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The Columbia River Treaty (CRT) signed between the United States and Canada in 1961 is known as one of the most successful transboundary water treaties. Under continued cooperation, both countries equitably share collective responsibilities of reservoir operations and flood control and hydropower benefits from treaty dams. As the balance of benefits is the key factor of cooperation, future cooperation could be challenged by external social and environmental factors which were not originally anticipated or change in the social preferences of the two actors. To understand the robustness of cooperation dynamics, we address two research questions. (i) How does social and environmental change influence cooperation dynamics? (ii) How do social preferences influence the probability of cooperation for both actors? We analyzed infrastructural, hydrological, economic, social, and environmental data to inform the development of a socio-hydrological system dynamics model. The model simulates the dynamics of flood control and hydropower benefit sharing as a function of the probability to cooperate, which in turn is affected by the share of benefits. The model is used to evaluate scenarios that represent environmental and institutional change and changes in political characteristics based on social preferences. Our findings show that stronger institutional capacity ensures equitable sharing of benefits over the long term. Under the current CRT, the utility of cooperation is always higher for Canada than non-cooperation, which is in contrast to the United States. The probability to cooperate for each country is lowest when they are self-interested but fluctuates in other social preference scenarios.

Canister performance is a major issue for constructing reliable deep geological repositories for storing spent nuclear fuels, and corrosion resistance is main the factor determining canister durability. We developed a 2-D multiphysics model, which can predict both the corrosion rate and potential, for simulating copper canister corrosion in deep geological repositories. We found that canisters corroded through the long-cell action in a deep geological repository, the corrosion was quite limited, and the overall canister durability was around 1.7 million years. Our results demonstrated that copper exhibits sufficient corrosion resistance and that long-cell action-based corrosion cannot severely damage copper canisters.

The COVID-19 pandemic is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). The betacoronvirus has a positive sense RNA genome which encodes for several RNA binding proteins. Here, we use enhanced crosslinking and immunoprecipitation to investigate SARS-CoV-2 protein interactions with viral and host RNAs in authentic virus-infected cells. SARS-CoV-2 proteins, NSP8, NSP12, and nucleocapsid display distinct preferences to specific regions in the RNA viral genome, providing evidence for their shared and separate roles in replication, transcription, and viral packaging. SARS-CoV-2 proteins expressed in human lung epithelial cells bind to 4773 unique host coding RNAs. Nine SARS-CoV-2 proteins upregulate target gene expression, including NSP12 and ORF9c, whose RNA substrates are associated with pathways in protein N-linked glycosylation ER processing and mitochondrial processes. Furthermore, siRNA knockdown of host genes targeted by viral proteins in human lung organoid cells identify potential antiviral host targets across different SARS-CoV-2 variants. Conversely, NSP9 inhibits host gene expression by blocking mRNA export and dampens cytokine productions, including interleukin-1α/β. Our viral protein-RNA interactome provides a catalog of potential therapeutic targets and offers insight into the etiology of COVID-19 as a safeguard against future pandemics.

Unmanned aerial vehicles can collect high-resolution and real-time photos while emitting fewer greenhouse gases than ordinary airplanes and therefore are considered economic and environmentally friendly platforms. However, quantitative analyses of the sustainability of using unmanned aerial vehicles for aerial photography based on their performance and technical constraints compared to that of airplanes are lacking. The purpose of this study is to analyze the economically and environmentally appropriate monitoring coverage of unmanned aerial vehicle photogrammetry according to wing type (such as fixed-wing and rotary-wing types) and desired image resolution (such as 5 cm/pix and 20 cm/pix for the ground sample distance). To determine the sustainable monitoring coverage, the total photogrammetry costs must include the social cost to reduce the emitted greenhouse gases during operation, resulting in a feedback relation. As a result, the sustainable monitoring coverage of fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles should be less than 27.50 km2 when the resolution is 5 cm/pix and 30.64 km2 when the resolution is 20 cm/pix. Rotary-wing unmanned aerial vehicles are sustainable when their monitoring coverage is less than 23.98 km2 at a resolution of 5 cm/pix and 26.75 km2 at a resolution of 20 cm/pix. These results provide information on the number of unmanned aerial vehicles and the standing unmanned aerial vehicle deployment plans required to monitor the survey area.

