Enhanced expression of 70-kilodalton heat shock protein limits cell division in a sepsis-induced model of acute respiratory distress syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: Fibrotic changes are initiated early in acute respiratory distress syndrome. This may involve overproliferation of alveolar type II cells. In an animal model of acute respiratory distress syndrome, we have shown that the administration of an adenoviral vector overexpressing the 70-kd heat shock protein (AdHSP) limited pathophysiological changes. We hypothesized that this improvement may be modulated, in part, by an early AdHSP-induced attenuation of alveolar type II cell proliferation. DESIGN: Laboratory investigation. SETTING: Hadassah-Hebrew University and University of Pennsylvania animal laboratories. SUBJECTS: Sprague-Dawley Rats (250 g). INTERVENTIONS: Lung injury was induced in male Sprague-Dawley rats via cecal ligation and double puncture. At the time of cecal ligation and double puncture, we injected phosphate-buffered saline, AdHSP, or AdGFP (an adenoviral vector expressing the marker green fluorescent protein) into the trachea. Rats then received subcutaneous bromodeoxyuridine. In separate experiments, A549 cells were incubated with medium, AdHSP, or AdGFP. Some cells were also stimulated with tumor necrosis factor-alpha. After 48 hrs, cytosolic and nuclear proteins from rat lungs or cell cultures were isolated. These were subjected to immunoblotting, immunoprecipitation, electrophoretic mobility shift assay, fluorescent immunohistochemistry, and Northern blot analysis. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Alveolar type I cells were lost within 48 hrs of inducing acute respiratory distress syndrome. This was accompanied by alveolar type II cell proliferation. Treatment with AdHSP preserved alveolar type I cells and limited alveolar type II cell proliferation. Heat shock protein 70 prevented overexuberant cell division, in part, by inhibiting hyperphosphorylation of the regulatory retinoblastoma protein. This prevented retinoblastoma protein ubiquitination and degradation and, thus, stabilized the interaction of retinoblastoma protein with E2F1, a key cell division transcription factor. CONCLUSIONS: : Heat shock protein 70-induced attenuation of cell proliferation may be a useful strategy for limiting lung injury when treating acute respiratory distress syndrome if consistent in later time points.

Sedimentology and stratigraphy of the Lower Silurian Grimsby formation, in subsurface, Lake Erie and Southwestern Ontario

Since the first offshore Lake Erie well was drilled in 1941, the Grimsby and Thorold formations of the Cataract Group have been economically important to the oil and gas industry of Ontario. The Cataract Group provides a significant amount of Ontario's gas production primarily from wells located on Lake Erie. The Grimsby - Thorold formations are the result of nearshore estuarine processes influenced by tides on a prograding shelf and are composed of subtidal channel complexes, discrete tidal channels, mud flats and non-marine deposits. Deposition was related to a regressive - transgressive cycle associated with eustatic sea level changes caused by the melting and resurgence of continental glaciation centred in Africa in the Late Ordovician/Early Silurian. Grimsby deposition began during a regression with the deposition of subtidal channel complexes incised into the marine deposits of the Cabot Head Formation. The presence of mud drapes and mud couplets suggest that these deposits were influenced by tides. These deposits dominate the lower half of the Grimsby. Deposition continued with a change from these subtidal channel complexes to laterally migrating, discrete, shallow tidal channels and mud flats. These were in turn overlain by the non-marine deposits of the Thorold Formation. Grimsby - Thorold deposition ended with a major transgression replacing siliciclastic deposition with primarily carbonate deposition. Sediment was sourced from the east and southeast and associated with a continuation of the Taconic Orogeny into the Early Silurian. The fluvial head of the estuary prograded from a shoreline that was located in western New York and western Pennsylvania running NNE-SSW and then turning NW-SE and paralleling the present day Lake Erie shoreline. iii The facies attributed to the Grimsby - Thorold formations can be ascribed to the three zones within the tripartite zonation suggested by Dalrymple et ale (1992) for estuaries, that is, a marine-dominated facies, a mixed energy facies, and a facies that is dominated by fluvial processes. Also, sediments within the Grimsby - Thorold are commonly fining upwards sequences which are common in estuarine settings whereas deltaic deposits are normally composed of coarsening upwards sequences in a vertical wedge shape with coarser material near the head. The only coarsening observed was in the Thorold Formation and attributed to non-marine deposition by palynological evidence. The presence of a lag deposit at the base of the sediments of the Grimsby Thorold formations suggests that they were incised into the Cabot Head Formation. Further, the thickness of Early Silurian sediments located between the top of the Queenston Formation, where Early Silurian sedimentation began, to the top of the Reynales - Irondequoit formation are constant whether the Grimsby - Thorold formations are present or not. Also, cross-sections using a sand body located in the Cabot Head Formation for correlation further imply that the Grimsby Formation has been incised into the previous deposits of the Cabot Head.

