Quantum physics meets biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Arndt, Markus; Juffmann, Thomas; Vedral, Vlatko

2009-12-01

Quantum physics and biology have long been regarded as unrelated disciplines, describing nature at the inanimate microlevel on the one hand and living species on the other hand. Over the past decades the life sciences have succeeded in providing ever more and refined explanations of macroscopic phenomena that were based on an improved understanding of molecular structures and mechanisms. Simultaneously, quantum physics, originally rooted in a world-view of quantum coherences, entanglement, and other nonclassical effects, has been heading toward systems of increasing complexity. The present perspective article shall serve as a "pedestrian guide" to the growing interconnections between the two fields. We recapitulate the generic and sometimes unintuitive characteristics of quantum physics and point to a number of applications in the life sciences. We discuss our criteria for a future "quantum biology," its current status, recent experimental progress, and also the restrictions that nature imposes on bold extrapolations of quantum theory to macroscopic phenomena.

Physical properties of biological entities: an introduction to the ontology of physics for biology.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel L Cook

Full Text Available As biomedical investigators strive to integrate data and analyses across spatiotemporal scales and biomedical domains, they have recognized the benefits of formalizing languages and terminologies via computational ontologies. Although ontologies for biological entities-molecules, cells, organs-are well-established, there are no principled ontologies of physical properties-energies, volumes, flow rates-of those entities. In this paper, we introduce the Ontology of Physics for Biology (OPB, a reference ontology of classical physics designed for annotating biophysical content of growing repositories of biomedical datasets and analytical models. The OPB's semantic framework, traceable to James Clerk Maxwell, encompasses modern theories of system dynamics and thermodynamics, and is implemented as a computational ontology that references available upper ontologies. In this paper we focus on the OPB classes that are designed for annotating physical properties encoded in biomedical datasets and computational models, and we discuss how the OPB framework will facilitate biomedical knowledge integration.

Physical properties of biological entities: an introduction to the ontology of physics for biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Cook, Daniel L; Bookstein, Fred L; Gennari, John H

2011-01-01

As biomedical investigators strive to integrate data and analyses across spatiotemporal scales and biomedical domains, they have recognized the benefits of formalizing languages and terminologies via computational ontologies. Although ontologies for biological entities-molecules, cells, organs-are well-established, there are no principled ontologies of physical properties-energies, volumes, flow rates-of those entities. In this paper, we introduce the Ontology of Physics for Biology (OPB), a reference ontology of classical physics designed for annotating biophysical content of growing repositories of biomedical datasets and analytical models. The OPB's semantic framework, traceable to James Clerk Maxwell, encompasses modern theories of system dynamics and thermodynamics, and is implemented as a computational ontology that references available upper ontologies. In this paper we focus on the OPB classes that are designed for annotating physical properties encoded in biomedical datasets and computational models, and we discuss how the OPB framework will facilitate biomedical knowledge integration. © 2011 Cook et al.

Intermediate physics for medicine and biology

CERN Document Server

Hobbie, Russell K

2015-01-01

This classic text has been used in over 20 countries by advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in biophysics, physiology, medical physics, neuroscience, and biomedical engineering. It bridges the gap between an introductory physics course and the application of physics to the life and biomedical sciences. Extensively revised and updated, the fifth edition incorporates new developments at the interface between physics and biomedicine. New coverage includes cyclotrons, photodynamic therapy, color vision, x-ray crystallography, the electron microscope, cochlear implants, deep brain stimulation, nanomedicine, and other topics highlighted in the National Research Council report BIO2010. As with the previous edition, the first half of the text is primarily biological physics, emphasizing the use of ideas from physics to understand biology and physiology, and the second half is primarily medical physics, describing the use of physics in medicine for diagnosis (mainly imaging) and therapy. Among the m...

Designing and testing a classroom curriculum to teach preschoolers about the biology of physical activity: The respiration system as an underlying biological causal mechanism

Science.gov (United States)

Ewing, Tracy S.

The present study examined young children's understanding of respiration and oxygen as a source of vital energy underlying physical activity. Specifically, the purpose of the study was to explore whether a coherent biological theory, characterized by an understanding that bodily parts (heart and lungs) and processes (oxygen in respiration) as part of a biological system, can be taught as a foundational concept to reason about physical activity. The effects of a biology-based intervention curriculum designed to teach preschool children about bodily functions as a part of the respiratory system, the role of oxygen as a vital substance and how physical activity acts an energy source were examined. Participants were recruited from three private preschool classrooms (two treatment; 1 control) in Southern California and included a total of 48 four-year-old children (30 treatment; 18 control). Findings from this study suggested that young children could be taught relevant biological concepts about the role of oxygen in respiratory processes. Children who received biology-based intervention curriculum made significant gains in their understanding of the biology of respiration, identification of physical and sedentary activities. In addition these children demonstrated that coherence of conceptual knowledge was correlated with improved accuracy at activity identification and reasoning about the inner workings of the body contributing to endurance. Findings from this study provided evidence to support the benefits of providing age appropriate but complex coherent biological instruction to children in early childhood settings.

Link between physics and biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zaider, M.; Brenner, D.J.; Hall, E.J.; Kliauga, P.

1988-01-01

In the general causative chain: radiation physics-radiation chemistry - radiobiology - cancer treatment, physics, the initiating and therefore cardinal agent, continues to play the role of the poor relation. The main reason for this state of affairs rests with the fact that most models of radiation action - the actual link between physics and biology - make very little or no use of information concerning the radiation field: they are simply convenient vehicles for describing a large body of radiobiological data with analytical expressions containing a minimum number of parameters. In spite of their practical usefulness such models will not be further considered here. It is a reasonable assertion that the main goal of radiation biophysics is to elucidate the mechanisms of radiation action on biological entities

Biology-inspired AMO physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mathur, Deepak

2015-01-01

This Topical Review presents an overview of increasingly robust interconnects that are being established between atomic, molecular and optical (AMO) physics and the life sciences. AMO physics, outgrowing its historical role as a facilitator—a provider of optical methodologies, for instance—now seeks to partner biology in its quest to link systems-level descriptions of biological entities to insights based on molecular processes. Of course, perspectives differ when AMO physicists and biologists consider various processes. For instance, while AMO physicists link molecular properties and dynamics to potential energy surfaces, these have to give way to energy landscapes in considerations of protein dynamics. But there are similarities also: tunnelling and non-adiabatic transitions occur both in protein dynamics and in molecular dynamics. We bring to the fore some such differences and similarities; we consider imaging techniques based on AMO concepts, like 4D fluorescence microscopy which allows access to the dynamics of cellular processes, multiphoton microscopy which offers a built-in confocality, and microscopy with femtosecond laser beams to saturate the suppression of fluorescence in spatially controlled fashion so as to circumvent the diffraction limit. Beyond imaging, AMO physics contributes with optical traps that probe the mechanical and dynamical properties of single ‘live’ cells, highlighting differences between healthy and diseased cells. Trap methodologies have also begun to probe the dynamics governing of neural stem cells adhering to each other to form neurospheres and, with squeezed light to probe sub-diffusive motion of yeast cells. Strong field science contributes not only by providing a source of energetic electrons and γ-rays via laser-plasma accelerations schemes, but also via filamentation and supercontinuum generation, enabling mainstream collision physics into play in diverse processes like DNA damage induced by low-energy collisions to

Physics and Biology Collaborate to Color the World

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Dennis W. C.

2013-01-01

To understand how life works, it is essential to understand physics and chemistry. Most biologists have a clear notion of where chemistry fits into their life sciences research and teaching. Although we are physical beings, physics does not always find a place in the biology curriculum. Physics informs and enlightens biology in myriad dimensions,…

Toward University Modeling Instruction—Biology: Adapting Curricular Frameworks from Physics to Biology

Science.gov (United States)

Manthey, Seth; Brewe, Eric

2013-01-01

University Modeling Instruction (UMI) is an approach to curriculum and pedagogy that focuses instruction on engaging students in building, validating, and deploying scientific models. Modeling Instruction has been successfully implemented in both high school and university physics courses. Studies within the physics education research (PER) community have identified UMI's positive impacts on learning gains, equity, attitudinal shifts, and self-efficacy. While the success of this pedagogical approach has been recognized within the physics community, the use of models and modeling practices is still being developed for biology. Drawing from the existing research on UMI in physics, we describe the theoretical foundations of UMI and how UMI can be adapted to include an emphasis on models and modeling for undergraduate introductory biology courses. In particular, we discuss our ongoing work to develop a framework for the first semester of a two-semester introductory biology course sequence by identifying the essential basic models for an introductory biology course sequence. PMID:23737628

Toward university modeling instruction--biology: adapting curricular frameworks from physics to biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Manthey, Seth; Brewe, Eric

2013-06-01

University Modeling Instruction (UMI) is an approach to curriculum and pedagogy that focuses instruction on engaging students in building, validating, and deploying scientific models. Modeling Instruction has been successfully implemented in both high school and university physics courses. Studies within the physics education research (PER) community have identified UMI's positive impacts on learning gains, equity, attitudinal shifts, and self-efficacy. While the success of this pedagogical approach has been recognized within the physics community, the use of models and modeling practices is still being developed for biology. Drawing from the existing research on UMI in physics, we describe the theoretical foundations of UMI and how UMI can be adapted to include an emphasis on models and modeling for undergraduate introductory biology courses. In particular, we discuss our ongoing work to develop a framework for the first semester of a two-semester introductory biology course sequence by identifying the essential basic models for an introductory biology course sequence.

Intermediate Physics for Medicine and Biology

CERN Document Server

Hobbie, Russell K

2007-01-01

Intended for advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in biophysics, physiology, medical physics, cell biology, and biomedical engineering, this wide-ranging text bridges the gap between introductory physics and its application to the life and biomedical sciences. This extensively revised and updated fourth edition reflects new developments at the burgeoning interface between physics and biomedicine. Among the many topics treated are: forces in the skeletal system; fluid flow, with examples from the circulatory system; the logistic equation; scaling; transport of neutral particles by diffusion and by solvent drag; membranes and osmosis; equipartition of energy in statistical mechanics; the chemical potential and free energy; biological magnetic fields; membranes and gated channels in membranes; linear and nonlinear feedback systems; nonlinear phenomena, including biological clocks and chaotic behavior; signal analysis, noise and stochastic resonance detection of weak signals; image formation and...

Research Data in Core Journals in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ryan P Womack

Full Text Available This study takes a stratified random sample of articles published in 2014 from the top 10 journals in the disciplines of biology, chemistry, mathematics, and physics, as ranked by impact factor. Sampled articles were examined for their reporting of original data or reuse of prior data, and were coded for whether the data was publicly shared or otherwise made available to readers. Other characteristics such as the sharing of software code used for analysis and use of data citation and DOIs for data were examined. The study finds that data sharing practices are still relatively rare in these disciplines' top journals, but that the disciplines have markedly different practices. Biology top journals share original data at the highest rate, and physics top journals share at the lowest rate. Overall, the study finds that within the top journals, only 13% of articles with original data published in 2014 make the data available to others.

Physical models of biological information and adaptation.