The Columbia River Treaty, signed in 1961, solidifies cooperation between the United States and Canada to manage the operation of the Columbia River’s extensive dam network jointly to optimize benefits for the whole system. Under the treaty, Canada operates dams to provide flood protection and maximize hydropower potential downstream. In exchange, the U.S. compensates Canada with half of the estimated benefits of the treaty, which provides an economic incentive to cooperate not seen in many other transboundary basins. However, since the treaty was established, this highly-managed system has responded to unanticipated external social and environmental factors. For example, mounting social pressure in the 1990s to protect the aquatic environment resulted in operational changes to U.S. dams to accommodate flows for fish migration, which ultimately resulted in financial losses for hydropower producers. These changes affected the relative benefits each country receives from cooperation. Utilizing a range of hydrological, economic, social, and environmental datasets, a socio-hydrological model was developed that simulates system operations using historical data to mimic operational changes, shifts in flood control and hydropower production, and cooperation dynamics.Renegotiations of the Columbia River Treaty started in 2018, and the new treaty in 2024 must include provisions for environmental protection that were, originally, not considered. The purpose of this study is to use the established model to envision how changing conditions such as climate change, spring fish flows, and First Nation rights would affect each country’s willingness to cooperate. For example, how would changes in snowpack upstream or seasonal changes in precipitation alter the hydrology of the basin and, in turn, the benefits each country receives from cooperation. This scenario analysis provides insight into how a revised treaty that takes future uncertainties into account would affect the balance of benefits to maintain or disrupt cooperation on the Columbia River.

Active noise control, or adaptive noise cancellation, techniques (ANC) attempt to reduce sound pressure level by generation and superposition of an anti-noise signal in order to improve human safety or comfort in noisy environments. The least mean squares (LMS) algorithm and variants as well as some architectures of neural networks have been employed successfully for active control of noise. This work presents the novel use of long short-term memory (LSTM) and convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures for this task. Testing on a selection of commonly used noises, improved results are demonstrated when compared to both the traditional LMS approach and previously published neural-network approaches.

Two social feedbacks critical for redressing decline in organizational performance are exit (changing membership to a better performing organization) and voice (members' expression of discontent). In self-governing organizations of common-pool resources (CPRs) experiencing decline from poor rule conformance, the exit option is often unavailable due to a closed membership policy. Thus, members should rely on the voice option to reverse the trend. However, it is poorly understood under what set of conditions members can successfully use the voice option to govern their CPRs. We analyzed 30 self-governing fishing groups in South Korea to generate configurations of institutional and social-ecological conditions linked to the successful voice option. We considered Ostrom's Design Principles for rule enforcement as institutional conditions and resource mobility and group size as social-ecological factors affecting institutional fit. We find that if the informal mechanism for conflict resolution is absent, fishing groups will be unsuccessful; even if rules for monitoring and graduated sanctions are not in use, groups can be successful when they harvest only stationary resources and the informal conflict-resolution is present; and groups managing mobile resources need graduated sanctions to be successful, while those appropriating only stationary resources can achieve the same outcome without such sanctions.

Rheological and mechanical properties of dual-curable automotive clearcoats containing different blocked isocyanate thermal crosslinkers (HDI, IPDI, and SMBI) have been compared by changing dual-curing sequences, i.e., UV-thermal dual curing and thermal-UV dual curing. Real-time elastic modulus data of clearcoats measured during several curing procedures have been correlated with the formation of crosslinked networks inside clearcoats. Clearcoat with SMBI shows increased modulus data due to the more reactive nature of functional groups in SMBI. Difference of rheological data of clearcoats under different curing temperatures during dual-curing sequences has been interpreted with the transition of chemical reactions inside clearcoats with different chemical structured crosslinkers. It turns out that scratch properties of cured clearcoats are also affected by the dual-curing sequence.

