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Particle acceleration and loss in the million electron Volt (MeV) energy range (and above) is the least understood aspect of radiation belt science. In order to measure cleanly and separately both the energetic electron and energetic proton components, there is a need for a carefully designed detector system. The Relativistic Electron-Proton Telescope (REPT) on board the Radiation Belt Storm Probe (RBSP) pair of spacecraft consists of a stack of high-performance silicon solid-state detectors in a telescope configuration, a collimation aperture, and a thick case surrounding the detector stack to shield the sensors from penetrating radiation and bremsstrahlung. The instrument points perpendicular to the spin axis of the spacecraft and measures high-energy electrons (up to ∼20 MeV) with excellent sensitivity and also measures magnetospheric and solar protons to energies well above E =100 MeV. The instrument has a large geometric factor ( g =0.2 cm 2  sr) to get reasonable count rates (above background) at the higher energies and yet will not saturate at the lower energy ranges. There must be fast enough electronics to avert undue dead-time limitations and chance coincidence effects. The key goal for the REPT design is to measure the directional electron intensities (in the range 10 −2 –10 6 particles/cm 2  s sr MeV) and energy spectra (Δ E / E ∼25 %) throughout the slot and outer radiation belt region. Present simulations and detailed laboratory calibrations show that an excellent design has been attained for the RBSP needs. We describe the engineering design, operational approaches, science objectives, and planned data products for REPT.

ABSTRACT Collaboration and community partnership have become buzzwords in academic settings, which have received little direction regarding how to make these efforts successful and sustainable. This study attempted to discern the factors involved in setting up one successful community-campus partnership. Four years after opening an all-volunteer free health clinic in Laramie, Wyoming, we interviewed community members and university faculty who were involved in the initial partnership. Analysis of these interviews identified several dynamic tensions that kept the group together and moving toward its goal. AUTHORS Received: February 9, 2005 Accepted: May 20, 2005 Ms. Hubbell is Wyoming Area Health Education Center coordinator, and Dr. Burman is Professor, Fay W. Whitney School of Nursing, University of Wyoming, Laramie, Wyoming. Address correspondence to Kelly Hubbell, MS, LPC, Wyoming Area Health Education Center coordinator, Department 4238, 1000 East University Avenue, Laramie, WY 82071; e-mail: khubbell@uwyo.edu .

The primary goal of this retrospective study was to determine the most effective treatment protocol to return worker's compensation patients with carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) to their original jobs. By examining a homogeneous subject pool and using specific, functional outcome measures determined by what is needed to reduce worker's compensation costs, a treatment protocol could be developed benefiting both the employer and employee. A total of 121 charts of worker's compensation patients with diagnoses of work-related CTS were reviewed. For inclusion in the study, patients could have no other upper extremity disorder, they must have completed treatment for the CTS, and the etiology of their CTS could not be traumatic. A total of 58 patients were included. Those who received conservative treatment followed by surgery (n = 27) were compared with those who were treated with surgery only (n = 31). A chi-square test showed a significant relationship between type of treatment and return to work (χ2(1) = 4.065; p = 0.044). Of the 31 patients who received only surgical treatment, 83.9% returned to original employment. Of the 27 patients who received both conservative and surgical treatment, 59.1% returned to their original employment. While this is a small sample size, the findings suggest that conservative treatment alone is not effective in returning worker's compensation patients with CTS to work. J HAND THER. 2002;15:251-259.

AFTER A DECADE OF VIOLENT AND DESTRUCTIVE COMMUNAL STRIFE, SRI LANKA AND INDIA SIGNED AN ACCORD ON JULY 29, 1987, THAT PROVIDES THE BASIS FOR ENDING HOSTILITIES BETWEEN THE COUNTRY'S MAJORITY SINHALESE COMMUNITY AND THE MINORITY SRI LANKAN TAMILS. THE JULY 1983 RIOT ENGULFED THE WHOLE ISLAND, AND THE EXTENT OF DESTRUCTION SHOCKED CITIZENS AND GOVERNMENT OFFICALS ALIKE. THE PURPOSE OF THIS ESSAY IS TO DESCRIBE IN SOME DETAIL THE EVENTS THAT HAVE TRANSPIRED SINCE 1983 AND THAT LED TO THE JULY 29 INDO-SRI LANKA AGREEMENT.

