Global warming assessment suggests the endemic Brazilian kelp beds to be an endangered ecosystem.

Kelps are canopy-forming brown seaweed sustaining critical ecosystem services in coastal habitats, including shelter, nursery grounds, and providing food resources to a myriad of associated species. This study modeled the fundamental niche of Laminaria abyssalis along the Brazilian continental margin, an endemic species of the South Atlantic, to anticipate potential distributional range shifts under two contrasting scenarios of future environmental changes (RCP2.6 and RCP8.5). The model for fundamental niche predictions considering the "present scenario" has shown a wider potential area than the realized niche (i.e., the area where the species actually occurs) along the Brazilian coast. In both future scenarios, the models have shown niche erosion on the northern portion of the Brazilian coast and niche gains towards the south. In both scenarios, L. abyssalis populations tend to shift to deeper regions of the reef. The restricted range of occurrence (33,000 km2), intense anthropic activities along these beds (e.g., trawling fisheries, oil/gas mining, or removal for agricultural purposes) acting synergically with global warming, may drive this ecosystem to collapse faster than kelp species' ability to adapt. We propose to classify L. abyssalis as Endangered - (EN) under IUCN criteria, and highlight that long-term monitoring of kelp beds is an urgent need to develop effective conservation initiatives to protect such rare and invaluable ecosystem.

The recent colonization of south Brazil by the Azores chromis Chromis limbata.

The damselfish Chromis limbata is native to the Macaronesian Archipelagos (Azores, Madeira and Canaries) and the western coast of Africa between Senegal and Angola. During the austral summers of 2008 and 2009 the species was recorded for the first time in the south-western Atlantic Ocean around Campeche and Xavier Islands, in Florianópolis, Santa Catarina State, Brazil. Here, the progression of C. limbata in southern Brazilian waters is described using visual counts and genetic surveys and changes in the density of the native congener Chromis multilineata were also investigated. Underwater visual censuses of both Chromis species were carried out from 2009 to 2014. Chromis limbata tissue samples were collected and the mtDNA control region was sequenced and compared with mtDNA haplotypes from the natural range to confirm species identity, compare genetic diversity and to infer connectivity between newly established Brazilian populations. The Brazilian population of C. limbata increased significantly over the past 5 years and the effect on C. multilineata is still an open question, longer time-series data will be necessary to clarify possible interactions. The molecular analyses confirmed species identity, revealed strong haplotype connectivity among Brazilian study sites and showed a low genetic diversity in Brazil when compared with the native populations, suggesting few individuals started the invasion. Four hypotheses could explain this colonizing event: C. limbata was released by aquarium fish keepers; larvae or juveniles were transported via ship ballast water; the species has rafted alongside oil rigs; they crossed the Atlantic Ocean through normal larval dispersal or naturally rafting alongside drifting objects. The rafting hypotheses are favoured, but all four possibilities are plausible and could have happened in combination.

The zwitterionic structure of 2-hydroxy-4-[(2-hydroxybenzylidene)amino]benzoic acid.

The title compound, C14H11NO4, exists in the solid phase in the zwitterionic form, 2-{[(4-carboxy-3-hydroxyphenyl)iminiumyl]methyl}phenolate, with the H atom from the phenol group on the 2-hydroxybenzylidene ring transferred to the imine N atom, resulting in a strong intramolecular N-H∙∙∙O hydrogen bond between the iminium H atom and the phenolate O atom, forming a six-membered hydrogen-bonded ring. In addition, there is an intramolecular O-H∙∙∙O hydrogen bond between the carboxylic acid group and the adjacent hydroxy group of the other ring, and an intermolecular C-H∙∙∙O contact involving the phenol group and the C-H group adjacent to the imine bond, connecting the molecules into a two-dimensional network in the (103) plane. π-π stacking interactions result in a three-dimensional network. This study is important because it provides crystallographic evidence, supported by IR data, for the iminium zwitterionic form of Schiff bases.

Combination coatings unlock medical device potential.

Employing combination coatings, whether multiple coatings on the same surface or different coatings on different parts of the same device offer medical devices a number of benefits. Examples of what can be achieved are reported here.

