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Protein domains that emerged more recently in evolution have a higher structural disorder and greater clustering of hydrophobic residues along the primary sequence. It is hard to explain how selection acting via descent with modification could act so slowly as not to saturate over the extraordinarily long timescales over which these trends persist. Here, we hypothesize that the trends were created by a higher level of selection that differentially affects the retention probabilities of protein domains with different properties. This hypothesis predicts that loss rates should depend on disorder and clustering trait values. To test this, we inferred loss rates via maximum likelihood for animal Pfam domains, after first performing a set of stringent quality control methods to reduce annotation errors. Intermediate trait values, matching those of ancient domains, are associated with the lowest loss rates, making our results difficult to explain with reference to previously described homology detection biases. Simulations confirm that effect sizes are of the right magnitude to produce the observed long-term trends. Our results support the hypothesis that differential domain loss slowly weeds out those protein domains that have nonoptimal levels of disorder and clustering. The same preferences also shape the differential diversification of Pfam domains, thereby further impacting proteome composition.

Aim: The topic of global health affects us all. In order to spread the word about this important medical field, a bilingual brochure containing medical comics on the subject was published at the Medical University of Vienna.Method: Medical comics are well established internationally, have a long history in the communication of medical information, and - under the umbrella of graphic medicine - are both popular and widely used. In the context of the exhibition project art-action-attitude/body, 6 panels were transformed into a 12-page brochure on the topic of global health in cooperation with an artist and a graphic designer.Results: The brochure was made available for free to visitors of the exhibition, published online, handed out at various fairs by the artist, and presented at an international conference.Summary: The collaboration with an artist and a graphic designer (Renate Mowlam, Bettina Jarosch) gave rise to a high-quality product that explains the subject matter clearly and in a way that is accessible to all, with the written word supported by images. In the brochure, 46 pictures shed light on the topics "health as a human right", "global health" (definition and examples), and "one health" (definition and examples). This enabled readers to quickly become informed about this complex subject, to contemplate it, and to reflect on their own behavior., Zielsetzung: Das Thema Global Health betrifft uns alle. Um dieses wichtige Forschungsfeld zu vermitteln, wurde an der Medizinischen Universität Wien anhand von Medical Comics eine Broschüre zu diesem Thema in zwei Sprachen herausgebracht.Methodik: Medical Comics sind international etabliert, mit langer Geschichte in der Kommunikation von medizinischen Informationen und finden - eingebettet in die Dachorganisation der Graphic Medicine - großen Zuspruch und Anwendung. Im Rahmen des Ausstellungsprojektes "Art-Action-Attitude/Körper" wurde aus 6 Panelen in Zusammenarbeit mit einer Künstlerin und einer Grafikerin zum Thema "Global Health" eine 12 Seiten umfassende Broschüre gestaltet. Ergebnisse: Die Broschüre wurde bei der Ausstellung gratis zur Mitnahme aufgelegt, online gestellt, von der Künstlerin auf diversen Messen ausgeteilt und auf einer internationalen Tagung vorgestellt.Resümee: Die Zusammenarbeit mit Professionistinnen (Renate Mowlam: Künstlerin; Bettina Jarosch: Grafikerin) hat sich in einem hochwertigen Produkt materialisiert, das Inhalte entsprechend klar und niederschwellig erklärt und bildlich unterstützt. Dabei wurden in 46 Bildern die Themen "Gesundheit als Menschenrecht", "Global Health" (Begriffserklärung und Beispiele) und "One Health" (Begriffserklärung und Beispiele) beleuchtet. So konnten sich Lesende rasch zu diesem komplexen Thema informieren, darüber nachdenken und das eigene Verhalten reflektieren.

Digital contact tracing and notification were initially hailed as promising strategies to combat SARS-CoV-2; however, in most jurisdictions, they did not live up to their promise. To avert a given transmission event, both parties must have adopted the technology, it must detect the contact, the primary case must be promptly diagnosed, notifications must be triggered, and the secondary case must change their behavior to avoid the focal tertiary transmission event. If we approximate these as independent events, achieving a 26% reduction in the effective reproduction number Rt would require an 80% success rate at each of these 6 points of failure. Here, we review the 6 failure rates experienced by a variety of digital contact tracing and contact notification schemes, including Singapore's TraceTogether, India's Aarogya Setu, and leading implementations of the Google Apple Exposure Notification system. This leads to a number of recommendations, for example, that the narrative be framed in terms of user autonomy rather than user privacy, and that tracing/notification apps be multifunctional and integrated with testing, manual contact tracing, and the gathering of critical scientific data.

Human health is largely influenced by genetic architecture and living environments. Evolutionary processes, especially past adaptation to changing environments, shaped the genetic architecture and might deeply influence current disease risks. Advances in genomic sequencing dramatically improved our understanding of the genetic basis of diseases in the past ten years. Thousands of genes have been found to be associated with non-infectious and infectious diseases. However, the adaptation experienced by disease-associated genes is not well characterized, let alone the potential causal relationships between disease and genomic adaptation. Here, we use human genomic data to characterize the interplay between adaptation and human non-infectious diseases: what disease gene attributes may influence adaptation, and conversely how past adaptation may have shaped the landscape of disease variants. In the first chapter, I study an important prerequisite: accounting for confounders when studying adaptation in groups of genes, for example, disease genes, relative to the rest of the genome. I show how the lack of accounting for confounding factors other than the biological categories of interest can cause spurious results in the framework of Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) of past adaptation. I propose a pipeline that specifically addresses the methodological problems of GSEA applied to recent adaptation in the form of selective sweeps. In the second chapter, I use the GSEA approach established in the first chapter to study the relationship between human non-infectious disease and recent adaptation. I specifically try to clarify the dominant causal direction of this relationship. Adaptation might increase the risk of diseases. For example, deleterious mutations may increase in frequency by hitchhiking with advantageous mutations and thus genes carrying deleterious variants may experience more recent adaptation compared to non-disease genes. Alternatively, pre-existing disease

Because gene expression is important for evolutionary adaptation, its misregulation is an important cause of maladaptation. A misregulated gene can be incorrectly silent (“off”) when a transcription factor (TF) that is required for its activation does not binds its regulatory region. Conversely, a misregulated gene can be incorrectly active (“on”) when a TF not normally involved in its activation binds its regulatory region, a phenomenon also known as regulatory crosstalk. DNA mutations that destroy or create TF binding sites on DNA are an important source of misregulation and crosstalk. Although misregulation reduces fitness in an environment to which an organism is well-adapted, it may become adaptive in a new environment. Here, I derive simple yet general mathematical expressions that delimit the conditions under which misregulation can be adaptive. These expressions depend on the strength of selection against misregulation, on the fraction of DNA sequence space filled with TF binding sites, and on the fraction of genes that must be expressed for optimal adaptation. I then use empirical data from RNA sequencing, protein-binding microarrays, and genome evolution, together with population genetic simulations to ask when these conditions are likely to be met. I show that they can be met under realistic circumstances, but these circumstances may vary among organisms and environments. My analysis provides a framework in which improved theory and data collection can help us demonstrate the role of misregulation in adaptation. It also shows that misregulation, like DNA mutation, is one of life’s many imperfections that can help propel Darwinian evolution.