Niagara Falls (Image from Eastern District of Pennsylvania Clerks Office)

The caption below reads "Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1854 by F. Langenheim in the Clerks office of the district Court for the Eastern district of Pennsylvania".

How to improve the formal analytic reasoning and scientific motivation in the intellectual training of medical students

A review article of the The New England Journal of Medicine refers that almost a century ago, Abraham Flexner, a research scholar at the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, undertook an assessment of medical education in 155 medical schools in operation in the United States and Canada. Flexner’s report emphasized the nonscientific approach of American medical schools to preparation for the profession, which contrasted with the university-based system of medical education in Germany. At the core of Flexner’s view was the notion that formal analytic reasoning, the kind of thinking integral to the natural sciences, should hold pride of place in the intellectual training of physicians. This idea was pioneered at Harvard University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Pennsylvania in the 1880s, but was most fully expressed in the educational program at Johns Hopkins University, which Flexner regarded as the ideal for medical education. (...)

Networked Life: Module CIS 112, University of Pennsylvania, Spring 2008

What kind of science is appropriate for understanding the Facebook? How does Google find what you're looking for... ...and exactly how do they make money doing so? What structural properties might we expect any social network to have? How does your position in an economic network (dis)advantage you? How are individual and collective behavior related in complex networks? What might we mean by the economics of spam? What do game theory and the Paris subway have to do with Internet routing? What's going on in the pictures to the left and right? Networked Life looks at how our world is connected -- socially, economically, strategically and technologically -- and why it matters. The answers to the questions above are related. They have been the subject of a fascinating intersection of disciplines including computer science, physics, psychology, mathematics, economics and finance. Researchers from these areas all strive to quantify and explain the growing complexity and connectivity of the world around us, and they have begun to develop a rich new science along the way. Networked Life will explore recent scientific efforts to explain social, economic and technological structures -- and the way these structures interact -- on many different scales, from the behavior of individuals or small groups to that of complex networks such as the Internet and the global economy. This course covers computer science topics and other material that is mathematical, but all material will be presented in a way that is accessible to an educated audience with or without a strong technical background. The course is open to all majors and all levels, and is taught accordingly. There will be ample opportunities for those of a quantitative bent to dig deeper into the topics we examine. The majority of the course is grounded in scientific and mathematical findings of the past two decades or less.

Role of the cultural values as a key part in the implementing of healthy practices : exploratory research

El concepto de organización saludable cada vez toma más fuerza en el ámbito empresarial y académico, a razón de su enfoque integral y al impacto generado en distintos grupos de interés. Debido a su reciente consolidación como concepto, existe un limitado cuerpo de investigación en torno al tema. Para contribuir a la generación de conocimiento en este sentido, se desarrolló un estudio exploratorio el cual tenía como objetivo identificar la relación existente entre la implementación de prácticas saludables en las organizaciones y los valores culturales. En el estudio participaron 66 sujetos a quienes se les administró un cuestionario compuesto por nueve variables, cinco provenientes del modelo de Hofstede (1980) y cuatro más que evaluaban la implementación de prácticas organizacionales saludables. Los resultados obtenidos muestran que los valores culturales predicen la implementación de prácticas saludables.

