective than existing modified methods is unknown. Through a randomoised controlled trial, this study attempted to compare the safety and efficacy of three blood sampling techniques in babies: (i) the 'broken' needle, (ii) the 'modified' buttrefly' and (iii) a new 'single winged' needle designed specifically for venepuncture in babies and young children. Eligibility criteria for inclusion to the study comprised: babies twelve months of age and under, weighing over 1500 grams, requiring at least three routine blood samples to monitor their condition, six hours apart. Informed, written parental consent was also required. The sample was drawn from a neonatal intensive care unit and achildren's unit in a large teaching hospital. Ethical approval for the study was gained form the local research ethics committee. Babies recruited into the study were randomised according to the order in which the three blood sampling techniques were used. Data were collected in terms of: (1) whether the blood sample had been obtained after one, two or more than two attempts; (2) whether there was clotting in the sample and (3) whether there was bruising and the extent of the bruising measured at the largest diamter of the bruise. Fourteen babies completed the study reulting in the trail being severely underpowered. Recruitment to the study was disappointing and was, in part, attributed to a number of adverse incidents that had occurred in clinical and research practices involving babies and children, that had gained much media attention, both before and during the study period

Wind interaction with buoyant plumes on the inner continental shelf

The characteristics and effects of intrusions of estuarine outflow over the inner shelf were examined, based on hydrographic and meteorological observations obtained during the Coastal Ocean Processes (CoOP\u2794) field experiment located off the Outer Banks at Duck, North Carolina. The episodic presence of distinct low salinity water masses issuing from the Chesapeake Bay created an intermittent baroclinic coastal current along the North Carolina coast. Under low wind conditions, this current occupied the upper half of the water column within 9 km of the coast. The plume was bounded by a distinct southward-propagating front, a region offshore of high horizontal salinity and velocity gradients, and a strong pycnocline underneath. The intrusion traveled along the coast at a speed comparable to the linear internal wave speed of a two-layer system. Intrusions were generally associated with southward winds (downwelling conditions); however, several observed events opposed northward wind-driven flow. The geometry and dynamics of the low salinity plume were strongly controlled by the local winds. Northward (upwelling) winds caused the plumes to widen offshore and thin vertically. Southward (downwelling) winds acted initially to speed the intrusions\u27 alongcoast movement and cause them to narrow and deepen. Under strong downwelling winds, however, the intrusions contacted the bottom. This greatly decreased their speeds and caused diffusive widening. Propagation speeds of all plumes were seen to slow steadily through the study region. This was attributed to the observed mixing with ambient water along the path of the intrusion which increased its salinity, thereby reducing the buoyancy forcing. Under the continued influence of upwelling winds, the low salinity intrusions moved rapidly away from the coast and formed shallow lenses floating over the ambient shelf water. These generally dissipated in 1 to 2 days. The theoretical offshore transport response to wind forcing was investigated, illustrating two dynamical behaviors of the plumes, depending on whether they occupied the entire water column or were vertically segregated by stratification. The meteorological control of Bay/shelf exchange was examined to better comprehend the pulsed timing of the low salinity intrusions, which occurred every 2 to 8 days. Estimates of volume flux were derived from temporal variations of waterlevel measurements within the Chesapeake Bay. The volume flux time series exhibited strong peaks of outflow, which preceded the low salinity events off Duck, N.C. by an average of 1.1 days, a time lag consistent with the observed alongcoast propagation speeds

Temporal and Spatial Variations in Chesapeake Bay Water Quality: A Video Data Report

Over the past two years we have been developing computer programs to investigate various scientific visualization techniques as applied to estuarine data. The original impetus was to be able to visualize the results of the three-dimensional hydrodynamic model under development at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary (VIMS). We quickly recognized the superior ability of certain graphic approaches, especially pseudocolor animation, to efficiently transmit a tremendous amount of information to the viewer, allowing the scientist to gain an insight into the dynamics of the data not otherwise available. We decided to apply this technique to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Bay Monitoring data set, a field collection effort so large that it sometimes overwhelms our traditional information presentations. What we present here is an alternative way of presenting and archiving large amounts of field measurements. The Chesapeake Bay Program began its water quality monitoring in the summer of 1984. Data collection in the mainstem of the Bay was done by University of Maryland (UMD), VIMS, and Old Dominion University (ODU), supported by EPA, while state regulatory agencies have been responsible for water quality data from the Maryland and Virginia tributaries. More than 130 stations ( 49 in the Bay proper) were occupied over 120 times each during the water years 1985 through 1990 (Figure 1). This information has been brought together to create color contoured images of the 10 different physical and water quality parameters that were measured. Each parameter for each month is summarized in a color image that shows the map-view surface and bottom distributions plus a vertical North-South section running down the natural channel from the Susquehanna to the mouth of the Bay, Each pixel in the map-view represents a lkm X lkm area. Although a certain amount of data manipulation must occur between the original logged measurements and these images, the distributions shown should best be understood as raw snapshots of what was present in the Chesapeake during that month. No data analysis or interpretation is attempted in this report

