Search

The electric industry is facing yet another new technology movement that is changing the face of the sector. It may mean the ultimate unravelling of the energy world as it [...]

Firefighting is physically and mentally taxing and recruits are expected to have optimal health and fitness. However, physical fitness tends to decline following initial training, placing firefighters at an increased risk for stress and injury. Efforts are needed to engage and support firefighters in maintaining adequate health and fitness to withstand the rigorous demands of their occupation. This study examined the feasibility of TARP, a pragmatic strength and conditioning intervention for metropolitan‐based firefighters, delivered in collaboration with a professional National Rugby League club. A mixed‐methods approach was utilised to examine program implementation, recruitment and sample characteristics, intervention satisfaction and acceptability, and participants' response to the intervention. Evaluation measures included field notes taken during steering committee meetings, participant flow data, baseline and follow‐up outcome measures, self‐report questionnaires, and telephone interviews with a sample of participants. Participants (N = 113) were predominantly men (82%) with a mean age of 43 ± 9.3 years and BMI of 26.6 ± 2.9 kg/m2. Program satisfaction was high (95% very satisfied or somewhat satisfied) among program completers (42% retention). Key strengths of the program included delivery through the professional sports club, quality of facilities and equipment, and scheduling flexibility. Future programs should consider incorporating education or training to support behaviour change maintenance and strategies to retain participants at follow‐up. Results provide valuable insights into the design and delivery of interventions for firefighters and demonstrate the importance of strong partnerships between community stakeholders.

Collaboration among stakeholders with widely divergent points of view never has been more critical. In a world of increasingly complex industry challenges resulting from megatrends now driving the electric industry--including [...]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] The current view of the smart grid is as an extension and extrapolation of the existing distribution and transmission networks, bolstered with technologies such as advanced metering infrastructure [...]

Byline: Mark A. Gabriel The intersection of cyber and physical, coupled with nation state actors, is making security more difficult and costly. And adding to the growing need to support [...]

I've got this FOX Carbine (it is sort of like a Thompson submachine gun wannabe] in the shop and can't find much info on it. The one website I found [...]

It might be that after 30 years, energy efficiency (EE) has hit its prime with a galactic alignment of the planets of capacity needs, utility interest, consumer consciousness, technical potential, [...]

Large constructed wetlands, known as stormwater treatment areas (STAs), have been deployed to remove phosphorus (P) in drainage waters before discharge into the Everglades in South Florida, USA. Their P removal performance depends on internal P cycling under typically hydrated, but with occasionally desiccated, conditions. We examined the spatial and temporal P removal capacity under different hydrologic conditions along a STA flow path. While inflow soils are P enriched, the outflow region of the wetland contained P‐unsaturated soils with minimal net recycling of bound soil P to the water column as plant‐available P. The outflow‐region soils were characterized by low porewater soluble reactive P (SRP) (≤40 μg L−1) and high total sulfide (TS) (2–9 mg L−1) concentrations, and total ammoniacal nitrogen (TAN) and SRP flux rates that averaged 1.51 and 0.002 mg m−2d−1, respectively. Pronounced increases in porewater and surface‐water concentrations of SRP, dissolved organic P (DOP), and TAN were observed immediately after rehydration of the cell after an extended drought. Elevated total P concentrations persisted at the outfall of the cell for several months thereafter, resulting in an annual outflow total P concentration nearly threefold higher than the long‐term mean. Relative to processes that can occur during extended periods of inundation, such as sulfate‐enhanced P release from organic matter mineralization or iron sulfide formation, aerobic oxidation of organic matter during prolonged dryout periods is a more significant biogeochemical process in compromising soil P retention in STAs.

