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Our program Development and Peace has stood by the people of South Sudan since before the country’s independence in 2011. During that time, Development and Peace supported several appeals made by Sudanaid (Caritas Sudan) to help communities cope with food shortages in times of crisis.
We also prioritized peacebuilding efforts in the lead-up to the referendum for independence and the transition to a new country through awareness activities to encourage peace and tolerance, as well as emergency preparations in case of the outbreak of violence.
After independence, we supported the newly formed Caritas South Sudan in becoming operational and partnered with them to provide humanitarian aid to over 27,000 households searching for a new beginning, as people displaced by years of fighting between Sudan and South Sudan began to return to their homeland.
Our current focus is responding to the growing needs of those affected by ongoing conflict and food insecurity in the country. We have been working with the Society of Daughters of Mary Immaculate (DMI) and Caritas South Sudan in providing food, water, shelter, health care, psychosocial services and access to education. Citizens also need to be supported in the long-term goals of achieving peace, reconciliation, democracy and sustainable development and as conditions permit, we will work with local organizations in forwarding these objectives.
“The DMI Sisters helped the twins by providing powdered milk and nutritious food twice per month. They also helped me with my other children by giving soap, clothes, and food. It has been a great support for us.”Mary Nyatwya Yoal, a mother of four who adopted twins orphaned by the death of their mother in childbirth and the disappearance of their father in the conflict. The issues we work on to build justice:
Peace and reconciliation The situation South Sudan is the world’s newest country, but its creation came after years of fighting between rebel groups and Sudanese forces caused by ethnic and religious tensions. In 2005, a peace treaty was signed between the two parties allowing for a referendum on independence for South Sudan. In 2010, the population in the South voted overwhelmingly in favour of separating from Sudan and the new nation of South Sudan was created in July 2011. Although the initial transition was relatively peaceful, South Sudan has struggled to coalesce into a peaceful and democratic society where sustainable development can take place and the population can live in security. Years of brutality haunt the population, and violence continues to erupt in various parts of the country. A power struggle between various political factions led to a two-year bloody civil war from 2013-2015 that came to a halt with a peace agreement was signed in August 2015. Renewed fighting in July 2016, however, has placed this peace agreement in jeopardy.
The civilian population has suffered enormously from the civil war. Thousands of people have been killed, more than 2.5 million people have been displaced and close to 5 million are living with the threat of food insecurity. Source: world Food Programme
News East Africa and northeastern Nigeria: urgent aid is needed to respond to the humanitarian crisis March 23, 2017 Development and Peace – Caritas Canada is profoundly concerned about the famine in South Sudan, and the humanitarian crises in Somalia, Yemen, and Nigeria. The situation is also very troubling in certain neighbouring countries...
Read more here Civilians caught in crossfire of renewed violence in South Sudan July 18, 2016 Violent clashes in Juba, the capital of South Sudan, have left 300 dead, and have displaced at least 35,000 people, who are taking refuge in UN camps and compounds, church grounds and the forest. Although a fragile ceasefire remains in place, it is feared that fighting could resume at any moment. Read more here Development and Peace scales up response in South Sudan as crisis persists September 25, 2014 As the political and humanitarian crisis in South Sudan continues to deteriorate, and millions face hunger in the coming months, Development and Peace is increasing its relief efforts in the country. Read more here Situation in South Sudan devastating: Interview from the field August 12, 2014 The current conflict and food crisis in South Sudan has been described as the worst in the world by the United Nations. Caritas Internationalis (CI) launched an appeal to its members worldwide to support emergency relief programs in the country. Read more here South Sudan: Conflict and hunger shatter the dreams of those who came home July 29, 2014 Zainab Rahma looks longingly at a photo in her hand. In it, she sits proudly with three of her children.
“This was just five years ago. Look how beautiful I was. We were happy. This was our life,” she says. Read more here South Sudan struggles for peace three years after independence July 8, 2014 It should be a day of celebration in South Sudan today. July 9th marks the third anniversary of the country’s hard-fought independence. Instead, the population lives amidst conflict and terror, the threat of hunger and disease looming large. Read more here South Sudan: Renewed conflict displaces nearly one million people March 18, 2014 Since becoming its own nation in 2011, South Sudan has struggled to establish a society of peace and democracy. Lingering tensions that exist between various armed political and ethnic groups, which pre-date the creation of the country, were re-ignited in December 2013, when clashes erupted in the capital Juba. Since then, violence has spread to other parts of the country. Read more here Pictures Facebook Like
In numbers
169 out of 188countries on the Human Development Index
2011Year the country came into being
9 in 10households depend on crop farming, livestock, fishing or forestry |
Who Was Pythagoras?
Pythagoras (c. 580–500 B.C.) was an ancient Greek philosopher who was interested in numbers and their meanings. He discovered the relationships between mathematics and music, proposing that sounds and their relationships with other sounds can be measured using numbers. He also proposed that the Earth is a sphere, that the Earth, Moon, and stars revolve around the Sun, and that astronomy (the study of stars, planets, and heavenly bodies) could be written as mathematical sentences...
Pythagoras (c. 580–500 B.C.) was an ancient Greek philosopher who was interested in numbers and their meanings. He discovered the relationships between mathematics and music, proposing that sounds and their relationships with other sounds can be measured using numbers. He also proposed that the Earth is a sphere, that the Earth, Moon, and stars revolve around the Sun, and that astronomy (the study of stars, planets, and heavenly bodies) could be written as mathematical sentences called equations. Pythagoras and his followers used lines, triangles, and squares made out of pebbles to represent numbers.
Today Pythagoras is best remembered for the Pythagorean theorem: The square of the length of the hypotenuse (the side of a right triangle opposite the right angle) of a right triangle equals the sum of the squares of the lengths of the triangle's other two sides.
Further Information: "Pythagoras and Pythagoreanism." Catholic Encyclopedia. [Online] Available http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/125876.htm, November 8, 2000; "Pythagoras." Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy. [Online] Available http://www.utm.edu/research/iep/p/pythagor.htm, November 8, 2000; Weate, Jeremy. A Young Person's Guide to Philosophy. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 1998, p. 10. |
Home > Wellwood Monitoring Project Final Report Released
By Christy Pattengill-Semmens, REEF Director of Science
A REEF Advanced Assessment Team member surveys the fish assemblage on a restoration module at the Wellwood grounding site.Parrotfishes, such as this stoplight parrotfish terminal male, appear to be responding the quickest to restoration efforts. Photo courtesy New World Publications. The M/V Wellwood, a 122-meter freighter, ran aground in 1984 on Molasses Reef off Key Largo, Florida. The grounding destroyed 1,285 square meters of living corals. The grounding transformed the area into a flattened, barren pavement covered with coral rubble. Eighteen years after the grounding, the area resembled nearby hard ground habitat with little structure and the benthic community was dominated by gorgonians. Natural recovery to a state similar to the pre-grounding condition failed to occur within a reasonable time frame and therefore, habitat restoration was initiated in May 2002. In the Fall of 2007, REEF completed a five-year monitoring project on the fish assemblages at the Wellwood grounding site and two nearby reference areas. A Summary Report, which summarizes the results of the monitoring effort, has been completed and is available for download from the REEF Wellwood Monitoring webpage.
Baseline surveys were conducted just prior to and immediately following restoration, quarterly monitoring took place through Year 1 and semi-annual monitoring in Years 2 through 5. The primary goals of this project were to aid in the assessment of restoration efforts and provide a benchmark for long-term evaluation of the fish communities at the grounding site. Teams of REEF Advanced Assessment Team divers conducted 558 roving fish surveys and 559 belt transect surveys during the five year monitoring project.
Report Conclusions:
After initial colonization, Restoration site fish assemblage diversity, density and biomass have leveled off and remain lower than that at nearby reference areas. A total of 165 fish species were recorded at the Restoration Site during the 5-year project. In comparison, 189 were documented at the North Reference site and 207 were documented at the South Reference Site. Parrotfish and surgeonfish appear to be responding quickest to the restoration efforts, with densities and biomass values similar to that of the reference sites. Grunt and snapper species are primarily absent from the Restoration Site. The relatively short duration of this study makes it difficult for results to be teased out from natural population variability. Similarly, definitive conclusions cannot be achieved from these data due to the limited amount of time that has passed since restoration and the well-known decadal processes that are required for coral reef development. However, these data will serve as a critical baseline for assessing future changes and the effect of any future restoration efforts at the site.
For more information about the 5-year project and to read the full report, visit the REEF Wellwood Monitoring webpage. There was also a longer story about the project in the January 2008 REEF-in-Brief. Notes from the Field – 2009 REEF Grouper Moon Project
By Dr. Brice Semmens, Grouper Moon Project Scientist
Grouper Moon Project researchers and volunteers documented Nassau grouper spawning on all three Cayman Islands in 2009. This spawning release image was taken on the Little Cayman aggregation. Photo by Brice Semmens.Thousands of Nassau grouper aggregated to spawn on the west end of Little Cayman Island following the full moon in February. Photo by Phil Bush.The Cayman Brac team aboard the Glen Ellen.Grouper Moon researchers take video with lasers of individual Nassau grouper on the aggregation. The images are later analyzed to determine the size distribution of the aggregation.The Grand Cayman team happy after finding aggregating grouper. Dr. Semmens presents findings from the project to over 75 Little Cayman residents and visitors.Over 1,000 Nassau grouper were found on Cayman Brac, an area that was previously thought to only have a small, remnant spawning aggregation. Photo by Phil Bush.The path of the current drifter that was released at the Cayman Brac aggregation site on the night of spawning (19 days at sea). The current pattern is similar to that seen with drifters released on Little Cayman. Jamaica is in the southeast corner. Since 2001, REEF has led the Grouper Moon Project, a multi-faceted, collaborative research effort in the Cayman Islands aimed at better understanding Nassau grouper reproduction and the role that marine reserves can play in the long-term protection of this endangered species. The 2009 spawning season was the most ambitious to date for the project. For the first time, we had teams of researchers and volunteers stationed on each of the three Cayman Islands--Grand Cayman, Cayman Brac, and Little Cayman. The field season was certainly a success; among many interesting results and accomplishments, our most exciting find was that the teams on all three islands witnessed Nassau grouper spawning on the same night (Valentine’s Day, of all days! – which happened to be 5 nights after the full moon). In 2003 the Cayman Island Marine Conservation Board instituted an 8-year fishing ban on Nassau grouper at all historically known aggregation sites in the Cayman Islands. This followed the discovery by fisherman of 7,000 aggregating Nassau grouper on the west end of Little Cayman in 2001 and the subsequent harvest of 4,000 of those fish over two spawning seasons. At the time, all other known Nassau grouper aggregations in the Cayman Islands had become inactive due to over-harvest. Thanks to a three-year grant awarded in 2008 by the Lenfest Ocean Program of the Pew Charitable Trusts, REEF is conducting research through the Grouper Moon Project to evaluate the current status of the Cayman Islands spawning aggregations and the effect of these harvest protections -- “The reproductive biology of remnant Nassau grouper stocks: implications for Cayman Islands Marine Protected Area (MPA) management”.The broad goals for the 2009 spawning season were to continue monitoring recovery in the large spawning aggregation on Little Cayman, and to expand research into the fate of remnant spawning aggregations on Cayman Brac and Grand Cayman; aggregations on both of these islands were fished to exhaustion in the recent past. In addition to the island specific objectives, the Grouper Moon research program expanded satellite drifter work this season. These drifters, which track current patterns associated with the body of water the grouper eggs were spawned in, will continue to report positions for 45 days after spawning; this length of time is the approximate larval duration for Nassau grouper. REEF also continued education and outreach efforts through public talks about spawning aggregations and the Grouper Moon research. Talks were held at the Little Cayman National Trust and Dive Tech/Cobalt Coast Resort.2009 Aggregation Season Results SummaryThe Little Cayman team continued the long-term monitoring of this aggregation, which includes counting the number of fish that show up, estimating the size of the fish, and recording the timing and amount of spawning observed. The Cayman Brac team’s goal was to document whether or not aggregating Nassau grouper were spawning-- evidence of spawning would refute the theory that Nassau grouper fail to recover once overfished because fish on small aggregations no longer release gametes. In the 2008 spawning season, the Grouper Moon research team discovered the location of an aggregation of Nassau grouper on Cayman Brac. This year, armed with this information, REEF and CIDOE researchers spent the full 2009 spawning season observing, videoing and documenting the Cayman Brac spawning aggregation. In addition, the team was able to accomplish the primary goal of this season’s work on the island—team members both observed and videoed spawning. Objectives for the Grand Cayman team were similar, except that they first had the task of discovering where Nassau grouper on that island go (if anywhere) during the spawning season. Using the acoutic tag pinger signal of just ONE Nassau grouper (of 6 total individuals tagged on Grand Cayman in 2008), divers confirmed the presence of aggregating grouper near the historic East End aggregation site and a dusk dive on February 14th yielded this season’s biggest accomplishment– team members witnessed Nassau grouper spawning on Grand Cayman!The findings stemming from this work are unquestionably novel, and are certainly good news —protections on aggregation sites that have been fished to exhaustion will protect those few individuals that remain, and will protect stocks of fishes that are contributing to the next generation of this endangered reef fish. Put simply, our research demonstrates that overfished aggregations are down, but not out.Why Does This Matter?Nassau grouper are not just icons of the Caribbean; they are a social and ecological cornerstone of the region’s coral reefs. Historically, Nassau grouper represented one of the region’s most economically important fisheries. Unfortunately, due to intense harvest on spawning aggregations, their populations have dwindled to a fraction of their historic numbers. The species became the first Caribbean reef fish to be listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the species is candidate listed under the US Endangered Species Act. The precipitous decline in mass spawning aggregations of Caribbean grouper species has been well documented. The majority of known Caribbean aggregation sites are now inactive due to the ease with which aggregating species are caught. And those that are still active contain significantly fewer fish than the 10s of thousands that historically gathered at these special places.As part of our work on the Grouper Moon Project, REEF will continue to develop a comprehensive assessment of the status of the Cayman Island’s Nassau grouper spawning population as a guide for future Nassau grouper restoration and conservation policy.Collaborators and Supporters Who Make This Project PossibleREEF would like to thank our collaborators at the Cayman Islands Department of the Environment, specifically Phil Bush, Bradley Johnson, Croy McCoy, James Gibb, Tim Austin, Gina Ebanks-Pietre, Chris Dixon, Keith Neale, Delwin McLaughlin and Robert Walton, as well as Drs. Scott and Selina Heppell from Oregon State University. REEF Volunteers have always been at the core of our Grouper Moon field work and 2009 was no exception – heartfelt thanks to Judie Clee, Thor Dunmire, Tracey Griffin, Doug Harder, Brenda Hitt, Denise Mizell and Sheryl Shea. The Grouper Moon Project has continued through the years empowered by the first year’s success and the passion of early project leader Leslie Whaylen Clift. Assistance from OSU graduate students, Stephanie Kraft and Heather Reiff, is much appreciated. Principal financial support is from the Lenfest Ocean Program of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the CIDOE. Additional funding is from Mr. Wayne Panton, Mr. Dan Scott, Clive and Stella Wood, Franklin and Cassandra Neal, and hundreds of REEF members. Continued in-kind logistical support from island businesses and residents, including the Little Cayman Beach Resort/Reef Divers, the Southern Cross Club and Peter Hillenbrand, is also much appreciated. And finally, our ground-breaking achievements on Cayman Brac would not have been possible without the generous support of Wayne Sullivan, who donated his vessel the Glen Ellen, his time (and patience), his equipment and technical diving expertise, and his crew, Brady Booton and Jules James.For more information on the project, visit the Grouper Moon Project Webpage. If you would like to support this critical marine conservation research, please donate today through the REEF Website or call REEF HQ at 305-852-0030. Grouper Moon Project Research Planned for February 2010
Approximately 4,000 Nassau grouper aggregate each winter off the west end of Little Cayman Island. Photo by Phil Bush. Planning is underway for REEF's annual research on Nassau grouper spawning aggregations in the Cayman Islands for the 2010 spawning season - the Grouper Moon Project. This collaborative conservation program between REEF and the Cayman Islands Department of the Environment is entering its 8th year. Thanks to funding from the Lenfest Ocean Program of the Pew Charitable Trusts, the research team is conducting innovative research that is critical to the long-term survival of this iconic Caribbean species. Grouper Moon scientists will be in the field January 30 - February 12, 2010. If you are looking for a winter getaway and are considering the Cayman Islands, this is a great time to visit Little Cayman. While there are not opportunities for recreational divers to visit the aggregation, researchers will be giving several public talks and divers on Bloody Bay Wall will witness the mass migrations of the normally solitary Nassau grouper from their home reefs out to the aggregation site. Another good reason -- the acclaimed Southern Cross Club has offered to donate a percentage of any package booked by REEF members during that time to support REEF's Grouper Moon Project. To take a vacation and make a positive impact for the grouper, contact the Southern Cross Club reservation office directly at 1-800-899-2582 or info@SouthernCrossClub.com -- be sure to mention that you are a REEF member!
More information about the 2010 research and program objectives for the Grouper Moon Project will be included in future issues of REEF-in-Brief. you can also find out more about the Project on the Grouper Moon Project Webpage.
Grouper Moon Project 2010
By Brice Semmens, Ph.D., Grouper Moon Project Lead Scientist
Over 4,000 Nassau grouper can be found on the Little Cayman spawning aggregation. This is the largest known aggregation of this endangered reef fish. Photo by Phil Bush.Spawning was documented during four nights on the Little Cayman site. Photo by Brice Semmens.REEF Board of Trustee member, Heather George, and REEF Advisory Panel Member, Dr. Steve Gittings, helped with this year's field effort.Denise Mizell, along with Wayne Sullivan and the crew of the Glen Ellen, made up the Grand Cayman team. Since 2001, REEF has led the Grouper Moon Project, a multi-faceted, collaborative research effort with the Cayman Islands Department of the Environment (CIDOE) aimed at better understanding Nassau grouper reproduction and the role that marine reserves can play in the long-term protection of this endangered species. Earlier this month, we had researchers and volunteers in the field for two weeks to conduct field research on spawning aggregations in Grand Cayman and Little Cayman. The site on Little Cayman represents one of the largest known remaining aggregations of Nassau grouper; our research will provide valuable guidance to both the Cayman Islands government and others throughout the Caribbean on how to best protect this important coral reef fish.