Science.gov (United States)

Stuart, C I

1985-04-07

The bio-informational equivalence asserts that biological processes reduce to processes of information transfer. In this paper, that equivalence is treated as a metaphor with deeply anthropomorphic content of a sort that resists constitutive-analytical definition, including formulation within mathematical theories of information. It is argued that continuance of the metaphor, as a quasi-theoretical perspective in biology, must entail a methodological dislocation between biological and physical science. It is proposed that a general class of functions, drawn from classical physics, can serve to eliminate the anthropomorphism. Further considerations indicate that the concept of biological adaptation is central to the general applicability of the informational idea in biology; a non-anthropomorphic treatment of adaptive phenomena is suggested in terms of variational principles.

Physics and biology of protein

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Go, Nobuhiro

2008-01-01

This is a record of my lecture given at the occasion of Yukawa-Tomonaga Centennial Symposium. At first I will mention very briefly how Yukawa contributed to the development of biophysics in Japan. Then I will be concerned with the relationship between physics and biology by discussing various aspects of protein. How far and in what sense can physics approach the essence of protein? In what aspects are something beyond physics important? (author)

You Get What You Need: An Examination of Purpose-Based Inheritance Reasoning in Undergraduates, Preschoolers, and Biological Experts

Science.gov (United States)

Ware, Elizabeth A.; Gelman, Susan A.

2014-01-01

This set of seven experiments examines reasoning about the inheritance and acquisition of physical properties in preschoolers, undergraduates, and biology experts. Participants (N = 390) received adoption vignettes in which a baby animal was born to one parent but raised by a biologically unrelated parent, and they judged whether the offspring…

When physics is not "just physics": complexity science invites new measurement frames for exploring the physics of cognitive and biological development.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelty-Stephen, Damian; Dixon, James A

2012-01-01

The neurobiological sciences have struggled to resolve the physical foundations for biological and cognitive phenomena with a suspicion that biological and cognitive systems, capable of exhibiting and contributing to structure within themselves and through their contexts, are fundamentally distinct or autonomous from purely physical systems. Complexity science offers new physics-based approaches to explaining biological and cognitive phenomena. In response to controversy over whether complexity science might seek to "explain away" biology and cognition as "just physics," we propose that complexity science serves as an application of recent advances in physics to phenomena in biology and cognition without reducing or undermining the integrity of the phenomena to be explained. We highlight that physics is, like the neurobiological sciences, an evolving field and that the threat of reduction is overstated. We propose that distinctions between biological and cognitive systems from physical systems are pretheoretical and thus optional. We review our own work applying insights from post-classical physics regarding turbulence and fractal fluctuations to the problems of developing cognitive structure. Far from hoping to reduce biology and cognition to "nothing but" physics, we present our view that complexity science offers new explanatory frameworks for considering physical foundations of biological and cognitive phenomena.

A Practical Concussion Physical Examination Toolbox.

Science.gov (United States)

Matuszak, Jason M; McVige, Jennifer; McPherson, Jacob; Willer, Barry; Leddy, John

With heightened awareness of concussion, there is a need to assess and manage the concussed patient in a consistent manner. Unfortunately, concussion physical examination has not been standardized or supported by evidence. Important questions remain about the physical examination. Review of ClinicalKey, Cochrane, MEDLINE, and PubMed prior to July 2015 was performed using search terms, including concussion, mTBI, physical examination, mental status, cranial nerves, reflexes, cervical, vestibular, and oculomotor. The references of the pertinent articles were reviewed for other relevant sources. Clinical review. Level 3. The pertinent physical examination elements for concussion include evaluation of cranial nerves, manual muscle testing, and deep tendon reflexes; inspecting the head and neck for trauma or tenderness and cervical range of motion; Spurling maneuver; a static or dynamic balance assessment; screening ocular examination; and a mental status examination that includes orientation, immediate and delayed recall, concentration, mood, affect, insight, and judgment. Other examination elements to consider, based on signs, symptoms, or clinical suspicion, include testing of upper motor neurons, cervical strength and proprioception, coordination, pupillary reactivity, and visual acuity; examination of the jaw, temporomandibular joint, and thoracic spine; fundoscopic evaluation; orthostatic vital signs; assessment of dynamic visual acuity; and screening for depression, anxiety, substance abuse disorders, and preinjury psychiatric difficulties. Various elements of the physical examination, such as screening ocular examination, cervical musculoskeletal examination, static and/or dynamic balance assessment, and mental status examination, appear to have utility for evaluating concussion; however, data on validity are lacking.

Robustness: confronting lessons from physics and biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Lesne, Annick

2008-11-01

The term robustness is encountered in very different scientific fields, from engineering and control theory to dynamical systems to biology. The main question addressed herein is whether the notion of robustness and its correlates (stability, resilience, self-organisation) developed in physics are relevant to biology, or whether specific extensions and novel frameworks are required to account for the robustness properties of living systems. To clarify this issue, the different meanings covered by this unique term are discussed; it is argued that they crucially depend on the kind of perturbations that a robust system should by definition withstand. Possible mechanisms underlying robust behaviours are examined, either encountered in all natural systems (symmetries, conservation laws, dynamic stability) or specific to biological systems (feedbacks and regulatory networks). Special attention is devoted to the (sometimes counterintuitive) interrelations between robustness and noise. A distinction between dynamic selection and natural selection in the establishment of a robust behaviour is underlined. It is finally argued that nested notions of robustness, relevant to different time scales and different levels of organisation, allow one to reconcile the seemingly contradictory requirements for robustness and adaptability in living systems.

Cellular response to ionizing radiations: a study of the roles of physics and biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

DeWyngaert, J.K.

1982-01-01

A study of the complementary roles of physics and biology in determining the response of cellular systems to ionizing radiations has been conducted. Upon exposure to radiation, a cell responds in a binary (yes/no) manner in terms of its proliferative ability (survival). The relationship between the survival probability and absorbed dose may then be examined in terms of relevant physical and biological parameters. The approach to these studies was to vary the physics and biology independently and observe separately their influences upon the measured effect. Unique to these studies was the use of heterogeneous tumor systems. These are solid tumors found to consist of genetically related but identifiably distinct populations of cells. The two heterogeneous systems studied, a murine system consisting of four subpopulations and a human tumor system with two subpopulations, were exposed to graded doses of 14 MeV neutrons or x-rays and their effectiveness in inducing cell lethality compared. A further examination of the radiation effect involved a study at the chemical level, measuring the ability of oxygen to potentiate the damage produced by photon irradiation. To summarize, the physics, biology and the environment have all been varied, and the systematics of the responses studied. The data were analyzed within the formalisms of the dual theory of radiation action, the repair-misrepair model, and the repair saturation model of cell killing. The change in survival curve shape and the increased effectiveness in cell killing for higher Linear Energy Transfer (LET) radiations (neutrons vs. x-rays) are discussed in relation to explanations in terms of either physical or biochemical processes

Exploration of the attitudes of nursing students to peer physical examination and physical examination of patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Wearn, Andy M; Bhoopatkar, Harsh; Mathew, Thomas K; Stewart, Lisa

2013-08-01

The use of peer physical examination (PPE) in early clinical skills has been studied amongst medical students. The majority of students are comfortable with using peer physical examination, when sensitive areas are excluded. Students' attitudes are related to their personal characteristics: gender, age, religious faith, and ethnicity. There is no data on nursing students' attitudes to peer physical examination. Identify and explore: Dual cohort, cross-sectional, anonymous survey. Three-year undergraduate nursing programme, skills centre and service clinical learning. All first and third year nursing students were asked to complete a modified Examining Fellow Students questionnaire at the end of 2008. The questionnaire asked students to indicate which of 12 body areas they would not be willing to examine/have examined by a peer of the same/opposite gender. This study also asked students which of the 12 body areas they felt uncomfortable examining on patients. The response rate was 76% (128/168). The students were predominantly female (93% female; 7% male). Most students were comfortable with examining non-sensitive body regions of peers (78.2%-100% willing) and patients (92.3-100% willing). Male gender was significantly associated with willingness to examine and be examined by peers (p=0.001); Asian students were significantly less willing to engage in peer physical examination with opposite gender (pexamining patients of either gender (pexamination shows similarities and differences to other studies. Student characteristics were not related to patient examination attitudes. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A Practical Concussion Physical Examination Toolbox

Science.gov (United States)

Matuszak, Jason M.; McVige, Jennifer; McPherson, Jacob; Willer, Barry; Leddy, John

2016-01-01

Context: With heightened awareness of concussion, there is a need to assess and manage the concussed patient in a consistent manner. Unfortunately, concussion physical examination has not been standardized or supported by evidence. Important questions remain about the physical examination. Evidence Acquisition: Review of ClinicalKey, Cochrane, MEDLINE, and PubMed prior to July 2015 was performed using search terms, including concussion, mTBI, physical examination, mental status, cranial nerves, reflexes, cervical, vestibular, and oculomotor. The references of the pertinent articles were reviewed for other relevant sources. Study Design: Clinical review. Level of Evidence: Level 3. Results: The pertinent physical examination elements for concussion include evaluation of cranial nerves, manual muscle testing, and deep tendon reflexes; inspecting the head and neck for trauma or tenderness and cervical range of motion; Spurling maneuver; a static or dynamic balance assessment; screening ocular examination; and a mental status examination that includes orientation, immediate and delayed recall, concentration, mood, affect, insight, and judgment. Other examination elements to consider, based on signs, symptoms, or clinical suspicion, include testing of upper motor neurons, cervical strength and proprioception, coordination, pupillary reactivity, and visual acuity; examination of the jaw, temporomandibular joint, and thoracic spine; fundoscopic evaluation; orthostatic vital signs; assessment of dynamic visual acuity; and screening for depression, anxiety, substance abuse disorders, and preinjury psychiatric difficulties. Conclusion: Various elements of the physical examination, such as screening ocular examination, cervical musculoskeletal examination, static and/or dynamic balance assessment, and mental status examination, appear to have utility for evaluating concussion; however, data on validity are lacking. PMID:27022058

Biological physics in México: Review and new challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Hernández-Lemus, Enrique

2011-03-01

Biological and physical sciences possess a long-standing tradition of cooperativity as separate but related subfields of science. For some time, this cooperativity has been limited by their obvious differences in methods and views. Biological physics has recently experienced a kind of revival (or better a rebirth) due to the growth of molecular research on animate matter. New avenues for research have been opened for both theoretical and experimental physicists. Nevertheless, in order to better travel for such paths, the contemporary biological physicist should be armed with a set of specialized tools and methods but also with a new attitude toward multidisciplinarity. In this review article, we intend to somehow summarize what has been done in the past (in particular, as an example we will take a closer look at the Mexican case), to show some examples of fruitful investigations in the biological physics area and also to set a proposal of new curricula for physics students and professionals interested in applying their science to get a better understanding of the physical basis of biological function.