Importance: Hospital-associated complications of older people (HAC-OPs) include delirium, hospital-associated disability, incontinence, pressure injuries, and falls. These complications may be preventable by age-friendly principles of care, including early mobility, good nutrition and hydration, and meaningful cognitive engagement; however, implementation is challenging. Objectives: To implement and evaluate a ward-based improvement program ("Eat Walk Engage") to more consistently deliver age-friendly principles of care to older individuals in acute inpatient wards. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cluster randomized CHERISH (Collaboration for Hospitalised Elders Reducing the Impact of Stays in Hospital) trial enrolled 539 consecutive inpatients aged 65 years or older, admitted for 3 days or more to study wards, from October 2, 2016, to April 3, 2017, with a 6-month follow-up. The study wards comprised 8 acute medical and surgical wards in 4 Australian public hospitals. Randomization was stratified by hospital, providing 4 clusters in intervention and in control groups. Statistical analysis was performed from August 28, 2018, to October 17, 2021, on an intention-to-treat basis. Intervention: A trained facilitator supported a multidisciplinary work group on each intervention ward to improve the care practices, environment, and culture to support key age-friendly principles. Main Outcomes and Measures: Primary outcomes were incidence of any HAC-OP and length of stay. Secondary outcomes were incidence of individual HAC-OPs, facility discharge, 6-month mortality, and all-cause readmission. Outcomes were analyzed at the individual level, adjusted for confounders and clustering. Results: A total of 265 participants on 4 intervention wards (124 women [46.8%]; mean [SD] age, 75.9 [7.3] years) and 274 participants on 4 control wards (145 women [52.9%]; mean [SD] age, 78.0 [8.2] years) were enrolled. The composite primary outcome of any H

During the evolution of multicellularity, the unit of selection transitions from that of the single cell to that of the integrated multicellular organism. Cellular specialization mediates this transition, as the evolution of differentiated cell types leads to fitness becoming a property of the multicellular organism. How does cellular specialization evolve? While we know that genetic changes result in the development of new cell types, it remains unclear whether the development of a new cell type can be ancestrally plastic prior to coming under developmental-genetic control via genetic assimilation. We use the volvocine green algae as a model system to address the overarching question of whether the plastic development of a new cell type preceded its fixation via genetic assimilation. Previous research on the evolution of cellular differentiation in this clade has determined that a gene necessary for somatic cell development is present in species with and without soma and that an ancestral stress response was co-opted during the evolution of somatic differentiation. This raises the possibility that somatic cells may have originated as a plastic trait prior to coming under developmental-genetic control. Here, I show that Eudorina species previously characterized as undifferentiated develop a small proportion of cells resembling soma following exposure to cold shock, an environmental stressor. We also find that the offspring of cold-shocked colonies (but not the grand-offspring) also develop somatic-like cells. We show that these cells are morphologically consistent with the somatic cells seen in closely related species that are obligately differentiated. We find that somatic-like cells in cold-shocked colonies are controlled by cell-level, temporal regulation while the production of somatic-like cells in the offspring of cold-shocked colonies are controlled by group-level, developmental regulation induced by the maternal environment. We propose that cell-level contro

Background Accurate assessment of functional capacity, a predictor of postoperative morbidity and mortality, is essential to improving surgical planning and outcomes. We assessed if all 12 items of the Duke Activity Status Index (DASI) were equally important in reflecting exercise capacity. Methods In this secondary cross-sectional analysis of the international, multicentre Measurement of Exercise Tolerance before Surgery (METS) study, we assessed cardiopulmonary exercise testing and DASI data from 1455 participants. Multivariable regression analyses were used to revise the DASI model in predicting an anaerobic threshold (AT) >11 ml kg −1 min −1 and peak oxygen consumption (VO 2 peak) >16 ml kg −1 min −1, cut-points that represent a reduced risk of postoperative complications. Results Five questions were identified to have dominance in predicting AT>11 ml kg −1 min −1 and VO 2 peak>16 ml.kg −1min −1. These items were included in the M-DASI-5Q and retained utility in predicting AT>11 ml.kg −1.min −1 (area under the receiver-operating-characteristic [AUROC]-AT: M-DASI-5Q=0.67 vs original 12-question DASI=0.66) and VO 2 peak (AUROC-VO2 peak: M-DASI-5Q 0.73 vs original 12-question DASI 0.71). Conversely, in a sensitivity analysis we removed one potentially sensitive question related to the ability to have sexual relations, and the ability of the remaining four questions (M-DASI-4Q) to predict an adequate functional threshold remained no worse than the original 12-question DASI model. Adding a dynamic component to the M-DASI-4Q by assessing the chronotropic response to exercise improved its ability to discriminate between those with VO 2 peak>16 ml.kg −1.min −1 and VO 2 peak<16 ml.kg −1.min −1. Conclusions The M-DASI provides a simple screening tool for further preoperative evaluation, including with cardiopulmonary exercise testing, to guide perioperative management.

The over-arching theme of this dissertation is to explore critical chemical influencers of film growth and electrical properties, especially on nanometer length scales, of hybrid organic-inorganic perovskite (PVSK) photo-active layers and interfacing TiO2 electrode surfaces for use in photovoltaic (PV) devices. Current PVSK PVs, in which the PVSK-TiO2 heterojunction is used for photo-generated electron-hole charge separation, demonstrate significant spatial heterogeneity in photo-generated charge flow to and across the PVSK-TiO2 interface that likely limits device energy conversion efficiency. This dissertation addresses two hypothesized sources of this electrical heterogeneity: the nanoscale electrical properties of the TiO2 electrode surface itself, which may influence interfacial charge transfer efficiency, and the structural heterogeneity of crystals within the solution-cast PVSK polycrystalline layer, which may influence charge flow to the TiO2 interface. In the first results chapter (Chapter 3), we explore the first hypothesized area of concern – the nanoscale electrical properties of the TiO2 surface. By combining conductive atomic force microscopy (cAFM), to measure local current-voltage properties across the TiO2 surface, with X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS), to track near-surface composition and energetics, we examine how two common TiO2 surface treatments for PV contact formation (oxygen plasma treatment and UV light irradiation) modify the nanoscale distribution of electron injection barriers for this electrode surface. Our results show that these treatments differently affect the average electrical properties across the TiO2 surface by the selective removal or introduction of near-surface carbon or molecular oxygen adsorbates. For the most electrically-activated TiO2 samples, which we propose represents the native electrical state of the oxide, a significant degree of spatio-electrical heterogeneity is measured at nanometer length-scales. In add