In 2003 the Cayman Island Marine Conservation Board instituted an 8-year fishing ban on Nassau grouper at all known aggregation sites in the Cayman Islands (both current and historic). This followed the discovery by fisherman of 7,000 aggregating Nassau grouper on the west end of Little Cayman in 2001 and the subsequent harvest of 4,000 of those fish over two spawning seasons. At the time, all other known Nassau grouper aggregations in the Cayman Islands had become inactive due to over-harvest. Thanks to a three-year grant awarded in 2008 by the Lenfest Ocean Program of the Pew Charitable Trusts, REEF is conducting research through the Grouper Moon Project to evaluate the current status of the Cayman Islands spawning aggregations and the effect of these harvest protections -- “The reproductive biology of remnant Nassau grouper stocks: implications for Cayman Islands Marine Protected Area (MPA) management”. The broad goals for the 2010 spawning season were to continue monitoring recovery in the large spawning aggregation on Little Cayman, and to expand research into the fate of remnant spawning aggregations on Grand Cayman; aggregations on this island were fished to exhaustion in the recent past. REEF continued education and outreach efforts through public talks about spawning aggregations and the Grouper Moon research. As the sunset provision on the current legislation nears, REEF is working closely with the Cayman Islands government to translate the findings from our research into effective long-term protections. I spent time with the Honorable Mark Scotland, the Minister of Health, Environment, Youth, Sports & Culture, which oversees the Department of Environment in the Cayman Islands, discussing the project, our ground-breaking results, and recommendations for the future of this iconic species.
2010 Aggregation Season Results SummaryThe Little Cayman team continued the long-term monitoring of this aggregation, which includes counting the number of fish that show up, estimating the size of the fish, and recording the timing and amount of spawning observed. The REEF research team uses lasers mounted on a video camera to record sizes of fish. If you would like to see what the Little Cayman aggregation looks like during the day, check out this video on YouTube. You will see the laser marks on the fish. Note that these are all Nassau grouper, just in different spawning colors. The team estimated that the number of fish showing up at the aggregation is approaching 4,000. We are also seeing a decrease if average size, which indicates that younger fish are starting to show up (good news!). Spawning was observed on four consecutive nights, starting 4 days after the full moon.
The Grand Cayman team’s primary goal was to document the remnant Nassau grouper aggregation on the East End of Grand Cayman and hopefully observe spawning. The status of this aggregation was initially documented by a Grouper Moon team in 2009. This year, with a lot of help from our partners at CIDOE and Wayne Sullivan and his crew aboard the Glen Ellen, REEF volunteer Denise Mizell was able to head up this critical component of our research. While several hundred fish were found at this historical spawning site, spawning was not documented. Unfortunately, we believe that fisherman were illegally fishing on the aggregation when our team was not on site. It is possible that this disturbance prevented the fish from spawning. This is disappointing news, but we are hopeful that the Cayman Islands government will pass revised legislation and provide more enforcement before next spawning season in order to protect the few remaining Nassau grouper on Grand Cayman.
Why Does This Matter?Nassau grouper are not just icons of the Caribbean; they are a social and ecological cornerstone of the region’s coral reefs. Historically, Nassau grouper represented one of the region’s most economically important fisheries. Unfortunately, due to intense harvest on spawning aggregations, their populations have dwindled to a fraction of their historic numbers. The species became the first Caribbean reef fish to be listed as endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the species is candidate listed under the US Endangered Species Act. The precipitous decline in mass spawning aggregations of Caribbean grouper species has been well documented. The majority of known Caribbean aggregation sites are now inactive due to the ease with which aggregating species are caught. And those that are still active contain significantly fewer fish than the 10s of thousands that historically gathered at these special places.As part of our work on the Grouper Moon Project, REEF will continue to develop a comprehensive assessment of the status of the Cayman Island’s Nassau grouper spawning population as a guide for future Nassau grouper restoration and conservation policy.
Collaborators and Supporters Who Make This Project PossibleREEF would like to thank our collaborators at the Cayman Islands Department of the Environment, specifically Phil Bush, Bradley Johnson, Croy McCoy, James Gibb, Tim Austin, Gina Ebanks-Pietre, Keith Neale, Delwin McLaughlin and Robert Walton, as well as Drs. Scott and Selina Heppell from Oregon State University. REEF Volunteers have always been at the core of our Grouper Moon field work and 2010 was no exception – heartfelt thanks to Heather George, Steve Gittings, Denise Mizell and Sheryl Shea. The support and assistance of Thor Dunmire is also greatly appreciated. The Grouper Moon Project has continued through the years empowered by the first year’s success and the passion of early project leader Leslie Whaylen Clift. Assistance from OSU graduate student, Stephanie Kraft Archer, is much appreciated. Principal financial support is from the Lenfest Ocean Program of the Pew Charitable Trusts and the CIDOE. Additional funding is from Mr. Wayne Panton, Mr. Dan Scott, Clive and Stella Wood, Franklin and Cassandra Neal, and hundreds of REEF members. Continued in-kind logistical support from island businesses and residents, including the Little Cayman Beach Resort/Reef Divers, the Southern Cross Club, Peter Hillenbrand, Dottie Benjamin, and Judie Clee is also much appreciated. To alleviate the constraints of diving deep depths on regular scuba, several other sponsors came on board to assist in the project, including Divetech and PM Gas of Grand Cayman, Silent Diving of Brockville, Ontario and Shearwater Research of Vancouver, British Columbia. And finally, our work on Grand Cayman would not have been possible without the generous support of Wayne Sullivan, who donated his vessel the Glen Ellen, his time (and patience), his equipment and technical diving expertise, and his crew, Brady Booton and several others.
For more information on the project, visit the Grouper Moon Project Webpage. If you would like to support this critical marine conservation research, please donate today through the REEF Website or call REEF HQ at 305-852-0030. REEF News Tidbits
By REEF Staff
These good-looking shirts are a great way to show your support for REEF's Nassau grouper conservation programs! Nassau Grouper Shirts Back in the Online Store - After selling out, "Grumpy" shirts are now back in stock in the REEF online store. These short and long-sleeve shirts features the face of a Nassau Grouper. "Grumpy" is the artwork of Rogest, who created the piece to celebrate REEF's Grouper Moon Project and our work to conserve this Caribbean icon. The shirts feature the tag line "Extinction Makes Me Grumpy". Get yours today, they won't last long. New REEF Field Stations - This past month, we welcomed Beaches Boscobel Resort & Golf Club in Jamaica to our growing list of Field Stations. They join the almost 200 Field Stations and Independent Instructors worldwide. Did You Know -- REEF Online Data Entry Available in All Regions - REEF surveyors in ALL regions can now submit their data online. We greatly encourage everyone to enter their surveys online rather than use the paper scanforms, if possible. And remember -- if you conduct a survey at a site that is not yet in REEF's Zone Code database, send us an email (data@reef.org) with the site name and latitude/longitude of the site and we will create the code for you. The 8-digit zone code must be in the system before you can enter data from the site. Become a Fan of REEF on Facebook - The REEF Facebook Page is a place to find the latest information about our programs and events, REEF's marine conservation work, and exclusive content and stories. It's also a great place for our members to post pictures, fish stories and whatever is on their mind. Become a "Fan" today! REEF
Reef Environmental Education Foundation on Facebook Putting It to Work: Who’s Using REEF Data, January 2011
By Christy Pattengill-Semmens, Director of Science
Every month, scientists, government agencies, and other groups request raw data from REEF’s Fish Survey Project database. Here is a sampling of who has asked for REEF data recently and what they are using it for:
- Researchers from the Centro de Ecología Marina de Utila requested data on yellowtail snapper and other snapper and grouper species. The group is working to develop an ecosystem approach to managing Caribbean coral reefs in the face of climate change .
- Scientists from NOAA Fisheries are using sightings of the Indo-Pacific lionfish in REEF surveys to evaluate the rapid invasion of this species into the Florida Keys.
Putting It to Work: REEF Presents at Rockfish Conference
By Christy Pattengill-Semmens, Ph.D., Director of Science
REEF Director of Science, Christy Pattengill-Semmens, and REEF Outreach Coordinator, Janna Nichols, attended a rockfish conference in Seattle earlier this week. The workshop, Rockfish Recovery in the Salish Sea: Research and Management Priorities, was organized by NOAA, WDFW, and the SeaDoc Society, and served as a venue for scientists, managers, and policy makers from throughout the region to share their work and help chart a course for future work. Christy presented an overview of REEF data collected throughout the Salish Sea, and showed distribution maps for 12 species of rockfish. The REEF Volunteer Survey Program expanded to the Northwest in 1998. To date, REEF volunteers have submitted 12,495 surveys from 781 sites throughout the Salish Sea. These data are a valuable information resource for those working to protect and restore declining rockfish populations. Several other active Pacific Northwest surveyors also attended the conference.
New Fishinars Added To Schedule
By Janna Nichols, REEF Outreach Coordinator
Photo by Carol Cox. If you haven't had a chance to attend one of our Fishinars yet, you should! New sessions are continually being added, so check out the Webinar Training page (www.REEF.org/resources/webinars) to see the current schedule and to register for one or more sessions. These popular online training sessions (webinars) provide fishie fun in the comfort of your own home. Fishinars are open to divers, snorkelers, and devout landlubbers alike. Participation is free but you need to register for each session you want to attend. No special software is required, just a web browser. You don't need a microphone or a webcam to be able to participate. Great for first-timers or those wanting a review. Upcoming sessions include:
NORTHERN GULF OF MEXICO: DAPPER DOZEN Wednesday, February 1st at 5pm PST / 8pm EST
ROCKFISH ROCK Thursday, February 2nd at 6pm PST / 9pm EST
CARIBBEAN CRYPTICS Wednesday, February 15th at 6pm PST / 9pm EST
PACIFIC NW ADVANCED FISH ID Tuesday, February 21st at 7pm PST - Part 1; Wednesday, February 22nd at 7pm PST - Part 2; Thursday, February 23rd at 7pm PST - Part 3
NOT EXACTLY BUMS: FISH THAT LIVE UNDER FLORIDA'S BLUE HERON BRIDGE Wednesday, February 29th at 5pm PST / 8pm EST
PERPLEXING PARROTFISH Wednesday, March 14th at 5pm PST / 8pm EST
25 CARIBBEAN FISH YOU SHOULD KNOW Wednesday, March 28th at 5pm PST / 8pm EST
One Week Remains To Double Your Donation
Photo by Ned DeLoach There is just one week left to Double Your Donation as part of our Summer Fundraising Campaign. We are so close to reaching our goal of raising $60,000 in 60 days! Please help us in this final stretch, every donation counts! You can contribute through our secure website at www.REEF.org/contribute, mail your donation to REEF at PO Box 246 - Key Largo, FL 33037, or call us at 305-852-0030. Double your donation and ensure REEF’s marine conservation programs can continue. Your donation supports programs such as our free Fishinars, Volunteer Fish Survey database management, Lionfish outreach, and Nassau Grouper conservation and education. Thank you to all of our members who have donated so far to our summer matching campaign, and thanks to the generosity of the Curtis and Edith Munson Foundation for matching your contributions!
REEF's Marine Conservation Internship Program
By Martha Klitzkie, REEF General Manager
Many of you know that REEF helps out sea-dwelling creatures, but you may not know that we also help prepare our future land-dwelling leaders to deal with issues facing our marine ecosystems. Meet the faces of our Marine Conservation Internship Program! Every four months, REEF invites hundreds of applicants to compete for four internship positions. The chosen interns implement community outreach and education programs focused on reef fish identification and lionfish handling and collection. Interns also dive and volunteer with partner organizations in the Florida Keys. Examples of some average daily intern activities include computer data entry, helping to write and layout newsletters and flyers, packaging orders, answering phone calls and e-mails, greeting visitors at REEF Headquarters, biological assessment fieldwork and data analysis, community education and outreach, writing, artwork, and GIS mapping.
For more information on this program or if you know someone who would like to apply, please visit the Internship Webpage or email General Manager, Martha Klitzkie, at Martha@reef.org. Applications for the Fall internship are due June 15th.
Source URL: http://www.reef.org/enews/articles |
Home / Health / Medicine / Tests & Treatment
5 Things to Know About X-Ray Radiationby Marianne Spoon
| Things to Know About X-Ray Radiation
Cell damage from radiation can alter our DNA, increasing the chances of our cells mutating during replication or even turning cancerous with time.
Medioimages/Photodisc/Digital Vision/Thinkstock
Wilhelm Roentgen stumbled upon the potential of X-rays while tinkering with cathode instruments in 1895. The German physicist placed different objects in front of them to measure their reactions in front of a photographic plate that can record images.Roentgen wanted to know what his wife's hand would look like when exposed to the mysterious rays. Lo and behold, the plate produced an image of her bones and flesh, much like what we see today in medical X-rays. The ability to create images within the human body was revolutionary, Nobel Prize-worthy work.Today, X-rays are used in a variety of places, ranging from dentist and doctors' offices to safety checkpoints at airports. Although the medical scans help doctors and patients around the world monitor injuries and conditions, they also have a downside: radiation.As we'll discuss, X-rays emit a type of radiation that can be harmful to humans if the intensity is too high or the exposure is too frequent. In this article, we'll explore the risks and benefits of using this tool to reveal valuable information about ourselves and the universe.But first, we'll look at the dual personality of X-rays and why they can be both helpful and harmful. Read on to find out more.
X-rays: Helpful and Harmful
What's in a Dose?
In the United States, radiation exposure is usually measured in millisieverts (mSv). The average chest X-ray exposes patients to 0.1 mSv of radiation, while mammograms expose patients to 0.7 mSv of radiation. To put this in perspective, the average human is exposed to around 3 mSv of radiation per year from all possible sources [source: Radiological Society of North America]. In this sense, one chest X-ray is the equivalent to the amount of radiation you'd experience naturally over a 10-day period.
It's best to think of X-rays for what they are: a type of electromagnetic energy. These rays have short wavelengths, allowing them to carry a lot of energy. Yet when one considers what happens when they intercept the human body, the term ionizing radiation enters the equation.Ionizing radiation can knock off electrons that orbit the nuclei of atoms -- sort of like if something knocked Earth from its orbit around the sun. When electrons become displaced, they create charged molecules, or atoms called ions, which can scatter and disrupt other atoms in our cells.Cell damage from radiation can alter our DNA as well, increasing the chances of our cells mutating during replication or even turning cancerous with time. This is why doctors use only the effective dose of X-rays, or the lowest amount to get the job done during medical imaging. What's more, the radiation adds up over time, so frequency matters, too.X-rays aren't all doom and gloom, though. Thankfully, our cells heal themselves after brief encounters. In medical contexts, X-rays provide a glimpse of bones, teeth and internal organs not visible from outside the body. They help assess breaks, fractures and abnormal growth in bones and allow doctors to track the effectiveness of surgeries. Ultimately, the benefits of receiving proper medical treatment often outweigh the risks of radiation.It's also true that X-rays clue us in to the strange things our children and pets accidentally swallow. Next, learn which group has the largest vulnerability to X-ray radiation.
Children are More Vulnerable
In special circumstances, doctors will want to conduct a computerized tomography (CT) scan to gain a 3-D view of a patient's body. These images are collected by using X-rays, which increase a patient's radiation exposure. Because of this, CT scans are rarely performed, especially on children.
Brief exposure to ionizing radiation isn't as worrisome in adults because mature cells can quickly repair themselves (for the most part), but babies' and children's bones and tissues are more at risk. Kids' cells divide more rapidly as they grow, creating more opportunities for mutations and DNA damage to be replicated. Pregnant women should tell their doctors they're with child before having any X-rays. And even though most medical scans avoid exposing fetuses to radiation, it's important to talk things over with a doctor to be sure.Also, because the effects of radiation on the body accumulate with time, doctors reserve the use of X-rays on young patients for times when an immediate health concern outweighs the long-term risk -- much like what's done for adults [source: U.S. Food and Drug Administration]. This vulnerability leaves children at a greater risk of developing cancer and other health problems later in life.Next time you're due for medical tests, it might be a good idea to ask a few questions. Find out what's appropriate to ask on the following page.
Exposure is Preventable
Reducing Radiation
If you're not given one already, be sure to ask whether you can wear a protective shield such as a lead apron while receiving a medical X-ray. Also, for dental X-rays, you can ask whether your dentist performs faster X-rays (in the "E" or "F" category) that reduces the length of time you're exposed [source: FDA].
Sure, X-ray radiation has its dark side, but there's plenty you can do to reduce your exposure.First, you should understand that scientists have created ways to minimize exposure to X-ray radiation. This mostly includes offering recommendations, measuring the entrance skin doses -- the amount of rays absorbed through the skin -- of certain procedures, ensuring equipment is working properly and providing the best training to people operating the machines. In general, the FDA regulates the production of X-ray equipment, while states make laws to oversee the technology's use [source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency].To ensure you're not being unnecessarily exposed, check the instruction and certification level of the technicians and doctors performing medical X-rays. Since training varies, you'll want to seek professionals with more education and experience. For instance, you might want to find clinics with board-certified radiologists for more serious scans. Don't be afraid to ask your doctor why an X-ray is or isn't necessary.Can you be exposed to X-ray radiation outside the doctor's office? Find out on the next page.
X-Ray Radiation in Airports
We've learned that medical X-rays give doctors a unique glimpse into the flesh and bone beneath your skin, but how else are they used?In recent years, the U.S. Transportation Security Administration has used X-ray body scanners to detect weapons and other potentially dangerous objects that can't be picked up by metal detectors. This certainly beefs up security for passengers before boarding an airplane, but it also exposes them to X-ray radiation. The use of these backscatter scanners has caused controversy, but is still common in many U.S. airports. Generally speaking, though, the amount of radiation is small compared to typical medical scans. For perspective, the average amount of radiation people are exposed to from these scanners equates to two minutes of being airborne on a plane while at its normal altitude -- a place that lacks the atmosphere's protection from incoming radiation [source: TSA].Still, frequent flyers as well as airplane personnel should be more cautious about using scanners too often.Did you know X-ray radiation isn't just limited to our world? Keep reading to learn about its use in science.
It Tells Us Cool Stuff
X-ray radiation's use in astronomy gives us plenty of cool information about the universe.Many events in space, ranging from black holes to comets and stars, give off unique radiation signatures. Although we generally clump all X-rays together, the ones coming from space are a bit different. They're created from natural phenomena in the universe that give off immense amounts of energy (and heat).To measure X-ray radiation, or the energy from particles in space, scientists collect information using satellites outside Earth's atmosphere. Such X-rays give us clues to the origins of the universe and contribute to our perceptions of auroras that routinely line the night sky.Back on Earth, scientists create X-rays with particle accelerators, which move electrons near the speed of light around a track until they emit beams of the radiation. This allows researchers to examine the atomic structure of materials -- both synthetic and environmental.Want to learn more about X-ray radiation? Peruse the next page for more interesting sources.