Digital Light Processing hyperspectral imaging (HsI) produces a highly sensitive, real-time tissue oxygenation map to monitor renal perfusion/oxygenation during partial nephrectomy (PN). Our initial experience with HsI revealed considerable variation in the baseline renal oxygenation, and we sought to correlate these differences with postoperative renal function.Hyperspectral images were collected intraoperatively in patients undergoing PN for cortical tumors. The kidney was illuminated with visible light (520-645 nm), the spectrum corresponding to that of oxyhemoglobin. Reflectance images were captured and digitally processed to determine the percentage of oxyhemoglobin (HbO2) at each image pixel. Images were taken before hilar occlusion; these %HbO2 values were used to categorize patients as high (75% HbO2) or low (75% HbO2) oxygenation, and postoperative eGFR was assessed.There were 26 patients who underwent PN with ice cooling and HsI imaging. Nineteen patients had a "low" preclamp oxygenation (mean 69%) while the other 7 had a "high" HbO2 (mean 77%). There was no difference in tumor size, hematocrit value, clamp time, or preoperative eGFR between the two groups. Patients with a higher baseline %HbO2 had no significant postoperative change in their eGFR (mean 0 mL/min/1.73 m(2), +4%), while those with the lower baseline %HbO2 had a significant acute decline (mean 15 mL/min/1.73 m(2), -20%, P=0.02, 0.006).Baseline renal oxygenation, as measured with HsI, may help predict risk of postoperative renal insufficiency and may distinguish between patients with otherwise similar baseline characteristics, such as eGFR. HsI may provide individualized assessment of renal function to influence intraoperative decision-making to help preserve renal function.

Rheological behavior and coating dynamics of solvent-based metallic basecoats using 3-roll coaters were investigated for the application process based on pre-coated metal (PCM) sheet technology that can promisingly diminish the environmental pollutants in automotive OEM line. Rheological properties of the metallic basecoats related to optical appearance and color variations were measured by altering the content of aluminum (Al) flake and temperature of the coating solution. The results showed that the basecoats exhibited a very weak shear-thinning behavior regardless of Al flake contents in this study. However, their elastic behaviors were intensified with increasing the Al flake content. From the 3-roll coating experiments with forward and reverse coating modes, the operability windows in the coating process, demarcating the uniform coating flow from defects, were established. In particular, it was possible to elucidate the relationship between the capillary number and speed ratio conditions for the desired coating thickness in roll coating systems accompanied with reverse coating mode between the pick-up and metering rolls. It was verified from the cross-sectional images of coating layers that most of Al flakes inside the basecoat layer were oriented parallel to the coating surface under the continuous roll coating flows.

On 15 October 2006, a large earthquake damaged both telescopes at W. M. Keck Observatory resulting in weeks of observing downtime. A significant portion of the downtime was attributed to recovery efforts repairing damage to telescope bearing journals, radial pad support structures, and encoder subsystems. To reduce the risk of damage and loss of observing time in future seismic events, we developed a conceptual design for the seismic upgrade of the twin Keck Telescopes. The paper covers the design requirements and constraints for the seismic upgrade, the evaluation method used to check the safety of sensitive components, and the trade-off study used to compare different options and to select the best design. Various design options such as base isolating the structure, strengthening seismic restraints, adding dampers, adding break-away mechanisms, and combinations of these design options are considered in this study. Nonlinear time history analyses are performed to evaluate the performance of the design concepts.

Sensitive and precise serology assays are needed to measure the humoral response to antigens of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) following natural infection or vaccination. We developed and evaluated a collection of electrochemiluminescent (ECL) serology assays using four RSV antigens (F, N, Ga and Gb). To assess the merits of ECL technology, the four ECL serology assays were evaluated using a well-characterized "gold standard" panel of acute and convalescent serum samples from fifty-nine RSV-positive and thirty RSV-negative elderly subjects (≥65 years old). The combined results from the four ECL assays demonstrated good concordance to the "gold standard" diagnosis, reaching 95% diagnostic sensitivity and 100% diagnostic specificity. Additionally, a combination of ECL assays provided higher diagnostic sensitivity than a commercially available diagnostic ELISA or cell-based microneutralization assay. In summary, these data demonstrate the advantages of using ECL-based serology assays and highlight their use as a sensitive diagnostic approach to detect recent RSV infection in an elderly population.