Regulatory complexity in gene expression

The regulation of gene expression is the driver of cellular differentiation in multicellular organisms; the result is a diverse range of cell types each with their own unique profile of expression. Within these cell types the transcriptional product of a gene is up or down regulated in response to intrinsic and extrinsic stimuli according to its own regulatory programme encoded within the cell. The complexity of this regulatory programme depends on the requirements of the gene to change expression states in different cell lineages or temporally in response to a range of conditions. In the case of many housekeeping genes integral to the survival of the cell, this programme is simple - switch on the gene and leave it on, whereas often the required level and precision of regulatory control is much more involved and lends to subtle changes in expression. This raises many questions of precisely where and how that regulatory information is encoded and whether different biological systems encode it in the same way. This project attempts to answer these questions through the development of novel approaches in quantifying the output of this regulatory programme according to the state changes as observed from the expression profile of a given gene. Measures of complexity in gene expression are calculated over a wide range of cell types and conditions collected using CAGE, which provides a quantitative estimate of gene expression that precisely defines the promoter utilised to initiate that expression. As expected, housekeeping genes were found to be amongst the least complex, as a result of their uniform expression profiles, as well as those genes highly restricted in their expression. The genes most complex in their expression output were those associated with the presence of H3K27me3 repressive marks; genes poised for activation in a specific set of cell types, as well as those enriched in DNAse I hypersensitive sites in their upstream region but not necessarily conserved in that region. Evidence also suggests that different promoters associated with a gene contribute in different ways to its resultant regulatory complexity, suggesting that certain promoters may be more crucial in driving the regulation of some genes. This allows for the targeting of such promoters in the analysis of certain diseases implicated by changes in regulatory regions. Indeed, genes known to be associated with diseases such as leukaemia and Alzheimer’s are found to be highly complex in their expression

Coping with social change in an economic crisis : a case study of Huntingdon, Quebec

Research into community resilience reflects an ongoing interest in defining how some single industry communities survive an economic crisis while others do not. Studies have linked high levels of social capital in communities to the creation of positive socio-economic outcomes, but few have sought to understand the development of localized social systems and structures following an economic crisis. In this context, there is a need to investigate the relationship between coping strategies, community identity and social capital in the foundation of social structures and systems in response to change. The closure of two major textile mills in the rural town of Huntingdon, Quebec presented an opportunity to study a community's initial reactions, coping facilities and strategies as they developed over the course of a year. The 'developing crisis' in Huntingdon served as a useful entry point for exploring the strengths and weaknesses of the underlying social infrastructure of the community. Three analytical themes; (1) individual and community level coping strategies, (2) local identity formation, and (3) the proliferation of social networks, were extracted from the social capital literature and were explored within the context of socio-economic change and community development in Huntingdon. From these observations, a series of suggestions are put forward which provide insight into accessing stores of social capital and increasing community cohesiveness to improve possible outcomes for single industry towns faced with a similar loss of a major employer in the future

Simple Parameterized Models for Predicting Mobility, Burial and re-exposure of underwater munitions. SERDP Final Report MR-2224

A compilation of 761 observations of scour-induced burial and 406 observations of initiation of motion of UXO-like objects are presented. The main factors that increase the scour-induced burial-to-diameter ratio (B/D) under (i) currents and (ii) waves are the (i) Shields parameter (S) and (ii) Keulegan-Carpenter number. For cylinders under waves, B/D additionally increases as the current component parallel to wave orbitals decreases, as S increases, and as the angle between wave orbitals and a cylinder’s axis increases. Cylinders bury most, then spheres, and conical frustums bury least. Simple models dependent on these variables explain 85% of observed variance in B/D. Onset of motion is parameterized by fi S_Ucrit, where S_Ucrit is the critical object mobility parameter, and fi accounts for inertia forces from time-varying pressure gradients. S_Ucrit is observed to decrease systematically as D/k increases, where k is the bed roughness. Theory combined with observations lead to fi S_Ucrit = a1(D/k)^b1. Observations give a1 = 1.75 and b1 = - 0.72, which explains 89% of the observed variance in fi S_Ucrit

Transcriptional decomposition reveals active chromatin architectures and cell specific regulatory interactions

Transcriptional regulation is coupled with chromosomal positioning and chromatin architecture. Here the authors develop a transcriptional decomposition approach to separate expression associated with genome structure from independent effects not directly associated with genomic positioning