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Related ArticlesX-ray Radiation Quiz5 Cool Things About EKGs5 Ways to Prevent Skin Cancer10 Cancer Myths10 Instances of Medical Quackery Throughout HistorySourcesCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. "Emergency Preparedness and Response: Radiation Emergencies -- Measuring Radiation." May 10, 2006. (April 20, 2011)http://www.bt.cdc.gov/radiation/measurement.aspMayo Clinic. "CT scan." Jan. 12, 2010. (April 20, 2011)http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/ct-scan/MY00309NASA. "The Electromagnetic Spectrum." March 27, 2007. (April 20, 2011)http://science.hq.nasa.gov/kids/imagers/ems/xrays.htmlNASA. "Most Distant X-Ray Jet Discovered Provides Clues to Big Bang." NASA News. Nov. 25, 2007. (April 20, 2011)http://www.nasa.gov/home/hqnews/2003/nov/HQ_03367_xray_jet.htmlNobelPrize.org. "Wilhelm Conrad Roentgen - Biography." (April 20, 2011) http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1901/rontgen-bio.htmlRadiological Society of North America. "Radiation Exposure in X-Ray and CT Examinations." Nov. 15, 2010. (April 20, 2011)http://www.radiologyinfo.org/en/safety/index.cfm?pg=sfty_xrayTransportation Security Administration, U.S. Department of Homeland Security. "Frequently Asked Questions: Advanced Imaging Technology." (April 20, 2011)http://blog.tsa.gov/2009/11/response-to-oops-backscatter-x-ray.htmlUniversity of Colorado. "X-Ray Safety." Physics 2000. (April 20, 2011)http://www.colorado.edu/physics/2000/xray/xray_abs3.htmlU.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "Radiation Protection: Health Effects." March 24, 2011. (April 20, 2011)http://www.epa.gov/rpdweb00/understand/health_effects.htmlU.S. Environmental Protection Agency. "RadTown USA: Medical X-Rays." July 19, 2010. (April 20, 2011).http://www.epa.gov/radtown/medical-xrays.htmlU.S. Food and Drug Administration. "Radiology and Children." June 23, 2008. (April 29, 2011)http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm048578.htmU.S. Food and Drug Administration. "Reducing Radiation from Medical X-Rays." Feb. 19, 2009. (April 29, 2011)http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/ConsumerUpdates/ucm095505.htm
Things to Know About X-Ray Radiation
Spoon, Marianne. "5 Things to Know About X-Ray Radiation" 09 May 2011. HowStuffWorks.com. <http://health.howstuffworks.com/medicine/tests-treatment/5-things-to-know-about-x-ray-radiation.htm> 26 November 2015.
5: X-rays: Helpful and Harmful
4: Children are More Vulnerable
3: Exposure is Preventable
2: X-Ray Radiation in Airports
1: It Tells Us Cool Stuff
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WARF signs exclusive licensing contract on ultrasound technology
MADISON - Echometrix, a developer of proprietary ultrasound technology, and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF), the private, non-profit patent and licensing organization for the University of Wisconsin-Madison, announced that they have signed an exclusive license agreement that provides Echometrix the rights to make, use and sell ultrasound software and devices based on its innovative technology in the United States, Europe and Japan. "The addition of the intellectual property developed by my co-founders, Dr. Hirohito Kobayashi and Dr. Ray Vanderby at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, will create a sustainable competitive advantage in the underpenetrated and growing musculoskeletal ultrasound market," says Barbara Israel, company co-founder and chief executive officer. "We also believe that this is the beginning of an important research and development collaboration between Echometrix and the Vanderby lab." Israel also believes that the technology will create rapid growth in the musculoskeletal ultrasound market."The technology will offer orthopedics, sports medicine, physical therapy and rheumatology practitioners a new tool to quantitatively assess the function of ligaments and tendons, which could both improve patient outcomes and lower the cost of assessing musculoskeletal injuries," Heim says. The ultrasound technology could impact patient health positively.Echometrix's technology is designed to improve the speed, convenience and ability to evaluate musculoskeletal conditions at a lower cost than current methods. The company's ultrasound technology is uniquely able to assess the functional status of soft tissues and to identify conditions such as stretched ligaments, torn tendons, micro tears, and tissue inflammation. It also may prove valuable in assessing common conditions such as carpal tunnel syndrome and damaged rotator cuffs. |
Cause of Death in Urban Africa: New Experiments with Verbal Autopsy Questionnaires in Accra, Ghana
Samantha Lattof, Harvard School of Public Health
Richard Biritwum, Ghana Medical School
In a pilot study conducted in Accra, Ghana, we first examine the completeness and coverage of these systems and then report on the use of verbal autopsy questionnaires to establish the probable causes of death based on interviews with next of kin. These causes are compared with the information found on death certificates. The paper briefly describes the system in place in Accra for the routine medical certification of causes of death, the issuance of burial permits and the registration of deaths with the Births and Deaths Registry. Several features of the system seem to operate against wider formal registration of causes of death. The paper concludes with some recommendations on how urban mortality in Africa could be re-examined using a combination of census, survey, facility-based and routine death registration with a view to establishing clear patterns of causes of death in such populations. |
From Employee to Green Entrepreneur
Environmental issues are front and center of our lives in the 21st century. Once people realize the impact of global warming and climate change on the planet, it’s a short step to wanting to actively do something about it. But if you can’t afford to spend your life working for change without payment, the ideal way to combine your passion with a way to earn a living is to find “green” jobs.
As renewable energy takes off and becomes mainstream, more jobs are opening up, with great potential for a future career as a green entrepreneur. Here are some suggestions on how to find a green job.
Most green jobs need some form of technical expertise. Whether you’re interested in pursuing a career as a provider of solar energy systems, or your ambition is to begin organic farming, it’s best to get some formal education before you start. If you have an aptitude for scientific study, environmental engineering is a field in which you can use the principles of science, biology and chemistry to find solutions for problems facing the environment. These range from earth-friendly jobs such as the disposal of waste, through public health issues, air purity and water pollution. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2010 there were more than 51,400 environmental engineers working in green jobs in the United States, earning median salaries of around $78,740 a year.
Non-Scientific Occupations
You don’t have to be a rocket scientist, however, to become a green entrepreneur. A variety of earth-friendly jobs exist, including basic administrative work for green companies such as reception, accounting and marketing. Research the requirements for these types of jobs, and establish what sort of education, skills and experience you need to qualify.
Revise your Resume
It’s often said that jobseekers need to customize their resume for the position they are interested in. This is particularly important if you apply for green jobs. Highlight previous experience that may be relevant to the position you want, such as your achievements in former earth-friendly jobs. List any additional skills and attributes you have that could help you, such as a hobby growing organic plants, or volunteer hours you put in during your school career with environmental organizations. Mention your support for organizations such as Greenpeace, or the knowledge of carbon dating you gained in a school project. All of these attributes can help to prove your passion for the subject.
Working with Nonprofits
Often, you can find green jobs with nonprofit organizations. Conduct research to find out which nonprofits to approach, and check their mission and vision to see if it aligns with your beliefs. Investigate their financial status before applying, because jobs in the nonprofit sector may pay lower rates than the private or public sectors. Many of these green jobs carry a lot of responsibility, and you need to be sure that you are comfortable with the pay rates offered.
Become a Green Entrepreneur
Solar energy is big in the U.S., and anyone with a passion for environmental issues and a little capital can become a retailer and installer of solar systems. Most solar energy dealers represent one or more solar manufacturers, and usually the suppliers provide training in the installation and servicing of their products. Instead of spending time on how to find a green job, start your own business and you can create green jobs for others.
If it isn’t possible to find green jobs right away, consider volunteering your time for a green organization. You will gain experience in the field as well as make new friends and build your network of contacts in readiness for a shot at earth-friendly jobs in the future. While you are learning how to find a green job, you will be able to make a difference in a small way and at the same time, check out whether this is the right long term career choice for you.
Transmission & Distribution World is edited for engineers and operating professionals in the electric power industry. Feature articles are written primarily by technical editors and industry professionals in the user and manufacturer groups. Yearly editorial content includes feature articles on electrical transmission & distribution, substations, construction, operation and maintenance, automation, and other articles pertinent to the electric power industry.
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Professor Shivendra S. Panwar Speaks at FCC Post-Sandy Field Hearing
When Superstorm Sandy hit the East Coast in late October of 2012, about a quarter of the cell phone tower sites in the region shut down, causing millions of lost calls. With flood waters rising and winds raging, many could not reach loved ones or emergency services. Even days later, service outages remained widespread.
In response, on February 5, 2013, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) held its first post-storm field hearing to examine the challenges to the country’s communications networks posed by natural disasters like Sandy and other crises. Among the participants was Shivendra S. Panwar, a professor in the electrical and computer engineering department at the Polytechnic Institute of New York University (NYU-Poly), a faculty member of NYU WIRELESS, and director of the New York State Center for Advanced Technology in Telecommunications (CATT). Panwar, who is a leader in the field of wireless research, which includes the study of femtocells--small, low-power cellular base stations usually intended for use in a home or office--sat on a panel titled “Outside the Box: New Ideas to Improve Communications Services.”
At the hearing, in addition to discussing femtocells--which connect to the service provider’s network via broadband and can greatly expand both coverage and capacity--Panwar stressed the importance of cooperation between companies to prevent the dangerous service disruptions that occurred during Sandy.
“The convergence of the cellular industry on a common standard, 4G LTE, offers an opportunity, heretofore unavailable, to build robustness across competing carriers during man-made and natural disasters,” he explained. “Aggregating resources would allow emergency communications to be provided to customers. If two identical carriers pool their resources, they can double the capacity delivered to each customer, even as their combined pool of customers doubles. Equivalently, this means near normal service can be maintained even if half the cell towers are lost during a disaster.”
He also pointed out that such cooperation would incur only a modest incremental increase in cost, making it exceedingly feasible on a practical level.
With many consumers giving up their landlines for the sake of economy and depending totally on mobile networks, the issue is a vital one for both telecommunications engineers and policy makers.
“Clearly a regulatory and policy environment that encourages cooperation between competing service providers would be needed to bring this vision to fruition,” Panwar asserted.
The recipient of numerous accolades, including the IEEE Communication Society's Leonard G. Abraham Prize in the Field of Communication Systems, Panwar was joined on the panel by Brian Fontes, the head of the National Emergency Number Association, a professional organization solely focused on 9-1-1 policy, technology, operations, and education issues; Bill Smith, the president of network operations at AT&T; and other select industry leaders.
Cybersecurity Awareness Month Lasts All Year Long at Tandon
Posted October 19th, 2017
Visionary VR/AR projects from Tandon community featured at NYC Media Lab Summit
Professor Brain Discusses Machine Learning and Bias: The Story of the Enron Email Archive
Tandon Researcher Engineering Antidotes to Chemical Weapons
News from Cable alumni magazine.
Posted January 21st, 2015
Transformative Process
Global Search for Best White Hat Student Hackers Narrows as 5 Countries Prep for NYU Cyber Security Awareness Week Games
Cybersecurity Protocol That Fends Off Automobile Hacks Named to Popular Science Magazine's List of Top 100 Technologies of The Year
BP Funds Smart Mobility Track, Leads New Round of Sponsorship for Urban Future Lab Competition |
Electrical resistivity in precision cranberry farming
soil variability
One of the most important issues in precision agriculture is to develop site specific principles of crop management based on variability of soil and hydrological properties. Accessing spatial variability of soil properties often require high-density and repetitious sampling, which is costly, time-consuming, and labor-intensive. One of the challenges facing the adoption of precision agriculture technology is the identification of productivity-related variability of soil properties accurately and cost-effectively.
The application of the geophysical methods of electrical resistivity makes it possible to define areas of electrically contrasting soils, which have distinct properties and, therefore, should be used in agriculture in different ways. Electrical resistivity is a composite characteristic of soils, which generally related to soil texture, stone, salt, and humus contents, and arrangement of the genetic soil horizons. This is the complex of the factors, which directly influence yield of the most of the crops. The advantage of measuring electrical resistivity is that it can be measured directly in the field without actual taking of soil samples and analyzing them in the laboratory. Thus, implication of the electrical resistivity techniques of soil characterization can tremendously decreases time and labor, required to delineate management zones within the fields.
Chatsworth, NJ
39° 49' 3" N, 74° 32' 7.0008" W
See map: Google Maps Puerto Varas 41° 19' 58.6704" S, 72° 58' 55.8408" W
Vertical Electrical Sounding to Detect Groundwater Levels in Arid Areas
Water and salt content distributions within the soil profile are the main properties causing considerable variations in electrical resistivity. In arid areas, the water content and salt distributions are determined mainly by the saline groundwater, rather then by precipitation. The soil profile is divided into a top unsaturated layer with high resistivity and a bottom layer saturated by saline groundwater with low resistivity. Considering large differences in electrical resistivity between the unsaturated and saturated zones, the VES method was applied to detect the saline groundwater level. Location
Gandurino, AST
45° 50' 56.4" N, 48° 0' 23.04" E
Vertical Electrical Sounding to Detect Soil Salinity in Arid Areas
arid areas
Water and salt content distributions within the soil profile are the main properties causing considerable variations in electrical resistivity or conductivity. Since the evaporation in the arid areas (Astrakhan, Russia) is about five times higher than the precipitation, the water content and salt distributions are determined mainly by the saline groundwater.
The differentiation of salinity in the unsaturated zone of the soil profiles was revealed by small fluctuations of electrical resistivity in upper part of the VES profiles. We thoroughly interpreted the VES results to estimate the layers with different electrical conductivities (EC) for 12 soil profiles. The total salt content was measured in soil samples collected from the layers of the profiles as shown in Table (columns 1 and 2) for one example profile. » landviser's blog
Evaluation of stone contents in soils with electrical geophysical methods to aid orchard planning
soil profiles
Establishments of orchards and vineyards are long-term and money-intensive, but highly pay-off projects. This study allowed developing procedure for incorporating geophysical survey data into recommendations of usage skeletal soils under orchards. Geophysical methods of electrical resistivity, such as VES and four-electrode profiling provided the information about spatial distributions of stones in skeletal soils. The resistivity of rocks or stones is much higher (about 104-1012 ohm m) than the resistivity of soil horizons with any texture. Therefore, high resistivity will indicate the presence of stones in soil profiles.
Study was conducted on skeletal soils (Paleoxerolls and Lithic Xerorthents) formed on carbonate-cemented marine deposit, limestone, or pebbles of alluvial origin in western part of Crimea Peninsula, Ukraine. The stone content varied from 2 to 90% of fragments coarse than 2 mm by volume and stony layers occurred in soil profiles at the depth as shallow as 12 cm.
Saky » landviser's blog
Applications of LandMapper handheld for near-surface soil surveys and beyond
On-the-go sensors, designed to measure soil electrical resistivity (ER) or electrical conductivity (EC) are vital for faster non-destructive soil mapping in precision agriculture, civil and environmental engineering, archaeology and other near-surface applications. Compared with electromagnetic methods and ground penetrating radar, methods of EC/ER measured with direct current and four-electrode probe have fewer limitations and were successfully applied on clayish and saline soils as well as on highly resistive stony and sandy soils. However, commercially available contact devices, which utilize a four-electrode principle, are bulky, very expensive, and can be used only on fallow fields. Multi-electrode ER-imaging systems applied in deep geophysical explorations are heavy, cumbersome and their use is usually cost-prohibited in many near-surface applications, such as forestry, archaeology, environmental site assessment and cleanup, and in agricultural surveys on farms growing perennial horticultural crops, vegetables, or turf-grass. In such applications there is a need for accurate, portable, low-cost device to quickly check resistivity of the ground on-a-spot, especially on the sites non-accessible with heavy machinery.
Four-electrode principle of EC/ER measurements
Our equipment utilizes well-known four-electrode principle to measure electrical resistivity or conductivity (Fig).
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Soil Electrical Geophysics - public library @Zotero
Landviser maintains public library of publications related to "Soil Electrical Geophysics" on Zotero servers. You can view and browse that library below. PDFs of publications in public domain are attached to the respective listings in the library and are stored on this website. For most publications registration on Zotero or our website is not required, although we are strongly encourage you to register to gain access to all materials, receive timely updates and easily manage your own research library.
Using LandMapper to Monitor Soil Salinity and Mitigate Its Effects on Rice Production at US Gulf Coast
Most of the soils along US Gulf Coast are naturally slightly saline and some are waterlogged during much of the growing season. Naturally, those areas are used for rice production rotated with cattle grazing or hay growing. Soil salinity of those areas varies spatially and temporarily due to drought, hurricane-pushed sea water surges, micro-elevation within fields, variability of salinity levels in irrigation water. Monitoring soil and water salinity with conventional techniques of collecting soil samples by farmer and sending them to outside lab is costly and time-consuming. Such approach fails to provide timely advice to the farmer regarding crop selection pre-planting and mitigation inputs during the growing season. Several rice farms affected by Katrina and Ike hurricanes were monitored in 2006-2011 utilizing field soil EC meter, LandMapper ERM-02, consumer-grade GPS, and other common equipment available to a farmer. On six test fields EC values were recorded with LandMapper directly in the field at 30 locations in less than 45 min.
Cite this presentation:
Golovko, Larisa, and Anatoly Pozdnyakov. “Using LandMapper to Monitor Soil Salinity and Mitigate Its Effects on Rice Production at US Gulf Coast.” In Making Waves: Geophysical Innovations for a Thirsty World. Tucson AZ: Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society, 2012. http://www.landviser.net/webfm_send/94.
Registered users can download full proceeding paper: Using LandMapper to Monitor Soil Salinity and Mitigate Its Effects on Rice Production at US Gulf Coast Locations
See map: Google Maps SAGEEP 2012
Vertical Electrical Sounding and Self-Potential Methods to Survey for Placement of Potable Water Wells
potable water wells
Water is a precious commodity in most urban and rural areas. Luck of local potable water sources threatens not only thriving but a mere survival of rural communities all over the world. Establishing potable water wells requires a lot of fundings and resources and often cost prohibitive for local governments in South America and Africa.
Searching for shallow groundwater require knowledge of subsurface layers and locating intensity and directions of water fluxes, which can be accomplished with geophysical methods of vertical electrical sounding (VES) and self-potential (SP). A method of VES can distinguish differences in electrical resistivity or conductivity at the multiple (10+) layers in soil profiles. These differences reveal the changes in soil texture and structure between water-bearing and waterproof layers, which form a framework for the subsurface water fluxes. The directions and intensities of the fluxes can then be evaluated with the self-potential method. However, conventional equipment for VES and SP is very expensive, bulky and complicated to operate. We tested a simple low-cost handheld device, LandMapper ERM-02, to evaluate layers in the ground with VES method and results were well correlated with drilled profiles in Central TX. Information is provided for the VES array assembly, field measuring procedure and interpretation of sounding results. Previously, device was used in Astrakhan area, Russia for estimation of the groundwater table and salinity layers in the soil profiles. The method of self-potential was used to estimate subsurface water flux directions and intensities through the measured variation in electrical potential on the soil surface and direct potable wells placement in Kiev, Urkaine and Dmitrov, Russia.