The focus of this study is to investigate processes causing the observed spatial variation of total mercury (THg) in the soil O horizon of watersheds within the Superior National Forest (Minnesota) and to determine if results have implications toward understanding long‐term changes in THg concentrations for resident fish. Principal component analysis was used to evaluate the spatial relationships of 42 chemical elements in three soil horizons over 10 watersheds. Results indicate that soil organic carbon is the primary factor controlling the spatial variation of certain metals (Hg, Tl, Pb, Bi, Cd, Sn, Sb, Cu, and As) in the O and A soil horizons. In the B/E horizon, organic carbon appeared to play a minor role in metal spatial variation. These characteristics are consistent with the concentration of soil organic matter and carbon decreasing from the O to the B/E horizons. We also investigated the relationship between percent change in upland soil organic content and fish THg concentrations across all watersheds. Statistical regression analysis indicates that a 50% reduction in age‐one and age‐two fish THg concentration could result from an average 10% decrease in upland soil organic content. Disturbances that decrease the content of THg and organic matter in the O and A horizons (e.g., fire) may cause a short‐term increase in atmospherically deposited mercury but, over the long term, may lead to decreased fish THg concentrations in affected watersheds.

A major contributing factor to the high mortality rate associated with acute myeloid leukemia and multiple myeloma is the development of resistance to chemotherapy. We have shown that the combination of tipifarnib, a nonpeptidomimetic farnesyltransferase inhibitor (FTI), with bortezomib, a proteosome inhibitor, promotes synergistic death and overcomes de novo drug resistance in acute myeloid leukemia cell lines. Experiments were undertaken to identify the molecular mechanisms by which tipifarnib produces cell death in acute myeloid leukemia and multiple myeloma cell lines (U937 and 8226, respectively). Tipifarnib, but not other FTIs tested [N-[4-[2(R)-amino-3-mercaptopropyl]amino-2-phenylbenzoyl]methionine methyl ester trifluoroacetate salt (FTI-277) and 2'-methyl-5-((((1-trityl-1H-imidazol-4-yl)methyl)amino)methyl)-[1,1'-biphenyl]-2-carboxylic acid (FTI-2153), promotes elevations in intracellular free-calcium concentrations ([Ca(2+)](i)) in both cell lines. These elevations in [Ca(2+)](i) were accompanied by highly dynamic plasmalemmal blebbing and frequently resulted in membrane lysis. The tipifarnib-induced elevations in [Ca(2+)](i) were not blocked by thapsigargin or ruthenium red, but were inhibited by application of Ca(2+)-free extracellular solution and by the Ca(2+) channel blockers Gd(3+) and La(3+). Conversely, 2-aminoethoxydiphenyl borate (2-APB) potentiated the tipifarnib-evoked [Ca(2+)](i) overload. Preventing Ca(2+) influx diminished tipifarnib-evoked cell death, whereas 2-APB potentiated this effect, demonstrating a link between tipifarnib-induced Ca(2+) influx and apoptosis. These data suggest that tipifarnib exerts its effects by acting on a membrane channel with pharmacological properties consistent with store-operated channels containing the Orai3 subunit. It is noteworthy that Orai3 transcripts were found to be expressed at lower levels in tipifarnib-resistant 8226/R5 cells. Our results indicate tipifarnib causes cell death via a novel mechanism involving activation of a plasma membrane Ca(2+) channel and intracellular Ca(2+) overload.

The article discusses the importance of stakeholder collaboration in the electric industry. The author presents three cases wherein utilities used a formal stakeholder collaboration process. Their initiatives aim to open up utility planning and decision-making and to build support for a contentious final utility decision, according to the author. The cases involved Arizona Public Service, the Illinois Commerce Commission, and the Maryland Energy Administration. The author highlights the role of regulators in requiring facilitation among the stakeholders.