Optimizing Introductory Physics for the Life Sciences: Placing Physics in Biological Context

Science.gov (United States)

Crouch, Catherine

2014-03-01

Physics is a critical foundation for today's life sciences and medicine. However, the physics content and ways of thinking identified by life scientists as most important for their fields are often not taught, or underemphasized, in traditional introductory physics courses. Furthermore, such courses rarely give students practice using physics to understand living systems in a substantial way. Consequently, students are unlikely to recognize the value of physics to their chosen fields, or to develop facility in applying physics to biological systems. At Swarthmore, as at several other institutions engaged in reforming this course, we have reorganized the introductory course for life science students around touchstone biological examples, in which fundamental physics contributes significantly to understanding biological phenomena or research techniques, in order to make explicit the value of physics to the life sciences. We have also focused on the physics topics and approaches most relevant to biology while seeking to develop rigorous qualitative reasoning and quantitative problem solving skills, using established pedagogical best practices. Each unit is motivated by and culminates with students analyzing one or more touchstone examples. For example, in the second semester we emphasize electric potential and potential difference more than electric field, and start from students' typically superficial understanding of the cell membrane potential and of electrical interactions in biochemistry to help them develop a more sophisticated understanding of electric forces, field, and potential, including in the salt water environment of life. Other second semester touchstones include optics of vision and microscopes, circuit models for neural signaling, and magnetotactic bacteria. When possible, we have adapted existing research-based curricular materials to support these examples. This talk will describe the design and development process for this course, give examples of

Biology meets Physics: Reductionism and Multi-scale Modeling of Morphogenesis

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Green, Sara; Batterman, Robert

2017-01-01

A common reductionist assumption is that macro-scale behaviors can be described "bottom-up" if only sufficient details about lower-scale processes are available. The view that an "ideal" or "fundamental" physics would be sufficient to explain all macro-scale phenomena has been met with criticism ...... modeling in developmental biology. In such contexts, the relation between models at different scales and from different disciplines is neither reductive nor completely autonomous, but interdependent....... from philosophers of biology. Specifically, scholars have pointed to the impossibility of deducing biological explanations from physical ones, and to the irreducible nature of distinctively biological processes such as gene regulation and evolution. This paper takes a step back in asking whether bottom......-up modeling is feasible even when modeling simple physical systems across scales. By comparing examples of multi-scale modeling in physics and biology, we argue that the “tyranny of scales” problem present a challenge to reductive explanations in both physics and biology. The problem refers to the scale...

The Effects Of Physical And Biological Cohesion On Bedforms

Science.gov (United States)

Parsons, D. R.; Schindler, R.; Baas, J.; Hope, J. A.; Malarkey, J.; Paterson, D. M.; Peakall, J.; Manning, A. J.; Ye, L.; Aspden, R.; Alan, D.; Bass, S. J.

2014-12-01

Most coastal sediments consist of complex mixtures of cohesionless sands, physically-cohesive clays and extra cellular polymeric substances (EPS) that impart biological cohesion. Yet, our ability to predict bedform dimensions in these substrates is reliant on predictions based exclusively on cohesionless sand. We present findings from the COHBED project - which explicitly examines how bedform dynamics are modified by natural cohesion. Our experimental results show that for ripples, height and length are inversely proportional to initial clay content and bedforms take longer to appear, with no ripples when clay content exceeds 18%. When clay is replaced by EPS the development time and time of first appearance of ripples both increase by two orders of magnitude, with no bedforms above 0.125% EPS. For dunes, height and length are also inversely proportional to initial substrate clay content, resulting in a transition from dunes to ripples normally associated with velocity decreases. Addition of low EPS concentrations into the substrate results in yet smaller bedforms at the same clay contents and at high EPS concentrations, biological cohesion supersedes all electrostatic bonding, and bedform size is no longer related to mud content. The contrast in physical and biological cohesion effects on bedform development result from the disparity between inter-particle electrostatic bonding of clay particles and EPS grain coating and strands that physically link sediments together, which effects winnowing rates as bedforms evolve. These findings have wide ranging implications for bedform predictions in both modern and ancient environments. Coupling of biological and morphological processes not only requires an understanding of how bedform dimensions influence biota and habitat, but also how benthic species can modify bedform dimensions. Consideration of both aspects provides a means in which fluid dynamics, sediment transport and ecosystem energetics can be linked to yield

Pragmatic information in biology and physics.

Science.gov (United States)

Roederer, Juan G

2016-03-13

I will show how an objective definition of the concept of information and the consideration of recent results about information processing in the human brain help clarify some fundamental aspects of physics and biology. Rather than attempting to define information ab initio, I introduce the concept of interaction between material bodies as a primary concept. Two distinct categories can be identified: (i) interactions which can always be reduced to a superposition of physical interactions (forces) between elementary constituents; and (ii) interactions between complex bodies which cannot be expressed as a superposition of interactions between parts, and in which patterns and forms (in space and/or time) play the determining role. Pragmatic information is then defined as the link between a given pattern and the ensuing pattern-specific change. I will show that pragmatic information is a biological concept; it plays no active role in the purely physical domain-it only does so when a living organism intervenes. The consequences for physics (including foundations of quantum mechanics) and biology (including brain function) will be discussed. This will include speculations about three fundamental transitions, from the quantum to the classical domain, from natural inanimate to living systems, and from subhuman to human brain information-processing operations, introduced here in their direct connection with the concept of pragmatic information. © 2016 The Author(s).

Stigmatized biologies: Examining the cumulative effects of oral health disparities for Mexican American farmworker children.

Science.gov (United States)

Horton, Sarah; Barker, Judith C

2010-06-01

Severe early childhood caries (ECC) can leave lasting effects on children's physical development, including malformed oral arches and crooked permanent dentition. This article examines the way that the ECC of Mexican American farmworker children in the United States sets them up for lasting dental problems and social stigma as young adults. We examine the role of dietary and environmental factors in contributing to what we call "stigmatized biologies," and that of market-based dental public health insurance systems in cementing their enduring effects. We adapt Margaret Lock's term, local biology, to illustrate the way that biology differs not only because of culture, diet, and environment but also because of disparities in insurance coverage. By showing the long-term effects of ECC and disparate dental treatment on farmworker adults, we show how the interaction of immigrant caregiving practices and underinsurance can having lasting social effects. An examination of the long-term effects of farmworker children's ECC illustrates the ways that market-based health care systems can create embodied differences that in turn reproduce a system of social inequality.

Physical Biology : challenges for our second decade

Science.gov (United States)

Levine, Herbert

2014-06-01

It is quite an honor to be asked to become the third editor-in-chief of Physical Biology . I am following in the footsteps of Tim Newman, who served with energy and enthusiasm. Hopefully, the entire community fully appreciates his contributions to moving the field forward. Thank you, Tim! With the honor, however, goes a clear responsibility. Our journal has survived its birth pangs and emerged as a serious venue for publishing quality research papers using physical science to address the workings of living matter. With the support of scientists in this field and with the ongoing commitment of the IOP, we have successfully reached adolescence. Yet, there is clearly much room to grow and there are clear challenges in defining and maintaining our special niche in the publishing landscape. In this still-developing state, the journal very much mimics the state of the field of physical biology itself. Few scientists continue to question the relevance of physical science for the investigation of the living world. But, will our new perspective and the methods that come with it really lead to radically new principles of how life works? Or, will breakthroughs continue to come from experimental biology (perhaps aided by the traditional physicist-as-tool-builder paradigm), leaving us to put quantitative touches on established fundamentals? In thinking about these questions for the field and for the journal, I have tried to understand what is really unique about our joint endeavors. I have become convinced that living matter represents a new challenge to our physical-science based conceptual framework. Not only is it far from equilibrium, as has been generally recognized, but it violates our simple notions of the separability of constituents, their interactions and the resulting large-scale behavior. Unlike, say, atomic physicists who can do productive research while safely ignoring the latest developments in QCD (let alone particle physics at higher energies), we do not yet

Stigmatized Biologies: Examining the Cumulative Effects of Oral Health Disparities for Mexican American Farmworker Children

OpenAIRE

Horton, Sarah; Barker, Judith C.

2010-01-01

Severe early childhood caries (ECC) can leave lasting effects on children’s physical development, including malformed oral arches and crooked permanent dentition. This article examines the way that ECC sets up Mexican American farm worker children in the United States for lasting dental problems and social stigma as young adults. We examine the role of dietary and environmental factors in contributing to what we call “stigmatized biologies,” and that of market-based dental public health insur...

Ultrasound Findings on Hands and Wrists of Patients with Systemic Lupus Erythematosus: Relationship with Physical Examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Lins, Carolina Freitas; Lima de Sá Ribeiro, Daniel; Dourado Santos, Willer Gonçalves; Rosa, Genevievi; Machicado, Viviane; Pedreira, Ana Luisa; Pimenta da Fonseca, Emanuela; Mota Duque Sousa, Anna Paula; Rodrigues Silva, Carla Baleeiro; Matos, Marcos Antonio Almeida; Santiago, Mittermayer Barreto

2017-09-01

Diagnosis of synovitis/tenosynovitis by physical examination can be difficult. Ultrasound (US) can be an effective tool for the evaluation of joint involvement in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). This study will describe musculoskeletal findings by US in SLE patients and the evaluation of their correlation with physical examination. SLE patients underwent clinical/sonographic evaluation of hand/wrists. In total, 896 joints were evaluated: at least 1 change on physical examination was found in 136 joints and at least 1 US abnormality was found in 65 of 896 joints. Out of the 65 joints with US changes, only 13 had findings on physical examination. Conversely, 111 joints had tenderness on physical examination with no sonographic abnormalities. Tenosynovitis was statistically significant more frequently with joint edema (41%) (p = 0.0003). US can detect musculoskeletal changes in only a minority of symptomatic SLE patients. Clinical findings may be related to some reasons that cannot be explained using US. Copyright © 2017 World Federation for Ultrasound in Medicine & Biology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Student-patient communication during physical examination

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cleland, Jennifer; de la Croix, Anne; Cotton, Philip; Coull, Sharon; Skelton, John

BACKGROUND: Communication during the physical examination has been understudied. Explicit, evidence-based guidance is not available as to the most effective content or process of communication while performing physical examination, or indeed how to teach this to medical students. The objective of

PREFACE: Nanobiology: from physics and engineering to biology

Science.gov (United States)

Nussinov, Ruth; Alemán, Carlos

2006-03-01

Biological systems are inherently nano in scale. Unlike nanotechnology, nanobiology is characterized by the interplay between physics, materials science, synthetic organic chemistry, engineering and biology. Nanobiology is a new discipline, with the potential of revolutionizing medicine: it combines the tools, ideas and materials of nanoscience and biology; it addresses biological problems that can be studied and solved by nanotechnology; it devises ways to construct molecular devices using biomacromolecules; and it attempts to build molecular machines utilizing concepts seen in nature. Its ultimate aim is to be able to predictably manipulate these, tailoring them to specified needs. Nanobiology targets biological systems and uses biomacromolecules. Hence, on the one hand, nanobiology is seemingly constrained in its scope as compared to general nanotechnology. Yet the amazing intricacy of biological systems, their complexity, and the richness of the shapes and properties provided by the biological polymers, enrich nanobiology. Targeting biological systems entails comprehension of how they work and the ability to use their components in design. From the physical standpoint, ultimately, if we are to understand biology we need to learn how to apply physical principles to figure out how these systems actually work. The goal of nanobiology is to assist in probing these systems at the appropriate length scale, heralding a new era in the biological, physical and chemical sciences. Biology is increasingly asking quantitative questions. Quantitation is essential if we are to understand how the cell works, and the details of its regulation. The physical sciences provide tools and strategies to obtain accurate measurements and simulate the information to allow comprehension of the processes. Nanobiology is at the interface of the physical and the biological sciences. Biology offers to the physical sciences fascinating problems, sophisticated systems and a rich repertoire of

The Physics of Marine Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Conn, Kathleen

1992-01-01

Discusses ways in which marine biology can be integrated into the physics classroom. Topics suggested for incorporation include the harmonic motion of ocean waves, ocean currents, the interaction of visible light with ocean water, pressure, light absorption, and sound transfer in water. (MDH)

AAPT/NSTA High School Physics Examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, James

1983-01-01

Discusses development of the American Association of Physics Teachers and National Science Teachers Association (AAPT/NSTA) high school physics examination. Includes sample examination questions and distribution of topics: mechanics (30 percent), waves/optics/sound (20 percent), heat/kinetic theory (10 percent), electricity/magnetism (25 percent),…

Introductory physics in biological context: An approach to improve introductory physics for life science students

Science.gov (United States)

Crouch, Catherine H.; Heller, Kenneth

2014-05-01

We describe restructuring the introductory physics for life science students (IPLS) course to better support these students in using physics to understand their chosen fields. Our courses teach physics using biologically rich contexts. Specifically, we use examples in which fundamental physics contributes significantly to understanding a biological system to make explicit the value of physics to the life sciences. This requires selecting the course content to reflect the topics most relevant to biology while maintaining the fundamental disciplinary structure of physics. In addition to stressing the importance of the fundamental principles of physics, an important goal is developing students' quantitative and problem solving skills. Our guiding pedagogical framework is the cognitive apprenticeship model, in which learning occurs most effectively when students can articulate why what they are learning matters to them. In this article, we describe our courses, summarize initial assessment data, and identify needs for future research.