Golovko, Larisa, Anatoly Pozdnyakov, and Terry Waller. “A Vertical Electrical Sounding and Self-Potential Methods to Survey for Placement of Potable Water Wells.” In Making Waves: Geophysical Innovations for a Thirsty World. Tucson AZ: Environmental and Engineering Geophysical Society, 2012. http://www.landviser.net/webfm_send/89 Locations
Water For All International
ELECTRICAL POTENTIAL (Self-Potential) MEASUREMENTS with LandMapper ERM-02
The self-potential (SP) method was used by Fox as early as 1830 on sulphide veins in a Cornish mine, but the systematic use of the SP and electrical resistivity methods in conventional geophysics dates from about 1920 (Parasnis, 1997). The SP method is based on measuring the natural potential differences, which generally exist between any two points on the ground. These potentials are associated with electrical currents in the soil. Large potentials are generally observed over sulphide and graphite ore bodies, graphitic shale, magnetite, galena, and other electronically highly conducting minerals (usually negative). However, SP anomalies are greatly affected by local geological and topographical conditions. These effects are considered in exploration geophysics as “noise”. The electrical potential anomalies over the highly conducting rock are usually overcome these environmental “noise”, thus, the natural electrical potentials existing in soils are usually not considered in conventional geophysics.
LandMapper ERM-02, equipped with proper non-polarizing electrodes, can be used to measure such “noise” electrical potentials created in soils due to soil-forming process and water/ion movements. The electrical potentials in soils, clays, marls, and other water-saturated and unsaturated sediments can be explained by such phenomena as ionic layers, electro-filtration, pH differences, and electro-osmosis.
Another possible environmental and engineering application of self-potential method is to study subsurface water movement. Measurements of electro-filtration potentials or streaming potentials have been used in USSR to detect water leakage spots on the submerged slopes of earth dams (Semenov, 1980). The application of self-potential method to outline water fluxes in shallow subsurface of urban soils is described in (Pozdnyakova et al., 2001). The detail description of self-potential method procedure is provided in LandMapper manual.
Another important application of LandMapper ERM-02 is measuring electrical potentials between soils and plants. Electrical balance between soil and plants is important for plant health and electrical potential gradient governs water and nutrient uptake by plants. Monitoring of electrical potentials in plants and soils is a cutting-edge research topic in the leading scientific centers around the world.
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Kiev-Pechersk Lavra
Kiev 50° 24' 59.1768" N, 30° 33' 55.836" E
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Neuroblastoma in Children
Home > Cancer Resources > Types of Children’s Cancer > Solid Tumors > Neuroblastoma
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About Neuroblastoma
Neuroblastoma is the second most common solid tumor in childhood affecting about 7% of all children with cancer. It is the most common solid cancer in infants. There are over 700 cases each year in the U.S. Neuroblastoma most often originates in the adrenal glands, which are located on top of each kidney. However, tumors can begin anywhere in the body. Other common sites are the chest, neck and pelvis. While it may be found in only one spot in the body at the time of diagnosis in some patients, in others the cancer may have spread (metastasized) from its primary location to the lymph nodes, bone marrow, or bones.
Many researchers believe that neuroblastoma develops when normal neuroblasts (the immature cells of the sympathetic nervous system) fail to mature into normal nerve cells. The sympathetic nervous system aids in the control of the body’s internal organs. The cells that make up neuroblastoma tumors are called neuroblasts. In this disease, the neuroblasts grow and divide without the usual controls, leading to the growth of a cancerous mass of cells, also called a tumor.
Signs and Symptoms of Neuroblastoma
The symptoms vary depending on the location of the tumor. Some of the more common symptoms include:
Abdominal swelling, pain, constipation or difficulty urinating if a tumor is present in the abdomen
A lump or bump in the neck that can sometimes be accompanied by drooping of the eyelid, a small pupil, and lack of sweating on the same side of the face
Bone pain
Fatigue, if the disease has spread to the bone marrow
Bleeding and bruising
Difficulty breathing if the tumor is present in the chest
Weakness or paralysis if the tumor is near the spinal cord
Less frequent symptoms caused by hormones released by the neuroblastoma cells include:
Rapid heartbeat
Persistent diarrhea
News About Neuroblastoma
Neuroblastoma in Children was last modified: February 8th, 2017 by Geoff Duncan
Past CureSearch Young Investigator Shizhen Zhu, MD, PhD, and her colleagues at the Mayo clinic have made a significant discovery in understanding how neuroblastoma spreads. CureSearch is proud to have funded research that helped lead to this discovery and looks... read more
3 Years Old at Diagnosis. “The first time, it was just complete shock and we went into autopilot mode to just fight. This time around, it hit us a little harder because I think we thought we might have actually been out of the woods after so long.” Those... read more
“It’s Not Who I Am Underneath, But What I Do That Defines Me:” Wes’ Superhero Story
If you’re not familiar with the quote in the title of this post, it’s from Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins. We chose it because nothing could better describe young superhero Wes Chang (and because Batman is Wes’ favorite superhero). To understand how we... read more |
Ratio decompression
Ratio decompression (usually referred to in abbreviated form as ratio deco) is a technique for calculating decompression schedules for scuba divers engaged in deep diving without using dive tables, decompression software or a dive computer. It is generally taught as part of the "DIR" philosophy of diving promoted by organisations such Global Underwater Explorers (GUE) and Unified Team Diving (UTD) at the advanced technical diving level. It is designed for decompression diving executed deeper than standard recreational diving depth limits using trimix as a "bottom mix" breathing gas.
1 Theory
2 Methodology
3 Limitations
4 Independent review
Theory[edit]
The physiology behind the off-gassing of nitrogen or helium absorbed by the body from breathing gases under pressure has never been definitively established, particularly in relation to the formation of bubbles in the body's tissues,[1][dead link] and a number of different algorithms have been developed over the years, based on simplified hypotheses of gas transport and absorption in body tissues, modified to fit empirical data, to predict the rate of off-gassing to reduce the risk of decompression sickness in divers to an acceptable level. However, these models do not describe the individual physiology of the diver accurately: divers have been known to suffer symptomatic decompression sickness whilst diving within the limits of dive tables or dive computers (sometimes referred to as an "undeserved hit"), and divers have exceeded No Decompression Limits but remained asymptomatic.
While Ratio Decompression is not a complete decompression model, it most resembles those of Bühlmann alogrithm, and the Varying Permeability Model algorithm, with emphasis on the use of deep stops and gradient factors.[citation needed] |
Important mechanism involved in production of mosquito eggs identified
University of California - Riverside
Female mosquitoes rely on a blood-meal as a source of nutrients required for reproduction. If the mechanisms that govern mosquitoes' egg production are better understood, novel approaches to controlling the reproduction and population of mosquitoes can be devised. A team of scientists has made a research breakthrough in understanding, at the molecular level, one such mechanism related to the mosquito reproductive process. This mechanism includes small regulatory RNA molecules known as microRNAs.
Keira J. Lucas, a fifth-year Ph.D. graduate student in the Graduate Program in Genetics, Genomics and Bioinformatics at UC Riverside, is the research paper's first author.
Credit: Raikhel Lab, UC Riverside
Diseases transmitted by mosquitoes have contributed to the death and suffering of millions throughout human history, earning the mosquito the title as the world's most dangerous animal. Even today, several devastating mosquito-borne diseases (such as malaria, dengue fever and West Nile virus) continue to rage.
The urgent need to better control mosquito numbers and interfere with disease transmission has guided much mosquito research in laboratories worldwide. Female mosquitoes rely on a blood-meal as a source of nutrients required for reproduction. The thinking is that if the mechanisms that govern mosquitoes' egg production are better understood, novel approaches to controlling the reproduction and population of mosquitoes can be devised.
Now a team of scientists at the University of California, Riverside has made a research breakthrough in understanding, at the molecular level, one such mechanism related to the mosquito reproductive process. This mechanism includes small regulatory RNA molecules known as microRNAs or miRNAs.
The researchers report in this week's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that they have identified microRNA-8 (miR-8) as an essential regulator of mosquito reproductive events. They note that its depletion in the female mosquito results in severe defects related to egg development and deposition.
Using newly established genetic tools in mosquito biology and doing analysis that identifies microRNA targets, they were able to show that miR-8 plays an essential role in the female mosquito "fat body" (fatty tissue analogous to the mammalian liver) by regulating a molecule, called "swim," that miR-8 directly targets. High levels of this molecule are detrimental to egg development.
"To our knowledge, this is the first time a mosquito miRNA has been investigated in this specific manner," said Alexander Raikhel, a distinguished professor of entomology, who has received wide acclaim for his research in the areas of insect reproductive biology. "In the lab, female transgenic mosquitoes with deficiency in miR-8 displayed severely compromised ovary development and reduced egg-laying."
While the researchers focused in this study on only Aedes aegypti, the mosquito that spreads dengue and yellow fever, their research results can be applied also to other disease-spreading mosquitoes.
"Our work provides insight into the importance of miRNAs in adult mosquito development and how these small regulatory molecules have potential to serve as novel control approach to regulate mosquito numbers," Raikhel said.
He explained that what his lab had set out to do was introduce birth control in mosquitoes.
"We were looking to find a way to disrupt the host-seeking behavior of mosquitoes by interrupting their egg development," he said. "With egg development halted, the population of mosquitoes would eventually collapse."
At UC Riverside, Raikhel's lab specializes in understanding the molecular basis of events in the mosquito reproduction cycle linked to a blood meal and pathogen transmission. His research focuses, too, on how pathogens of major human diseases, transmitted by mosquitoes, interact with their mosquito hosts. A member of the National Academy of Sciences, he occupies the Mir S. Mulla Chair in Entomology at UCR, as well as the University of California President's Chair.
To date, no effective vaccines for malaria, dengue fever or West Nile virus exist. This lack of vaccines, along with increasing pesticide resistance in mosquitoes, adds to the urgency of exploring alternative strategies for mosquito control.
Nearly 2.5 billion people are at risk for contracting dengue fever. Each year, there are 100 million cases of dengue in the world. Yellow fever results in 30,000 deaths per year; about 200,000 cases are reported each year. Malaria alone causes over a million deaths annually. Dengue fever is emerging across the globe at an alarming rate; more than three billion people are now at risk of contracting this serious and debilitating viral disease. West Nile virus has invaded and spread throughout North America in just one decade; thousands in the United States are afflicted with this mosquito-borne virus every year.
Materials provided by University of California - Riverside. Original written by Iqbal Pittalwala. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Alexander Raikhel et al. MicroRNA-8 targets the Wingless signaling pathway in the female mosquito fat body to regulate reproductive processes. PNAS, January 2015 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1424408112
University of California - Riverside. "Important mechanism involved in production of mosquito eggs identified." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 20 January 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150120142815.htm>.
University of California - Riverside. (2015, January 20). Important mechanism involved in production of mosquito eggs identified. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 23, 2017 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150120142815.htm
University of California - Riverside. "Important mechanism involved in production of mosquito eggs identified." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/01/150120142815.htm (accessed May 23, 2017).
Biochemistry Research
Mosquito Egg Hunt: Many Culex Species Prefer Alternatives to Standing Water
Apr. 12, 2017 The conventional wisdom about where many mosquitoes lay their eggs -- in standing water -- is not always wise. Research into a diverse group of mosquitoes shows that many, if not most, regularly lay ... read more Researchers Aim to Disrupt Egg Production in Dengue And Zika-Spreading Mosquito
Feb. 22, 2017 The mosquito Aedes aegypti, which can spread dengue fever, chikungunya, Zika fever, and yellow fever virus, requires a blood meal to develop eggs. One way to control the spread of these diseases is ... read more Hormone Receptor Found That Allows Mosquitoes to Reproduce
Apr. 9, 2015 Entomologists have unlocked one of the hormonal mechanisms that allow mosquitoes to produce eggs. The results provide insight into how reproduction is regulated in female mosquitoes, which transmit ... read more How Malaria-Spreading Mosquitoes Can Tell You're Home
Jan. 22, 2015 Females of the malaria-spreading mosquito tend to obtain their blood meals within human dwellings. But is human odor enough as a reliable cue for the mosquitoes in finding humans to bite? Not quite, ... read more RELATED TERMS
Pest (animal)
Pollination management |
Videoconferencing between hospital clinicians, nursing home staff offers new dementia treatment
Nursing homes in the United States care for increasing numbers of people with dementia, yet many lack access to geriatric psychiatrists, behavioral neurologists and other specialists who may help manage symptoms associated with dementia, including behavioral issues. As a result, nursing home staff may resort to physical restraints or antipsychotic medications to manage behavioral challenges, which can significantly compromise a patient's health, autonomy and dignity.
A new study, led by clinician researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) and Hebrew SeniorLife and published online in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association, has found that use of video consultation technology that brings together nursing home staff and hospital-based clinical experts was associated with significant reductions in the use of physical restraints and antipsychotic medication among patients with dementia. Researchers found that patients in the facilities involved in the study were 75 percent less likely to be physically restrained and 17 percent less likely to be prescribed antipsychotic medications.
"There is a two-pronged issue facing nursing homes in the United States: shortages of geriatricians, behavioral neurologists and geriatric psychiatrists and a lack of proximity of community nursing homes to larger medical facilities with specialists," said corresponding author Stephen Gordon, MD, MBA, a geriatrician in the Division of Gerontology at BIDMC and at Hebrew SeniorLife. "Video conference technology can bring academic medical center specialists and nursing home staff together in a collaborative effort to care for patients with dementia."
"The data show that video conference technology can, indeed, have a significant impact on how often patients are physically restrained or given antipsychotic medications," he added. "It's clear that by working together clinicians and nursing home staff can notably improve patients' health and quality of life."
In 2012, BIDMC clinicians implemented Project ECHO-AGE, a case-based, video consultation program aimed to extend needed geriatric specialty care for patients with dementia from the hospital into community-based nursing homes. ECHO-AGE was adapted from a model of care known as the Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes (ECHO) Project, which was originally developed by Sanjeev Aurora, MD, of the University of New Mexico to manage hepatitis C in rural parts of that state. BIDMC clinicians launched Project ECHO-AGE in the hopes that enhanced collaboration between care providers would improve the quality of care for people with dementia in the community.
Project ECHO-AGE uses video consultation technology to facilitate bi-weekly conversations between teams of front line nursing home staff and a team of clinical experts at BIDMC, including a geriatrician facilitator, geropsychiatrist, behavioral neurologist and a social worker. During each 120-minute videoconference, the interdisciplinary teams discuss and offer recommendations for three or four patient cases. The discussion may include didactic sessions and reviews of individual treatment plans.
With the goal of assessing the impact of Project ECHO-AGE, the researchers used a matched cohort of 11 nursing homes in Massachusetts and Maine. The facilities were matched with two other similar facilities based on facility size, non-profit or for-profit status, region, affiliation with a larger nursing home chain, staff rating and overall quality rating.
"We found that nursing home facilities that participated in Project ECHO-AGE saw a significant reduction in the use of physical restraints and antipsychotic medication among patients with dementia," said study senior author, Lewis A. Lipsitz, MD, Chief of the Division of Gerontology at BIDMC and Director of the Institute for Aging Research at Hebrew SeniorLife. "These significant reductions also imply a potential decrease in adverse events such as falls, fractures and hospitalizations. As a result, further study of ECHO-AGE is warranted for the continued improvement of geriatric care management and lower health care costs."
Explore further: Education can reduce use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing home patients
More information: Stephen E. Gordon et al, Impact of a Videoconference Educational Intervention on Physical Restraint and Antipsychotic Use in Nursing Homes: Results From the ECHO-AGE Pilot Study, Journal of the American Medical Directors Association (2016). DOI: 10.1016/j.jamda.2016.03.002
Provided by: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Education can reduce use of antipsychotic drugs in nursing home patients
A new review in The Cochrane Library finds that education and social support for staff and caregivers can reduce the use of antipsychotics in nursing home patients with dementia. Improved staff training and education, communication ...
US nursing homes reducing use of antipsychotic drugs
(HealthDay)—A year-old nationwide effort to prevent the unnecessary use of antipsychotic medications in U.S. nursing homes already seems to be working, public health officials report, as facilities begin to opt for patient-centered ...
Researchers to investigate overuse of antipsychotic drugs in dementia patients
Rutgers will take the lead in a three-year study that will investigate the effectiveness of federal and state initiatives to address overprescribing of antipsychotic medications for dementia patients in nursing homes.
Does obesity lead to more nursing home admission and a lower quality of care?
In a study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, researchers examined the care that obese older adults receive when they are admitted to nursing homes.
Half of long-stay nursing home residents go to hospital ED regardless of cognitive status
A new study from the Indiana University Center for Aging Research and the Regenstrief Institute has found that almost half of all long-stay nursing home residents experience at least one transfer to an Emergency Department ...
Study finds hospice use does not increase long stay nursing home decedents' care costs
Use of hospice services does not increase care costs in the last six months of life for long-stay nursing homes residents according to an analysis conducted by researchers from the Indiana University Center for Aging Research ...
One e-cigarette with nicotine leads to adrenaline changes in nonsmokers' hearts
A new UCLA study found that healthy nonsmokers experienced increased adrenaline levels in their heart after one electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) with nicotine but there were no increased adrenaline levels when the study ...
Higher levels of fluoride in pregnant woman linked to lower intelligence in their children
Fluoride in the urine of pregnant women shows a correlation with lower measures of intelligence in their children, according to University of Toronto researchers who conducted the first study of its kind and size to examine ...
Researchers see popular herbicide affecting health across generations
First, the good news. Washington State University researchers have found that a rat exposed to a popular herbicide while in the womb developed no diseases and showed no apparent health effects aside from lower weight.
India has avoided 1 million child deaths since 2005, new study concludes
India has avoided about 1 million deaths of children under age five since 2005, driven by significant reductions in mortality from pneumonia, diarrhea, tetanus and measles, according to new research published today.
Gulf spill oil dispersants associated with health symptoms in cleanup workers
Workers who were likely exposed to dispersants while cleaning up the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill experienced a range of health symptoms including cough and wheeze, and skin and eye irritation, according to scientists ...
Study suggests link between youth football and later-life emotional, behavioral impairment
A new study has found an association between participation in youth tackle football before age 12 and impaired mood and behavior later in life. The study appears in Nature's Translational Psychiatry. |
Transcriptome analyses suggest a disturbance of iron homeostasis in soybean leaves during white mold disease establishment.
Calla, B., Blahut-Beatty, L., Koziol, L., Simmonds, D.H., and Clough, S.J. (2014). "Transcriptome analyses suggest a disturbance of iron homeostasis in soybean leaves during white mold disease establishment.", Molecular Plant Pathology, 15(6), pp. 576-588. doi : 10.1111/mpp.12113 Access to full text
Sclerotinia sclerotiorum is a serious pathogen of numerous crops around the world. The major virulence factor of this pathogen is oxalic acid (OA). Mutants that cannot produce OA do not cause disease, and plants that express enzymes that degrade OA, such as oxalate oxidase (OxO) are very resistant to S. sclerotiorum. To look at the effect that OA has on plants, we infiltrated soybean leaves with 5 mM OA and examined gene expression changes 2 hours post infiltration. By comparing gene expression levels between leaves of a transgenic soybean carrying an OxO gene (OxO) and its parent AC Colibri (AC) infiltrated with OA (pH 2.4) or water (pH 2.4 or 5.5), we were able to compare the effects of OA dependent or independent of its pH. Gene expression by microarray analysis identified 2,390 genes that were changing in expression as determined by using overall F-tests p-value cut off of 0.001. The additional requirement that at least one pairwise t-test false discovery rate (fdr) corrected p-value be less than 0.001 reduced the list of most highly significant differentially expressed genes to 1054. Independent of pH, OA altered expression levels of 78 genes, with ferritin showing the strongest induction by OA. The combination of OA plus its low pH caused 1,045 genes (99% of all the significant genes) to be differentially expressed, with many of the up-regulated genes being related to basal defense, such as genes of the phenylpropanoid pathway and various cytochrome P450s. RNA-seq was also conducted on four samples: OxO or AC Colbri genotypes infiltrated with either OA pH 2.4 or water pH 2.4. The RNA-seq analysis also identified ferritin paralogs as strongly induced by OA. As expression of ferritin, a gene that encodes for an iron-storage protein, is induced by free iron, these results suggest that S. sclerotiorum is benefitting from the ability of OA to free iron from plant proteins, as this would induce host cell death, and to also uptake and assimilation the iron for its own metabolic needs. |
First Earth-Orbit Teleportation: China Teleports Object To Space Through Quantum Entanglement
11 July 2017, 9:41 pm EDT By Allan Adamson Tech Times
What is Ruby chocolate?