Building on the Object Oriented Data Technology (OODT) big data toolkit developed by NASA and the Work-flow INstance Generation and Selection (WINGS) scientific work-flow system developed by the Information Sciences Institute at the University of Southern California, we focused analytics and work-flows appropriate to several challenge big data problems and demonstrated the utility of OODT-WINGS in addressing them. Specific demonstrated analyses address i) crawling and indexing the XNET contents in a quick-reaction demonstration in January 2013, ii) a data triage characterization of the Kiva loan system, iii) contributory work done on 5 of 6 XDATA summer 2013 workshop challenge problems, and iv) demonstration of end-to-end processing work-flow in conjunction with the USC Institute for Creative Technologies end-user interface at the September 2013 DARPA open house. Two papers published during this time addressed i) the overall data triage use case, and II) work flow characterization during time-bounded operations.

From developmental and training perspectives, previous studies have defined pastoral identity as an individual property of pastoral practitioners. Grounded on an empirical study of interviewing 20 pastoral counselors and chaplains, this paper presents pastoral identity as a social construction between pastoral caregivers and seekers (and God in the midst). Informed by a recent social-psychological approach to identity, the paper explores one possibility for an interactional, intersubjective, and constructive paradigm of pastoral identity.

This study developed evidence-based quality indicators to measure key aspects of care than can be targeted to decrease variations in complication rates following total joint replacement. There were 101 candidate indicators of quality identified in the 6 domains of preoperative processes of care; intraoperative processes; postoperative processes; implant selection and the use of new technology; privileging of hospitals and surgeons; and outcomes and comorbidity assessment. A total of 68 of the 101 indicators were rated as valid with statistical agreement. . This project provides tools to measure and improve quality of care for patients undergoing total joint replacement.

OBJECTIVE Individuals with type 2 diabetes have a myriad of metabolic aberrations including increased inflammation, increasing their cardiovascular risk. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and their ligands play a key role in insulin resistance and atherosclerosis. However, there is a paucity of data examining the expression and activity of TLRs in type 2 diabetes. Thus, in the present study, we examined TLR2 and TLR4 mRNA and protein expression, their ligands, and signaling in monocytes of recently diagnosed type 2 diabetic patients. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS TLR mRNA, protein expression, TLR ligands, and TLR signaling were measured in freshly isolated monocytes from healthy human control subjects (n = 23) and type 2 diabetic subjects (n = 23) using real-time RT-PCR, Western blot, and flow cytometric assays. RESULTS Type 2 diabetic subjects had significantly increased TLR2, TLR4 mRNA, and protein in monocytes compared with control subjects (P < 0.05). Increased TLR2 and TLR4 expression correlated with BMI, homeostasis model assessment–insulin resistance (HOMA-IR), glucose, A1C, Nε-(carboxymethyl) lysine (CML), and free fatty acid (FFA). Ligands of TLR2 and TLR4, namely, HSP60, HSP70, HMGB1, endotoxin, and hyaluronan levels, were elevated in type 2 diabetic subjects and positively correlated with TLR2 and TLR4. Type 2 diabetic subjects showed increased MyD88, phosphorylated IRAK-1, Trif, TICAM-1, IRF-3, and NF-κB p65 expression in monocytes compared with control subjects. Furthermore, TLR-MyD88-NF-κB signaling resulted in elevated levels of cytokines (P < 0.05), but increased interleukin (IL)-1β, interferon (IFN)-γ, and endotoxin were not significant when adjusted for BMI. CONCLUSIONS In this comprehensive study, we make the novel observation that TLR2 and TLR4 expression and their ligands, signaling, and functional activation are increased in recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes and contribute to the proinflammatory state.