BACKGROUND: Impaired cardiac vagal function, quantified preoperatively as slower heart rate recovery (HRR) after exercise, is independently associated with perioperative myocardial injury. Parasympathetic (vagal) dysfunction may also promote (extra-cardiac) multi-organ dysfunction, although perioperative data are lacking. Assuming that cardiac vagal activity, and therefore heart rate recovery response, is a marker of brainstem parasympathetic dysfunction, we hypothesized that impaired HRR would be associated with a higher incidence of morbidity after noncardiac surgery. METHODS: In two prospective, blinded, observational cohort studies, we established the definition of impaired vagal function in terms of the HRR threshold that is associated with perioperative myocardial injury (HRR ≤ 12 beats min-1 (bpm), 60 seconds after cessation of cardiopulmonary exercise testing. The primary outcome of this secondary analysis was all-cause morbidity three and five days after surgery, defined using the Post-Operative Morbidity Survey. Secondary outcomes of this analysis were type of morbidity and time to become morbidity-free. Logistic regression and Cox regression tested for the association between HRR and morbidity. Results are presented as odds/hazard ratios [OR or HR; (95% confidence intervals). RESULTS: 882/1941 (45.4%) patients had HRR≤12bpm. All-cause morbidity within 5 days of surgery was more common in 585/822 (71.2%) patients with HRR≤12bpm, compared to 718/1119 (64.2%) patients with HRR>12bpm (OR:1.38 (1.14-1.67); p = 0.001). HRR≤12bpm was associated with more frequent episodes of pulmonary (OR:1.31 (1.05-1.62);p = 0.02)), infective (OR:1.38 (1.10-1.72); p = 0.006), renal (OR:1.91 (1.30-2.79); p = 0.02)), cardiovascular (OR:1.39 (1.15-1.69); p<0.001)), neurological (OR:1.73 (1.11-2.70); p = 0.02)) and pain morbidity (OR:1.38 (1.14-1.68); p = 0.001) within 5 days of surgery. CONCLUSIONS: Multi-organ dysfunction is more common in surgical patients with cardiac vagal dys

Singlet fission (SF), in which a photoexcted spin singlet exciton dissociates into a pair of low lying triplet excitons has the potential to overcome the Shockley-Quessier limit of conventional solar cells. It is well understood that a key intermediate - the multiexcitonic, quantum entangled $^1$(TT)$_1$ state plays a vital role in making the process spin-allowed. Early experiments based on transient absorption spectroscopy (TA) conducted on molecular crystals and dimers of organic molecules reported highly efficient SF. However, with the emergence of optical probes in the infra-red (IR) regime, the ``bound'' triplet pair state has been shown to be stable against decoherence thereby raising questions on SF itself. In this thesis, within a correlated electron model, we report calculations of excited state absorptions (ESAs) from the singlet and triplet excitons and from the triplet-triplet biexciton for pentacene crystal and dimers. We formulate a broad theory of quantum entanglement of triplet-triplet state in these molecular systems and show that spectroscopic differences in the ESA signals between free and bound triplets exist beyond the visible. The triplet exciton primarily absorbs in the visible and any near IR (NIR) absorption depends on the strength of the intermolecular coupling. In contrast, the $^1$(TT)$_1$ state has additional weak ESA in the IR. In the dimers, we show that entanglement between triplets is a function of the proximity as well as the steric hindrance between the molecular chromophores. A weak signal from the singlet exciton is found in the IR and attributed to a transition to a different kind of triplet-triplet state. In summary, our theory of ESA can be extended to other weakly coupled bimolecular systems without any loss of generality.

Contains fulltext : 182275.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access), BACKGROUND: The impact of context on the complex process of clinical reasoning is not well understood. Using situated cognition as the theoretical framework and videos to provide the same contextual "stimulus" to all participants, we examined the relationship between specific contextual factors on diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning accuracy in board certified internists versus resident physicians. METHODS: Each participant viewed three videotaped clinical encounters portraying common diagnoses in internal medicine. We explicitly modified the context to assess its impact on performance (patient and physician contextual factors). Patient contextual factors, including English as a second language and emotional volatility, were portrayed in the videos. Physician participant contextual factors were self-rated sleepiness and burnout.. The accuracy of diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning was compared with covariates using Fisher Exact, Mann-Whitney U tests and Spearman Rho's correlations as appropriate. RESULTS: Fifteen board certified internists and 10 resident physicians participated from 2013 to 2014. Accuracy of diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning did not differ between groups despite residents reporting significantly higher rates of sleepiness (mean rank 20.45 vs 8.03, U = 0.5, p < .001) and burnout (mean rank 20.50 vs 8.00, U = 0.0, p < .001). Accuracy of diagnosis and treatment were uncorrelated (r = 0.17, p = .65). In both groups, the proportion scoring correct responses for treatment was higher than the proportion scoring correct responses for diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: This study underscores that specific contextual factors appear to impact clinical reasoning performance. Further, the processes of diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning, although related, may not be interchangeable. This raises important questions about the impact that contextual factors have on clinical reasoning and provides insight into how clinical reasoning processes in more authentic settings

Alloparenting has played a pivotal role in every society throughout human history in ensuring the survival and healthy development of children. A large amount of theory (e.g. kin-selection) and evidence exists to support this claim, and though alloparenting is certainly not unique to humans, it is difficult to suggest that any other species benefits from it more, and certainly not one as ubiquitous as Homo sapiens. However, there is a surprising dearth of empirical research examining the causes of individual variation in the amount and type of alloparental behavior that a child receives, and what effect this variation has on previously validated measures of child well-being. We propose how different measures of familial relatedness and the spatial distribution of relatives might be used to predict the amount and type of alloparental care a child receives, and how these variables may interact to affect a child’s health. We employed a variety of different methods; genealogical modeling, genetic analysis, geospatial mapping, ethological behavioral observations, and anthropometric measurements in order to generate objective data to test these predictions. As members of a relatively isolated native people in Sonora, Mexico, our study population (the Comca'ac) is uniquely suited to help us test our hypotheses. From just this pilot study, we have made many methodological developments and found strong support for many of our hypotheses. There are many new questions to answer as well, which together suggest the future directions for an intensive study of a broader sample of this population, and alloparental behavior in humans in general.

