Search

GSI Scientific Report 2014 - GSI Report 2015-1

GSI Scientific Report 2013 - GSI Report 2014-1

The amount of particulate matter present in Bretschneider's cardioplegic solution (HTK) was assessed by laser-mediated particle counting. Permissible levels of contaminant particles with a distribution of diameters between 0.2 and 20 microns were found. A significant further increase in the particle count was observed when the fluid was administered for clinical use, which resulted in the additional release of particles from, for example, the infusion kit, which included an in-line filter with pores of 270 microns. Filtration of the HTK solution by a terminal inline filter (0.2 micron) significantly reduced the number of particles. In order to determine the chemical composition and the potential hazards of the particulate material we used scanning electron microscopy in combination with energy dispersive X-ray analysis and transmission electron microscopy to examine specimens taken from heart tissue obtained from Göttinger minipigs after cardioplegia and from humans undergoing mitral valve replacement after cardioplegia and reperfusion. Particles of various diameters were found either to be plugging coronary capillaries, to be adherent to the endothelial layer, or to be engulfed by polymorphonuclear (PMN) granulocytes, which appeared to be activated. Some of the PMN granulocytes were apparent in the endothelial layer. It is recommended, therefore, that a terminal in-line filter (0.2 micron) should be routinely used.

The risks associated with children’s heavy television viewing justify television-reduction efforts. Targeting parents and the household environment provides a promising strategy for limiting television. Research has highlighted household television practices to reduce children’s viewing, but more work is needed to identify which practices are appropriate for television-reduction interventions. Using cross-sectional data from a random sample of parents of children aged 3-12 living in an urban American city (n = 360), we confirmed a positive association between four television practices (background television, television during meals, bedroom television, nighttime television viewing) and children’s average daily viewing. Race, parent education, and income moderated many of the relationships. In addition to identifying specific practices that are appropriate when targeting at-risk subgroups, results indicate that encouraging parents to reduce their children’s nighttime television viewing may be a promising direction for achieving healthier viewing amounts for children across developmental ages and demographic contexts.

This study investigated the joint effect of violent media exposure and family conflict on adolescents’ aggression using data from a longitudinal study with 499 Dutch 10- to 14-year-olds. High violent media exposure in combination with high family conflict was expected to lead to increased levels of aggression (a double dose effect), whereas high violent media exposure in combination with low family conflict was expected to lead to lower levels of aggression (a buffer effect). It was also expected that the joint effect of media violence and family conflict on aggression would differ by gender. Results provide support for the double dose and buffer effects of family conflict; gender was not found to moderate this interaction. Implications are discussed.

ICS Subcommission on Quaternary Stratigraphy: B. Alloway, A. G. Beu, M. Coltorti, P. L. Gibbard (Past-Chair), V. M. Hall, M. J. Head (Chair), Liu Jiaqi, K. L. Knudsen, T. van Kolfschoten (Past-Secretary), T. Litt, L. Marks, J. McManus (Past-Vice-Chair), J. A. Piotrowski, B. Pillans (Vice-Chair), M. Räsänen, S.O. Rasmussen, D.-D. Rousseau, J.-P. Suc, A. S. Tesakov, C. Turner, M. J. C. Walker, J. Zalasiewicz (Secretary), and C. Zazo, The Calabrian Stage is now formally defined by the Global Boundary Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP) at Vrica, Calabria, Italy. This GSSP had previously defined the base of the Pleistocene Series. The Calabrian becomes the second stage of the Pleistocene Series and Quaternary System, following the Gelasian. The GSSP occurs at the base of the marine claystone conformably overlying sapropelic bed ‘e’ within Segment B in the Vrica section. This lithological level represents the primary marker for the recognition of the boundary, and is assigned an astronomical age of 1.80 Ma on the basis of sapropel calibration. It coincides with the transition from Marine Isotope Stage 65 to 64, and the underlying sapropel bed ‘e’ is assigned to the Mediterranean Precession-Related Sapropel layer 176. Secondary markers include calcareous plankton bioevents of widely distributed taxa. The boundary falls between the highest occurrence of Discoaster brouweri (below) and the lowest common occurrence of left-coiling Neogloboquadrina pachyderma (above), and below the lowest occurrences of medium-sized Gephyrocapsa (including G. oceanica) and Globigerinoides tenellus. The top of the Olduvai Subchron is identified c. 8 m above the GSSP. Ratification of the Calabrian Stage effectively completes the Lower Pleistocene Subseries.