Scientists from China made historic achievement with the first ever teleportation of an object from Earth to space. The experiment involved pairs of photons, Micius satellite, and quantum entanglement. ( NASA | Getty Images )
Teleportation has taken a giant leap as Chinese scientists successfully teleported an object from Earth to space for the first time.
In a historic achievement, researchers teleported a photon from the Gobi Desert to the satellite Micius, which orbits 300 miles above Earth. The breakthrough was made possible through a process known as quantum entanglement.
Micius
Micius is a highly sensitive photon receiver capable of detecting the quantum states of single photons that are fired from Earth. The satellite makes it possible for scientists on Earth to conduct a range of physics experiments that involve quantum entanglement, cryptography, and teleportation.
The Micius team now announced the results of its first experiment on teleportation and which involves the world's first satellite-to-ground quantum network.
Teleportation, which has become a standard operation in quantum optic labs worldwide, relies on the phenomenon of entanglement. The process happens when two particles such as photons react as one without a physical connection between them. They form at the same instance and point in space and share the same existence.
Large spans of distance can separate this existence, but the changes applied to one pair will be reflected in the other pair regardless of the expanse that separates them.
For the experiment, the researchers created entangled pairs of photons at a rate of about 4,000 per second. For each pair, one photon was beamed to the Micius satellite that orbits Earth while the other was kept on the ground.
The researchers then measured both photons to determine if entanglement was taking place and if they were able to teleport photons through the process. The researchers sent millions of photons over a period of 32 days. Of these, 911 cases had positive results.
Quantum Internet
The researchers added that the success of the experiment has implications on the developments of quantum internet. Quantum communication could be the answer to vulnerabilities of current internet connection, as it promises more secure communication channels.
"An outstanding open challenge for a global-scale "quantum internet" is to significantly extend the range for teleportation," wrote Ji-Gang Ren, a researcher from the University of Science and Technology of China, and colleagues in their study.
"A promising solution to this problem is exploiting satellite platform and space-based link, which can conveniently connect two remote points on the Earth with greatly reduced channel loss because most of the photons' propagation path is in empty space."
Teleportation, Quantum teleportation, China, space |
Unlocking the Potential of Anaerobic Digesters
tags: anaerobic digestion, biogas digester, methane
by Ryan Stockwell The recent floods along the Red River focused the nation’s attention on yet another natural disaster. They also galvanized and united communities up and down the Red as they battled to save their homes and communities from destruction.
While watching from afar through the convenience of live televised coverage, I was truly amazed at the teamwork evident throughout each community as residents and volunteers worked together, filling sandbags, forming “sandbag brigades” to move the bags by hand to existing levees, then placing each sandbag, one by one, to raise walls of protection along the cresting Red. In many ways these heroic efforts seem an apt metaphor for the work and approach needed to address greenhouse gas emissions. Not only will the work of addressing climate change require all members of the community to commit to and pursue a unified goal, it will take coordination, vision, and planning to ensure that the work is completed as effectively and efficiently as possible and that the work of many is not wasted because of a failure on the part of leaders to raise the levees along an ignored stretch of the river.
Widespread introduction of anaerobic digesters across animal agriculture has the potential to greatly reduce nutrient and pathogen runoff, while also eliminating up to a third of the greenhouse gas emissions credited to agriculture.
This shortsightedness in flood management is akin to fighting to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in certain sectors like automobiles while ignoring the emissions from other sectors like farm waste management. A full 14% of U.S. greenhouse gas emissions come from agriculture, yet most—if not all—attention is focused on large-scale electric power generation (32%) and transportation (25%). So even if transportation emissions are cut in half over the next 20 years, the continuation and probable growth in emissions from the agricultural sector will overshadow any gains.
It’s from this perspective we must ask, How will we address agricultural emissions? While we have multiple policy paths ranging from a strict regulation of greenhouse gases from the agricultural sector to a more lax support for voluntary efforts to curb emissions, the first and more important issue to resolve is determining how we will curb emissions. Then we can help state legislatures and Congress figure out how to get there.
One solution that deserves more consideration is the widespread implementation of anaerobic digesters. Digesters act as big cooking pots where manure and other organic waste is heated in a sealed tank. The heat allows bacteria to break down the waste, effectively pulling off the methane in the sealed tank. Then the methane can be burned in an engine to create electricity. The electricity produces very few emissions, is renewable, and has the added benefit of dispatchability—it can be turned on and off when needed, unlike wind or solar.
Methane from animal waste poses a considerable source of emissions, and has 20 times the greenhouse gas impact of carbon dioxide. Moreover, animal waste causes a number of other environmental and human health issues. When undigested manure is applied to land it releases ammonia in a gas form. Undigested manure also contains potassium, nitrogen and phosphorous vital to plant growth. Unfortunately it is often difficult for plants to obtain the nutrients from undigested manure, creating widespread potential for runoff into waterways. Animal waste runoff contributes to the Gulf of Mexico “Dead Zone,” an area roughly the size of New Jersey located at the mouth of the Mississippi River that is inhospitable to aquatic life. Excess nutrients contribute to the growth of algal blooms, and when they die oxygen is used to decompose the algae, creating hypoxic conditions. This uses up the oxygen that would otherwise be consumed by aquatic life. Along with these nutrients, undigested manure also contains pathogens that can harm wildlife and humans if released into waterways.
Fortunately, technology exists that not only provides a clean energy source, but resolves or greatly reduces the problems of nutrient release into waterways. Digesting manure allows it to more readily release nutrients to plants, greatly reducing the potential for nutrient runoff into waterways. Digested manure also kills over 99% of all pathogens, almost entirely eliminating the risk of introducing pathogens such as ecoli and cryptosporidium into our water supply.
Widespread introduction of anaerobic digesters across animal agriculture has the potential to greatly reduce nutrient and pathogen runoff, while also eliminating up to a third of the greenhouse gas emissions credited to agriculture. Couple that with the role digesters could play in creating clean, renewable energy and eventually displacing fossil fuel power with its high greenhouse gas emissions, and you get a double impact in reducing greenhouse gases—once in the agricultural sector and again in the electric sector. Addressing greenhouse gases in the agricultural sector is just as necessary to reducing total greenhouse gas emissions as it is to sandbag along the entire length of a flooding river. In fact, the strategy of addressing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions through digesters is like putting down sandbags twice the size of traditional sandbags, making it much easier to achieve our collective goal of containing a flooding river of greenhouse gas emissions.
This article is from the June 2009 issue of The Conservation Planner, a publication of The Minnesota Project. Click here to download the entire issue and explore past issues >>
from → Agriculture, Energy
← Measuring Sustainability on the Farm
Unallotment Will Impact Many: Energy and Agriculture Are Not Exempt → |
ENDANGERED SPECIES BREEDING AND RESEARCH
Zoos are responding to species decline and are leading the way in preserving animal populations. Conservation breeding of threatened and endangered animals is conducted through Species Survival Plans (SSP), cooperative breeding programs coordinated through the Association of Zoos & Aquariums. Woodland Park Zoo participates in 72 Species Survival Plans, from tiny invertebrates to big cats.
See a list of endangered species at the zoo
Led by experts in husbandry, nutrition, veterinary care, behavior, conservation and genetics, AZA-accredited institutions manage each species as one population in North America to maximize genetic diversity, with the goal of ensuring the long-term survival of the population and the health of individual animals. SSPs also involve a variety of other collaborative conservation activities such as research, public education, planned reintroduction and field projects.
Species reintroduction
Some species are reared at the zoo for release back into protected wild habitats, including the western pond turtle, Oregon spotted frog and Oregon silverspot butterfly. Research
Accredited zoos today play an irreplaceable role in the species survival equation. Scientific research being conducted in zoos on species’ health, social behavior and reproduction are major contributions to the knowledge base on which field conservation relies. In fact, many successful conservation technologies used in the wild have been developed in partnership with zoos, as have advances in wildlife medicine. These approaches integrate the best of zoo- and field-based skills and practices.
Snow Leopard Trust tests the effectiveness of different scents in attracting snow leopards to field camera sites at Woodland Park Zoo before bringing the technique to the wild. |
Live-cell imaging to compare the transfection and gene silencing efficiency of calcium phosphate nanoparticles and a liposomal transfection agent
Chernousova, S. and Epple, M.
Volume: Pages:
DOI: 10.1038/gt.2017.13
The processing of DNA (for transfection) and short interfering RNA (siRNA; for gene silencing), introduced into HeLa cells by triple-shell calcium phosphate nanoparticles, was followed by live-cell imaging. For comparison, the commercial liposomal transfection agent Lipofectamine was used. The cells were incubated with these delivery systems, carrying either enhanced green fluorescent protein (eGFP)-encoding DNA or siRNA against eGFP. In the latter case, HeLa cells that stably expressed eGFP were used. The expression of eGFP started after 5 h in the case of nanoparticles and after 4 h in the case of Lipofectamine. The corresponding times for gene silencing were 5 h (nanoparticles) and immediately after incubation (Lipofectamine). The expression of eGFP was notably enhanced 2–3 h after cell division (mitosis). In general, the transfection and gene silencing efficiencies of the nanoparticles were lower than those of Lipofectamime, even at a substantially higher dose (factor 20) of nucleic acids. However, the cytotoxicity of the nanoparticles was lower than that of Lipofectamine, making them suitable vectors for in vivo application.Gene Therapy advance online publication, 9 March 2017; doi:10.1038/gt.2017.13. © 2017 The Author(s) |
Exopolysaccharide from Bacillus subtilis Induces Anti-Inflammatory M2 Macrophages That Prevent T Cell–Mediated Disease
Mallory L. Paynich, Sara E. Jones-Burrage and Katherine L. Knight
J Immunol April 1, 2017, 198 (7) 2689-2698; DOI: https://doi.org/10.4049/jimmunol.1601641
Mallory L. Paynich
Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Loyola University Chicago, Maywood, IL 60153
Sara E. Jones-Burrage
Katherine L. Knight
Commensal bacteria contribute to immune homeostasis in the gastrointestinal tract; however, the underlying mechanisms for this are not well understood. A single dose of exopolysaccharide (EPS) from the probiotic spore-forming bacterium Bacillus subtilis protects mice from acute colitis induced by the enteric pathogen Citrobacter rodentium. Adoptive transfer of macrophage-rich peritoneal cells from EPS-treated mice confers protection from disease to recipient mice. In vivo, EPS induces development of anti-inflammatory M2 macrophages in a TLR4-dependent manner, and these cells inhibit T cell activation in vitro and in C. rodentium–infected mice. In vitro, M2 macrophages inhibit CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. The inhibition of CD4+ T cells is dependent on TGF-β, whereas inhibition of CD8+ T cells is dependent on TGF-β and PD-L1. We suggest that administration of B. subtilis EPS can be used to broadly inhibit T cell activation and, thus, control T cell–mediated immune responses in numerous inflammatory diseases.
This work was supported by National Institutes of Health Grants R21AI098187, R01AI110586, R01AI050260, and F31DK104541.
Abbreviations used in this article:
Arg-1
arginase-1
day postinfection
dextran sulfate sodium
experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis
exopolysaccharide
iTreg
inducible regulatory T cell
mesenteric lymph node
polysaccharide A
wild-type.
Accepted January 19, 2017.
Vol. 198, Issue 7
Editorial Board (PDF)
You are going to email the following Exopolysaccharide from Bacillus subtilis Induces Anti-Inflammatory M2 Macrophages That Prevent T Cell–Mediated Disease
Mallory L. Paynich, Sara E. Jones-Burrage, Katherine L. Knight
The Journal of Immunology April 1, 2017, 198 (7) 2689-2698; DOI: 10.4049/jimmunol.1601641
STAT4 Regulates the CD8+ Regulatory T Cell/T Follicular Helper Cell Axis and Promotes Atherogenesis in Insulin-Resistant Ldlr−/− Mice
Reactive Oxygen Species Regulate the Inflammatory Function of NKT Cells through Promyelocytic Leukemia Zinc Finger
Peripheral Deletion of CD8 T Cells Requires p38 MAPK in Cross-Presenting Dendritic Cells
Show more IMMUNE REGULATION |
Diabetes: How sweet is it? (part two)
Type I diabetes requires that a person takes insulin to control blood sugar levels because their body is no longer producing insulin. Type II diabetes is when insulin is being produced, but the body is not using it as efficiently, or there is not enough insulin to control blood sugar levels. The American Dietetic Association has made recommendations for helping control Type I and Type II diabetes through the diet. For people with Type I diabetes, the diet is based on their usual food habits, activity, and type and amount of insulin they are on. Type I diabetics need to monitor blood sugar and adjust insulin on a daily basis. To control Type II diabetes, the emphasis should be on getting blood sugars, triglycerides, cholesterol and blood pressure in normal ranges. Checking these areas on a regular basis is very important. Mild to moderate weight loss may also improve control of diabetes. This can be done by regular exercise and learning new behaviors and attitudes. Some of us may remember the standard diabetic diets for 1200 calories, 1500 calories, etc. Everyone on that calorie level had the follow the same diet. However, for the first time in nearly 75 years, the American Diabetes Association's updated guidelines say there is no one diabetic diet. These canned diets are no longer recommended because they don't take into account a person's food preferences and habits. The old advice also specified the exact percentage of calories that were supposed to come from proteins, carbohydrates and fat. Now, the only recommendation is that 10 to 20 percent of the total calories per day should come from protein. What is a diabetic supposed to do for a diet? A registered dietitian can be very helpful in planning a diet based on the person's type of diabetes, age, medical problems, lifestyle, financial situation, culture, ethnic background and education. When we talk about changes in the diabetic diet, we also need to talk about sugar. Are sugary foods off limits for people with diabetes? The answer is no, because all carbohydrates break down into sugars. The starch from potatoes or bread, or the sugar in cookies and cake break down into sugar for our body to use. Instead of looking at the type of carbohydrate in the food, we need to look at the total carbohydrates for the day and spread these out throughout the day. Carbohydrates from sweets still play a key role in the overall diet, but they don't have anymore of an affect on blood sugar than the starchy carbohydrates from foods like bread. Of course cakes and cookies add lots of calories and few nutrients to the diet, so moderation is a good idea for anyone who wants to eat healthy. Back to Part I
Learn more about diabetes
The American Diabetes Assocation
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How to Become an EMT or a Paramedic
Have you ever wondered what a Paramedic can do or what the training is like? Here is a description of the experience of the people who come to you in an emergency: EMT-Basic Initial training at the EMT-Basic level introduces the student to basic anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, patient assessment skills, CPR, immobilization of fractures, bleeding control, basic airway control, oxygen administration, childbirth and delivery, incident command for large-scale incidents, hazardous material awareness, blood-borne pathogens, emergency vehicle driver training, and operation of an automated external defibrillator. Ride time with a preceptor is mandated for practicing newly learned skills under the supervision of an experienced paramedic. EMT-Intermediate After completing EMT-Basic training, the EMT-Intermediate student receives further instruction on anatomy and physiology, and medical terminology and patient assessment. They also learn intravenous canulation, pulse oximetry, EKG interpretation, oral intubation, and how to administer specific medications. These medications include aspirin, nitroglycerine, dextrose, thiamine, epinephrine, benadryl, and nebulized albuterol along with the management of poisonings. Field training with experienced Paramedics and hospital clinical rotations are conducted along with classroom lectures. Paramedic Paramedic training goes into more depth on the topics covered in EMT and EMT-Intermediate classes. Paramedics also learn nasal intubation, cricothyrotomy, cardiac pacing, cardioversion, 12-lead EKG interpretation, manual removal of foreign body obstructions in the airway, needle decompression for collapsed lungs, and intraosseous canulation. Additional medications that can be given to treat heart attacks, diabetic reactions, allergic reactions, respiratory complications and cardiac arrest include morphine, versed, valium, lasix, glucagon, calcium, atropine, adenosine, lidocaine, sodium bicarbonate, romazicon, narcan, toradol, solumedrol, phenergan, brethine, magnesium, and dopamine. Ongoing field training and hospital rotations are performed through the duration of the Paramedic training. Training doesn't stop once a student is out of school. Maintaining a Paramedic certification includes ongoing monthly training, fulfilling recertification requirements and advanced classes in cardiology, trauma care, and pediatrics. So, the next time you see an ambulance, what you are really looking at is a mobile emergency room staffed with professional, highly trained medical technicians equipped with the latest technology which is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. |
Relationship Between Bone Density And Erosion In Arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis, the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, affects almost three percent of people over age 65. RA patients experience pain, functional limitations and two forms of disabling bone disease: focal erosions and osteoporosis.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), the most common form of inflammatory arthritis, affects almost three percent of people over age 65. RA patients experience pain, functional limitations and two forms of disabling bone disease: focal erosions and osteoporosis. After five years of disease, up to 50 percent of RA patients show evidence of focal erosions and RA doubles the risk of osteoporosis and fractures. A new study examined the relationship between these two RA-related processes, in the hopes of providing insight into the underlying pathophysiology of RA-related bone disease.
Led by Daniel H. Solomon of Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston , the study involved 163 postmenopausal women with RA, none of whom were taking osteoporosis medications. Participants underwent bone density scans of the hip and spine, as well as X-rays of the hand to determine if they had bone erosions.
The results showed that hip bone mineral density (BMD) correlated with bone erosion, but the relationship was not statistically significant after adjusting for clinical factors such as age, BMI and use of oral glucocorticoids used to treat RA. The relationship did appear stronger, however, in patients with early RA. "Our findings suggest that the relationship between focal erosions and generalized osteoporosis is complicated and modified by many aspects of RA and other factors," the authors state. They point out that with longer disease duration, other variables such as the use of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs), disease activity and markers of inflammation may dilute the relationship between focal erosions and hip BMD.
As to why there was a stronger relationship between hip BMD and erosions than with spine BMD, there are several possible explanations. It's possible that the inflammation underlying RA affects the hip more than the spine or that the effects are more apparent at the hip, which may more closely relate to joint mobility and overall functional status.