The demographic and evolutionary history of a population leaves an identifiable signature on patterns of genetic variation, so we can learn about demography and natural selection through inference on contemporary polymorphism data. The distribution of sample allele frequencies, known as the allele frequency spectrum (AFS), is an informative statistic that has been used to infer single- and multi-population demographic histories and distributions of fitness effects of new mutations. AFS-based methods typically rely on the infinite sites model, in which loci are assumed to evolve independently and mutations always arise at a previously unmutated site. However, many loci are seen to violate these assumptions. Most obviously, loci occupy a physical space on the genome, and neighboring mutations will have correlated allele frequencies. Additionally some SNPs are found to be multi-allelic, with more than two alleles simultaneously segregating. The assumptions of the infinite sites model forces one to ignore or exclude such loci, but these loci are rich in information not captured by standard AFS approaches. With this in mind, I developed a numerical approach for solving a class of multi-allelic diffusion equations that allow for novel inferences on genomic sequence data. First, I considered selection at triallelic nonsynonymous data to infer the correlation of fitness effects for same-site mutations. I then explored the increase in power afforded to demographic inferences by two-locus allele frequency statistics, in which two biallelic loci are separated by a known recombination distance so the joint distribution of allele frequencies and linkage disequilibrium may be modeled by a diffusion approximation. Finally, I considered the same two-locus diffusion model but with selection placed on one of the two loci. This allows for the direct modeling of the effects of linked selection on neutral variants, and for potential inference applications such as the parameters of a sel

G-protein–coupled receptors are the largest superfamily in the human genome, and involved in critical cellular signaling processes in living cells. Protein structural fluctuations are the key for GPCR function that is driven and modulated by a variety of factors that are not well understood. This dissertation focusses on understanding the activation of GPCRs using the visual receptor, rhodopsin as the prototype. Rhodopsin is an ideal candidate for this study, as it represents the largest class of GPCRs, and is known to demonstrate more noticeable structural changes upon activation compared to the other GPCRs. What structural fluctuations occur, the role of water, and how the retinal cofactor regulates the protein dynamics during rhodopsin activation are specific research problems addressed in this work. Hypothesizing an ensemble activation mechanism, experiments were conducted using a variety of techniques to probe structural and dynamical fluctuations of rhodopsin in native membranes, as well as in membrane mimetics such as detergent micelles. Time-resolved wide-angle X-ray scattering (TR-WAXS), small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), quasielastic neutron scattering (QENS), and electronic spectroscopy are among the prominent techniques used to gain insights into the photo-intermediates that are key to understanding the rhodopsin activation process. The small-angle neutron scattering (SANS) experiments revealed a volumetric expansion of the protein molecule upon photoactivation of rhodopsin. Electronic spectroscopy together with the differential hydration study revealed the crucial role of water in rhodopsin signaling process and signal amplification by water. The quasielastic neutron scattering study conducted on powdered rhodopsin probed the changes in the local dynamics that are regulated by the retinal cofactor of the rhodopsin molecule. The increased local steric crowding in the ligand-free opsin is consistent with collapsing of the apoprotein structure in the a

Eva Katharina Masel, Patrick Huber, Tobias Engler, Herbert Hans WatzkeClinical Division of Palliative Care, Department of Internal Medicine I, Medical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria Background: Decisions on the intensity of analgesic therapy and judgments regarding its efficacy are difficult at the end of life, when many patients are not fully conscious and pain is a very common symptom. In healthy individuals and in postoperative settings, nociception and subsequent pain relief have been shown to induce changes in the autonomic nervous system (ANS), which can be detected by measuring heart rate variability (HRV). Objectives: The changes in the ANS were studied by measuring HRV during opioid therapy for cancer breakthrough pain (CBTP) in palliative-care patients with cancer and compared these changes with patient-reported pain levels on a numeric rating scale (NRS). Patients and methods: The study included ten patients with advanced cancer and baseline opioid therapy. In each patient, a 24-hour peak-to-peak HRV measurement with a sampling rate of 4,000 Hz was performed. High frequency (HF), low frequency (LF), total power, pNN50 (indicating parasympathetic activity), and log LF/HF were obtained in two intervals prior to therapy and in four intervals thereafter. Intensity of CBTP was recorded using a patient-reported NRS prior to therapy and 30 minutes afterward. Results: CBTP occurred in seven patients (three males and four females; mean age: 62 ± 5.2 years) and was treated with opioids. A highly significant positive correlation was found between opioid-induced reduction in patient-reported pain intensity based on NRS and changes in log LF/HF (r > 0.700; p < 0.05). Log LF/HF decreased in patients who had a reduction in pain of >2 points on the NRS but remained unchanged in the other patients. Conclusion: Our data suggest that log LF/HF may be a use

Item does not contain fulltext, Context specificity and the impact that contextual factors have on the complex process of clinical reasoning is poorly understood. Using situated cognition as the theoretical framework, our aim was to evaluate the verbalized clinical reasoning processes of resident physicians in order to describe what impact the presence of contextual factors have on their clinical reasoning. Participants viewed three video recorded clinical encounters portraying straightforward diagnoses in internal medicine with select patient contextual factors modified. After watching each video recording, participants completed a think-aloud protocol. Transcripts from the think-aloud protocols were analyzed using a constant comparative approach. After iterative coding, utterances were analyzed for emergent themes with utterances grouped into categories, themes and subthemes. Ten residents participated in the study with saturation reached during analysis. Participants universally acknowledged the presence of contextual factors in the video recordings. Four categories emerged as a consequence of the contextual factors: (1) emotional reactions (2) behavioral inferences (3) optimizing the doctor patient relationship and (4) difficulty with closure of the clinical encounter. The presence of contextual factors may impact clinical reasoning performance in resident physicians. When confronted with the presence of contextual factors in a clinical scenario, residents experienced difficulty with closure of the encounter, exhibited as diagnostic uncertainty. This finding raises important questions about the relationship between contextual factors and clinical reasoning activities and how this relationship might influence the cost effectiveness of care. This study also provides insight into how the phenomena of context specificity may be explained using situated cognition theory.