Interactions of fibrinolytic system proteins with lysine-containing surfaces.

Studies on the interactions of tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) and plasminogen with polyurethane surfaces containing epsilon-lysine moieties (epsilon-amino group free) are reported. These surfaces are considered to have the potential to dissolve nascent clots that may be formed on them. For adsorption from both single protein solutions and plasma, the surfaces were found to have a high capacity for tPA as well as plasminogen. A significant fraction of preadsorbed tPA was displaced from the epsilon-lysine surfaces upon contact with plasma. These surfaces, when preadsorbed with tPA and then incubated with plasma, were able to dissolve incipient clots formed around them. However, the clot-dissolving capacity diminished as the time of plasma incubation increased, presumably due to loss of tPA. It was also shown that in plasma, preadsorbed tPA is displaced from these surfaces largely by plasminogen, which thus appears to have a greater binding affinity than tPA for the epsilon-lysine moieties. Finally, it was found that in plasma, the epsilon-lysine surfaces interact with plasminogen in a dynamic manner, and that about 70% of the bound plasminogen is exchanging continuously with plasminogen in the plasma.

On the accommodation of disease rate correlations in aggregate data studies of disease risk factors.

Prentice and Sheppard (1995, Biometrika 82, 113-125) proposed a method for estimating relative risks associated with poorly measured exposures using disease rates from multiple populations and exposure and confounding factor data from sample surveys of persons in each population. The method involved an assumption of independence of disease rates across populations, conditional on exposures and confounding factors. Here, this assumption is relaxed by allowing dependencies among the disease rates within a partition of the populations, perhaps defined on the basis of geographic proximity or cultural similarity. Such dependencies could, for example, derive from unmeasured risk factors that are shared among neighboring populations. Dependencies within an element of the partition are modeled by allowing a common correlation between the disease rates of contiguous populations and by inducing correlations between the rates for noncontiguous populations using a multivariate lognormal assumption. Estimating equations are proposed for relative risk parameter estimation, and robustness and efficiency properties are assessed through simulations. The relaxed estimation procedure is shown to yield useful efficiency gains when moderate or strong disease rate dependencies are present, especially when disease rate variances are large relative to binomial variance.

Equity and adequacy in school funding.

Since 1971, most states have been subject to lawsuits seeking to reform their education funding systems. These cases are litigated on the basis of state (not federal) constitutional language and generally seek either greater equity in funding among school districts or a guaranteed level of adequate funding for education. State supreme courts have found the finance systems unconstitutional in 16 states, and many states are still actively involved in litigation. Even where litigation has not occurred or has not succeeded, the prospect of litigation has prompted revisions of state funding policies. Despite the predominant role equity and adequacy play in litigation, there are no universally accepted definitions for either of these words in education funding. Most commonly, equity is measured in terms of the variation in per-pupil revenues among school districts in a single state. By this measure, some states have greater funding equity than others, and in most states wealthy districts have significantly higher per-pupil expenditures than do poor districts. Equity is likely to be greater when the residents of poor districts pay higher taxes. (In some states, residents in poorer areas pay twice as much of their income in local taxes as do residents of wealthier communities.) Equity is also greater in those states where the state's share of the education budget is higher and where the state consistently targets its contributions to lower-income districts. Much of current litigation and legislative activity in education funding seeks to assure "adequacy," that is, a sufficient level of funding to deliver an adequate education to every student in the state. Most states have not explicitly addressed the questions of how much education is "adequate" or how educational standards can be converted to a finance formula. Several approaches to calculating the cost of an adequate education are described.

Platelet deposition and fibrinogen binding on surfaces coated with heparin or friction-reducing polymers.