Research has shown the negative consequences associated with children’s exposure to background television. Despite this evidence, researchers do not have reliable estimates of the prevalence of background television in American homes. This study sought to address this gap by providing the first nationally representative estimates of exposure. American parents (N = 1454) were surveyed to determine the amount of background television that their children (ages 8 months to 8 years) are exposed to as well as isolate demographic factors associated with this exposure. We also investigated how certain home media practices are linked to exposure. Results indicate that the average American child is exposed to 232.2 minutes of background television on a given day. Younger children and African American children are exposed to more background television. Lastly, leaving the television on even when no one is viewing and children’s bedroom television ownership are associated with increased background television exposure.

Educational TV has been consistently linked to children’s learning. In this research, educational TV characteristics were identified, coded, and tested for their influence on children’s program-specific comprehension and vocabulary outcomes. Study 1 details a content analysis of TV features including a program’s macrostructure (i.e., narrative or expository) and learning strategies embedded in the macrostructure that support learning in print-based contexts. In Study 2, regression analyses were used to predict outcomes involving 71 second and third graders (average age = 7.63 years). Strategies were categorized as organizing, rehearsing, elaborating, or affective in function. Outcomes were uniformly higher for narrative macrostructures. Strategies used in narratives predicted relatively homogenous relations across outcomes, whereas strategies in expositories predicted quite heterogeneous relations across outcomes.

Due to the surgical trauma a small amount of myocardial cellular damage is inherent during coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). The purpose of the present study was to assess the degree of myocardial cellular damage after off-pump (OPCAB) and on-pump CABG (ONCAB) as measured by cardiac troponin I (cTnI), creatine kinase (CK), its MB isoenzyme (CK-MB) and myoglobin (Myo) and to examine its impact on early hemodynamics after surgery.Ninety-nine consecutive OPCAB patients, operated between 01/1999 and 01/2004, were enrolled in the present study and compared to 99 ONCAB patients operated during the same period of time, who were matched for baseline data and mean number of grafts per patient. Early hemodynamics, cTnI, CK/CK-MB and Myo were measured preoperatively and at 1, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours (h) postoperatively. Perioperative inotropic support, clinical data and potoperative outcome were recorded prospectively.The two groups were similar concerning preoperative characteristics. The mean number of distal grafts/patient was 2.1 +/- 1.0 in OPCAB and 2.1 +/- 0.8 in ONCAB patients (mean +/- SD). There was no significant difference among the groups regarding early hemodynamics in terms of cardiac index (CI), systemic vascular resistance index (SVRI), and left ventricular stroke work index (LVSWI), and inotropic support. However, cTnI, CK/CK-MB but not Myo levels were significantly lower in OPCAB compared to ONCAB patients at 1, 6, 12, 24, 36 and 48 h postoperatively (P0.05).Off-pump surgery results in equal early hemodynamics despite a significantly lower release of cTnI and CK, suggesting a reduced myocardial cell damage as compared to ONCAB surgery.

Examples of small (m-scale) subglacial meltwater channels of Nye-type from central Europe coupled with the occurrence of large tunnel valleys suggest a significant role of non-distributed drainage system during major Pleistocene glaciations in this area. Hydraulic transmissivity of unconsolidated sediments overridden by the ice sheets was not sufficient to drain all basal meltwater as groundwater flow, so that the excess water volume was evacuated in hydraulically efficient channels incised into the bed, well preserved in the geological record. The channels are steep-sided, surrounded by undisturbed sediments and filled mainly with till, and they are bound by sharp, undulating erosional contacts. Their occurrence in sub-marginal areas of past ice sheets is consistent with the glaciological theory.