The Baumann angle of the humerus has been commonly used as an outcome measure for supracondylar fractures in children. However, there is limited or no information about the reliability of this measurement. The purpose of this study was to determine the inter-observer reliability (IEOR) and intra-observer reliability (IAOR) of the Baumann angle of the humerus. The Baumann angle of the humerus was measured by five observers on the anteroposterior radiographs of 35 children’s elbows, all of which had sustained a nondisplaced supracondylar humeral fracture. The values of IEOR and IAOR were calculated using a Pearson coefficient of correlation. Ranges of differences in the measurement of the Baumann angle of the humerus were established, and the percentage of agreement between observers was then calculated using those ranges. The Baumann angle of the humerus is a simple, repeatable and reliable measurement that can be used for the determination of the outcome of supracondylar humeral fractures in the paediatric population. An excellent IEOR was found for the measurement of the Baumann angle (r = 0.78, p = 0.0001). When the difference between observers in the reported measurement of the Baumann’s angle was calculated to be within seven degrees of each other, at least four of the five observers agreed 100% of the time. Similarly, excellent values of IAOR were found for the measurement of the Baumann’s angle (r = 0.80, p = 0.0001). Level of evidence for this study was III.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to measure changes in anterior-posterior (AP) laxity and graft forces after cutting the posterolateral (PL) bundle of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL). Methods: Twelve fresh-frozen cadaveric knees underwent AP laxity testing at ± 100 N of applied tibial force. Resultant forces in the ACL were recorded during passive extension from 120° to 0° with no tibial force, 100 N of anterior tibial force, 100 N of quadriceps force, and 5 Nm of internal tibial torque. The femoral origin of the PL bundle was identified, the ligament fibers were dissected from bone, and tests were repeated. Results: Cutting the PL bundle significantly increased mean laxity by +1.3 mm (at 0°), +1.1 mm (at 10°), and +0.5 mm (at 30°). For the passive knee extension tests, cutting the PL bundle significantly decreased mean ACL force at 0° for all loading modes; the mean decreases were 31 N (with no tibial force), 50 N (with 100 N of anterior force), 33 N (with 100 N of quadriceps force), and 40 N (with 5 Nm of internal torque). Conclusions: The decreases in ACL force at 0° from cutting the PL bundle are consistent with the commonly accepted view that the PL bundle tightens with knee extension. Cutting the taut PL bundle did significantly increase AP laxity between 0° and 30°, but the increases were relatively small. Therefore we conclude that the PL bundle plays a relatively minor role in controlling anterior tibial translation. Clinical Relevance: In view of our findings, the need to reconstruct the PL bundle for better restoration of a normal AP laxity profile is questioned.