Several prior studies have examined the bone manifestations of RA, but the current study is one of the only ones to date that has focused on the relationship between two skeletal manifestations of the disease. The authors note that almost all participants were taking DMARDs, which may blunt the relationship between erosions and BMD. Also, patients were not currently taking glucocorticoids or osteoporosis medications but may have in the past, which might have had an effect on the results. Supplemental vitamin D use may also have had an unforeseen effect.
"It may be that the presumed association between erosions and BMD is most relevant with regard to patients with severe or early untreated RA," the authors conclude. This could become increasingly important as more bone-directed treatments become part of RA treatment protocols. For example, data from trials of a monoclonal antibody directed at a molecule important in bone metabolism suggest that it may be effective at improving BMD and reducing progression of erosion. Since focal erosions and osteoporosis may be manifestations of a similar inflammatory response, further studies may clarify important roles of inflammation in both of these processes in RA.
Solomon et al. The relationship between focal erosions and generalized osteoporosis in postmenopausal women with rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis & Rheumatism, 2009; 60 (6): 1624 DOI: 10.1002/art.24551
Wiley-Blackwell. "Relationship Between Bone Density And Erosion In Arthritis." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 16 June 2009. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601182920.htm>.
Wiley-Blackwell. (2009, June 16). Relationship Between Bone Density And Erosion In Arthritis. ScienceDaily. Retrieved July 28, 2014 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601182920.htm
Wiley-Blackwell. "Relationship Between Bone Density And Erosion In Arthritis." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090601182920.htm (accessed July 28, 2014). |
Summer 2017>
Discoveries>
by Todd McLeish
Lucy Hutyra and Andrew Reinmann looked at the effect of forest fragmentation on carbon storage.Photo by Cydney Scott for Boston University Photography.
As human population grows, forests often become more and more fragmented as trees are cut down to make way for roads, housing developments, office parks, and shopping centers. Most research on forest fragmentation has examined its negative effects on wildlife and biodiversity. But two Boston University researchers recently investigated the effect of fragmentation on carbon storage and found some surprisingly positive news.
Associate Professor Lucy Hutyra and former BU post-doctoral researcher Andrew Reinmann, now an assistant professor at the City University of New York, discovered that trees at the edges of forests in southern New England grow faster and absorb more carbon than those in the interior. “When you create that edge, you essentially are reducing competition and freeing up more resources like light, water, and nutrients for trees,” Reinmann said, noting that the effect extends about 20 meters in from the forest edge. This finding was the result of studying 21 fragmented forest plots dominated by red oak in greater Boston. The researchers mapped every tree over 5 centimeters in diameter and collected cores from 210 trees at least 10 centimeters in diameter to get an estimate of the biomass of the forest and how it changes from the edge to the interior.
Reinmann said the faster growth rates and increased carbon absorption seen on forest edges are not a justification for further fragmenting the forested landscape. “When you fragment a forest, the remaining forest can offset a little bit of what was lost, but not completely,” he said. “So fragmentation may not be as terrible from a carbon perspective as we thought, but it is still bad.”
Further, the results of this research weren’t all positive: The cores collected also revealed that trees on the edge of a forest grow more slowly when they are stressed by heat – and as the climate changes and temperatures rise, heat stress is likely to increase.
The researchers defined heat stress as the number of days the forest was exposed to temperatures above 27 degrees Celsius in June and July, the months when most wood is produced. “That’s the average high temperature in July in the Boston area, so that’s the temperature the trees are used to growing in,” Reinmann said. “Any higher than that and we saw a decline in growth.”
That decline was most pronounced at the edge of the forest, where growth declined from heat stress three times faster than in the interior. “The forest edge is typically hotter than the interior,” he added, “so you would expect heat stress to be magnified at the edge because the trees aren’t buffered as the interior trees are.”
Based on the results of this study, Reinmann believes that climate models that calculate carbon storage in southern New England are likely underestimating how much carbon is being removed from the atmosphere because they are not including the positive “edge effect.” But as temperatures increase, that carbon benefit may decline significantly.
© 2017 by the author; this article may not be copied or reproduced without the author's consent.
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From Summer 2017 |
Key To Fighting Cancer May Lie In Germs
Filed Under: cancer, Dr. Maria Simbra
PITTSBURGH (CBS) — A year ago, Audra Katz was diagnosed with breast cancer. But before she got treatment, she gave researchers a stash of her germs.
“They gave me the kit. I was able to do it at home. It was a couple of swabs,” she says.
“It’s the new frontier of health, in medicine,” says Emma McCune, a researcher at UCSF.
In samples taken from her mouth and gut, Audra handed over a treasure trove. Her microbes, along with samples from other breast cancer patients, may hold the key to diagnosing, treating and even preventing the disease.
“I think that we will find that they hold a key place in our understanding of cancer,” says lead researcher, Dr. Laura Esserman.
About 100 trillion microbes – that’s about two to six pounds worth – live in or on the human body.
“These are bacteria, fungi, viruses and other organisms,” says Dr. John Swartzberg, of the UC Berkeley School of Public Health.
He says not all our germs are bad. In fact, most are beneficial. They break down food, teach our immune system to recognize danger, even produce anti-inflammatory compounds.
“These organisms are absolutely necessary to be living in us in order for us to survive,” he adds.
For more on this story, visit CBS San Francisco.
Our good and bad germs mix without problem. But, in women with breast cancer, the mix is off.
In one study, their breast tissue had lower levels of a protective germ, and higher levels of possibly damaging microbes
“There are differences in the breast tissue of people who have cancer compared to people who don’t,” says Dr. Esserman.
She says there are all kinds of colonies of bacteria that live synergistically in our bodies. And while much is unknown, one way to mess them up? Antibiotics.
“Antibiotics used inappropriately are extremely dangerous because they alter our microbes,” she says.
Cultures that get rid of bacteria are plagued by autoimmune and allergic diseases. Research shows women who use lots of antibiotics are at an increased risk of breast cancer.
Doctors now wonder whether cultivating or maintaining a healthier mix of microbes could reduce the risk.
“Will that help us prevent breast cancer? That’s actually the question of the day,” says Dr. Esserman.
Another big question – whether you can manipulate your microbes, or microbiota, to improve cancer treatments.
“So our therapies are good but they can always be better,” says Dr. Ami Bhatt, a professor of medicine and genetics.
“I’m very excited about investigating whether or not we can turn up the effectiveness of certain drugs that we know are pretty good in cancer by changing the composition of the gut microbiota,” Dr. Bhatt.
In the meantime, Dr. Bhatt and her team have changed their lifestyles.
“I am actually very loath to take antibiotics unless I really need them,” she said.
They eat more plants and fewer processed foods, it’s what our microbes prefer.
“Maybe I should go home and eat more fiber. Or use fewer products with antimicrobials,” says team member Fiona.
“I’m a lot more health conscious, knowing what my microbes need,” says team member Jessica.
As for Audra, she says, “These microbes they’re there. We need to figure out how to access them to potentially help us.” |
Polynesian seafarers discovered America long before Europeans, says DNA study
New DNA analysis of sweet potatoes, which were first cultivated in the Americas, suggests that Polynesians reached the New World long before Columbus.
Bryan Nelson January 22, 2013, 9:53 p.m.
Photo: Wiki Commons
The prevailing theory about the "rediscovery" of the American continents used to be such a simple tale. Most people are familiar with it: In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue. Then that theory was complicated when, in 1960, archaeologists discovered a site in Canada's Newfoundland, called L'Anse aux Meadows, which proved that Norse explorers likely beat Columbus to the punch by about 500 years.
Now startling new DNA evidence promises to complicate the story even more. It turns out that it was not Columbus or the Norse — or any Europeans at all — who first rediscovered the Americas. It was actually the Polynesians.
All modern Polynesian peoples can trace their origins back to a sea-migrating Austronesian people who were the first humans to discover and populate most of the Pacific islands, including lands as far-reaching as Hawaii, New Zealand and Easter Island. Despite the Polynesians' incredible sea-faring ability, however, few theorists have been willing to say that Polynesians could have made it as far east as the Americas. That is, until now.
Clues about the migration patterns of the early Polynesians have been revealed thanks to a new DNA analysis performed on a prolific Polynesian crop: the sweet potato, according to Nature. The origin of the sweet potato in Polynesia has long been a mystery, since the crop was first domesticated in the Andes of South America about 8,000 years ago, and it couldn't have spread to other parts of the world until contact was made. In other words, if Europeans were indeed the first to make contact with the Americas between 500 and 1,000 years ago, then the sweet potato shouldn't be found anywhere else in the world until then.
The extensive DNA study looked at genetic samples taken from modern sweet potatoes from around the world and historical specimens kept in herbarium collections. Remarkably, the herbarium specimens included plants collected during Capt. James Cook’s 1769 visits to New Zealand and the Society Islands. The findings confirmed that sweet potatoes in Polynesia were part of a distinct lineage that were already present in the area when European voyagers introduced different lines elsewhere. In other words, sweet potatoes made it out of America before European contact.
The question remains: How else could Polynesians have gotten their hands on sweet potatoes prior to European contact, if not by traveling to America themselves? The possibility that sweet potato seeds could have inadvertently floated from the Americas to Polynesia on land rafts is believed to be highly unlikely.
Researchers believe that Polynesian seafarers must have discovered the Americas first, long before Europeans did. The new DNA evidence, taken together with archaeological and linguistic evidence regarding the timeline of Polynesian expansion, suggests that an original contact date between 500 CE and 700 CE between Polynesia and America seems likely. That means that Polynesians would have arrived in South America even before the Norse had landed in Newfoundland.
The findings show that the technological capabilities of ancient peoples and cultures from around the world should not be underestimated, and that the history of human expansion across the globe is probably far more complicated than anyone could have previously imagined.
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Warmer growing season temperatures and milder winters could allow some of these insects to expand their territory and produce an extra generation of offspring each year, said Noah Diffenbaugh, the Purdue University associate professor of earth and atmospheric sciences who led the study.
"Our projections showed all of the species studied spreading into agricultural areas where they currently are not endemic," said Diffenbaugh, who is interim director of the Purdue Climate Change Research Center. "The greatest potential range expansion was seen with the corn earworm, which is known to infest other high-value crops such as sweet corn and tomatoes. Warming could allow populations to survive the winter in the upper Midwest, the key region for corn production, as well as areas of the West where other high-value crops are grown."
The United States is the largest corn producer in the world and contributes almost half of the world's total production, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Within the United States, corn and corn syrup are used in common food items such as cereal and soft drinks, as well as being used as feed for livestock. Outside of the United States, struggling countries depend on U.S. corn crops to feed starving populations.
"The world depends on U.S corn production for a variety of uses," Diffenbaugh said. "Ethanol production and a growing world population are increasing demand for corn. Expansion of the pests' ranges could have substantial impacts through decreased yields and increased costs for seed and pest management."
Diffenbaugh collaborated with Purdue professors Christian Krupke, an entomologist, and Corinne Alexander, an agricultural economist, as well as with Michael White from Utah State University. The team incorporated the survival temperature thresholds of each species with a highly detailed climate change model for the United States. A paper detailing their work was recently published online in Environmental Research Letters.
"Basically, we examined both the number of days warm enough for the pests to grow and the number of days cold enough to kill the pests, assuming the pests' documented climate tolerances remain the same," Krupke said. "This tells us what could happen in projected future climates. However, the model cannot take into account the dynamic nature of any ecological system. There are significant additional factors that could come into play such as interaction of the pests with the environment, relocation of corn and other crops and changing human management of the pests."
The research team studied the potential end-of-the-century distributions of the corn earworm, Heliothis zea; the European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis; northern corn rootworm, Diabrotica barberi; and western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera.
The team used the physiological thresholds for each species coupled with models of development to determine how each would respond to projected climate change scenarios.
For example, the pupal stage of the corn earworm overwinters and cannot withstand more than five days at temperatures below 14 degrees Fahrenheit. It also requires six days at a temperature of about 55 degrees Fahrenheit to complete development. By including these parameters in the climate model, the team was able to project future temperature-based distributions for each pest, Diffenbaugh said.
Krupke said the insects in this study should not be adversely affected by temperature increases.
"The limiting factor for these pests is usually cold tolerance, specifically their ability to overwinter and re-infest the crop the next season," he said. "Increases in temperatures, even summer temperatures, generally benefit these pests. An effectively longer season, or more days exceeding their minimum temperature range, provides them with additional time to feed, mate and reproduce."
The corn earworm is of particular concern because it is migratory and pesticide resistant, he said.
"The corn earworm is an established global pest, and particularly in the Southern U.S., where it has proven difficult to manage," Krupke said. "It is resistant to several existing pesticides, and adult moths are capable of being transported long distances in the jet stream to infest new crops."
Alexander said a reduction in corn yields could have substantial economic and social impacts, including higher food prices and reduced food supply.
"Losses due to insect pests, including the resources required to control them, is the biggest cost for corn production," Alexander said. "The European corn borer has been estimated to cost the United States around $1 billion annually, and the corn earworm is responsible for destroying about 2 percent of the corn crop."
Low corn reserves add to the impact of a poor growing season. The 2007-08 30-year low inventory resulted in the United Nation's Food and Agricultural Organization Food Price Index increasing by 47 percent, with cereal prices increasing 62 percent, she said.
"With increasing demand and a limited supply, even small reductions in yield, for example from a pest expanding its range by 60 miles, could result in substantial economic and social consequences," Alexander said. "In addition to loss of yields, the variation in yields could drive up the costs of insurance and disaster relief for farmers."
The research team next will look at a broader range of crops and will work to create a more complete modeling framework, Diffenbaugh said.
'/>"/>Contact: Elizabeth K. Gardner
ekgardner@purdue.edu
Purdue UniversitySource:Eurekalert 0GOODRelated biology news :1. Purdue researcher invents molecule that stops SARS2. Purdue researchers propose way to incorporate deforestation into climate change treaty3. Purdue researchers obtain a snapshot clarifying how materials enter cells4. Purdue research finds similarities in dog, human breast cancer pre-malignant lesions5. Purdue researchers click nutrition with camera diet study6. Study links ecosystem changes in temperate lakes to climate warming7. Study of placenta unexpectedly leads to cancer gene8. New study pardons the misunderstood egg9. Ocean fish farming harms wild fish, study says10. Proactive care saves lives of seniors, study finds11. Orangutans spontaneous whistling opens new chapter in study of evolution of speech
(Date:11/20/2015)... , November 20, 2015 ... company focused on the growing mobile commerce market and ... Gino Pereira , was recently interviewed on ... will air on this weekend on Bloomberg Europe ... America . --> NXTD ) ("NXT-ID" or ... (Date:11/18/2015)... --> --> ... report titled Gesture Recognition Market - Global Industry Analysis, ... to the report, the global gesture recognition market was valued at ... US$29.1 bn by 2021, at a CAGR of 20.3% ... dominated the global gesture recognition market in ... (Date:11/17/2015)... 17, 2015 Pressure BioSciences, Inc. (OTCQB: PBIO) ... and sale of broadly enabling, pressure cycling technology ("PCT")-based ... today announced it has received gross proceeds of $745,000 ... Placement (the "Offering"), increasing the total amount raised to ... additional closings are expected in the near future. ... Breaking Biology News(10 mins):[1] NXT-ID Featured on The RedChip Money Report Airing on Bloomberg Network[1] Global Gesture Recognition Market to Log 20.3% CAGR to Exceed US$29 bn by 2021: Transparency Market Research[1] Pressure BioSciences Closes Additional $745,000 of $5 Million PIPE; Funding Received to Date Exceeds $4,000,000(Date:11/26/2015)... MUMBAI , November 26, 2015 ... --> Accutest Research ... accredited Contract Research Organization (CRO), has ... Chase Cancer Center - Temple Health ... , (Photo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20151126/10135429 ) ... (Date:11/25/2015)... BRUSSELS , November 25, 2015 ... in cat and human plaque and pave the way for ... health problems in cats ... the most commonly diagnosed health problems in cats, yet relatively ... until now. Two collaborative studies have been conducted by researchers ... (Date:11/25/2015)... Orexigen® Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: OREX ) ... chat discussion at the Piper Jaffray 27th Annual Healthcare ... discussion is scheduled for Wednesday, December 2, at 8:00 ... replay will be available for 14 days after the ... NormartVP, Corporate Communications and Business Development , BrewLife(858) 875-8629 ... (Date:11/24/2015)... Calif. , Nov. 24, 2015 Cepheid ... will be speaking at the following conference, and invited ... New York, NY Tuesday, December 1, 2015 ... New York, NY Tuesday, December 1, 2015 ... Jaffray Healthcare Conference, New York, NY ... Breaking Biology Technology:[0] Accutest and Fox Chase Cancer Center - Temple Health Form Strategic Partnership on Clinical Trials for Oncology[0] New Research Reveals Bacteria Associated With Feline Gum Disease for the First Time[0] Orexigen Therapeutics to Speak at the Piper Jaffray 27th Annual Healthcare Conference[0] Cepheid to Webcast Upcoming Financial PresentationBiology NavigationAIDS/HIVBioinformaticsBiotechnologyBiochemistryCancerCell BiologyDevelopmental BiologyEcologyEnvironmentEvolutionFood TechnologyGeneGeneticsGenomicsHealth/MedicineImmunologyMicroarrayMicrobiologyMolecularMarine BiologyNanobiotechnologyNeurobiologyPlant SciencesStem CellSystems BiologyVirusWomen HealthMedical NavigationAbortionAchesADHDAddictionAlcoholAllergyAlternative MedicineAlzheimer's DementiaAnxiety/StressArthritisAutismBacteriaBloodBird Flu/Avian FluBonesBreast CancerCancerCardiovascularCervical CancerChikungunyaCholesterolClinical TrialsColorectal CancerConferencesCrohn'sCystic FibrosisDengueDentistryDepressionDiabetesDrugEating DisordersEducationEpilepsyErectile DysfunctionEye Health/BlindnessFertilityFlu/ColdGastroIntestinalGeneticsGoutHeadache/MigraineHearing/DeafnessHIV/AIDSHuntington's DiseaseHypertensionImmune System/VaccinesInsuranceInfectious DiseasesIrritable-Bowel SyndromeInternetLeukemiaLifestyleLiver Disease/HepatitisLung CancerLupusMad Cow DiseaseMedical DevicesMedical Students/TrainingMedicare/MedicaidMedicoMen's healthMental HealthMRI/UltrasoundMRSA/Drug ResistanceMultiple SclerosisMuscular DystrophyNeurologyNursingNutrition/DietObesity/Weight LossPain/AnestheticsParkinson's DiseasePediatrics/Children's HealthPharma/Biotech IndustryPharmacy/PharmacistsPregnancyPrematureProstatePsychology/PsychiatryRehabilitationRespiratory/AsthmaSARSSchizophreniaSeniors/AgingSexual HealthSleep/Sleep DisordersSmokingStatinsStem Cell ResearchStrokeSurgeryTransplants/Organ DonationsVirusesWater - Air QualityWomen's HealthCopyright © 2003-2012 Bio-Medicine. All rights reserved.ABOUT | CONTACT US | DISCLAIMER | PRIVACY POLICY | TERMS AND CONDITIONS |
59th Consecutive Youth Range Workshop
The weeklong Youth Range Workshop, sponsored by the Texas Section Society for Range Management, is held annually to recognize outstanding Texas youth and to provide them with an opportunity for complimentary training in range and natural resource management, stewardship and leadership. According to Dr. Barron Rector ‘83 and Hoyt Seidensticker ‘91, Workshop Co-Coordinators, youth participants learned about the principles of ecology, ecosystem level management, range and watershed management and gained an understanding of the plant-soil-water relationship. Dr. Robert Knight ’80 conducted hands-on activities in plant identification and collection and a session on plant-soil-water relationships. Field trips for hands-on training to Mason and Menard County ranches, and the Kerr Wildlife Management Area where Paul Loeffler ‘79 conducted a brush management demonstrations, Jenny Pluhar ‘84 represented the International Society for Range management as president-elect, and Lee Knox ’96 lead a reseeding project and range planning project.
