Modeling pH and Temperature Effects as Climatic Hazards in Vibrio Vulnificus and Vibrio Parahaemolyticus Planktonic Growth and Biofilm Formation.

Climate-induced stressors, such as changes in temperature, salinity, and pH, contribute to the emergence of infectious diseases. These changes alter geographical constraint, resulting in increased Vibrio spread, exposure, and infection rates, thus facilitating greater Vibrio-human interactions. Multiple efforts have been developed to predict Vibrio exposure and raise awareness of health risks, but most models only use temperature and salinity as prediction factors. This study aimed to better understand the potential effects of temperature and pH on V. vulnificus and V. parahaemolyticus planktonic and biofilm growth. Vibrio strains were grown in triplicate at 25°, 30°, and 37°C in 96 well plates containing Modified Seawater Yeast Extract modified with CaCl2 at pH's ranging from 5 to 9.6. AMiGA software was used to model growth curves using Gaussian process regression. The effects of temperature and pH were evaluated using randomized complete block analysis of variance, and the growth rates of V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus were modeled using the interpolation fit on the MatLab Curve Fitting Toolbox. Different optimal conditions involving temperature and pH were observed for planktonic and biofilm Vibrio growth within- and between-species. This study showed that temperature and pH factors significantly affect Vibrio planktonic growth rates and V. parahaemolyticus biofilm formation. Therefore, pH effects must be added to the Vibrio growth modeling efforts to better predict Vibrio risk in estuarine and coastal zones that can potentially experience the cooccurrence of Vibrio and harmful algal bloom outbreak events.

Impaired theory of mind in adults with traumatic brain injury: A replication and extension of findings.

OBJECTIVE: To replicate a previous study of Theory of Mind (ToM) task performance in adults with traumatic brain injury (TBI) under different working memory (WM) demands, and determine if there are sex-based differences in effects of WM load on ToM task performance. METHOD: 58 adults with moderate-severe TBI (24 females) and 66 uninjured adults (34 females) matched group-wise for age, sex, and education viewed a series of video vignettes from the Video Social Inference Task (VSIT) (Turkstra, 2008) and answered ToM questions. Vignette presentation format required updating and maintenance of information, and WM load was manipulated by varying presence of distracters. RESULTS: There were main effects of group and WM load, no significant effect of sex, and a marginal interaction of group by WM load, with larger between-group differences in conditions with higher WM load. VSIT scores for the condition with the highest WM load were significantly correlated with scores on the first trial of the California Verbal Learning Test. CONCLUSIONS: We replicated findings of lower scores in adults with TBI on a video-based ToM task, and provided additional evidence of the effect of WM load on social cognition task performance. There were no significant accuracy differences between men and women, inconsistent with prior evidence - including our own data using the same test. There is strong evidence of a female advantage on other social cognition tasks, and the parameters of this advantage remain to be discovered.

Scoliotic index: a comparative evaluation of methods for the measurement of scoliosis.

A new technique of measurement--Scoliotic Index(SI)--was devised to obtain more accurate determination of the spinal curvature. In comparison with previously established methods (Ferguson, Cobb), the SI is a more comprehensive and accurate representation of the scoliotic curve. It measures that the deviation of each involved vertebral segment from the vertical spinal lines with multiple points taken along the scoliotic curve. The development of this technique proved by serendipity that the Ferguson and Cobb measurements of the angle of scoliosis are reliable and comparable at all degrees of curvature.

Water salination: a source of energy.

The thermodynamically reversible mixing of freshwater and seawater at constant temperature releases free energy. Salination power as a resource is comparable with hydroelectric power in magnitude; U.S. freshwater runoff could yield over 10(10) watts. The energy flux available for natural salination is equivalent to each river in the world ending at its mouth in a waterfall 225 meters high. An osmotic salination converter could possibly operate at 25 percent efficiency. This energy source is renewable and nonpolluting. Although its full utilization would destroy estuarine environments, it might be practical for specialized purposes.

Cable theory for finite length dendritic cylinders with initial and boundary conditions.

The cable equation is solved in the Laplace transform domain for arbitrary initial and boundary conditions. The cable potential is expressed directly in terms of the impedance of the terminations and the cable electrotonic length. A computer program is given to invert the transform. Numerical solutions may be obtained for any particular model by inserting expressions describing the terminations and parameter values into the program, without further computation by the modeler. For a finite length cable, sealed at one end, the solution is expressed in terms of the ratio of the termination impedance to the impedance of the finite length cable, a generalization of the steady-state conductance ratio. Analysis of a model of a soma with several primary dendrites shows that the dendrites may be lumped into one equivalent cylinder if they have the same electrotonic length, even though they may vary in diameter. Responses obtained under voltage clamp are conceptually predictable from measurements made under current clamp, and vice versa. The equalizing time constants of an infinite series expression of the solution are the negative reciprocals of the roots of the characteristic equation. Examination of computed solutions shows that solutions which differ theoretically may be indistinguishable experimentally.

Rotation technique in radially symmetric electron micrographs: mathematical analysis.

The rotation operation of order m operating on a signal removes all spatial frequencies not multiple to m. Anomalous reinforcements, causing misinterpretation, can be discounted without following previously suggested restrictions. The improvement in signal-to- noise ratio is less than m, in contrast to signal averaging of electrophysiology. A dove prism and stroboscope can implement the technique.