The phyllosphere—the aerial surfaces of plants, including leaves—is a ubiquitous global habitat that harbors diverse bacterial communities. Phyllosphere bacterial communities have the potential to influence plant biogeography and ecosystem function through their influence on the fitness and function of their hosts, but the host attributes that drive community assembly in the phyllosphere are poorly understood. In this study we used high-throughput sequencing to quantify bacterial community structure on the leaves of 57 tree species in a neotropical forest in Panama. We tested for relationships between bacterial communities on tree leaves and the functional traits, taxonomy, and phylogeny of their plant hosts. Bacterial communities on tropical tree leaves were diverse; leaves from individual trees were host to more than 400 bacterial taxa. Bacterial communities in the phyllosphere were dominated by a core microbiome of taxa including Actinobacteria, Alpha-, Beta-, and Gammaproteobacteria, and Sphingobacteria. Host attributes including plant taxonomic identity, phylogeny, growth and mortality rates, wood density, leaf mass per area, and leaf nitrogen and phosphorous concentrations were correlated with bacterial community structure on leaves. The relative abundances of several bacterial taxa were correlated with suites of host plant traits related to major axes of plant trait variation, including the leaf economics spectrum and the wood density–growth/mortality tradeoff. These correlations between phyllosphere bacterial diversity and host growth, mortality, and function suggest that incorporating information on plant–microbe associations will improve our ability to understand plant functional biogeography and the drivers of variation in plant and ecosystem function. Significance In this study we sequenced bacterial communities present on tree leaves in a neotropical forest in Panama, to quantify the poorly understood relationships between bacterial biodiversity on leaves (the phyllosphere) vs. host tree attributes. Bacterial community structure on leaves was highly correlated with host evolutionary relatedness and suites of plant functional traits related to host ecological strategies for resource uptake and growth/mortality tradeoffs. The abundance of several bacterial taxa was correlated with host growth, mortality, and function. Our study quantifies the drivers of variation in plant-associated microbial biodiversity; our results suggest that incorporating information on plant-associated microbes will improve our understanding of the functional biogeography of plants and plant–microbe interactions.

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) relay diverse extracellular signals into cells by catalyzing nucleotide release from heterotrimeric G proteins, but the mechanism underlying this quintessential molecular signaling event has remained unclear. Here we use atomic-level simulations to elucidate the nucleotide-release mechanism. We find that the G protein a subunit Ras and helical domains—previously observed to separate widely upon receptor binding to expose the nucleotide-binding site—separate spontaneously and frequently even in the absence of a receptor. Domain separation is necessary but not sufficient for rapid nucleotide release. Rather, receptors catalyze nucleotide release by favoring an internal structural rearrangement of the Ras domain that weakens its nucleotide affinity. We use double electron-electron resonance spectroscopy and protein engineering to confirm predictions of our computationally determined mechanism.

By contrast with many observational studies, women in the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) trial who were randomly allocated to receive oestrogen alone had a lower incidence of invasive breast cancer than did those who received placebo. We aimed to assess the influence of oestrogen use on longer term breast cancer incidence and mortality in extended follow-up of this cohort. Between 1993 and 1998, the WHI enrolled 10 739 postmenopausal women from 40 US clinical centres into a randomised, double-masked, placebo-controlled trial. Women aged 50–79 years who had undergone hysterectomy and had expected 3-year survival and mammography clearance were randomly allocated by a computerised, permuted block algorithm, stratified by age group and centre, to receive oral conjugated equine oestrogen (0·625 mg per day; n=5310) or matched placebo (n=5429). The trial intervention was terminated early on Feb 29, 2004, because of an adverse effect on stroke. Follow-up continued until planned termination (March 31, 2005). Consent was sought for extended surveillance from the 9786 living participants in active follow-up, of whom 7645 agreed. Using data from this extended follow-up (to Aug 14, 2009), we assessed long-term effects of oestrogen use on invasive breast cancer incidence, tumour characteristics, and mortality. We used Cox regression models to estimate hazard ratios (HRs) in the intention-to-treat population. This study is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00000611. After a median follow-up of 11·8 years (IQR 9·1–12·9), the use of oestrogen for a median of 5·9 years (2·5–7·3) was associated with lower incidence of invasive breast cancer (151 cases, 0·27% per year) compared with placebo (199 cases, 0·35% per year; HR 0·77, 95% CI 0·62–0·95; p=0·02) with no difference (p=0·76) between intervention phase (0·79, 0·61–1·02) and post-intervention phase effects (0·75, 0·51–1·09). In subgroup analyses, we noted breast cancer risk reduction with oestrogen use was concentrated in women without benign breast disease (p=0·01) or a family history of breast cancer (p=0·02). In the oestrogen group, fewer women died from breast cancer (six deaths, 0·009% per year) compared with controls (16 deaths, 0·024% per year; HR 0·37, 95% CI 0·13–0·91; p=0·03). Fewer women in the oestrogen group died from any cause after a breast cancer diagnosis (30 deaths, 0·046% per year) than did controls (50 deaths, 0·076%; HR 0·62, 95% CI 0·39–0·97; p=0·04). Our findings provide reassurance for women with hysterectomy seeking relief of climacteric symptoms in terms of the effects of oestrogen use for about 5 years on breast cancer incidence and mortality. However, our data do not support use of oestrogen for breast cancer risk reduction because any noted benefit probably does not apply to populations at increased risk of such cancer. US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute; Wyeth.