Hamlet at the South Coast Repertory Theatre, May 25-July 1, 2007 Daniel Sullivan's production of Hamlet, presented by South Coast Repertory Theater in Costa Mesa, California, signaled an effort to present a thoroughly contemporary staging of the play while still avoiding modern dress and/or a conceptual setting. Best known as the director of the Broadway productions of Rabbit Hole and Proof, Sullivan seemed to approach the Bard's greatest tragedy as if it were a "new" play, encouraging the actors (particularly the younger ones) to speak the lines the way they themselves would in real life, avoiding any kind of inherited ideological baggage, and lending the language a "hip," conversational quality. At the same time, Sullivan and his costume designer Ilona Somogyi dressed his actors in Elizabethan and Medieval costumes, while set designer Ralph Funicello placed the action on a mostly bare, wooden platform--the same rustic and unvarnished type of surface the Lord Chamberlain Men's themselves might're acted on. To lend some visual excitement, the entire background of the stage was covered by a giant folding panel featuring a reproduction of Pieter Bruegel the Elder's painting of Dulle Griet (Mad Meg). With its famously surreal (and oddly contemporary) representation of a peasant woman's descent into a hell of screaming faces and headless bodies, the painting stood as a potent metaphor for Sullivan's central conceit: a Hamlet set within its own historical moment, but imbued with the same kind of seemingly anachronistic details and immediacy as Bruegel's painting. Early press accounts of the production, which ran through July 1, 2007, focused on the casting of two sitcom actors in the show, Hamish Linklater of CBS-TV's "The New Adventures of Old Christine" as Hamlet and Michael Urie of ABC-TV's "Ugly Betty" as Horatio. Some newspaper reviewers took the obvious approach of criticizing the production for its apparent "stunt" casting, ignoring the fact that both actors have considerable theater credits; Linklater, for one, recently played Hamlet in a 2004 Long Wharf Theater production in Connecticut, and acted in Peter Hall's 1999 Los Angeles productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Measure for Measure at the Ahmanson Theater. Interestingly, when Linklater performed Lysander for Hall, he delivered a fairly traditional performance in terms of his use of language; in Sullivan's production, on the other hand, Linklater's Hamlet spoke in a deliberately naturalistic manner, delivering oblique line readings free of iambic pentameter and with an almost Seinfeldian, ironic detachment. The closest equivalent might be found in Michael Almereyda's 2000 film version of Hamlet starring Ethan Hawke, in which iambic pentameter is entirely done away with, replaced with the jarring clips and rhythms of modern-day Americanized English. Linklater and Urie deemphasized the poetic beats of the play for the sake of a more immediate and "relatable" sense of speech, sometimes even mumbling or racing through speeches. This approach largely paid off, eliminating any possibility that the production would become a "museum piece." Sullivan appeared to reject the potentially colonialist notion that Shakespeare must be done with faux-British accents, with actors enunciating every precious word clearly and loudly. Sullivan embraced the American accents, focusing more on the larger meaning of each scenes. However, for those for whom the poetry is the thing, the production had the potential to frustrate. Linklater also exploited the comic potential in the play, especially in the moments where Hamlet pretends to be mad. In his scene with Polonius, in 2.2, Linklater played up the physical gags, continually thrusting his hips into the air for the "conception is a blessing" line, and then walking onstage with his legs spread apart for the line, "like a crab you could go backward." Linklater also drew laughter from the audience with his sharp comic timing, as in the scene after Hamlet kills Polonius, where Hamlet tells Claudius that the dead man is "At supper. …

Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are key innate immune sensors of endogenous damage signals and play an important role in inflammatory diseases like diabetes and atherosclerosis. Pioglitazone (PIO), a peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR)-γ agonist, has been reported to be an antiinflammatory agent. Thus, in the present study, we examined the antiinflammatory effects of PIO on TLR2 and TLR4 expression in human monocytes exposed to Pam3CSK4 (Pam; TLR2 ligand) and purified lipopolysaccharide (LPS; TLR4 ligand) using flow cytometry and real-time RT-PCR. Monocytes were isolated from healthy human volunteers and pretreated with PIO (1 μm) followed by Pam (170 ng/ml) and LPS (160 ng/ml) challenge. PIO significantly decreased Pam- and LPS-induced TLR2 (−56%) and TLR4 (−78%) expression (P < 0.05). In addition, PIO decreased TLR ligand-induced nuclear factor-κB activity (−63%), IL-1β (−50%), IL-6 (−52%), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1(−83%), and TNF-α (−87%) compared with control. Next, PIO-treated db/db mice (n = 6/group) showed decreased TLR2 (−60%) and TLR4 (−45%) expression in peritoneal macrophages compared with vehicle control mice (P < 0.001) with associated decrease in MyD88-dependent signaling and nuclear factor-κB activation. Data suggest that Pam- and LPS-induced TLR2 and TLR4 expression are inhibited by PIO in human monocytes and db/db mice. Thus, we define a novel pathway by which PIO could induce antiinflammatory effects.