Technical education in England, Germany and France in the nineteenth century: a comparison

Este documento describe el desarrollo de la educación técnica en Inglaterra, Alemania y Francia durante el siglo XIX, contrastando sus similaridades y diferencias. También analiza el papel del Estado en la provisión de educación técnica en estos países. El artículo sugiere que el alto estándar científico y técnico en la enseñanza, contribuyó significativamente para que el país se convirtiera en una potencia económica. Por ejemplo, la creciente superioridad técnica de los alemanes sobre los británicos en actividades como producción química, tinturas, hierro y acero, ha sido atribuida al hecho de que los británicos persistieron en el uso de métodos empíricos que representaban una barrera para alcanzar mejoras y adaptación, mientras que los alemanes desarrollaron un sistema de educación universitario y politécnico con fuertes lazos industriales que le permitían convertirse en la potencia industrial mas grande de Europa al inicio del Siglo XX.

Do the Golden-winged Warbler and Blue-winged Warbler Exhibit Species-specific Differences in their Breeding Habitat Use?

We compared habitat features of Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) territories in the presence and absence of the Blue-winged Warbler (V. cyanoptera) on reclaimed coal mines in southeastern Kentucky, USA. Our objective was to determine whether there are species specific differences in habitat that can be manipulated to encourage population persistence of the Golden-winged Warbler. When compared with Blue-winged Warblers, Golden-winged Warblers established territories at higher elevations and with greater percentages of grass and canopy cover. Mean territory size (minimum convex polygon) was 1.3 ha (se = 0.1) for Golden-winged Warbler in absence of Blue-winged Warbler, 1.7 ha (se = 0.3) for Golden-winged Warbler coexisting with Blue-winged Warbler, and 2.1 ha (se = 0.3) for Blue-winged Warbler. Territory overlap occurred within and between species (18 of n = 73 territories, 24.7%). All Golden-winged and Blue-winged Warblers established territories that included an edge between reclaimed mine land and mature forest, as opposed to establishing territories in open grassland/shrubland habitat. The mean distance territories extended from a forest edge was 28.0 m (se = 3.8) for Golden-winged Warbler in absence of Blue-winged Warbler, 44.7 m (se = 5.7) for Golden-winged Warbler coexisting with Blue-winged Warbler, and 33.1 m (se = 6.1) for Blue-winged Warbler. Neither territory size nor distances to forest edges differed significantly between Golden-winged Warbler in presence or absence of Blue-winged Warbler. According to Monte Carlo analyses, orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata), green ash (Fraxinus pennsylvanica) seedlings and saplings, and black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia) saplings were indicative of sites with only Golden-winged Warblers. Sericea lespedeza, goldenrod (Solidago spp.), clematis vine (Clematis spp.), and blackberry (Rubus spp.) were indicative of sites where both species occurred. Our findings complement recent genetic studies and add another factor for examining Golden-winged Warbler population decline. Further, information from our study will aid land managers in manipulating habitat for the Golden-winged Warbler.

Stand and within-stand factors influencing Golden-winged Warbler use of regenerating stands in the central Appalachian Mountains

The Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera) is currently being considered for protected status under the U.S. Endangered Species Act. The creation of breeding habitat in the Appalachian Mountains is considered a conservation priority for this songbird, which is dependent on extensively forested landscapes with adequate availability of young forest. We modeled abundance of Golden-winged Warbler males in regenerating harvested forest stands that were 0-17 years postharvest at both mid-Appalachian and northeast Pennsylvania regional scales using stand and within-stand characteristics of 222 regenerating stands, 2010-2011. Variables that were most influential at the mid-Appalachian scale were different than those in the northeast region. Across the mid-Appalachian ecoregion, the proportion of young forest cover, i.e., shrub/scrub cover, within 1 km of regenerating stands best explained abundance of Golden-winged Warblers. Golden-winged Warbler response was best explained by a concave quadratic relationship in which abundance was highest with 5-15% land in young forest cover. We also found evidence that the amount of herbaceous cover, i.e., the amount of grasses and forbs, within a regenerating stand positively influenced abundance of Golden-winged Warblers. In northeastern Pennsylvania, where young forest cover is found in high proportions, the distance to the nearest regenerating stand best explained variation in abundance of Golden-winged Warblers. Abundance of Golden-winged Warblers was <1 male per survey when another regenerating stand was >1500 m away. When modeling within-stand features in the northeast region, many of the models were closely ranked, indicating that multiple variables likely explained Golden-winged Warbler response to within-stand conditions. Based on our findings, we have proposed several management guidelines for land managers interested in creating breeding habitat for Golden-winged Warblers using commercial timber operations. For example, we recommend when managing for Golden-winged Warblers in the central Appalachian Mountains that managers should strive for 15% young forest in a heavily forested landscape (>70% forest cover) and cluster stands within 1-2 km of other young forest habitats.