The blood-contacting properties of polyethylene coated with a lubricious hydrophilic coating; an uncoated polyethylene; or a photoheparin-treated polyethylene-negative control sample were compared by measuring fibrinogen adsorption, antifibrinogen binding, and platelet attachment from human plasma. The polyethylene surfaces coated with a hydrophilic polymer were found to be similar to surfaces coated with heparin. Fibrinogen adsorption on the hydrophilic coating was 60% lower than adsorption on either the uncoated or heparin-coated polyethylene samples. Antifibrinogen binding from buffer to the hydrophilic coating was also reduced more than 85% from binding to uncoated polyethylene samples. Both the hydrophilic coating and heparin coating showed a reduction in platelet attachment by a factor of 100 over the uncoated sample as well as significantly reduced platelet activation.

Absorption spectra indicate conformational alteration of myoglobin adsorbed on polydimethylsiloxane.

To assess the effects of adsorption on protein structure, ultraviolet optical absorption spectra of myoglobin (Mb) bound to polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were measured. A flow cell, which enabled adsorption under controlled hydrodynamic conditions, was used in conjunction with a conventional spectrophotometer to obtain the spectra. Adsorption to PDMS reduced significantly the absorbance in the Soret region of the Mb spectrum, whereas the spectrum in the region near 280 nm was essentially unaffected. This result showed that disruption of the native structure of Mb occurs following interaction with PDMS. Furthermore, the change in the absorption spectrum may indicate loss of heme from the heme pocket of the adsorbed protein. Mb structure was altered from its solution configuration within fifteen min of contact with the surface. Exchange of adsorbed Mb with Mb in solution had little or no effect on the absorption spectrum of the surface-confined protein, indicating that exchange occurs only between conformationally altered species or between native species.

Environmental equity: the demographics of dumping.

Research addressing "environmental equity" and "environmental racism" claims that facilities for treatment, storage, and disposal of hazardous wastes (TSDFs) are located disproportionately in minority areas. In the first comprehensive study of TSDFs to use census tract-level data, we find no nationally consistent and statistically significant differences between the racial or ethnic composition of tracts which contain commercial TSDFs and those which do not. TSDFs are more likely to be found in tracts with Hispanic groups, primarily in regions with the greatest percentage of Hispanics. Different geographic units of analysis elaborate on, but are consistent with, these results.

The clinical utility of pulse oximetry in the pediatric emergency department setting.

Pulse oximetry provides a noninvasive, painless, accurate, and rapid method for measuring arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2). It has been shown to be valuable in anesthesia and critical care and recently has been used extensively in the outpatient setting. As is often the case with new technologies, little has been published on the basic issues of reliability, reproducibility, and effect on patient care. This prospective clinical study evaluated the basic principles of pulse oximetry in the pediatric emergency department setting and tested the hypotheses that pulse oximetry SaO2 measurements are reliable and provide valuable information, in addition to clinical and laboratory data which affect patient assessment and management. One hundred twenty patients were enrolled in phase 1 and 437 in phase 2 of the study. Pulse oximetry readings were reproducible with an intraclass correlation of 0.87. SaO2 measurements changed the assessed degree of illness in 188 (53%) patients; 47 (13%) were felt to be more ill and 130 (37%) to be less ill than at initial assessment. Sixty-nine (17%) patients were identified in whom SaO2 readings changed management plans; 27 (8%) were managed more aggressively (intubation, surgery, or admission), while 40 (11%) were managed less aggressively (discharged). In three cases, pulse oximetry was instrumental in the diagnosis of a serious illness. The results from this study indicate that pulse oximetry SaO2 readings are stable and reproducible and provide information which impacts significantly on patient assessment and management.

Local anesthesia in pediatric patients: topical TAC versus lidocaine.

Lacerations requiring sutures are a common surgical emergency in children. Traditional anesthesia prior to suturing has been intradermal lidocaine. TAC (0.5% tetracaine, 1:2,000 adrenalin, 11.8% cocaine) is a topically applied anesthetic. A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind clinical study was conducted to test the hypothesis that topical TAC and intradermal lidocaine are equally efficacious with respect to patient compliance with the suturing process, ie, anesthetic application and placement of sutures, and development of wound complications. Patients less than 18 years old, with lacerations 5 cm or less in length, located in well vascularized, nonmucous membrane areas were included. Patients were entered into the intradermal or topical groups; the intradermal group received lidocaine and the topical group was randomized to receive either TAC or placebo. One hundred fifty-one patients were enrolled in the study. There was no significant difference in the rates of successful initial anesthesia with TAC (89%) and lidocaine (79%). TAC was significantly better (P less than .002) with regard to patient compliance with the suturing process than lidocaine or placebo. Seventeen percent of patients who received placebo had initial anesthesia. These results suggest that TAC, when applied correctly, may be the preferred anesthetic for laceration repair in children.