This was the 59th consecutive year for this educational program conducted for Texas youth. The Workshop began in 1955 and has provided training and been of benefit to more than 2000 Texas youth.
Thanks also to Dr. Jake Landers, retired Extension Range Management Specialist and Joe Franklin '87, NRCS Zone Range Management Specialist. |
UN agriculture chief lauds ‘key’ role of family farmers in food-secure futureFamily poultry production is an important component of the livelihoods of many small farmers in developing countries. Photo: FAO/Giuseppe Bizzarri
27 October 2014 Praising family farmers for their key role in meeting the needs of a growing world population, the head of the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) stressed the need to seize global momentum to improve the widespread food insecurity still haunting many rural areas around the world.
Speaking today at the opening of a two-day Global Dialogue on Family Farming in Rome, Director-General José Graziano da Silva said that family farmers are “central to what FAO does, to what the world wants and to what the world needs: a sustainable and food secure future.”
Addressing the paradox facing family farmers worldwide, Mr. Graziano da Silva underscored that the rural areas susceptible to food insecurity are the same areas that serve as the breadbaskets for their communities and the world at large.
The Director-General stressed that governments, farmers’ organizations and the private sector must galvanize concrete action to look beyond production and acknowledge family farms as transmitters of knowledge and central allies in providing healthier diets, including through strong local food systems that link farms to schools and communities.
Mr. Graziano da Silva also noted the attention that family farming is receiving in the post-2015 development agenda, adding that “perhaps the greatest success of the International Year is the strong political commitment we achieved.” He said that the success could be seen in the attention that family farming was receiving in the post-2015 development agenda.
The Global Dialogue brings together family farmers and their organizations, government representatives, civil society, private sector, academia and development agencies to take stock of progress thus far and identify key areas of work and international collaboration related to family farming beyond 2014.
Also in attendance at the opening were Sándor Fazekas, Minister of Agriculture of Hungary; Carlos Casamiquela, Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Fishery of Argentina; Nicos Kouyialis, Minister of Agriculture, Natural Resources and Environment of Cyprus; Amadou Diallo, Minister and High Commissioner of the 3N Initiative of Niger; and Ana María Baiardi, Minister for Woman of Paraguay.
The Global Dialogue on Family Farming comes two weeks after governments agreed on a 60-point Framework of Action on Nutrition that is expected to be adopted at the upcoming Second International Conference on Nutrition, which will be held in Rome from 19-21 November. The closing of the International Year of Family Farming is scheduled to take place on 27 November in the Philippines.
On World Food Day, UN lauds role of family farmers in ending global hunger
Country-level action 'new frontier' for tackling soil pollution – UN agriculture agency
Sri Lanka's food gap widens in wake of regional floods and drought, UN agencies warn
As South Sudan famine ebbs, UN warns millions still face 'extreme hunger on the edge of a cliff'
Help preserve land – our 'home and future' – UN urges on World Day to Combat Desertification
UN agencies explore nuclear applications to combat food fraud and contamination |
George L. Askew
HEAL Role Chair of Development Committee
George L. Askew, MD, is Deputy Commissioner of Health in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. There he is responsible for overseeing and managing the Division of Family and Child Health (DFCH). The mission of DFCH is to promote health, prevent disease and advance health equity among New York City families and children. Prior to this he was appointed by the Obama Administration to serve as the first Chief Medical Officer for the Administration for Children & Families (ACF) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). In that role he provided expert advice and consultation to the Assistant Secretary for Children and Families on plans, programs, policies, and initiatives that addressed the health needs and strengths of children and families facing significant social, health, and economic challenges. This included: Affordable Care Act outreach and education, early childhood health and development, and the health of victims and survivors of human trafficking. Of note, Dr. Askew was one of the core developers of the SOAR Human Trafficking Training for Health Care and Social Service Providers. Dr. Askew has a longstanding history of innovative work in child and family advocacy and executive leadership. Prior to joining HHS he was Deputy CEO and Chief Development Officer for Voices for America’s Children, Founder of Docs For Tots, and former CEO and President of Jumpstart for Young Children. Because of his initiative, vision, and national impact, in 2005 Dr. Askew was named an Ashoka International Fellow. He was recognized as a national and global leader for his efforts to link health professionals with early childhood advocacy, embodying the ideals of civic engagement and creative solution-building nurtured by the international fellowship program. Dr. Askew was born and raised in inner-city Cleveland, Ohio. He earned a BA in Psychology and Social Relations at Harvard University, is a graduate of the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine, and a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Class of 1992 Epidemic Intelligence Service, also known as the “Disease Detectives.” |
Abstract:Fort Cobb Reservoir in northwest Caddo County Oklahoma is managed by the Bureau of Reclamation for water supply, recreation, flood control, and wildlife. Excessive amounts of nitrogen in the watershed have the potential to cause long-term eutrophication of the reservoir and increase already elevated concentrations of nitrogen in the Rush Springs aquifer. The U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation studied ground water in the area surrounding a swine feeding operation located less than 2 miles upgradient from Fort Cobb Reservoir in Caddo County, Oklahoma. Objectives of the study were to (1) determine if the operation was contributing nitrogen to the ground water and (2) measure changes in ground-water levels and determine the local ground-water flow direction in the area surrounding the swine feeding operation.
Nitrate concentrations (28.1 and 31.5 milligrams per liter) were largest in two ground-water samples from a well upgradient of the wastewater lagoon. Nitrate concentrations ranged from 4.30 to 8.20 milligrams per liter in samples from downgradient wells. Traces of ammonia and nitrite were detected in a downgradient well, but not in upgradient wells. d15N values indicate atmospheric nitrogen, synthetic fertilizer, or plants were the predominate sources of nitrate in ground water from the downgradient wells. The d15N values in these samples are depleted in nitrogen-15, indicating that animal waste was not a significant contributor of nitrate.
Manganese concentrations (1,150 and 965 micrograms per liter) in samples from a downgradient well were substantially larger than concentrations in samples from other wells, exceeding the secondary drinking-water standard of 50 micrograms per liter. Larger concentrations of bicarbonate, magnesium, fluoride, and iron and a higher pH were also measured in water from a downgradient well.
Ground-water levels in an observation well were higher from April to mid-July and lower during the late summer and in the fall due to a seasonal decrease in precipitation, increase in water withdrawals, and increase in evapotranspiration. Ground water near the wastewater spray field moved south-southeast toward Willow Creek along a gradient of about 50 feet per mile.
Analysis of ground-water samples suggest that commercial fertilizer is contributing nitrate upgradient of the swine feeding operation and that wastewater from the lagoon is contributing reduced forms of nitrogen, ammonia and nitrite. Additional downgradient wells would be needed to (1) determine if the swine feeding operation is adding excessive amounts of nitrogen to ground water, (2) determine the vertical dimension of wastewater flow, and (3) the extent of wastewater downgradient of the lagoon.
Citation Author: Becker, Carol J.
Citation LatN: Citation LatS: Citation LonE: Citation LonW: Citation Month: Citation No Pagination: Citation Number Of Pages: Citation Online Only Flag: Citation Phsyical Description: v, 20 p. : ill., maps (some col.) ; 28 cm.
Citation Projection: Citation Public Comments: Citation Publisher: Citation Series: Water-Resources Investigations Report
Citation Search Results Text: Ground-water quality, levels, and flow direction near Fort Cobb Reservoir, Caddo County, Oklahoma, 1998-2000; 2001; WRI; 2001-4076; Water-Resources Investigations Report; Becker, Carol J.
Text: Ground-water quality, levels, and flow direction near Fort Cobb Reservoir, Caddo County, Oklahoma, 1998-2000; 2001; WRI; 2001-4076; Water-Resources Investigations Report; Becker, Carol J.
URL (INDEX PAGE): http://pubs.usgs.gov/wri/wri01-4076/ |
Cause of fatal inflammation of the heart muscle identified
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres
Scientists have found out that inflammations of the heart muscle are caused by attacks of a specific type of immune cells. These immune cells attack the body's own tissue because during their maturation they did not have the chance to develop tolerance against a protein that is only found in the heart muscle.
Scientists of the German Cancer Research Center (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, DKFZ), jointly with colleagues in the United States, have found out that inflammations of the heart muscle are caused by attacks of a specific type of immune cells. These immune cells attack the body's own tissue because during their maturation they did not have the chance to develop tolerance against a protein that is only found in the heart muscle.
An inflammation of the heart muscle, or myocarditis, frequently precedes a dangerous and often fatal heart enlargement. In many cases, the only promising treatment left is heart transplantation. For many years now, medical evidence has suggested that this dangerous inflammation is caused by autoimmune reactions, i.e., attacks by the body's own immune system.
However, it remained unclear whether it is antibodies or immune cells that damage the heart muscle tissue. It was also unknown which of the proteins in the cardiac muscle is the target of these fatal immune attacks. Jointly with colleagues from Harvard, the Dana Faber Cancer Institute and other U.S. research institutes, Professor Dr. Bruno Kyewski of the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) set out to investigate these questions.
The investigators studied mice that are often spontaneously affected by fatal myocarditis. Studying these animals, they discovered that α-MyHC, a type of heart muscle protein called myosin, is the target of autoaggressive immune cells. This protein is highly specific of the heart muscle and is not found in muscles of the skeleton.
Why is it that immune cells suddenly start attacking a harmless own protein? "This is the result of a lack of tolerance training," says DKFZ's Professor Dr. Bruno Kyewski. T cells, a specific type of immune cells, are prepared for their job during their early development in a special organ called thymus gland. Here they are presented a multitude of the body's own molecules which they are expected to recognize as known and harmless on their later patrols through the body. "We have now discovered that there is no α-MyHC in the thymus tissue of these mice. T cells therefore have no opportunity during their 'education' to meet this protein and thus develop specific tolerance."
The scientists also provided strong support for this hypothesis. They modified the mice's genetic material in such a way that their thymus gland became capable of producing α-MyHC. These animals were no longer affected by autoimmune myocarditis.
This hypothesis appears to be valid not only for mice, but also for humans. The investigators showed that human thymus tissue does not produce α-MyHC, either. Therefore, there are human T cells permanently circulating in the bloodstream which also have the potential of attacking the heart. "Normally, this causes no problems," said Bruno Kyewski. "But if the cardiac muscle gets damaged by a viral infection or an infarction and larger amounts of α-MyHC are released from the defective tissue, the fragile tolerance breaks down."
The results now published by the German-U.S. team are expected to contribute to developing more specific treatments against autoimmune myocarditis. So far, a common approach has been to attempt to suppress the production of antibodies in patients. "But now we know that we have to selectively block specific T cells to protect the heart in such cases," explained Kyewski.
The above post is reprinted from materials provided by Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length.
HuiJuan Lv, Evis Havari, Sheena Pinto, Raju V.S.R.K. Gottumukkala, Lizbeth Cornivelli, Khadir Raddassi, Takashi Matsui, Anthony Rosenzweig, Roderick T. Bronson, Ross Smith, Anne L. Fletcher, Shannon J. Turley, Kai Wucherpfennig, Bruno Kyewski, Myra A. Lipes. Impaired thymic tolerance to α-myosin directs autoimmunity to the heart in mice and humans. Journal of Clinical Investigation, 2011; DOI: 10.1172/JCI44583
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres. "Cause of fatal inflammation of the heart muscle identified." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 30 March 2011. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110329095656.htm>.
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres. (2011, March 30). Cause of fatal inflammation of the heart muscle identified. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 5, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110329095656.htm
Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres. "Cause of fatal inflammation of the heart muscle identified." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/03/110329095656.htm (accessed September 5, 2015).
Turbo-Charging Hormone Can Regrow the Heart, Animal Study Suggests
Apr. 7, 2015 Researchers have discovered a way to stimulate muscle regrowth in the heart of a mouse, opening up prospects of new treatments for people who suffer heart ... read more Toward Fixing Damaged Hearts Through Tissue Engineering
Jan. 22, 2014 In the US, someone suffers a heart attack every 34 seconds -- their heart is starved of oxygen and suffers irreparable damage. Engineering new heart tissue in the laboratory that could eventually be ... read more Heart of Silk: Scientists Use Silk from the Tasar Silkworm as a Scaffold for Heart Tissue
Jan. 27, 2012 Damaged human heart muscle cannot be regenerated. Scar tissue grows in place of the damaged muscle cells. Scientists are seeking to restore complete cardiac function with the help of artificial ... read more Protein Could Be New Target to Reduce Damage After Heart Attack
Feb. 24, 2011 A protein called fibronectin-EDA was linked to heart muscle damage after a heart attack in an animal study. Mice genetically altered to lack FN-EDA had less heart damage after a heart attack. ... read more Strange & Offbeat |
Title: Mechanistic modelling of energy consumption in CNC machining
Author: Imani Asrai, Reza
Awarding Body: University of Bath
Current Institution: University of Bath
http://opus.bath.ac.uk/40980/
Consumption of energy is a key medium through which humans adversely affect their environment. Sustainable transition in the scale and composition of total primary energy demand in the 21st century is also a requirement for sustainable development of human civilisations in the face of diminishing resources of fossil fuels. One possible approach to reducing energy consumption is the energy efficient utilisation of existing energy consuming systems. This approach is less costly and time consuming than replacing the existing systems with new energy efficient ones. In addition to that, methods developed through this approach can, in principal form, be applied to more efficient future generations of systems too. Information about a quantitative measure of energy efficiency at different states of operation of a system can be utilised for optimisation of its energy consumption through computation of its most efficient state(s) of operation subject to a given set of constraints. The main contribution of this research is to develop a novel mechanistic model for energy consumption of a CNC machine tool, as an energy consuming system, in order to analytically construct a mathematical relationship between the machine tool’s overall power consumption and its operating parameters, i.e., spindle speed, feed rate and depth of cut. The analytically derived formula is experimentally validated for the case of straight slut milling of aluminium on a 3-axis CNC milling machine. The research provides evidence for substantial performance improvement in the case of the mechanistic model developed here in comparison with the currently most widely used model for energy consumption of CNC milling machines, i.e., Gutowski et al. 2006, through further analysis of the empirical data acquired during the validation experiments. |
HealthMpowerment.org: An Online and Mobile HIV Intervention for Young Black MSM
Hightow-Weidman, Lisa B. University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States
See 23 grants from Lisa Hightow-Weidman
In response to a previously unrecognized epidemic of HIV infection affecting young Black men who have sex with men (BMSM) in North Carolina (NC) who met sexual partners on the internet we sought to design a tailored, theory-based interactive HIV/STI prevention website for young BMSM. While previous studies have found that computer-based interventions are efficacious in reducing HIV related sexual risks, to date, no internet-based intervention has been developed specifically for young BMSM. Based on prior successful internet interventions to encourage weight loss, increase physical activity or promote smoking/alcohol cessation, we developed a theory-based website that provides tailored and personalized feedback. Formative data developing and pilot testing HealthMpowerment.org (HMP), our theory-based, tailored and tested website indicate that this intervention is acceptable and relevant to the prevention issues currently faced by young BMSM. Moreover, we have demonstrated that we can deliver this intervention over the internet and successfully recruit and retain a high percentage (90%) of BMSM for participation over a one-month follow-up period. Smart phone ownership is rapidly growing and provides internet access that is "always on" - allowing for the delivery of interventions to persons on the go, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The cell phone industry has documented high levels of use among Blacks creating an increased likelihood, using cell phones, of delivering highly engaging prevention messages to hard-to-reach populations, including those that may not typically access in-person or group interventions. An intervention combining traditional internet with mobile phone technology allows for location independence and increased flexibility, reach and impact. Both the internet and phone based interventions have been shown to improve knowledge and health outcomes among minorities and those with low socioeconomic status (SES) thus the potential for use among young BMSM is enormous. By further refining this intervention and including a mobile phone based platform, we believe we can create a comprehensive internet-based HIV risk reduction intervention for a population that is underserved by currently available prevention interventions. Specifically we plan to use data from feasibility and acceptability testing of our tested and theory-based internet intervention to refine, enhance and test the HMP intervention website, including novel features delivered via mobile phone technology. We then plan to conduct a two arm randomized controlled trial with young BMSM comparing the enhanced HMP intervention to a control condition consisting of links to currently available HIV/STI internet sites.
This unique study seeks to further refine a theory-based, internet intervention, HealthMpowerment.org, that has been developed for young Black MSM. By enhancing the current intervention and including a mobile phone based platform, we believe we can create a comprehensive internet-based HIV risk reduction intervention for a population that is underserved by currently available prevention interventions
Study SectionBehavioral and Social Science Approaches to Preventing HIV/AIDS Study Section (BSPH) Program OfficerPequegnat, Willo Project Start2011-09-20
NameUniversity of North Carolina Chapel Hill DepartmentInternal Medicine/Medicine
HealthMpowerment.org: An Online and Mobile HIV Intervention for Young Black MSMHightow-Weidman, Lisa B. / University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
Health Mpowerment.org: a novel Internet and mobile phone HIV intervention for youHightow-Weidman, Lisa B. / University of North Carolina Chapel Hill
LeGrand, Sara; Muessig, Kathryn E; Pike, Emily C et al. (2014) If you build it will they come? Addressing social isolation within a technology-based HIV intervention for young black men who have sex with men. AIDS Care 26:1194-200
Muessig, Kathryn E; Pike, Emily C; Legrand, Sara et al. (2013) Mobile phone applications for the care and prevention of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases: a review. J Med Internet Res 15:e1
Muessig, Kathryn E; Pike, Emily C; Fowler, Beth et al. (2013) Putting prevention in their pockets: developing mobile phone-based HIV interventions for black men who have sex with men. AIDS Patient Care STDS 27:211-22
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Diagnosis and management of ophthalmological features in patients with mucopolysaccharidosis
You are currently viewing an earlier version of this article (September 18, 2010).