In planta proteomics and proteogenomics of the biotrophic barley fungal pathogen blumeria f.sp. hordei

Whilst there is increasing evidence tht the outcome of the interation between a pathogen and a host is dependent on protein-protein interactions, very little information is available on in planta proteomics of biotrophic plant pathogens. Here a proteogenomic approach has been employed to supplement the annotation of the recently sequenced genome and to cast light on the biology of the infection process of the economically important barley powdery mildew pathogen, Blumeria graminis f.sp hordei

Educational simulation in construction: the virtual construction simulator

Students in the architecture, engineering, and construction disciplines are often challenged with visualizing and understanding the complex spatial and temporal relationships involved in designing and constructing three-dimensional (3D) structures. An evolving body of research traces the use of educational computer simulations to enhance student learning experiences through testing real-world scenarios and the development of student decision-making skills. Ongoing research at Pennsylvania State University aims to improve engineering education in construction through interactive construction project learning applications in an immersive virtual reality environment. This paper describes the first- and second-generation development of the Virtual Construction Simulator (VCS), a tool that enables students to simultaneously create and review construction schedules through 3D model interaction. The educational value and utility of VCS was assessed through surveys, focus group interviews, and a student exercise conducted in a construction management class. Results revealed VCS is a valuable and effective four-dimensional (4D) model creation and schedule review application that fosters collaborative work and greater student task focus. This paper concludes with a discussion of the findings and the future development steps of the VCS educational simulation

Playful language alternation in an online discussion forum: the example of digital code plays

This paper explores the linguistic practice of digital code plays in an online discussion forum, used by the community of English-speaking Germans living in Britain. By adopting a qualitative approach of Computer-Mediated Discourse Analysis, the article examines the ways in which these bilinguals deploy linguistic and other semiotic resources on the forum to co-construct humorous code plays. These performances occur in the context of negotiating language norms and are based on conscious manipulations of both codes, English and German. They involve play with codes at three levels: play with forms, meanings, and frames. Although, at first sight, such alternations appear to be used mainly for a comic effect, there is more to this than just humour. By mixing both codes at all levels, the participants deliberately produce aberrant German ‘polluted’ with English and, in so doing, dismantle the ideology of language purity upheld by the purist movement. The deliberate character of this type of code alternation demonstrates heightened metalinguistic awareness as well as creativity and criticality. By exploring the practice of digital code plays, the current study contributes to the growing body of research on networked multilingualism as well as to practices associated with translanguaging, poly- and metrolingualism.

Technology acceptance and care self-management: consideration in context of chronic care management

With an aging global population, the number of people living with a chronic illness is expected to increase significantly by 2050. If left unmanaged, chronic care leads to serious health complications, resulting in poor patient quality of life and a costly time bomb for care providers. If effectively managed, patients with chronic care tend to live a richer and more healthy life, resulting in a less costly total care solution. This chapter considers literature from the areas of technology acceptance and care self-management, which aims to alleviate symptoms and/or reason for non-acceptance of care, and thus minimise the risk of long-term complications, which in turn reduces the chance of spiralling health expenditure. By bringing together these areas, the chapter highlights areas where self-management is failing so that changes can be made in care in advance of health deterioration.