Duration of fever prior to onset of a simple febrile seizure: a predictor of significant illness and neurologic course.

This study tested the hypothesis that the duration of fever prior to the onset of a simple febrile seizure may be an important clinical variable with respect to patient outcome. The duration of fever prior to seizure according to patient history was defined as either long (greater than or equal to 24 hours) or short (less than 24 hours). We hypothesized that simple febrile seizures which occur with a history of a fever of long duration (LDF) are more likely to be associated with a significant illness at presentation or a subsequent neurologically abnormal course than are simple febrile seizures which occur with a history of a fever or short duration (SDF). Of 100 cases which met study criteria for simple febrile seizures, nine had a LDF and 91 had a SDF prior to the development of a seizure. No statistical differences in age, sex, maximum fever recorded in the emergency department, duration of seizure, WBC, or electrolytes were found between patients with SDF and LDF (P less than 0.01). Of the nine patients with a LDF, all had either a significant illness at the time of initial visit or a subsequent neurologically abnormal course. Of the 91 patients with a SDF, 88 had a good outcome, while two had a significant illness at the time of visit, and one had a subsequent neurologically abnormal course. These results suggest that children with a history of LDF prior to the occurrence of a simple febrile seizure are more likely to have a serious illness at presentation or a subsequent neurologically abnormal course than are children with seizures which occur with a history of SDF.

Oligarchic forests of economic plants in amazonia: utilization and conservation of an important tropical resource.

Tropical forests dominated by only one or two tree species occupy tens of millions of hectares in Ammonia In many cases, the dominant species produce fruits, seeds, or oils of economic importance. Oligarchic (Gr. oligo = few, archic = dominated or ruled by) forests of six economic species, i. e., Euterpe oleracea, Grias peruviana, Jessenia bataua, Mauritia flexuosa, Myrciaria dubia, and Orbignya phalerata, were studied in Brazil and Peru Natural populations of these species contain from 100 to 3,000 conspecific adult trees/ha and produce up to 11.1 metric tons of fruit/hd/yr. These plant populations are utilized and occasionally managed, by rural inhabitants in the region. Periodic fruit harvests, if properly controlled have only a minimal impact on forest structure and function, yet can generate substantial economic returns Market-oriented extraction of the fruits produced by oligarchic forests appears to represent a promising alternative for reconciling the development and conservation of Amazonian forests.

Effector mechanism of tumor immunity in murine plasmacytoma.

The development of concomitant tumor immunity to plasmacytoma (PC) was previously demonstrated by the detection of splenic immune T-lymphocytes that inhibited the growth of PC in local adoptive transfer (Winn) assay. This immunity was down-regulated by cyclophosphamide-sensitive suppressor T-cells. The effector mechanism was further studied. It was found that immune spleen cells contained no cytotoxic T-lymphocytes as determined by 51Cr release assay. Immune spleen cells, however, exerted a cytostatic effect on PC cells in vitro; coculture of immune spleen cells with PC cells inhibited the [3H]thymidine uptake by tumor cells. No in vitro generation of cytolytic activity was observed. The cytostatic effector cells were found to be radiosensitive, nonadherent, Thy-1+, Lyt-1-2+ lymphocytes that required direct cell-cell contact for cytostasis. Plasmacytoma arising from transplants of mixtures of PC cells and immune spleen cells had a slower growth rate in vivo and incorporated less [3H]thymidine in vitro, findings consistent with the cytostatic effect of immune spleen cells. Studies comparing cytostatic cells assayed in vitro and immune splenic effector cells assayed in vivo (Winn assay) revealed that the former were short-lived (less than 26 days), high dose cyclophosphamide (200 mg/kg) resistant, and cross-reacting to other PC, whereas the latter were long-lived (greater than or equal to 102 days), high dose cyclophosphamide sensitive, and individual tumor specific. Immune spleen cells, however, could inhibit heterologous PC growth in vivo, if the homologous PC were also present. These findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the concomitant tumor immunity in PC involves terminal cytostatic effector T-cells with a broader target spectrum and tumor-specific helper T-cells that are required for clonal expansion and maturation of cytostatic cells in vivo.