Marriages of mathematics and physics: A challenge for biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Islami, Arezoo; Longo, Giuseppe

2017-12-01

The human attempts to access, measure and organize physical phenomena have led to a manifold construction of mathematical and physical spaces. We will survey the evolution of geometries from Euclid to the Algebraic Geometry of the 20th century. The role of Persian/Arabic Algebra in this transition and its Western symbolic development is emphasized. In this relation, we will also discuss changes in the ontological attitudes toward mathematics and its applications. Historically, the encounter of geometric and algebraic perspectives enriched the mathematical practices and their foundations. Yet, the collapse of Euclidean certitudes, of over 2300 years, and the crisis in the mathematical analysis of the 19th century, led to the exclusion of "geometric judgments" from the foundations of Mathematics. After the success and the limits of the logico-formal analysis, it is necessary to broaden our foundational tools and re-examine the interactions with natural sciences. In particular, the way the geometric and algebraic approaches organize knowledge is analyzed as a cross-disciplinary and cross-cultural issue and will be examined in Mathematical Physics and Biology. We finally discuss how the current notions of mathematical (phase) "space" should be revisited for the purposes of life sciences. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Physical examination of swine.

Science.gov (United States)

Masters, B J; Hamilton, M; Masters, P G

1992-07-01

Swine may be examined to evaluate a disease state or a lowered economic performance or as a herd health consultation. As much of the examination as possible should be performed without handling the animal. A thorough history, evaluation of herd records, environmental examination, and herd examination should be performed prior to the evaluation of an individual animal. All necessary equipment should be available when starting the individual examination. The animals is then restrained and examined, and necessary samples are taken. Post-mortem examinations or slaughter house evaluations are a very frequent part of a health examination on swine. All samples taken should be in accordance with the standards of the laboratory that you use. You should work closely with the laboratory to obtain the best results. Physical examination of swine can be rewarding for the veterinarian as well as the producer. The most important aspect to remember is to have enough information and the proper equipment available to handle the animals for the minimal amount of time to gain the maximum benefits. Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs are similar to domestic swine in terms of their diseases and health but are dissimilar in management; pot-bellied pigs are frequently brought to the veterinarian for individual examinations. History is the most valuable part of the examination, followed by observation. Pot-bellied pigs prefer to be held securely with a hand under the chin and rump. The examination is conducted similarly to the examination of any companion animal. Chemical restraint often is necessary for sampling or minor surgical procedures. Owners should be consulted prior to the use of any restraint. This will help win their approval and confidence when working on their pets. While performing the physical examination, look at the pig's overall health as well as specific breed characteristics. Try to stay abreast of swine vaccination recommendations; you may be consulted in this regard. Most

Physical mechanisms of biological molecular motors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Miller, John H. Jr.; Vajrala, Vijayanand; Infante, Hans L.; Claycomb, James R.; Palanisami, Akilan; Fang Jie; Mercier, George T.

2009-01-01

Biological motors generally fall into two categories: (1) those that convert chemical into mechanical energy via hydrolysis of a nucleoside triphosphate, usually adenosine triphosphate, regarded as life's chemical currency of energy and (2) membrane bound motors driven directly by an ion gradient and/or membrane potential. Here we argue that electrostatic interactions play a vital role for both types of motors and, therefore, the tools of physics can greatly contribute to understanding biological motors

Differences in biological maturation, anthropometry and physical performance between playing positions in youth team handball

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Matthys, S.P.; Fransen, J.; Vaeyens, R.; Lenoir, M.; Philippaerts, R.

2013-01-01

It was the goal of this cross-sectional study to examine differences in maturity, anthropometry and physical performance between youth handball players across different playing positions (i.e. goalkeeper, back, pivot and wing). Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), accounting for biological

Interobserver reliability of physical examination of shoulder girdle

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Nomden, Jettie G.; Slagers, Anton J.; Bergman, Geert; Winters, Jan C.; Kropmans, Thomas J. B.; Dijkstra, Pieter U.

The object of this study was to assess interobserver reliability in 23 tests concerning physical examination of the shoulder girdle. A physical therapist and a physical therapist/manual therapist independently performed a physical examination of the shoulder girdle in 91 patients with shoulder

Physical mechanisms of biological molecular motors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Miller, John H. Jr. [Department of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Road, Ste. 617 SR1 Houston, TX 77204-5005 (United States)], E-mail: jhmiller@uh.edu; Vajrala, Vijayanand; Infante, Hans L. [Department of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Road, Ste. 617 SR1 Houston, TX 77204-5005 (United States); Claycomb, James R. [Department of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Road, Ste. 617 SR1 Houston, TX 77204-5005 (United States); Department of Mathematics and Physics, Houston Baptist University, 7502 Fondren Road, Houston, TX 77074-3298 (United States); Palanisami, Akilan; Fang Jie; Mercier, George T. [Department of Physics and Texas Center for Superconductivity, University of Houston, 4800 Calhoun Road, Ste. 617 SR1 Houston, TX 77204-5005 (United States)

2009-03-01

Biological motors generally fall into two categories: (1) those that convert chemical into mechanical energy via hydrolysis of a nucleoside triphosphate, usually adenosine triphosphate, regarded as life's chemical currency of energy and (2) membrane bound motors driven directly by an ion gradient and/or membrane potential. Here we argue that electrostatic interactions play a vital role for both types of motors and, therefore, the tools of physics can greatly contribute to understanding biological motors.

Physical activity and biological maturation: a systematic review

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eliane Denise Araújo Bacil

2015-03-01

Full Text Available OBJECTIVE: To analyze the association between physical activity (PA and biological maturation in children and adolescents. DATA SOURCE: We performed a systematic review in April 2013 in the electronic databases of PubMed/MEDLINE, SportDiscus, Web of Science and LILACS without time restrictions. A total of 628 potentially relevant articles were identified and 10 met the inclusion criteria for this review: cross-sectional or longitudinal studies, published in Portuguese, English or Spanish, with schoolchildren aged 9-15 years old of both genders. DATA SYNTHESIS: Despite the heterogeneity of the studies, there was an inverse association between PA and biological maturation. PA decreases with increased biological and chronological age in both genders. Boys tend to be more physically active than girls; however, when controlling for biological age, the gender differences disappear. The association between PA and timing of maturation varies between the genders. Variation in the timing of biological maturation affects the tracking of PA in early adolescent girls. This review suggests that mediators (BMI, depression, low self-esteem, and concerns about body weight can explain the association between PA and biological maturation. CONCLUSIONS: There is an association between PA and biological maturation. PA decreases with increasing biological age with no differences between genders. As for the timing of biological maturation, this association varies between genders.

Physics with illustrative examples from medicine and biology

CERN Document Server

Benedek, George B

Physics: with illustrative examples from medicine and biology is a three-volume set of textbooks in introductory physics written at the calculus level and designed primarily for students with career objectives in the life sciences.

Physical biology of human brain development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvia eBudday

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Neurodevelopment is a complex, dynamic process that involves a precisely orchestrated sequence of genetic, environmental, biochemical, and physical events. Developmental biology and genetics have shaped our understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms during neurodevelopment. Recent studies suggest that physical forces play a central role in translating these cellular mechanisms into the complex surface morphology of the human brain. However, the precise impact of neuronal differentiation, migration, and connection on the physical forces during cortical folding remains unknown. Here we review the cellular mechanisms of neurodevelopment with a view towards surface morphogenesis, pattern selection, and evolution of shape. We revisit cortical folding as the instability problem of constrained differential growth in a multi-layered system. To identify the contributing factors of differential growth, we map out the timeline of neurodevelopment in humans and highlight the cellular events associated with extreme radial and tangential expansion. We demonstrate how computational modeling of differential growth can bridge the scales-from phenomena on the cellular level towards form and function on the organ level-to make quantitative, personalized predictions. Physics-based models can quantify cortical stresses, identify critical folding conditions, rationalize pattern selection, and predict gyral wavelengths and gyrification indices. We illustrate that physical forces can explain cortical malformations as emergent properties of developmental disorders. Combining biology and physics holds promise to advance our understanding of human brain development and enable early diagnostics of cortical malformations with the ultimate goal to improve treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders including epilepsy, autism spectrum disorders, and schizophrenia.

21 CFR 1210.12 - Physical examination of cows.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Physical examination of cows. 1210.12 Section 1210... FEDERAL IMPORT MILK ACT Inspection and Testing § 1210.12 Physical examination of cows. (a) Physical examination of any and all cows in herds producing milk or cream which is to be shipped or transported into...

Biological, chemical and medical physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-01-01

This is an overview of the actual situation in Brazil, concerning three important areas of physics: biological, chemical and medical. It gives a brief historical of research in these areas. It talks as well, about perspectives and financing. It contains many tables with the main research groups in activity in Brazilian institutions. (A.C.A.S.)