Subtle alterations in the coupling of drug binding to nucleotide hydrolysis were observed following mutation of all seven endogenous cysteine residues to serines in the human multidrug resistance transporter, P‐glycoprotein. Wild‐type (wt) and the mutant (cys‐less) forms of P‐gp were expressed in Trichoplusia ni(High Five) cells and purified by metal affinity chromatography in order to undertake functional studies.No significant differences were observed in substrate ([3H]‐azidopine) binding to wt or cys‐less P‐gp. Furthermore, neither the transported substrate vinblastine, nor the modulator nicardipine, differed in their respective potencies to displace [3H]‐azidopine from the wt or cys‐less P‐gp. These results suggest that respective binding sites for these drugs were unaffected by the introduced cysteine to serine substitutions.The Michaelis‐Menten characteristics of basal ATP hydrolysis of the two isoforms of P‐gp were identical. The maximal ATPase activity in the presence of vinblastine was marginally reduced whilst the Kmwas unchanged in cys‐less P‐gp compared to control. However, cys‐less P‐gp displayed lower overall maximal ATPase activity (62%), a decreased Kmand a lower degree of stimulation (76%) in the presence of the modulator nicardipine.Therefore, the serine to cysteine mutations in P‐gp may suggest that vinblastine and nicardipine transduce their effects on ATP hydrolysis through distinct conformational pathways. The wt and cys‐less P‐gp isoforms display similarity in their fundamental kinetic properties thereby validating the use of cys‐less P‐gp as a template for future cysteine‐directed structure/function analysis.

Several letters to the editor are presented in response to articles in previous issues including "Predicting Barrel Wear, Part Two" in the July 2014 issue, Remington gun models and barrels, FOX Carbine 45 AP, and Certified Gunsmith license issues.

Cleaning is an essential step in the reprocessing of GI endoscopes. Because manual cleaning is tedious and technician dependent, automated cleaning may have some advantages over the manual method. In simulated use testing, the efficacy of automated cleaning (System 83-2+DT, Custom Ultrasonics) was compared with a standardized manual cleaning method previously reported by the investigators (Amer J Gastroenterol 1999;94:1546). The automated reprocessor simulates the mechanical effects of a brush or sponge by pulsing enzymatic solution through most channels at a frequency of 60 Hz, and against the exterior surface of the insertion tube at 40,000 Hz. METHODS: One Olympus CF100TL videocolonoscope was contaminated with a simulated soil consisting of 2 parts sterile milk powder, 10 parts fetal calf serum, 10 parts Mycobacteria chelonae,for a final mycobacterial concentration of 109CFU/mL. The suction housing, air-water housing, valves, insertion tube, instrument channel and auxillary channel were independently inoculated, and then air-dried for 60 min prior to cleaning. The size of inoculum (total CFU) was established for each site through control experiments. Each inoculated site was flushed with sterile phosphate buffer solution; the effluent was poured through a 0.45μm membrane filter, cultured in Middlebrook 7H11 agar, and incubated for 10 days at 37° C. Three to five experiments were conducted for controls and for manual and automated cleaning methods using the same scope. RESULTS: See table. CONCLUSIONS: (1) In simulated use testing under “worst-case scenario”, automated cleaning achieved a 3 to 5 log reduction in mycobacterial bioburden, which was at least equivalent to standardized manual cleaning. (2) Manual cleaning of the auxillary channel is potentially problematic because its small channel caliber precludes the use of a cleaning brush. (3) Used in conjunction with rigorous manual cleaning, automated cleaning may add an extra margin of safety for reprocessing of flexible GI endoscopes.

We characterized the effect of infection with human immunodeficiency virus type 1(HIV) on levels of total immunoglobulins and pneumococcal vaccine-specific immunoglobulins in 28 heterosexual and 25 homosexual men seronegative for HIV; 27 asymptomatic, seropositive homosexual men; and 21 patients with AIDS. Total serum IgG levels were increased in both HIV-seropositive groups compared with the HIV-seronegative men (P < .001). Total IgM levels,however, were elevated only in the asymptomatic, HIV-seropositive men (P < .08); total IgA levels were elevated only in the patients with AIDS (P < .05). Vaccine-specific serum IgG, IgM, and IgA significantly increased over baseline three and six weeks after immunization in all groups (P < .05). Responses to vaccine among the HIV-seronegative groups were similar but were greater for all antibody classes than were responses among the HIV-seropositive groups (P < .05).