Haemophilus influenzae type b unsuspected bacteremia.

To further define the clinical features and natural history of unsuspected Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) bacteremia, we retrospectively reviewed the records of 322 Hib infections observed during a 45-month period at Children's Hospital, Boston. We identified 31 patients with unsuspected Hib bacteremia and 19 with unsuspected Hib antigenemia and sterile blood cultures. Bacteremic patients were typically under two years of age (81%), had high fevers (mean = 39.5 degrees C), and frequently had otitis media (65%) diagnosed as their only focus of infection at presentation. Nineteen of 31 were empirically treated with oral antibiotics. Ten of 31 (32%) developed focal infectious complications consisting of meningitis (n = 7), cellulitis (n = 2), and pneumonia (n = 1). Children with focal infectious complications differed from those without infectious complications in having a significantly higher mean fever of 40.3 degrees C compared to 39.7 degrees C (P less than 0.05). Five of 19 (26%) empirically treated patients developed focal complications (all meningitis) compared to five of 12 (42%) untreated patients. Blood cultures at follow-up visit were positive in three of 19 (9%) treated patients and seven of 12 (42%) untreated patients (P less than 0.05). Of the 19 children with antigenemia and sterile blood cultures, 16 (84%) were empirically treated with antibiotics, and none had positive blood cultures or focal infections on follow-up evaluation. Children with occult Hib bacteremia are at high risk for developing serious focal infections, particularly meningitis, despite empiric antibiotic therapy. Once Hib bacteremia is suspected, strong consideration should be given to parenteral in hospital antibiotic therapy. The utility of rapid antigen detection for identifying high-risk patients requires further evaluation.

The influence of steroid hormones on the uterine cervix during pregnancy.

This paper reviews the evidence concerning the actions of steroid hormones on the connective tissues of the pelvis. Most available data concern the effects of steroids on the cervix. The time course of cervical softening in rats, sheep and humans suggests the possibility that the changes in connective tissue biochemistry that underlie the physiological phenomenon of cervical softening are under hormonal control. Both oestrogens and progestogens have been implicated in the control of cervical softening. However, recent experiments using inhibitors of 3 beta-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase suggest that cervical softening can be produced in both sheep and humans by progesterone withdrawal in the absence of high circulating concentrations of oestradiol-17 beta.

Latent oculogenital infection with Chlamydia trachomatis.

Thirty patients attending a sexually transmitted disease clinic were evaluated for genital and ocular infection with chlamydia. Eight patients had positive conjunctival immunofluorescent staining. This represents an asymptomatic, latent carrier state with important epidemiologic considerations.

Population structure in the Connecticut Valley: II. A comparison of multidimensional scaling solutions of migration matrices and isonymy.

In a previous paper (Swedlund et al., 1984) we have described the population structure of the historical Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts in terms of matrimonial migration matrices. Using procedures described by Morton (1973), Harpending and Jenkins (1974), Jorde (1980), and others the exchanges between subdivisions which make up the matrices are made column stochastic and analyzed to predict genetic kinship. Subsequently the kinship estimates within and between subdivisions can be interpreted as genetic covariance and compared to the actual geographic distances between the respective subdivisions using a principal components analysis. In the present paper we extend these results by applying nonmetric multidimensional scaling to the migration matrices, and to isonymy matrices based on the same communities. We demonstrate that the multidimensional scaling configurations of marital migration represent the actual geographic relationships between the communities quite effectively for this particular case study from historical Massachusetts. Moreover, we argue that while these migration data may provide good estimates of social and genetic exchange between the subdivisions, surname analysis may also be informative of processes not revealed in the migration matrices alone.