The Physical Examination as Ritual: Social Sciences and Embodiment in the Context of the Physical Examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Costanzo, Cari; Verghese, Abraham

2018-05-01

The privilege of examining a patient is a skill of value beyond its diagnostic utility. A thorough physical examination is an important ritual that benefits patients and physicians. The concept of embodiment helps one understand how illness and pain further define and shape the lived experiences of individuals in the context of their race, gender, sexuality, and socioeconomic status. Understanding ritual in medicine, including the placebo effects of such rituals, reaffirms the centrality of the physical examination to the process of building strong physician-patient relationships. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Physical Activity, Physical Performance, and Biological Markers of Health among Sedentary Older Latinos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerardo Moreno

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background. Physical activity is associated with better physical health, possibly by changing biological markers of health such as waist circumference and inflammation, but these relationships are unclear and even less understood among older Latinos—a group with high rates of sedentary lifestyle. Methods. Participants were 120 sedentary older Latino adults from senior centers. Community-partnered research methods were used to recruit participants. Inflammatory (C-reactive protein and metabolic markers of health (waist circumference, HDL-cholesterol, triglycerides, insulin, and glucose, physical activity (Yale physical activity survey, and physical performance (short physical performance NIA battery were measured at baseline and 6-month followup. Results. Eighty percent of the sample was female. In final adjusted cross-sectional models, better physical activity indices were associated with faster gait speed (P<0.05. In adjusted longitudinal analyses, change in self-reported physical activity level correlated inversely with change in CRP (β=-0.05; P=0.03 and change in waist circumference (β=-0.16; P=0.02. Biological markers of health did not mediate the relationship between physical activity and physical performance. Conclusion. In this community-partnered study, higher physical activity was associated with better physical performance in cross-sectional analyses. In longitudinal analysis, increased physical activity was associated with improvements in some metabolic and inflammatory markers of health.

Physics in Brazil in the next decade: atomic, molecular and optical physics, biological, chemical and medical physics, physics teaching and plasma physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1990-01-01

This is an overview of physics in Brazil in the next decade. It is specially concerned with atomic, molecular and optical physics, biological chemical and medical physics, and also teaching of physics and plasma physics. It presents the main research groups in Brazil in the above mentioned areas. It talks as well, about financing new projects and the costs involved to improve these areas. (A.C.A.S.)

BOOK REVIEW Handbook of Physics in Medicine and Biology Handbook of Physics in Medicine and Biology

Science.gov (United States)

Tabakov, Slavik

2010-11-01

This is a multi-author handbook (66 authors) aiming to describe various applications of physics to medicine and biology, from anatomy and physiology to medical equipment. This unusual reference book has 44 chapters organized in seven sections: 1. Anatomical physics; 2. Physics of perception; 3. Biomechanics; 4. Electrical physics; 5. Diagnostic physics; 6. Physics of accessory medicine; 7. Physics of bioengineering. Each chapter has separate page numbering, which is inconvenient but understandable with the number of authors. Similarly there is some variation in the emphasis of chapters: for some the emphasis is more technical and for others clinical. Each chapter has a separate list of references. The handbook includes hundreds of diagrams, images and tables, making it a useful tool for both medical physicists/engineers and other medical/biology specialists. The first section (about 40 pages) includes five chapters on physics of the cell membrane; protein signaling; cell biology and biophysics of the cell membrane; cellular thermodynamics; action potential transmission and volume conduction. The physics of these is well explained and illustrated with clear diagrams and formulae, so it could be a suitable reference for physicists/engineers. The chapters on cellular thermodynamics and action potential transmission have a very good balance of technical/clinical content. The second section (about 85 pages) includes six chapters on medical decision making; senses; somatic senses: touch and pain; hearing; vision; electroreception. Again these are well illustrated and a suitable reference for physicists/engineers. The chapter on hearing stands out with good balance and treatment of material, but some other chapters contain less physics and are close to typical physiological explanations. One could query the inclusion of the chapter on medical decision making, which also needs more detail. The third section (about 80 pages) includes eight chapters on biomechanics

Cardiac Limited Ultrasound Examination Techniques to Augment the Bedside Cardiac Physical Examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimura, Bruce J; Shaw, David J; Amundson, Stan A; Phan, James N; Blanchard, Daniel G; DeMaria, Anthony N

2015-09-01

The current practice of physical diagnosis is dependent on physician skills and biases, inductive reasoning, and time efficiency. Although the clinical utility of echocardiography is well known, few data exist on how to integrate 2-dimensional screening "quick-look" ultrasound applications into a novel, modernized cardiac physical examination. We discuss the evidence basis behind ultrasound "signs" pertinent to the cardiovascular system and elemental in synthesis of bedside diagnoses and propose the application of a brief cardiac limited ultrasound examination based on these signs. An ultrasound-augmented cardiac physical examination can be taught in traditional medical education and has the potential to improve bedside diagnosis and patient care. © 2015 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Supporting students in building interdisciplinary connections across physics and biology

Science.gov (United States)

Turpen, Chandra

2014-03-01

Our research team has been engaged in the iterative redesign of an Introductory Physics course for Life Science (IPLS) majors to explicitly bridge biology and physics in ways that are authentic to the disciplines. Our interdisciplinary course provides students opportunities to examine how modeling decisions (e.g. knowing when and how to use different concepts, identifying implicit assumptions, making and justifying assumptions) may differ depending on canonical disciplinary aims and interests. Our focus on developing students' interdisciplinary reasoning skills requires 1) shifting course topics to focus on core ideas that span the disciplines, 2) shifting epistemological expectations, and 3) foregrounding typically tacit disciplinary assumptions. In working to build an authentic interdisciplinary course that bridges physics and biology, we pay careful attention to supporting students in constructing these bridges. This course has been shown to have important impacts: a) students seek meaningful connections between the disciplines, b) students perceive relevance and utility of ideas from different disciplines, and c) students reconcile challenging disciplinary ideas. Although our focus has been on building interdisciplinary coherence, we have succeeded in maintaining strong student learning gains on fundamental physics concepts and allowed students to deepen their understanding of challenging concepts in thermodynamics. This presentation will describe the shifts in course content and the modern pedagogical approaches that have been integrated into the course, and provide an overview of key research results from this project. These results may aid physicists in reconsidering how they can meaningfully reach life-science students. This work is supported by NSF-TUES DUE 11-22818, the HHMI NEXUS grant, and a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (DGE 0750616).

Physical integrity: the missing link in biological monitoring and TMDLs.

Science.gov (United States)

Asmus, Brenda; Magner, Joseph A; Vondracek, Bruce; Perry, Jim

2009-12-01

The Clean Water Act mandates that the chemical, physical, and biological integrity of our nation's waters be maintained and restored. Physical integrity has often been defined as physical habitat integrity, and as such, data collected during biological monitoring programs focus primarily on habitat quality. However, we argue that channel stability is a more appropriate measure of physical integrity and that channel stability is a foundational element of physical habitat integrity in low-gradient alluvial streams. We highlight assessment tools that could supplement stream assessments and the Total Maximum Daily Load stressor identification process: field surveys of bankfull cross-sections; longitudinal thalweg profiles; particle size distribution; and regionally calibrated, visual, stream stability assessments. Benefits of measuring channel stability include a more informed selection of reference or best attainable stream condition for an Index of Biotic Integrity, establishment of a baseline for monitoring changes in present and future condition, and indication of channel stability for investigations of chemical and biological impairments associated with sediment discontinuity and loss of habitat quality.

Research at the interface of physics and biology: bridging the two fields

Science.gov (United States)

Shukla, Kamal

2014-10-01

I firmly believe that interaction between physics and biology is not only natural, but inevitable. Kamal Shukla provides a personal perspective on working at the interface between the physical and biological sciences.

Getting the measure of things: the physical biology of stem cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowell, Sally

2013-10-01

In July 2013, the diverse fields of biology, physics and mathematics converged to discuss 'The Physical Biology of Stem Cells', the subject of the third annual symposium of the Cambridge Stem Cell Institute, UK. Two clear themes resonated throughout the meeting: the new insights gained from advances in the acquisition and interpretation of quantitative data; and the importance of 'thinking outside the nucleus' to consider physical influences on cell fate.

Breaking Frontiers: Submicron Structures in Physics and Biology - 52 Zakopane School of Physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

The 52 Zakopane School of Physics held in Zakopane from 19 to 24 May 2008. The main task of the symposium was to present the newest results of research in field of submicron structures in physics, biology and medicine. Some new technologies as well as their applications are also presented

Breaking Frontiers: Submicron Structures in Physics and Biology - 52 Zakopane School of Physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2008-07-01

The 52 Zakopane School of Physics held in Zakopane from 19 to 24 May 2008. The main task of the symposium was to present the newest results of research in field of submicron structures in physics, biology and medicine. Some new technologies as well as their applications are also presented.

Diagnosis of thyroid disease. Anamnesis and physical examination

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Freudenberg, L.S.

2008-01-01

Anamnesis and physical examination rank first in the diagnostic process of thyroid disease. They provide a basis for subsequent diagnostic procedures and treatment. This article focusses on personal, medical and familial history as well as physical examination of the neck and general clinical examination with respect to signs and symptoms of hypo- or hyperthyreoidism. In addition indications for fine-needle biopsy and biopsy technique are described. (orig.)

Biological/Genetic Regulation of Physical Activity Level: Consensus from GenBioPAC.

Science.gov (United States)

Lightfoot, J Timothy; DE Geus, Eco J C; Booth, Frank W; Bray, Molly S; DEN Hoed, Marcel; Kaprio, Jaakko; Kelly, Scott A; Pomp, Daniel; Saul, Michael C; Thomis, Martine A; Garland, Theodore; Bouchard, Claude

2018-04-01

Physical activity unquestionably maintains and improves health; however, physical activity levels globally are low and not rising despite all the resources devoted to this goal. Attention in both the research literature and the public policy domain has focused on social-behavioral factors; however, a growing body of literature suggests that biological determinants play a significant role in regulating physical activity levels. For instance, physical activity level, measured in various manners, has a genetic component in both humans and nonhuman animal models. This consensus article, developed as a result of an American College of Sports Medicine-sponsored round table, provides a brief review of the theoretical concepts and existing literature that supports a significant role of genetic and other biological factors in the regulation of physical activity. Future research on physical activity regulation should incorporate genetics and other biological determinants of physical activity instead of a sole reliance on social and other environmental determinants.