Energetics, charge selectivity and interfacial charge transfer kinetics affect the efficiency of solar electric energy conversion and solar photochemical formation of fuels. The research described herein focuses on understanding and controlling the energetics, charge selectivity, and interfacial charge transfer processes in organic photovoltaics, as well as new generation semiconductor-semiconductor and metal-semiconductor heterostructured nanorods (NRs) as photocatalysts. Waveguide and transmission based spectroelectrochemistries, photoemission spectroscopies, and impedance spectroscopy were used to characterize the frontier orbital energies, charge selectivity and interfacial charge transfer kinetics in heterostructured NRs and organic photovoltaics. CdSe NRs tipped with Au nanoparticles and CdSe seeded CdS NRs tipped with Pt nanoparticles were used to study the effect of compositional asymmetry and catalytic sites on band edge energies of NRs. We used UV photoemission spectroscopy (UPS) and waveguide and transmission-based spectroelectrochemistry of NR monolayers/multilayers on conductive substrates to estimate valence/conduction band energies. Potential-modulated attenuated total reflectance (PM-ATR) spectroscopy was utilized to measure the apparent heterogeneous rate constants of reversible electron injection into NR films on indium tin oxide (ITO). We conclude from these measurements that metal tipping, which is designed to enhance the photocatalytic activity of semiconductor NRs, altered band edge energies and enhanced electronic coupling to conductive substrates, in ways that are predicted to influence their efficiency as photoelectrocatalysts. Monolayers of functionalized phosphonic acid ruthenium phthalocyanines (RuPcPA) tethered to ITO as a model organic photovoltaic donor/electrode interface were studied to understand the aggregation and orientation dependent charge transfer kinetics and energetics of these systems. The effect of surface roughness on the

The purpose of this project is to identify the incidence of post traumatic hypopituitarism (PTH) in mild TBI and develop criteria for assessing which patients with a mild TBI are at risk for developing PTH. This study will also correlate the characteristics of the individuals with PTH by neuropsychological, neurophysiological and imaging testing as they relate to functional outcome. At 6 months post injury, patients will be screened for anterior pituitary function f the 61 mTBI subjects with IGF-1 results at the 6 month visit, the results fell below the lower threshold for 13.1% when using the Quest Diagnostics reference values. However, when the TBI threshold was used, there were 31 subjects (50.8%) that met the criteria for hypopituitarism, with this finding, similar to that found in moderate-severe TBI population., The original document contains color images.

Urban land-use planning, which is a useful tool for the sustainable development of a city, is a complex decision making process. However, the modern GIS technologies facilitate such complex jobs in two ways – (i) GIS allows to work with large numbr of datasets, (ii) a number of methods, techniques or models could be embeded in GIS for land-use suitability analysis. Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP), which is a kind of Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) technique, could be used for urban land-use planning with support of GIS technology. The aim of this thesis is preparing urban land-use planning using GIS and AHP, where the case study is Dhaka city. Dhaka, which is one of the fastest growing mega cities in the world and is the capital city of Bangladesh, is facing acute pressure of increasing population and unplanned urbanization, despite, a number of planning interventions have been taken for the planned development of the city. Recent Detail Area Planning (DAP) for Dhaka city was a cumbersome job but brought little benefits. DAP primarily prepared a land-use plan at city scale using GIS technology. Although huge resources and times were used to build the GIS database, it had promlems on (i) specifying data requirements, (ii) ensuring quality database (having topological rules, elimination of sliver polygons etc.) and (iii) using the database for spatial analysis in view to make better planning decision. In this connection, this thesis tried to conceptualize a model to build geographical database for urban land-use planning to address first two problems and applied GIS-based AHP technique for more sophisticated analysis (problem-iii). After literature review and selection of the study area (Group-E of DAP), the study set a number of criteria through sharing experts’ opinions. Based on those criteria the collected GIS data was transformed into the Geodatabase, where the geodatabase was conceptualized using Unified Modelling Language (UML). Five experts’ opinions, Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh, is one of the fastest growing mega cities in the world. The city is facing acute pressure of increasing population and unplanned urbanization. Since 1959 a number of planning mechanisms have been formulated to promote planned growth of the city. But the city never experienced planned development. Current state of city development is quite unsustainable in nature. Urban land-use planning is a useful mechanism for sustainable city development. At the same time, land-use planning is a complex decision making process as such planning approach encompasses a number of socio-economic, physical and environmental criteria. Modern Geographical Information System (GIS) technology is very much helpful to incorporate these criteria and allow improved decision making process to prepare sustainable planning. Different Multi-Criteria Decision Making Models (MCDM), like, Analytical Hierarchy Model (AHP), can be applied fruitfully with the support of GIS to ease the complex decision making process of spatial planning, e.g., land-use planning. So, the aim of the thesis is to prepare urban land-use planning using GIS and AHP in context of Dhaka city. The thesis used both primary and secondary data. Experts’ opinions were shared to select the criteria for land-use planning and to fix the level of preferences of each criterion. The objective of selecting criteria and their level of preferences were to identify the suitability of areas for residential, industrial, commercial development and for protecting agricultural land. In this purpose, AHP technique was used so that the criteria can be selected easily in hierarchy order, the preferences level can be fixed with consistency and finally, the suitability of land-use can be ranked using GIS. The ranking of suitability allow deciding which land is more suitable for which category of development or for which development control. The research result shows that – The Highly Suitable areas are featured by

Purpose – In this study, 37 English Language Teaching (ELT) teacher trainees from a Malaysian university conducted an action-research project to determine whether journals kept during their fieldwork in primary schools located in an area close to the university allowed them to reflect on their beliefs and behaviors in the classroom. Methodology – Themes were revealed using emergent coding in their journals. Van Manen’s (1977) three-stage model (practical, technical and critical) was used to determine the issues raised and the level of critical reflection reached in the journal entries Findings – The findings indicated that the teacher trainees demonstrated practical and technical level thinking, but rarely rose to the critical level of reflection. Nonetheless, they also demonstrated changes in their beliefs and behaviours, essential for professional development.Significance – Reflective thinking is critical to teaching and is important in the United States and in countries striving to replicate its pedagogical tools and techniques. However, many Western practices associated with the nurturing of critical thinking are not familiar to Malaysian teacher trainees.We conclude that prospective teachers here do use their journals to reflect on their educational practice, but not at the deepest levels of insight. Critical thinking must be taught to Malaysian teacher trainees and filtered through the local culture if it is to improve teaching and learning in the nation’s classrooms.

The purpose of this project is to identify the incidence of post traumatic hypopituitarism (PTH) in mild TBI and develop criteria for assessing which patients with a mid TBI are at risk for developing PTH. This study will also correlate the characteristics of the individuals with PTH by neorpsychological, neurophysiological and imaging testing as they relate to functional outcome. At 6 months post injury, patients will be screened for anterior pituitary function of the 56 mTBI subjects with IGF-1 results, of the 63 who completed the 6 month visit, the results fell below the lower threshold for 14% when using the Quest Diagnostics reference values. However, when the TBI was used, there were 31 subjects (55%) that met the criteria for hypopituitarism, with this finding, similar to that found in moderate-severe TBI population.