Stefano Ferrari1,
Diego Ponzin1,
Jane L Ashworth2,
Kristina Teär Fahnehjelm3,4,
C Gail Summers5,
Paul R Harmatz6,
Maurizio Scarpa7
1The Veneto Eye Bank Foundation, Venice, Italy
2Manchester Royal Eye Hospital, Manchester, UK
3Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge, Sweden
4Department of Paediatric Ophthalmology and Strabismus, St Erik Eye Hospital, Karolinska University Hospital, Huddinge, Sweden
5Departments of Ophthalmology and Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
6Children's Hospital & Research Center Oakland, Oakland, California, USA
7Department of Paediatrics, University of Padua, Padua, Italy
Correspondence to Dr Maurizio Scarpa, Department of Paediatrics, University of Padua, Via Giustiniani 3, 35128 Padua, Italy; scarpa{at}pediatria.unipd.it
Ocular pathology is common in patients with mucopolysaccharidosis (MPS), a hereditary lysosomal storage disorder, where the eye as well as other tissues accumulate excessive amounts of glycosaminoglycans. Despite genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity within and between different types of MPS, the disease symptoms and clinical signs often manifest during the first 6 months of life with increasing head size, recurrent infections, umbilical hernia, growth retardation and skeletal problems. Typical ocular features include corneal clouding, ocular hypertension/glaucoma, retinal degeneration and optic nerve atrophy. Visual deterioration and sensitivity to light may substantially reduce the quality of life in MPS patients, particularly when left untreated. As an early intervention, haematopoietic stem cell transplantation and/or enzyme replacement therapy are likely to improve patients' symptoms and survival, as well as visual outcome. Thus, it is of utmost importance to ensure proper detection and accurate diagnosis of MPS at an early age. It is of fundamental value to increase awareness and knowledge among ophthalmologists of the ocular problems affecting MPS patients and to highlight potential diagnostic pitfalls and difficulties in patient care. This review provides insight into the prevalence and severity of ocular features in patients with MPS and gives guidance for early diagnosis and follow-up of MPS patients. MPS poses therapeutic challenges in ocular management, which places ophthalmologists next to paediatricians at the forefront of interventions to prevent long-term sequelae of this rare but serious disease.
mucopolysaccharidoses
diagnostic tests/investigation
child health (paediatrics)
Funding BioMarin Europe Ltd, London, UK.
Competing interests SF, DP, JLA and CGS have no competing interests to declare. KTF has received travel expenses from BioMarin. PRH has provided consulting support to BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., Novato, California, USA, and has received research grants, speaker's honorarium and travel support from BioMarin. MS has received unrestricted research and travel grants from BioMarin, Actelion, Genzyme and Shire. |
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The Arbor Day Foundation Blog
Diversity of trees crucial to urban forestry success
Rebekah Magill
Whether for disaster recovery, beautification, or something else, as cities are planting trees, it behooves them to be aware of how each unique tree species varies in the benefits it can provide to the urban environment.
The updated release of the USDA plant hardiness zone map has indicated the potential affect changing climate conditions will have on the survival of certain plant species. In addition to the new map, a recent Science 2.0 article revealed the results of a collaborative study from the Sapienza University of Rome and Portland State University. This study determined that biodiversity in urban forests impacts the removal of ozone from a city’s atmosphere.
In other words, different groups of tree species perform different levels of ozone uptake activities at different times (and temperatures), ultimately complementing each other and working together synergistically.
The ozone is a necessary chemical that protects us against the sun’s rays, while exerting its own negative impact on the environment by damaging man-made materials and polluting crops. Understanding which tree species can survive in your city and which species are best for removing ozone can result in long-term benefits for you and your community.
In urban areas, ozone can be problematic and removal services costly. Learning how different tree species respond to environmental conditions would aid managers in developing systems for planting the right amount of trees in the right places. According to Science 2.0:
Managers in several U.S. cities–including D.C., New York, Baltimore, Atlanta, and Chicago–already tout urban forests as a cost-effective method of reducing air pollution, and these results suggest that other cities would experience similar benefits. Given that over half the world’s population currently lives in ever-expanding urban areas, this management practice could improve air quality for a significant number of people.
The Arbor Day Foundation has been extolling the dynamic benefits of urban forests for decades. Urban forests raise property value, add aesthetic appeal, lower temperatures, change wind patterns, reduce energy use (and costs) and improve air quality. Through its Tree City USA program, the Arbor Day Foundation has awarded national recognition to over 3,400 communities (where over 135 million people live) for implementing their own urban and community forest sustainability programs.
Planting trees in your city provide many benefits. So plant trees…and plant a variety of trees, in the right places to make those benefits count.
Category: Tree City USA | Tags: biodiversity. View all posts by Rebekah Magill. Comments for this post are closed. |
The Home of the Brave, a 15-bed temporary shelter for homeless veterans on Sharps Road in Milford, celebrated its 20th year of operation Friday with an open house attended by dozens of local dignitaries and state legislators. What began as a shared concern among eight local veterans is today the state’s oldest and most successful non-profit dedicated to transitioning homeless servicemen off the streets and into adequate housing.
The Home of the Brave, a 15-bed temporary shelter for homeless veterans on Sharps Road in Milford, celebrated its 20th year of operation Friday with an open house attended by dozens of local dignitaries and state legislators.
“Through the foresight and persistence of many, this worthwhile foundation, through the home it has established, has proved itself a haven of shelter and rehabilitation,” Sen. Joseph W. Booth (R-Georgetown) said Friday, reading from a formal tribute issued by the State Senate to commemorate the home’s anniversary. “And what a facility it is.”
Co-founder and current board member Les Stephenson, who served in the 1st Battalion, Ninth Division of the Marine Corps in Vietnam, said the facility has come a long way from its initial inception in 1992.
“The way it started was eight of us veterans were all in a counseling group together and we met a gentleman who was homeless,” Stephenson said. “He was admitted at Wilmington Hospital and then discharged and no one knew what happened to him.”
Concerned about the plight of their fellow veteran and others like him, they each pitched in $1 to open a bank account that they could use to raise funds for a transitional housing shelter for men in similar situations, Stephenson said.
In 1994, the veterans opened the original four-bed Home of the Brave with money raised from private donations and a grant from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Today, the current facility, which opened in 1996, provides temporary housing to homeless veterans, as well as individual case management; mental health, vocational and benefits counseling; referrals to substance abuse programs and medical services; transportation to work and appointments; clothing; and household items for their new living arrangements upon discharge.
“The Veterans Affairs grant we receive for our operating costs allows the veterans to stay here for up to two years, but our goal is to get them enough resources to get housing – whether on their own, with their families or through the VA – within six to nine months,” said Linda Boone, chairwoman of the Home of the Brave’s board of directors and the former CEO of the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans. “While they are here, they treat it just like their home. They all have chores to do, just like any family.”
Boone said Home of the Brave currently is working to raise money to purchase a similar home capable of housing up to six female veterans and their children.
“As of 2009, there were 585 homeless veterans in Delaware, about 5 percent of whom are women,” she said.
Current Home of the Brave resident Lloyd Veeney, a 58-year-old U.S. Army veteran from Grasonville, Md., spent five years on the streets and in various shelters before a social worker at a Veterans Affairs hospital referred him to the facility in May.
“I would still be on the streets if I hadn’t come here,” he said Friday. “The best part is they help you get your benefits and assist you with getting back on your feet and getting your own place. I would recommend it to any veteran who was in the same situation I was.”
Liz Byers-Jiron, the deputy executive director of the Home of the Brave, said the main goal of the facility is to provide struggling veterans with a fresh start.
“Every one of these guys has a hidden treasure,” she said. “All they need is someone to help them regain their inner strength. It is truly and honor and a privilege to work with them. ”
Email Scott Goss at scott.goss@doverpost.com |
Nash hopes new online hub for networks will boost ‘purple power’
A unique new website aims to bring together networks representing hundreds of thousands of disabled employees across the UK.
PurpleSpace will support the leaders of disabled employee networks (DENs) and disabled employees themselves in a bid to share best practice, and provide opportunities for learning, networking and professional development.
DENs are set up by disabled employees within an organisation and provide their members with peer support on disability-related issues, and help them develop their careers.
PurpleSpace – named because of the increasing use of that colour to represent disabled people – has been created by former RADAR chief executive Kate Nash, whose company Kate Nash Associates (KNA) has worked with organisations such as Thomson Reuters, RBS, the global consultancy Ernst & Young, and the Metropolitan police.
KNA already works with 300 DENs, with a combined community of about 850,000 disabled employees.
Nash said she wanted to “create a new social and economic ‘movement’ of employees helping others to navigate the experience of disability and stay in and get on at work”.
She said: “PurpleSpace will facilitate the biggest UK conversation between network leaders and disabled employees about how to stay in work and flourish when you acquire a disability or health condition.”
The site was set up with the help of umbrella networks such as the Civil Service Disability Network, the Disabled Police Association (DPA), the Employers Stammering Network, the National Association of Disabled Staff Networks (NADSN), and NHS England’s Disability and Wellbeing Network.
Andy Garrett, DPA’s vice-chair and a PurpleSpace ambassador, said: “I am full of excitement and anticipation that PurpleSpace will open and build multiple new avenues for disability networks and their leaders; developing their skills, sharing resources and initiatives and working together to release disability potential across a wide range of organisations.”
Hamied Haroon, founder and convener of NADSN, said: “The launch of the PurpleSpace initiative couldn’t have come at a more critical time for disabled employees.
“PurpleSpace will provide a unique platform for me and other network leaders from disparate sectors and backgrounds to connect and support each other.” |
The birth of new cardiac cells
December 5, 2012 Recent research has shown that there are new cells that develop in the heart, but how these cardiac cells are born and how frequently they are generated remains unclear. In new research from Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH), researchers use a novel method to identify these new heart cells and describe their origins.
This research is published in Nature on December 5, 2012.
A sophisticated imaging system (MIMS) demonstrates cell division in the adult mammalian heart.
"The question about how often cardiac cells are born has been extremely difficult to answer because there was a need for new techniques to help us understand this process. We are especially excited about our findings because of the novel way in which were able to show new heart cells, using Multi-isotope Imaging Mass Spectrometry (MIMS). Our collaborator, Claude Lechene, MD, had developed this technology, and as a team we harnessed this for the cardiac regeneration question." said Richard T. Lee, MD, a physician and researcher in the Cardiovascular Division at BWH and senior author of the paper. "These data present one piece of the puzzle when it comes to the discussion around the generation of new cardiac cells."
The team of BWH researchers marked existing cardiac cells genetically to cause them to express a green fluorescent protein. Then they used Multi-isotope Imaging Mass Spectrometry (MIMS) to examine the development of new heart muscle cells, called cardiomyocytes, in a pre clinical model over a period of months. Researchers were surprised to find that new heart muscle cells primarily arose from existing heart muscle cells, rather than stem cells. Even in the setting of a heart attack, when stem cells are thought to be activated, most new heart cells were born from pre-existing heart cells.
"Our data show that adult cardiomyocytes are primarily responsible for the generation of new cardiomyocytes and that as we age, we lose some capacity to form new heart cells," said Dr. Lee. "This means that we are losing our potential to rebuild the heart in the latter half of life, just when most heart disease hits us. If we can unravel why this occurs, we may be able to unleash some heart regeneration potential."
Explore further: Helping the heart help itself: Research points to new use for stem cells
Brigham and Women's Hospital
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Biography of Beethoven for Children
By Kristine Tucker
Statue of Beethoven
As an elementary school teacher, you might discuss the composer Ludwig van Beethoven as part of your social studies or music curriculum. Your biography should include details such as Beethoven's birth in Bonn, Germany, in 1770 and his ability to earn a living by playing the organ at age 12. Beethoven composed nine symphonies, one opera and dozens of other musical compositions. He had a troubled upbringing and never married or had children. Discuss with your class that even though Beethoven struggled with academic subjects, his musical abilities set him apart as a talented musician and composer.
Childhood Struggles
Discuss Beethoven's upbringing and mention some of his childhood struggles. He first learned to play the piano, violin and organ from his father. However, his father was an alcoholic and was very strict, often punishing Beethoven by sending him to the cellar when he didn't play the piano right. Beethoven had two younger brothers and a mild-mannered mother. Children will relate to the fact that Beethoven was an average student who didn't perform well in math or spelling. Some historians believe Beethoven might have struggled with dyslexia. Two of Beethoven's favorite foods were macaroni and cheese and strong coffee, according to the Dallas Symphony Orchestra's website for children.
Formal Training
Talk with your class about Beethoven's formal training. When Beethoven was 17, the local government sent him to Vienna, Austria, to study with Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. Shortly after arriving, Beethoven's mother fell ill, so Beethoven had to return to Bonn. Students will sympathize with Beethoven knowing that he suffered great depression after his mother died. He didn't return to Vienna for two years. Mozart died before Beethoven could study with him again, so Beethoven spent the majority of his training and educational years with composers Joseph Haydn, Antonio Salieri and Johann Albrechtsberger. Students should learn that it was during this time that Beethoven earned a reputation for being a stellar pianist and composer.
Famous Compositions
Introduce students to some of Beethoven's most famous compositions and play them on your computer or CD player. Discuss how Beethoven's musical compositions often reflected the influences of his teachers. However, his "Symphony No. 3 -- Eroica" went beyond his teachers' skills and led to his rise to fame. Beethoven wrote a full-length opera "Fidelio," a church mass "Missa Solemnis" and "String Quartet No. 14." Ask the music teacher or an upper-grade piano student to play "Fur Elise" or "Moonlight Sonata" on the piano for your class.
Struggle With Deafness
Include a section on Beethoven's struggle with deafness in your biography. When Beethoven was only 26 years old, he started to lose his hearing. By the time of his death, he was almost completely deaf. Students will be inspired to learn that Beethoven's hearing loss didn't affect his ability to compose music, even though he couldn't play the piano anymore. Beethoven wrote one of his most famous symphonies, "Symphony No. 9," near the end of his life. Discuss Beethoven's death with your class. He died of liver disease in 1827 when he was only 56 years old. Some doctors believe his deafness was caused by typhus -- a bacterial disease he contracted in 1796.
Dallas Symphony Orchestra Kids: Ludwig Van Beethoven, Composer
KidsKonnect.com: Van Beethoven, Ludwig
Classics for Kids: Beethoven's Biography
Bio.com: Ludwig Van Beethoven
As curriculum developer and educator, Kristine Tucker has enjoyed the plethora of English assignments she's read (and graded!) over the years. Her experiences as vice-president of an energy consulting firm have given her the opportunity to explore business writing and HR. Tucker has a BA and holds Ohio teaching credentials.
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Study asks how ADHD teens cope
By PEGGY LIM - McClatchy Newspapers
Paula Luper failed her end-of-third-grade test in 1998, leaving 14 questions blank.
"I remember being very embarrassed I couldn't finish," Luper, 18, said. "I didn't tell any of my friends."
A study that was begun that school year in Johnston County, N.C. - one of the largest ever conducted anywhere on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder - prompted Luper's parents to consult a doctor, who formally diagnosed her with ADHD.
A decade after that original study, researchers are back. They hope to clarify how the disorder evolves as students navigate their teenage years and adulthood.
Luper, who stopped taking ADHD medication last year as a high school junior, had doubts about taking part in the follow-up study. After weeks of consideration, she decided to participate.
Researchers say they need her help. The closest example of a large community-based study of ADHD - outside of the Johnston County one - dates back to the 1960s in California. Researchers at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and Duke University chose Johnston County because of its diversity and manageable size.
Most of what is known about ADHD stems from smaller clinical studies, predominantly of Caucasian boys with the hyperactive form of the disorder. Much less is known about ADHD in young adults, especially females, African-Americans and children with the inattentive type of ADHD.
"This information is crucial for doctors, therapists, teachers or social workers trying to help youth with ADHD," said Andrew Rowland, now an epidemiology professor at the University of New Mexico.
The original study, involving 6,099 first- through fifth-graders in all Johnston County elementary schools, revealed some alarming initial results. Parent surveys showed that about 10 percent of the elementary school students had been diagnosed with ADHD. The finding challenged previous studies citing estimates that 3 percent to 5 percent of children have ADHD.
The study also indicated that 7 percent of children were taking stimulant medication to help them calm down or concentrate. Many of the children taking stimulants, however, continued to show symptoms of ADHD, suggesting problems with the doses or with how they were taking the medication. ADHD remains hotly debated because some see it as a result of poor parenting, not a disorder, and they worry that the nation is excessively medicating millions of youngsters.
Rowland said hundreds of studies have shown that stimulants, such as Ritalin and Concerta, help children with ADHD concentrate in the short run.
"What is not known," he said, "is how well those medications work over the long term and if they make a difference in important everyday areas like grades, sleep, ability to make friends or get along with family members."
Luper said she began taking Ritalin in the fourth grade. She swallowed a pill with breakfast before school. The drug made her queasy. It made her feel as if she were the only one in a room. Rather than chat with friends as she might normally want to, she would just feel like sitting quietly. But the sacrifice was worth it.
Before that point, anything would distract her - classmates talking, paper being crumpled, a pin dropping.
"I was making better grades than I would without it," she said. "I knew in 10 years it wouldn't matter how I had felt - it would matter what I'd learned."
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More on the study
Denise Luper, a teacher at North Johnston High School, said she didn't see the full effect drugs had on her daughter until she taught her SAT prep in ninth grade. By then, Paula had switched to another medication, Concerta.
"I told my husband I didn't like it," Denise Luper said. "She's just a zombie sometimes. She's there in body, focused, but it's not her. I'm used to this happy-go-lucky person."
Jesse Paul Luper was no fan of the way the drugs seemed to drain his daughter's energy either. He didn't want the medication to slow her down when she competed in volleyball or soccer games.
Gradually, Paula Luper eased off the drugs. Second semester last year, she took a new drug, Strattera, but only in the weeks around major tests or during final exams. This year, she refrained from taking any medication.
"I try to be more alert," she said. "I know if I do bad, I'm going to have to get back on it."
Her teachers say she has compensated well, continuing to earn A's and B's on her report cards.
"She's good about listening and carrying out assignments," said Anne Wyman, her business teacher. "I would not know she had ADHD, if it was not documented."
Still, Luper has continued to make small modifications to cope with ADHD.
In her English class this year, the teacher would assign short stories to read, such as a Sherlock Holmes mystery. But on quizzes afterward, Luper's mind would go blank.
"It was a zoning-out problem," said Curtis Mangum, her English teacher, "not an intelligence problem."
Denise Luper asked the teacher if her daughter could take notes about the stories as she read. Soon, she was acing the quizzes.
Luper's record seems to run counter to one theory researchers think this new study will test - that people with ADHD are more prone to risky behaviors, such as drinking, having unsafe sex or substance abuse.
"There is some evidence that teens with ADHD have more health risk behaviors and more accidents," Rowland said. "We don't know if that is true when you look at a community sample."
But whatever results the new study finds, they could help Paula Luper down the road. After studying at Johnston Community College and East Carolina University, she hopes to become a high school sports coach and a resource teacher.
"Because I'm ADHD," she said. "I want to help kids like me." |
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