WE-DE-202-00: Connecting Radiation Physics with Computational Biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2016-01-01

Radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer has been established as a highly precise and effective way to eradicate a localized region of diseased tissue. To achieve further significant gains in the therapeutic ratio, we need to move towards biologically optimized treatment planning. To achieve this goal, we need to understand how the radiation-type dependent patterns of induced energy depositions within the cell (physics) connect via molecular, cellular and tissue reactions to treatment outcome such as tumor control and undesirable effects on normal tissue. Several computational biology approaches have been developed connecting physics to biology. Monte Carlo simulations are the most accurate method to calculate physical dose distributions at the nanometer scale, however simulations at the DNA scale are slow and repair processes are generally not simulated. Alternative models that rely on the random formation of individual DNA lesions within one or two turns of the DNA have been shown to reproduce the clusters of DNA lesions, including single strand breaks (SSBs), double strand breaks (DSBs) without the need for detailed track structure simulations. Efficient computational simulations of initial DNA damage induction facilitate computational modeling of DNA repair and other molecular and cellular processes. Mechanistic, multiscale models provide a useful conceptual framework to test biological hypotheses and help connect fundamental information about track structure and dosimetry at the sub-cellular level to dose-response effects on larger scales. In this symposium we will learn about the current state of the art of computational approaches estimating radiation damage at the cellular and sub-cellular scale. How can understanding the physics interactions at the DNA level be used to predict biological outcome? We will discuss if and how such calculations are relevant to advance our understanding of radiation damage and its repair, or, if the underlying biological

WE-DE-202-00: Connecting Radiation Physics with Computational Biology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2016-06-15

Radiation therapy for the treatment of cancer has been established as a highly precise and effective way to eradicate a localized region of diseased tissue. To achieve further significant gains in the therapeutic ratio, we need to move towards biologically optimized treatment planning. To achieve this goal, we need to understand how the radiation-type dependent patterns of induced energy depositions within the cell (physics) connect via molecular, cellular and tissue reactions to treatment outcome such as tumor control and undesirable effects on normal tissue. Several computational biology approaches have been developed connecting physics to biology. Monte Carlo simulations are the most accurate method to calculate physical dose distributions at the nanometer scale, however simulations at the DNA scale are slow and repair processes are generally not simulated. Alternative models that rely on the random formation of individual DNA lesions within one or two turns of the DNA have been shown to reproduce the clusters of DNA lesions, including single strand breaks (SSBs), double strand breaks (DSBs) without the need for detailed track structure simulations. Efficient computational simulations of initial DNA damage induction facilitate computational modeling of DNA repair and other molecular and cellular processes. Mechanistic, multiscale models provide a useful conceptual framework to test biological hypotheses and help connect fundamental information about track structure and dosimetry at the sub-cellular level to dose-response effects on larger scales. In this symposium we will learn about the current state of the art of computational approaches estimating radiation damage at the cellular and sub-cellular scale. How can understanding the physics interactions at the DNA level be used to predict biological outcome? We will discuss if and how such calculations are relevant to advance our understanding of radiation damage and its repair, or, if the underlying biological

Conference: Statistical Physics and Biological Information

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gross, David J.; Hwa, Terence

2001-01-01

In the spring of 2001, the Institute for Theoretical Physics ran a 6 month scientific program on Statistical Physics and Biological Information. This program was organized by Walter Fitch (UC Irvine), Terence Hwa (UC San Diego), Luca Peliti (University Federico II), Naples Gary Stormo (Washington University School of Medicine) and Chao Tang (NEC). Overall scientific supervision was provided by David Gross, Director, ITP. The ITP has an online conference/program proceeding which consists of audio and transparencies of almost all of the talks held during this program. Over 100 talks are available on the site at http://online.kitp.ucsb.edu/online/infobio01/

Marine biology, intertidal ecology, and a new place for biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Benson, Keith R

2015-01-01

At the present time, there is considerable interest for the physical setting of science, that is, its actual 'place' of practice. Among historians of biology, place has been considered to be a crucial component for the study of ecology. Other historians have noted the 'built' environments (laboratories) for the study of biology along the seashore, even referring to these places in terms more applicable to vacation sites. In this paper, I examine the place of intertidal ecology investigations, both in terms of the physical space and the built space. Part of the examination will investigate the aesthetic aspect of the Pacific Coast, part will evaluate the unique character of the intertidal zone, and part will consider the construction of natural laboratories and built laboratories as characteristic places for biology.

Perspectives on theory at the interface of physics and biology

Science.gov (United States)

Bialek, William

2018-01-01

Theoretical physics is the search for simple and universal mathematical descriptions of the natural world. In contrast, much of modern biology is an exploration of the complexity and diversity of life. For many, this contrast is prima facie evidence that theory, in the sense that physicists use the word, is impossible in a biological context. For others, this contrast serves to highlight a grand challenge. I am an optimist, and believe (along with many colleagues) that the time is ripe for the emergence of a more unified theoretical physics of biological systems, building on successes in thinking about particular phenomena. In this essay I try to explain the reasons for my optimism, through a combination of historical and modern examples.

Ionising radiation - physical and biological effects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Holter, Oe.; Ingebretsen, F.; Parr, H.

1979-01-01

The physics of ionising radiation is briefly presented. The effects of ionising radiation on biological cells, cell repair and radiosensitivity are briefly treated, where after the effects on man and mammals are discussed and related to radiation doses. Dose limits are briefly discussed. The genetic effects are discussed separately. Radioecology is also briefly treated and a table of radionuclides deriving from reactors, and their radiation is given. (JIW)

Simbios: an NIH national center for physics-based simulation of biological structures.

Science.gov (United States)

Delp, Scott L; Ku, Joy P; Pande, Vijay S; Sherman, Michael A; Altman, Russ B

2012-01-01

Physics-based simulation provides a powerful framework for understanding biological form and function. Simulations can be used by biologists to study macromolecular assemblies and by clinicians to design treatments for diseases. Simulations help biomedical researchers understand the physical constraints on biological systems as they engineer novel drugs, synthetic tissues, medical devices, and surgical interventions. Although individual biomedical investigators make outstanding contributions to physics-based simulation, the field has been fragmented. Applications are typically limited to a single physical scale, and individual investigators usually must create their own software. These conditions created a major barrier to advancing simulation capabilities. In 2004, we established a National Center for Physics-Based Simulation of Biological Structures (Simbios) to help integrate the field and accelerate biomedical research. In 6 years, Simbios has become a vibrant national center, with collaborators in 16 states and eight countries. Simbios focuses on problems at both the molecular scale and the organismal level, with a long-term goal of uniting these in accurate multiscale simulations.

Psychogenic Explanations of Physical Illness: Time to Examine the Evidence.

Science.gov (United States)

Wilshire, Carolyn E; Ward, Tony

2016-09-01

In some patients with chronic physical complaints, detailed examination fails to reveal a well-recognized underlying disease process. In this situation, the physician may suspect a psychological cause. In this review, we critically evaluated the evidence for this causal claim, focusing on complaints presenting as neurological disorders. There were four main conclusions. First, patients with these complaints frequently exhibit psychopathology but not consistently more often than patients with a comparable "organic" diagnosis, so a causal role cannot be inferred. Second, these patients report a high incidence of adverse life experiences, but again, there is insufficient evidence to indicate a causal role for any particular type of experience. Third, although psychogenic illnesses are believed to be more responsive to psychological interventions than comparable "organic" illnesses, there is currently no evidence to support this claim. Finally, recent evidence suggests that biological and physical factors play a much greater causal role in these illnesses than previously believed. We conclude that there is currently little evidential support for psychogenic theories of illness in the neurological domain. In future research, researchers need to take a wider view concerning the etiology of these illnesses. © The Author(s) 2016.

Comparing Physical Examination With Sonographic Versions of the Same Examination Techniques for Splenomegaly.

Science.gov (United States)

Cessford, Tara; Meneilly, Graydon S; Arishenkoff, Shane; Eddy, Christopher; Chen, Luke Y C; Kim, Daniel J; Ma, Irene W Y

2017-12-08

To determine whether sonographic versions of physical examination techniques can accurately identify splenomegaly, Castell's method (Ann Intern Med 1967; 67:1265-1267), the sonographic Castell's method, spleen tip palpation, and the sonographic spleen tip technique were compared with reference measurements. Two clinicians trained in bedside sonography patients recruited from an urban hematology clinic. Each patient was examined for splenomegaly using conventional percussion and palpation techniques (Castell's method and spleen tip palpation, respectively), as well as the sonographic versions of these maneuvers (sonographic Castell's method and sonographic spleen tip technique). Results were compared with a reference standard based on professional sonographer measurements. The sonographic Castell's method had greater sensitivity (91.7% [95% confidence interval, 61.5% to 99.8%]) than the traditional Castell's method (83.3% [95% confidence interval, 51.6% to 97.9%]) but took longer to perform [mean ± SD, 28.8 ± 18.6 versus 18.8 ± 8.1 seconds; P = .01). Palpable and positive sonographic spleen tip results were both 100% specific, but the sonographic spleen tip method was more sensitive (58.3% [95% confidence interval, 27.7% to 84.8%] versus 33.3% [95% confidence interval, 9.9% to 65.1%]). Sonographic versions of traditional physical examination maneuvers have greater diagnostic accuracy than the physical examination maneuvers from which they are derived but may take longer to perform. We recommend a combination of traditional physical examination and sonographic techniques when evaluating for splenomegaly at the bedside. © 2017 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Coordinating an IPLS class with a biology curriculum: NEXUS/Physics

Science.gov (United States)

Redish, Edward

2014-03-01

A multi-disciplinary team of scientists has been reinventing the Introductory Physics for Life Scientists (IPLS) course at the University of Maryland. We focus on physics that connects elements common to the curriculum for all life scientists - molecular and cellular biology - with building general scientific competencies, such as mathematical modeling, reasoning from core principles, and multi-representation translation. The prerequisites for the class include calculus, chemistry, and biology. In addition to building the basic ideas of the Newtonian framework, electric currents, and optics, our prerequisites allow us to include topics such as atomic interactions and chemical bonding, random motion and diffusion, thermodynamics (including entropy and free energy), and spectroscopy. Our chemical bonding unit helps students link the view of energy developed in traditional macroscopic physics with the idea of chemical bonding as a source of energy presented in their chemistry and biology classes. Education research has played a central role in our design, as has a strong collaboration between our Discipline-Based Education and the Biophysics Research groups. These elements permit us to combine modern pedagogy with cutting-edge insights into the physics of living systems. Supported in part by a grant from HHMI and the US NSF grant #1122818/.

Physical examination is sufficient for the diagnosis of sprained ankles

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Dijk, C. N.; Lim, L. S.; Bossuyt, P. M.; Marti, R. K.

1996-01-01

We studied the merits of physical examination after inversion injury of the ankle in 160 consecutive patients. They had an explanatory operation if they had a positive arthrogram and/or positive signs on a delayed physical examination. To determine the interobserver variation in delayed physical

Sensitivity of physical examination versus arthroscopy in diagnosing subscapularis tendon injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Faruqui, Sami; Wijdicks, Coen; Foad, Abdullah

2014-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the accuracy of physical examination in the detection of subscapularis tendon tears and compare it with the gold standard of arthroscopy to determine whether clinical examination can reliably predict the presence of subscapularis tendon tears. This was a retrospective analysis of 52 patients (52 shoulders) who underwent arthroscopic subscapularis tendon repairs between September 2008 and April 2012. Positive findings on any combination of the belly press, lift-off, and bear hug tests constituted a positive physical examination result. There was a positive finding on physical examination in 42 of 52 patients. The sensitivity of the physical examination as a whole was 81%. The literature has shown that the belly press, bear hug, and lift-off tests are specific to the subscapularis tendon. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the sensitivity of these 3 separate clinical tests as a composite. Knowledge regarding the sensitivity of the subscapularis-specific physical examination as a composite can lead practitioners to implement all 3 components, even when 1 test has a negative finding, thus promoting a more thorough physical examination. Because unrepaired subscapularis tendon tears can result in poor outcomes in the repair of other rotator cuff tendons, a complete physical examination would be beneficial to patients with shoulder pathology. The authors conclude that physical examination, when performed consistently by an experienced practitioner, can reliably predict the presence of subscapularis tendon tears.

Physical parameters and biological effects of the LVR-15 epithermal neutron beam

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Burian, J.; Marek, M.; Rejchrt, J.; Viererbl, L.; Gambarini, G.; Mares, V.; Vanossi, E.; Judas, L.