The work presented in this dissertation focuses on the use of computational and mathematical models to investigate how mammalian brains construct and maintain stable representations of space and location. Recordings of the activities of cells in the hippocampus and entorhinal cortex have provided strong, direct evidence that these cells and brain areas are involved in generating internal representations of the location of an animal in space. The emphasis of the first two portions of the dissertation are on understanding the factors that influence the scale and stability of these representations, both of which are important for accurate spatial navigation. In addition, it is argued in both cases that many of the computations observed in these systems emerge at least in part as a consequence of a particular type of network structure, where excitatory neurons are driven by external sources, and then mutually inhibit each other via interactions mediated by inhibitory cells. The first contribution of this thesis, which is described in chapter 2, is an investigation into the origin of the change in the scale of spatial representations across the dorsoventral axis of the hippocampus. Here it will be argued that this change in scale is due to increased processing of nonspatial information, rather than a dorsoventral change in the scale of the spatially-modulated inputs to this structure. Chapter 3 explores the factors influencing the dynamical stability of class of pattern-forming networks known as continuous attractor networks, which have been used to model various components of the spatial navigation systems, including head direction cells, place cells, and grid cells. Here it will be shown that network architecture, the amount of input drive, and the timescales at which cells interact all influence the stability of the patterns formed by these networks. Finally, in chapter 4, a new technique for analyzing neural data is introduced. This technique is a spike train similar

In organic photovoltaic (OPV) devices, the outer interface structures are crucial in establishing the environment to which charge collection efficiency is keenly sensitive. These outer structures consist of both the physical electrodes and the subsequent electrode contacts formed by integrating electrodes with photoactive materials. Currently, fundamental understanding and strict control of contact effects within OPVs is insufficient. This dissertation is a compilation of this author's research devoted to understanding, modifying, characterizing, and controlling contact effects in OPVs. An overview of the role of electrodes and electrode contacts in OPVs is presented in the Introduction (Chapter 1). The following three chapters each embody a fulfilled research project focusing on a specific aspect of the roles and impacts of electrodes and contacts in OPVs. Chapter 2 presents the work of a modeling study on the impacts of electrical surface heterogeneity on OPV performance and establishes guidelines for acceptable degrees of surface electrical heterogeneity. Chapter 3 explores the use of electrochemically deposited and doped conductive polymers as interlayers for OPVs. Chapter 4 utilizes metal-insulator-semiconductor capacitor (MIS-C) structures as a unique platform for isolating the role of electrodes and contacts in facilitating deleterious non-ideal injection and transport pathways in OPVs. The Conclusion (Chapter 5) presents the author's suggestions for future studies involving electrodes and electrode contacts in OPVs.

During the transitions from unicellularity to multicellularity, cells transitioned from functioning as wholes to functioning as parts of wholes. In the colonial freshwater green flagellates known as volvocine algae, living "intermediate form" species give ample evidence concerning how cells gradually lost autonomy and began functioning as dedicated parts. This dissertation concerns how and why the role of cell division changed in unicellular to colonial volvocine algae. We review a recent book on levels of selection and apply a proposed three-stage transition to the example of volvocine algae. We found that, in contrast to the previous description of "stage 1", the concept of group reproduction is potentially applicable to very early-branching colonial volvocine algae. This possibility indicates that the role of cell division could have shifted (to function in group reproduction) earlier than was previously thought (Appendix A). We show that, given some reasonable assumptions, cell- and colony-level fitness are equivalent in undifferentiated colonial volvocines (Appendix B). In spite of this, our models show that cell division number could evolve in response to specifically colony-level factors. Cell division number could be regulated indirectly via allocation to growth (Appendix B) or directly via regulation of the growth-to-first division transition (Appendix C). The extent to which group factors matter in the outcome of selection on cell division number is a matter of degree and is quantifiable (Appendix B). Colony cell number could be a genuine group-level adaptation, even in the simplest volvocine algae (Appendix B and C). Because a size-dependent growth trajectory is a substantial group-level cost of higher division numbers, our analysis highlights the potential importance of understanding how colony size affects cell growth (Appendix C). We also present data on cell-type allocation in Volvox (Appendix D). The Volvox colony is clearly the level of function for

The purpose of this project is to identify the incidence of post traumatic hypopituitarism (PTH) in mild TBI and develop criteria for assessing which patients with a mild TBI are at risk for developing PTH. This study will also correlate the characteristics of the individuals with PTH by neuropsychological, neurophysiological and imaging testing as they relate to functional outcome. At 6 months post injury, patients will be screened for anterior pituitary function 121 subjects have been recruited as of July 15, 2012; 96 subjects, of which 45 are mTBI, have reached the 6 month point, where data collection (i.e. blood samples) for this project occurs. 20 subjects were found to have hypopituitarism. Further details are in the body of this report.

Political advertising designed to influence the behavior and beliefs of the audience. Therefore political advertisements should be original and interesting they should draw the audience’s attention by successful text decision. As advertising must be effective so the integral role in it is played by the language manipulation. Language manipulation predetermines the use of language means of different levels to produce a hidden impact on the recipient. In political advertising linguistic manipulation occupies a special place.

The purpose of this project is to identify the incidence of post traumatic hypopituitarism (PTH) in mild TBI and develop criteria for assessing which patients with a mild TBI are at risk for developing PTH. This study will also correlate the characteristics of the individuals with PTH by neuropsychological, neurophysiological and imaging testing as they relate to functional outcome. At 6 months post injury, patients will be screened for anterior pituitary function. IRB approvals have been obtained and an Integrated Clinical Protocol has been developed. Operational procedures have been developed. Recruitment of subjects has not yet begun.

A dual microchannel device with a gas-liquid interface was developed for use as an amperometric biosensor for the detection of organophosphorus compounds based on acetylcholinesterase inhibition. Electric eel acetylcholinesterase was immobilized on the liquid microchannel by creating a cross-linked gel with glutaraldehyde. The system was tested with malathion, an organophosphorus pesticide. The detection limit of the sensor in the parts-per-trillion range and the detection is rapid, sensitive, and selective to only phosphonates. Incorporation of existing acetylcholinesterase biochemistry into a micro-scale sensor also allows the device to be easily portable.