The morbidity and mortality caused by pathogenic and opportunistic air borne molds (ABM) has been on the rise. ABM are not confined by national boundaries but can travel distances over time and can cause respiratory dysfunction, crop damage, food spoilage and serious meningitis outbreaks due to contamination of pharmaceuticals. Presence of mold spores in abnormally high numbers can present hazardous risks to human population world-wide causing mycosis, hypersensitivity reactions or poisoning by mycotoxins. Tropical places and places receiving heavy rains in the monsoon season can end up with a massively higher mold count and the aftermath of hurricanes and floods can result in dangerously high levels of mold counts in the environment. ABM does not uniformly affect the population but is more dependent on individual hypersensitivity, age, nutritional status, vegetation, ventilation etc. While the world has been acutely aware of particulate and minute organic and inorganic pollutants from automobile emissions and industrial release of gases in the air, the presence of molds in the environment has received little attention until the recent outbreak of Meningitis, which resulted in over 60+ deaths and 100s of hospitalizations in the USA. There is an urgency now to develop the tools that can be universally adopted to monitor the mold count in the air around the landmass of the world and then to characterize the type of mold to be followed by ways of cleaning the environment of harmful molds. Here we propose a simple, cost effective and rapid model for monitoring molds that does not require sophisticated infrastructure to gain initial insight of what is in the air in terms of molds we breathe locally and assess the impact it could have. Developed countries could certainly go steps ahead in terms of sophistication in identifying the molds such as by use of PCR but for now to establish a baseline of what is the mold count and what are the general types of molds in surrounding air, a simple low cost model could be a start. Our results from assessment of molds on an island nation have revealed that mold count varies within certain regions and settings. The diversity of the molds is proportional to the mold count. Most molds found can cause little direct harm to individuals but can contribute to crop damage and food spoilage. Overall the benefit to the inhabitants in getting to know the types of molds in the surrounding air they breathe is going to be of considerable benefit.

This article explores a history of contemporary pastoral theology closely related to issues of identity and methodology. Pastoral theologians and caregivers have attempted to find out pastoral, theological, and professional identities appropriate to their faith traditions and communities, while working with careseekers and supervisees in an interdisciplinary and multicultural context. In the process of finding proper identities pastoral theologians have sharpened their methodology of constructing pastoral theology by interweaving lived experience with pastoral practice, pastoral action with reflection, and theological wisdom with cultural perspectives. This article addresses historical lessons and implications for future directions.

The purpose of this article is to explore the legacy of Charles V. Gerkin’s pastoral theology and to construct a method of pastoral theology. In Part I, I will trace within a larger context of pastoral theology the history of Gerkin’s pastoral theology since his early clinical praxis. In Part II, I will explore his method of developing pastoral theology and construct a renewed critical and constructive method of pastoral theology, reflecting on the implications of exploring the history and method of his pastoral theology.

To examine the effects of locked distal screws in retrograde nails used in unstable osteopenic distal femur fractures.Biomechanical testing of paired human cadaveric femurs.Seven matched pairs of embalmed, moderately osteopenic cadaver femurs were instrumented with 12-mm intramedullary nails in a statically locked, retrograde fashion. One femur of each pair had locked distal screws and the other femur had unlocked distal screws. A 2.5-cm gap of bone was cut nine centimeters from the distal condyles to simulate an unstable fracture. The locked distal screw nails were compared to unlocked distal screw nails for collapse of the fracture gap, medial-lateral and anterior-posterior translation of the nail within the fracture site, and fracture angulation. The femurs were axially loaded, cycled, and then loaded to failure.Motion at the fracture site with axial cyclic loading and site of failure when loaded to failure.After cycling, both locked distal screw and unlocked distal screw nails demonstrated several millimeters medial and anterior translation within the fracture site and approximately 1 mm collapse of the fracture gap. Although no statistically significant differences were found, the locked distal screw nails had less anterior and medial translation, angulation, and collapse of the fracture gap after cycling. Loads to failure were similar for both locked distal screw and unlocked distal screw nails. It was noted that proximal femur failure occurred at the level of the proximal screw hole in the nail at the subtrochanteric level in 7 (4 locked distal screws and 3 unlocked distal screw groups) of the 14 samples. Four other samples failed through the intertrochanteric region (2 locked distal screw and 2 unlocked distal screw groups) and the remainder within the distal fragment by fracture of the femur along the medial cortex.Although most differences in fixation stability were not significant, the locked distal screw nails exhibited less fracture collapse and anterior and medial translation of the nail at the fracture site than the unlocked distal screw nails. The degree of varus angulation after cyclic loading was also less for the locked distal screw nails. The length of the nail chosen should avoid having proximal locking screws distal to the lesser trochanter, thus averting proximal femur stress risers and fractures.