2006-01-01

Monitoring of the physical and biological properties of the epithermal neutron beam constructed at the multipurpose LVR-15 nuclear reactor for NCT therapy of brain tumors showed that its physical and biological properties are stable in time and independent on an ad hoc reconfiguration of the reactor core before its therapeutic use. Physical parameters were monitored by measurement of the neutron spectrum, neutron profile, fast neutron kerma rate in tissue and photon absorbed dose, the gel dosimetry was used with the group of standard measurement methods. The RBE of the beam, as evaluated by 3 different biological models, including mouse intestine crypt regeneration assay, germinative zones of the immature rat brain and C6 glioma cells in culture, ranged from 1.70 to 1.99. (author)

Examining portfolio-based assessment in an upper-level biology course

Science.gov (United States)

Ziegler, Brittany Ann

Historically, students have been viewed as empty vessels and passive participants in the learning process but students actually are active forming their own conceptions. One way student learning is impacted is through assessment. Alternative assessment, which contrasts traditional assessment methods, takes into account how students learn by promoting engagement and construction of knowledge This dissertation explores portfolio-based assessment, a method of alternative assessment, which requires students to compose a purposeful collection of work demonstrating their knowledge in an upper-level biology course. The research objectives include characterizing and contributing to the understanding of portfolio-based assessment in higher education, examining reflection and inquiry portfolio components, determining student knowledge of biological concepts, and investigating student integrative thinking through the transformation of reflections into concept webs One main finding includes the majority of reflections categorized as naive or novice in quality. There was no difference in quality of reflections among biological topic. There was a relatively equal amount of high and low cognitive level questions. Students' knowledge of biological concepts significantly increased from the beginning to end of the course. Student written reflections were transformed into concept webs to allow for examination of student integrative thinking. Concepts, relationships, and interconnections in concept webs showed variation but declined by the end of the semester This study is one of the first examining portfolio-based assessment in an upper-level biology course We do not contend that this method of assessment is the only way to promote student learning but portfolio-based assessment may be a tool that can transform science education but currently the role of portfolio-based assessment in science education remains unclear. Additional research needs to be conducted before we will fully

Advances in Physical and Biological Radiation Detectors. Proceedings of a Symposium on New Developments in Physical and Biological Radiation Detectors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1971-01-01

Radiation dosimetry is a fundamental part of all radiation protection work. The measurements are made with a variety of instruments, and health physicists, after professional interpretation of the data, can assess the levels of exposure which might be encountered in a given area or the individual doses received by workers, visitors and others at places where the possibility of radiation exposure exists. The types of radiation concerned here are photon radiations, ranging from soft X-rays to gamma rays, and particulate radiations such as β-rays, α-particles, protons, neutrons and fission fragments. The type of technique used depends not only on the type of radiation but also on such factors as whether the radiation is from a source internal or external to the body. Radiation dosimetry is not only used at nuclear facilities; it has diverse applications, for example in determining doses when radiation sources are employed for medical diagnostics and therapy, in safeguarding workers in any industry where isotopes are used, and in assessing the effect of both naturally occurring and man-made radiations on the general public and the environment. The advances of modern technology have increased the variety of sources; an example can be given from colour television, where the high potential necessary in certain colour cathode-ray tubes generates a non-negligible amount of X-rays. The Symposium on New Developments in Physical and Biological Radiation Detectors was one of a continuing series of meetings in which the International Atomic Energy Agency furthers the exchange of information on all aspects of personnel and area dosimetry. The Symposium was devoted in particular to a study of the dose meters themselves - their radiation-sensitive elements (both physical and biological),their instrumentation, and calibration and standardization. Several speakers suggested that the situation in the standardization and calibration of measuring equipment and sources was

Microbiology and atmospheric processes: biological, physical and chemical characterization of aerosol particles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. G. Georgakopoulos

2009-04-01

Full Text Available The interest in bioaerosols has traditionally been linked to health hazards for humans, animals and plants. However, several components of bioaerosols exhibit physical properties of great significance for cloud processes, such as ice nucleation and cloud condensation. To gain a better understanding of their influence on climate, it is therefore important to determine the composition, concentration, seasonal fluctuation, regional diversity and evolution of bioaerosols. In this paper, we will review briefly the existing techniques for detection, quantification, physical and chemical analysis of biological particles, attempting to bridge physical, chemical and biological methods for analysis of biological particles and integrate them with aerosol sampling techniques. We will also explore some emerging spectroscopy techniques for bulk and single-particle analysis that have potential for in-situ physical and chemical analysis. Lastly, we will outline open questions and further desired capabilities (e.g., in-situ, sensitive, both broad and selective, on-line, time-resolved, rapid, versatile, cost-effective techniques required prior to comprehensive understanding of chemical and physical characterization of bioaerosols.

Preseason physical examination for the prevention of sports injuries.

Science.gov (United States)

McKeag, D B

1985-01-01

The importance of the preseason physical examination and preparticipation evaluation of sports candidates is highlighted because it constitutes one of the few occasions in which the physician can actively prevent sports injuries from occurring. As exercise participation continues to increase on a world-wide basis, an understanding of the goals and objectives of such a pre-exercise evaluation are important. The need is not for a standard evaluation form, but for a consistent understanding of adjusting the evaluation to the age of the candidate, the type of sport to be engaged in and the anticipated level of competition. Essentials of any evaluation are musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and psychological examinations. Examinations should have clearly defined objectives, and factors determining the type of evaluation include: prospective athlete; contemplated exercise programme; and motivation. Different types of implementation are individual examinations, locker room technique and the station technique, each with advantages and disadvantages. A pre-exercise evaluation should always occur before any anticipated change in level of school or competition with an interval or intercurrent history and physical examinations occurring at regular intervals. It is important that examinations take place before the commencement of a sports season so previous injuries and problems can be dealt with; timing is vital. Contents of a pre-exercise physical examination should include history, a physical examination, laboratory testing and additional specific screening evaluations. Finally, assessment of the pre-exercise evaluation and injury prediction will aid physicians in preparticipation evaluations.

Bringing the physical sciences into your cell biology research.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, Douglas N; Iglesias, Pablo A

2012-11-01

Historically, much of biology was studied by physicists and mathematicians. With the advent of modern molecular biology, a wave of researchers became trained in a new scientific discipline filled with the language of genes, mutants, and the central dogma. These new molecular approaches have provided volumes of information on biomolecules and molecular pathways from the cellular to the organismal level. The challenge now is to determine how this seemingly endless list of components works together to promote the healthy function of complex living systems. This effort requires an interdisciplinary approach by investigators from both the biological and the physical sciences.

Radiations at the physics-biology interface. Utilization of radiations for research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Douzou, P.

1997-01-01

Structural biology, which study the relation between the structure of biomolecules and their function, is at the interface between physics and biology. With the help of large radiation instruments such as X ray diffraction and neutron scattering, important advancements have been accomplished in the understanding of specific biological functions and led to the development of protein engineering (such as directed mutagenesis)

Conference: Statistical Physics and Biological Information; F

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gross, David J.; Hwa, Terence

2001-01-01

In the spring of 2001, the Institute for Theoretical Physics ran a 6 month scientific program on Statistical Physics and Biological Information. This program was organized by Walter Fitch (UC Irvine), Terence Hwa (UC San Diego), Luca Peliti (University Federico II), Naples Gary Stormo (Washington University School of Medicine) and Chao Tang (NEC). Overall scientific supervision was provided by David Gross, Director, ITP. The ITP has an online conference/program proceeding which consists of audio and transparencies of almost all of the talks held during this program. Over 100 talks are available on the site at http://online.kitp.ucsb.edu/online/infobio01/

The Cytoskeleton: Mechanical, Physical, and Biological Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

1996-01-01

This workshop, entitled "The Cytoskeleton: Mechanical, Physical, and Biological Interactions," was sponsored by the Center for Advanced Studies in the Space Life Sciences at the Marine Biological Laboratory. This Center was established through a cooperative agreement between the MBL and the Life Sciences Division of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration. To achieve these goals, the Center sponsors a series of workshops on various topics in the life sciences. Elements of the cytoskeleton have been implicated in the effects of gravity on the growth of plants fungi. An intriguing finding in this regard is the report indicating that an integrin-like protein may be the gravireceptor in the internodal cells of Chara. Involvement of the cytoskeleton in cellular graviperception of the basidiomycete Flammulina velutipes has also been reported. Although the responses of mammalian cells to gravity are not well documented, it has been proposed that integrins can act as mechanochemical transducers in mammalian cells. Little is known about the integrated mechanical and physical properties of cytoplasm, this workshop would be the best place to begin developing interdisciplinary approaches to the effects of mechanical stresses on cells and their most likely responsive cytoplasmic elements- the fibrous proteins comprising the cytoskeleton.

An introduction to nuclear physics, with applications in medicine and biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Dyson, N.A.

1981-01-01

A concise account of the applications of nuclear physics to medical and biological science is given. Half the book is devoted to the basic aspects of nuclear and radiation physics such as interactions between radiation and matter, nuclear reactions and the production of isotopes, an introduction to α, β and γ-radiation detectors and finally the radiation from nuclear decay. Information is then given on the applications of radioisotopes and neutrons and other accelerator-based applications in medicine and biology. The book is aimed at not only those undergraduates and postgraduates who are devoting their main effort to medical physics, but also to those students who are looking primarily for an introduction to nuclear physics together with an account of some of the ways in which it impinges on the work of other scientists. (U.K.)

[Diagnosis. History and physical examination].

Science.gov (United States)

Pérez Martín, Álvaro

2014-01-01

Family physicians play a key role in the diagnosis and management of patients with osteoarthritis. Diagnosis is mainly clinical and radiological. A complete history should be taken with meticulous physical examination of the joints. The history-taking should aim to detect risk factors and compatible clinical symptoms. Pain characteristics should be identified, distinguishing between mechanical and inflammatory pain, and an exhaustive examination of the joints should be performed, with evaluation of the presence of pain, deformity, mobility restrictions (both active and passive), crepitus, joint effusion, and inflammation. A differential diagnosis should be made with all diseases that affect the joints and/or produce joint stiffness. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier España, S.L. All rights reserved.

Isobio software: biological dose distribution and biological dose volume histogram from physical dose conversion using linear-quadratic-linear model.

Science.gov (United States)

Jaikuna, Tanwiwat; Khadsiri, Phatchareewan; Chawapun, Nisa; Saekho, Suwit; Tharavichitkul, Ekkasit

2017-02-01

To develop an in-house software program that is able to calculate and generate the biological dose distribution and biological dose volume histogram by physical dose conversion using the linear-quadratic-linear (LQL) model. The Isobio software was developed using MATLAB version 2014b to calculate and generate the biological dose distribution and biological dose volume histograms. The physical dose from each voxel in treatment planning was extracted through Computational Environment for Radiotherapy Research (CERR), and the accuracy was verified by the differentiation between the dose volume histogram from CERR and the treatment planning system. An equivalent dose in 2 Gy fraction (EQD 2 ) was calculated using biological effective dose (BED) based on the LQL model. The software calculation and the manual calculation were compared for EQD 2 verification with pair t -test statistical analysis using IBM SPSS Statistics version 22 (64-bit). Two and three-dimensional biological dose distribution and biological dose volume histogram were displayed correctly by the Isobio software. Different physical doses were found between CERR and treatment planning system (TPS) in Oncentra, with 3.33% in high-risk clinical target volume (HR-CTV) determined by D 90% , 0.56% in the bladder, 1.74% in the rectum when determined by D 2cc , and less than 1% in Pinnacle. The difference in the EQD 2 between the software calculation and the manual calculation was not significantly different with 0.00% at p -values 0.820, 0.095, and 0.593 for external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and 0.240, 0.320, and 0.849 for brachytherapy (BT) in HR-CTV, bladder, and rectum, respectively. The Isobio software is a feasible tool to generate the biological dose distribution and biological dose volume histogram for treatment plan evaluation in both EBRT and BT.