Cell transplantation offers a potential new treatment for stroke. Animal studies using models that produce ischemic damage in both the striatum and the frontal cortex have shown beneficial effects when hNT cells (postmitotic immature neurons) were transplanted into the ischemic striatum. In this study, we investigated the effect of hNT cells in a model of stroke in which the striatum remains intact and damage is restricted to the cortex. hNT cells were transplanted into the ischemic cortex 1 week after stroke induced by distal middle cerebral artery occlusion (dMCAo). The cells exhibited robust survival at 4 weeks posttransplant even at the lesion border. hNT cells did not migrate, but they did extend long neurites into the surrounding parenchyma mainly through the white matter. Neurite extension was predominantly toward the lesion in ischemic animals but was bidirectional in uninjured animals. Extension of neurites through the cortex toward the lesion was also seen when there was some surviving cortical tissue between the graft and the infarct. Prolonged deficits were obtained in four tests of sensory-motor function. hNT-transplanted animals showed a significant improvement in functional recovery on one motor test, but there was no effect on the other three tests relative to control animals. Thus, despite clear evidence of graft survival and neurite extension, the functional benefit of hNT cells after ischemia is not guaranteed. Functional benefit could depend on other variables, such as infarct location, whether the cells mature, the behavioral tests employed, rehabilitation training, or as yet unidentified factors. © 2006 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A new type of fully integrated MEMS preconcentrator has been fabricated and tested as a front end for a flame ionization detector (FID). A 1 microliter preconcentrator filled with PEI-coated microposts is integrated with fast microvalves (response time < 50 microsecs) and a resistive microheater (ramping to 200C in 0.5 second). The integrated preconcentrator can sample a cubic centimeter of gas in 0.2 second at 50 kPa, adsorb targeted species, heat and desorb in 0.5 second, and inject concentrated gaseous species in as small as 50 μs pulses into separation columns in a microscale gas chromatograph (GC), or directly into a detector. The unprecedented speed of this preconcentrator (< 1 second) is enabled by MEMS sizing and fabrication, allowing sniffing of chemical warfare agents, toxic industrial compounds (TICs), and other volatile compounds in seconds, rather than tens of minutes with conventional systems.

For the last decade, interest in the organophosphate (OP) chemical warfare agents (CWA) sensor has multiplied, especially after the tragic terrorist attack with sarin in Tokyo in 1995. The requirements for OP CWA sensors include: portability - small and light enough to be carried by a person; vapor detection - sample is gas phase, rather than liquid or solid phase; sensitivity - the vapor concentration of the target molecule is in the ppb or below; selectivity (reliability) - minimum false positives. Conventional methods for the detection of gas-phase OP CWA are gas chromatography/mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) and ion mobility spectrometry (IMS). GC/MS is in most cases not suitable for portable applications. IMS has a lower selectivity because the intrinsic detection mechanism of IMS is not based on the chemical nature of the target molecule. The objectives of this work are 1) to study the oxime-based electrochemical sensor in a beaker cell and 2) to fabricate a micro-scale gas-liquid interface so that the oxime-based sensor can be miniaturized into a small-sized device.

New column designs that give lower dispersion than column designs presented previously are presented. All of the work so far has concentrated on columns that are arranged with a spiral geometry. Spiral columns show lower dispersion than serpentines in chip scale electrophoresis and the assumption has been that spirals would also give lower dispersion than serpentines for microGC. We also test various turn geometries to see which gives the lowest dispersion. We have examined spiral and serpentine columns. We have also considered several turn geometries., Submitted for publication in the Proceedings of the Transducers 2007 Conference. Sponsored in part by DARPA.

The key objective of the work so far was to do the science needed to design better microburners and microreactors for soldier power and other applications. Microcombustion has gone from "impossible" to routine. Microreactors for ammonia reforming shrank by more than a factor of 100. Computational models exist where none existed before., The original document contains color images.

Objectives: To describe the short-term outcomes in Aboriginal children admitted to hospital with radiological alveolar lobar changes; and determine whether predischarge chest radiography can predict respiratory morbidity found at follow-up.Design, participants, setting: Prospective cohort study of Aboriginal children admitted to Alice Springs Hospital between October 2000 and April 2001 with alveolar lobar abnormalities (area of consolidation, ≥ 1 cm) on chest radiographs. Participants were to have a predischarge radiograph and be followed up for 12 months.Main outcome measures: Comorbidities, follow-up rate, and new respiratory disease found at follow-up.Results: Of 113 children hospitalised with radiological alveolar lobar changes, 109 were Aboriginal. Their median age was 1.8 years (range, 0.2 months–13.3 years), and 124 episodes were recorded. Comorbidities were common in these children (anaemia, 51.5%; suppurative otitis media, 37.3%). The follow-up rate one year after admission was 83.1% of episodes. New treatable chronic respiratory morbidity was found in 20 (25.6%) of the 78 children with completed follow-up. Predischarge chest radiographs were predictive of all chronic respiratory morbidity when they showed no or minimal resolution (0–20% resolution) (relative risk, 7.43; 95% CI, 2.07–26.60).Conclusions: Central Australian Aboriginal children admitted to hospital with alveolar changes on chest radiographs have a substantial burden of chronic respiratory illness, and should be clinically followed up for early detection and management of chronic respiratory morbidity. A predischarge radiograph is useful, and patients whose radiograph shows no or minimal resolution should have a follow-up x-ray film.

BACKGROUND: Published data on the frequency and types of flexible bronchoscopic airway appearances in children with non-cystic fibrosis bronchiectasis and chronic suppurative lung disease are unavailable. The aims of this study were to describe airway appearances and frequency of airway abnormalities and to relate these airway abnormalities to chest high resolution computed tomography (cHRCT) findings in a cohort of children with non-cystic fibrosis chronic suppurative lung disease (CSLD). METHODS: Indigenous children with non-cystic fibrosis CSLD (<4 months moist and/or productive cough) were prospectively identified and collected over a 2.5 year period at two paediatric centres. Their medical charts and bronchoscopic notes were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: In all but one child the aetiology of the bronchiectasis was presumed to be following a respiratory infection. Thirty three of the 65 children with CSLD underwent bronchoscopy and five major types of airway findings were identified (mucosal abnormality/inflammation only, bronchomalacia, obliterative-like lesion, malacia/obliterative-like combination, and no macroscopic abnormality). The obliterative-like lesion, previously undescribed, was present in 16.7% of bronchiectatic lobes. Structural airway lesions (bronchomalacia and/or obliterative-like lesion) were present in 39.7% of children. These lesions, when present, corresponded to the site of abnormality on the cHRCT scan. CONCLUSIONS: Structural airway abnormality is commonly found in children with post-infectious bronchiectasis and a new bronchoscopic finding has been described. Airway abnormalities, when present, related to the same lobe abnormality on the cHRCT scan. How these airway abnormalities relate to aetiology, management strategy, and prognosis is unknown.

Background The use of abacavir a potent HIV—1 nucleosideanalogue reverse—transcriptase inhibitor is complicated by a potentially life-threatening hypersensitivity syndrome in about 5% of cases. Genetic factors influencing the immune response to abacavir might confer susceptibility. We aimed to find associations between MHC alleles and abacavir hypersensitivity in HIV—1-positive individuals treated with abacavir. Methods MHC region typing was done in the first 200 Western Australian HIV Cohort Study participants exposed to abacavir. Definite abacavir hypersensitivity was identified in 18 cases, and was excluded in 167 individuals with more than 6 weeks' exposure to the drug (abacavir tolerant). 15 individuals experienced some symptoms but did not meet criteria for abacavir hypersensitivity. p values were corrected for comparisons of multiple HLA alleles (pc) by multiplication of the raw p value by the estimated number of HLA alleles present within the loci examined. Findings HLA-B*5701 was present in 14 (78%) of the 18 patients with abacavir hypersensitivity, and in four (2%) of the 167 abacavir tolerant patients (odds ratio 117 [95% CI 29—481], pc<0·0001), and the HLA-DR7 and HLA-DQ3 combination was found in 13 (72%) of hypersensitive and five (3%) of tolerant patients (73 [20—268], pc<0·0001). HLA-B*5701, HLA-DR7, and HLA-DQ3 were present in combination in 13 (72%) hypersensitive patients and none of the tolerant patients (822 [43—15 675], pc<0·0001). Other MHC markers also present on the 57·1 ancestral haplotype to which the three markers above belong confirmed the presence of haplotype-specific linkage disequilibrium, and mapped potential susceptibility loci to a region bounded by C4A6 and HLA-C. Within the entire abacavir-exposed cohort (n=200), presence of HLA-B*5701, HLA-DR7, and HLA-DQ3 had a positive predictive value for hypersensitivity of 100%, and a negative predictive value of 97%. Interpretation Genetic susceptibility to abacavir hypersensitivity is car

Abacavir (ABC) is a potent nucleoside analogue inhibitor of HIV reverse transcriptase. Approximately 5% of individuals given abacavir develop a potentially life threatening hypersensitivity reaction. These reactions typically occur within six weeks of exposure and recur rapidly on rechallenge. It has been proposed that patients may be predisposed to such reactions by genetic polymorphisms in genes involved in systemic inflammatory responses. We investigated the effect of MHC alleles on the risk of hypersensitivity to abacavir in 200 participants in the Western Australian HIV Cohort Study exposed to the drug. Eighteen definite cases of abacavir hypersensitivity (ABC HSR) were identified and 167 individuals had more than six weeks exposure to abacavir without developing hypersensitivity (ABC non-HSR). Fifteen individuals who experienced some symptoms but did not meet the criteria for definite ABC HSR were excluded. There were striking differences in the frequency of some of the HLA alleles in the ABC HSR and non-HSR groups. In the ABC HSR group, HLA- B*5701 was found in 14/18 cases (78%) compared to 4/167 (2.3%) in the ABC non-HSR group (OR = 117, p < 0.0001) whilst the combination of DRB1*0701and DQ3 was found in 13/18 (72%) of the HSR cases and 5/167 (3.0%) of the non-HSR cases (OR = 72, p < 0.0001). These alleles HLA-B*5701, DRB1*0701 and DQ3 are markers of the 57.1 ancestral haplotype (AH). We therefore examined the presence of the combination of all three markers in the 2 groups: 13/18 (72%) of the HSR cases and none of the 167 ABC non-HSR patients had all 3 markers (OR = 822, p < 0.0001). Other markers characteristic of the 57.1 AH (D6S1014*137, C4A6, D6S273*135, TNF-238A, MICA*194, MIB*344) were examined to confirm the presence of and to map the extent of the 57.1 AH. All 14 ABC HSR cases with HLA-B*5701 had markers characteristic of 57.1 AH centromeric of HLA-B up to and including D6S273. Two additional control populations (381 HIV infected patients unexposed

SUMMARY. High-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the chest permits early detection of lung disease; two relevant scoring systems (Bhalla and Nathanson) have been developed to describe CF lung disease. Comparisons between the two scoring systems have not been made, and it is not known which system is more appropriate for young children, i.e., the age group where other objective markers are scarce. We reviewed the clinical findings, pulmonary function data, and HRCT of 16 children aged less than 12 years. The Bhalla scoring system had a better correlation with FEV(1) (r = -0.65, P = 0.012) than the Nathanson score (r = 0.53, P = 0.05). All children had bronchiectasis, including 5 with normal pulmonary function tests. The lower lobes were universally involved, and 5 children did not have any upper lobe disease. Four of these 5 children were aged less than 7 years. We conclude that the Bhalla scoring system is more applicable to young children than is the Nathanson system. Also, in this group of young children with CF, lower lobes are more commonly involved than upper lobes, which is in contrast to the classical teaching that CF lung disease begins in the upper lobes.

High‐resolution computed tomography (HRCT) of the chest permits early detection of lung disease; two relevant scoring systems (Bhalla and Nathanson) have been developed to describe CF lung disease. Comparisons between the two scoring systems have not been made, and it is not known which system is more appropriate for young children, i.e., the age group where other objective markers are scarce. We reviewed the clinical findings, pulmonary function data, and HRCT of 16 children aged less than 12 years. The Bhalla scoring system had a better correlation with FEV1 (r = −0.65, P = 0.012) than the Nathanson score (r = 0.53, P = 0.05). All children had bronchiectasis, including 5 with normal pulmonary function tests. The lower lobes were universally involved, and 5 children did not have any upper lobe disease. Four of these 5 children were aged less than 7 years. We conclude that the Bhalla scoring system is more applicable to young children than is the Nathanson system. Also, in this group of young children with CF, lower lobes are more commonly involved than upper lobes, which is in contrast to the classical teaching that CF lung disease begins in the upper lobes.

The postlarval (2mm) and juvenile (3-10mm) stages of three commercially important species of prawn (Metapenaeus bennettae, Penaeus plebejus and Penaeus esculentus) were sampled fortnightly for four months by beam trawl from five different habitats in Moreton Bay (27o12'S, 153o05'E). The habitats sampled represented two disturbed areas: a residential canal estate and a Zostera capricorni/Halophila ovalis seagrass bed adjacent to the canal estate revetment wall; and three undisturbed areas: a Z. capricorni seagrass bed located adjacent to a mangrove (Avicennia marina) area, a Z. capricorni/H. ovalis seagrass bed located adjacent to a mangrove (A. marina) area and a bare (mud) substratum. Postlarval and juvenile M. bennettae, P. plebejus and P. esculentus prawns were caught in highest densities on seagrass areas, with M. bennettae and P. plebejus densities highest on the two undisturbed seagrass areas. Although relatively low in density, P. esculentus was restricted to the three vegetated habitats, in particular the Z. capricorni seagrass bed and the Zostera capricorni/Halophila ovalis seagrass bed adjacent to the canal estate revetment wall. M. bennettae was the only species caught in any number from the canal, while P. plebejus was the only species caught in any number at the bare site. Laboratory studies were also conducted which indicated that seagrass was found to offer protection from predators for juvenile M. bennettae.