Evolution of physics examining 1940-2000 at Cambridge

Science.gov (United States)

Roberts, A.; Brown, L. M.

2001-07-01

Much controversy exists about the supposed changing examination standards. Emphasis has been placed on the standards of GCSE and A-level examinations. However, many large employers recruit graduates, and so university examination standards also deserve attention. Here, Cambridge University Part II (third year undergraduate) examinations in Physics are studied since 1940. Trends in prescriptiveness, choice of questions, and other variables were found.

Physics and the molecular revolution in plant biology: union needed for managing the future

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ulrich Lüttge

2016-10-01

Full Text Available The question was asked if there is still a prominent role of biophysics in plant biology in an age when molecular biology appears to be dominating. Mathematical formation of theory is essential in systems biology, and mathematics is more inherent in biophysics than in molecular biology. A survey is made identifying and briefly characterizing fields of plant biology where approaches of biophysics remain essential. In transport at membranes electrophysiology and thermodynamics are biophysical topics. Water is a special molecule. Its transport follows the physical laws of osmosis and gradients of water potential on the background of physics of hydraulic architecture. Photobiology needs understanding of the physics of electro-magnetic radiation of quantitative nature in photosynthesis and of qualitative nature in perception by the photo-sensors cryptochromes, phototropins and phytochrome in environmental responses and development. Biophysical oscillators can play a role in biological timing by the circadian clock. Integration in the self-organization of modules, such as roots, stems and leaves, for the emergence of whole plants as unitary organisms needs storage and transport of information where physical modes of signaling are essential with cross talks between electrical and hydraulic signals and with chemical signals. Examples are gravitropism and root-shoot interactions in water relations. All of these facets of plant biophysics overlie plant molecular biology and exchange with it. It is advocated that a union of approaches of plant molecular biology and biophysics needs to be cultivated. In many cases it is already operative. In bionics biophysics is producing output for practical applications linking biology with technology. Biomimetic engineering intrinsically uses physical approaches. An extreme biophysical perspective is looking out for life in space. Sustained and increased practice of biophysics with teaching and research deserves strong

Interface between Physics and Biology: Training a New Generation of Creative Bilingual Scientists.

Science.gov (United States)

Riveline, Daniel; Kruse, Karsten

2017-08-01

Whereas physics seeks for universal laws underlying natural phenomena, biology accounts for complexity and specificity of molecular details. Contemporary biological physics requires people capable of working at this interface. New programs prepare scientists who transform respective disciplinary views into innovative approaches for solving outstanding problems in the life sciences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Future directions for radiological physics: An interface with molecular biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Braby, L.A.

1987-01-01

Recent experiments with low energy x-rays and fast molecular ions have shown that the products of the interaction of several ionizations within a few nanometers dominate radiation effects. However, the authors still can only make assumptions about the physical and chemical nature of this initial damage. Enzymatic repair of DNA damage is another key factor, but they have little idea of what governs the success or failure (misrepair) of these processes. Unresolved problems like these dictate the future direction of radiological physics. Molecular biology techniques are being applied to determine molecular alterations which result in observed damage. Interpretation of these experiments will require new data on the physics of energy transfer to macromolecules and the stochastics of energy deposition in time. Future studies will attempt to identify the initial damage, before biological processes have amplified it. This will require a detailed understanding of the role of chromatin structure in governing gene expression, the transport of energy within macromolecules, the transport of ions and radicals in the semiordered environment near DNA strands, and many other physical characteristics within the living cell

Uncovering the underlying physical mechanisms of biological systems via quantification of landscape and flux

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Xu Li; Chu Xiakun; Yan Zhiqiang; Zheng Xiliang; Zhang Kun; Zhang Feng; Yan Han; Wu Wei; Wang Jin

2016-01-01

In this review, we explore the physical mechanisms of biological processes such as protein folding and recognition, ligand binding, and systems biology, including cell cycle, stem cell, cancer, evolution, ecology, and neural networks. Our approach is based on the landscape and flux theory for nonequilibrium dynamical systems. This theory provides a unifying principle and foundation for investigating the underlying mechanisms and physical quantification of biological systems. (topical review)

Biological mechanisms underlying the role of physical fitness in health and resilience

OpenAIRE

Silverman, Marni N.; Deuster, Patricia A.

2014-01-01

Physical fitness, achieved through regular exercise and/or spontaneous physical activity, confers resilience by inducing positive psychological and physiological benefits, blunting stress reactivity, protecting against potentially adverse behavioural and metabolic consequences of stressful events and preventing many chronic diseases. In this review, we discuss the biological mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of physical fitness on mental and physical health. Physical fitness appear...

Bias in the physical examination of patients with lumbar radiculopathy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katz Jeffrey N

2010-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background No prior studies have examined systematic bias in the musculoskeletal physical examination. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of bias due to prior knowledge of lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging findings (MRI on perceived diagnostic accuracy of the physical examination for lumbar radiculopathy. Methods This was a cross-sectional comparison of the performance characteristics of the physical examination with blinding to MRI results (the 'independent group' with performance in the situation where the physical examination was not blinded to MRI results (the 'non-independent group'. The reference standard was the final diagnostic impression of nerve root impingement by the examining physician. Subjects were recruited from a hospital-based outpatient specialty spine clinic. All adults age 18 and older presenting with lower extremity radiating pain of duration ≤ 12 weeks were evaluated for participation. 154 consecutively recruited subjects with lumbar disk herniation confirmed by lumbar spine MRI were included in this study. Sensitivities and specificities with 95% confidence intervals were calculated in the independent and non-independent groups for the four components of the radiculopathy examination: 1 provocative testing, 2 motor strength testing, 3 pinprick sensory testing, and 4 deep tendon reflex testing. Results The perceived sensitivity of sensory testing was higher with prior knowledge of MRI results (20% vs. 36%; p = 0.05. Sensitivities and specificities for exam components otherwise showed no statistically significant differences between groups. Conclusions Prior knowledge of lumbar MRI results may introduce bias into the pinprick sensory testing component of the physical examination for lumbar radiculopathy. No statistically significant effect of bias was seen for other components of the physical examination. The effect of bias due to prior knowledge of lumbar MRI results should be considered

Bias in the physical examination of patients with lumbar radiculopathy

Science.gov (United States)

2010-01-01

Background No prior studies have examined systematic bias in the musculoskeletal physical examination. The objective of this study was to assess the effects of bias due to prior knowledge of lumbar spine magnetic resonance imaging findings (MRI) on perceived diagnostic accuracy of the physical examination for lumbar radiculopathy. Methods This was a cross-sectional comparison of the performance characteristics of the physical examination with blinding to MRI results (the 'independent group') with performance in the situation where the physical examination was not blinded to MRI results (the 'non-independent group'). The reference standard was the final diagnostic impression of nerve root impingement by the examining physician. Subjects were recruited from a hospital-based outpatient specialty spine clinic. All adults age 18 and older presenting with lower extremity radiating pain of duration ≤ 12 weeks were evaluated for participation. 154 consecutively recruited subjects with lumbar disk herniation confirmed by lumbar spine MRI were included in this study. Sensitivities and specificities with 95% confidence intervals were calculated in the independent and non-independent groups for the four components of the radiculopathy examination: 1) provocative testing, 2) motor strength testing, 3) pinprick sensory testing, and 4) deep tendon reflex testing. Results The perceived sensitivity of sensory testing was higher with prior knowledge of MRI results (20% vs. 36%; p = 0.05). Sensitivities and specificities for exam components otherwise showed no statistically significant differences between groups. Conclusions Prior knowledge of lumbar MRI results may introduce bias into the pinprick sensory testing component of the physical examination for lumbar radiculopathy. No statistically significant effect of bias was seen for other components of the physical examination. The effect of bias due to prior knowledge of lumbar MRI results should be considered when an isolated

Scandium: its occurrence, chemistry, physics, metallurgy, biology, and technology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Horovitz, C.T.

1975-01-01

This book describes the following aspects of scandium: discovery and history, occurrence in nature, geochemistry and mineralogy, chemical, physical and technological properties, fabrication and metallurgy, its biological significance and toxicology, and its uses. (Extensive references for each chapter)

DNA confinement in nanochannels: physics and biological applications

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Reisner, Walter; Pedersen, Jonas Nyvold; Austin, Robert H

2012-01-01

in nanochannels, creating a linear unscrolling of the genome along the channel for analysis. We will first review the fundamental physics of DNA nanochannel confinement—including the effect of varying ionic strength—and then discuss recent applications of these systems to genomic mapping. Apart from the intense...... direct assessment of the genome in its native state). In this review, we will discuss how the information contained in genomic-length single DNA molecules can be accessed via physical confinement in nanochannels. Due to self-avoidance interactions, DNA molecules will stretch out when confined...... biological interest in extracting linear sequence information from elongated DNA molecules, from a physics view these systems are fascinating as they enable probing of single-molecule conformation in environments with dimensions that intersect key physical length-scales in the 1 nm to 100μm range. (Some...

The value of physical examination in mental health nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Martin, Carolyn T

2016-03-01

This article explores the use of a physical examination assignment in a mental health general nursing clinical placement course that addresses the poor physical health of people with mental illness and the barriers traditionally impeding health care provision for this population. A descriptive qualitative approach utilizes inductive content analysis to investigate 145 student survey responses. The assignment assists student nurses in understanding that physical and mental well-being are intrinsically linked. Students report increased comfort performing a physical examination on patients with mental illness post assignment. Students' initial bias towards this population was minimized post the clinical assignment. Poor physical health is common among people with mental health problems. Many view the provision of care as a major public health issue. Nurses are the front line caregivers of mental health service consumers and are well positioned to assess their physical needs. Their assessment may be the first step in recognizing health care issues in this population. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Biology and physics competencies for pre-health and other life sciences students.

Science.gov (United States)

Hilborn, Robert C; Friedlander, Michael J

2013-06-01

The recent report on the Scientific Foundations for Future Physicians (SFFP) and the revised Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT) reframe the preparation for medical school (and other health professional schools) in terms of competencies: what students should know and be able to do with that knowledge, with a strong emphasis on scientific inquiry and research skills. In this article, we will describe the thinking that went into the SFFP report and what it says about scientific and quantitative reasoning, focusing on biology and physics and the overlap between those fields. We then discuss how the SFFP report set the stage for the discussion of the recommendations for the revised MCAT, which will be implemented in 2015, again focusing the discussion on biology and physics. Based on that framework, we discuss the implications for undergraduate biology and physics education if students are to be prepared to demonstrate these competencies.

Time in physics and biology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BRUNO GÜNTHER

2004-01-01

Full Text Available In contrast with classical physics, particularly with Sir Isaac Newton, where time is a continuous function, generally valid, eternally and evenly flowing as an absolute time dimension, in the biological sciences, time is in essence of cyclical nature (physiological periodicities, where future passes to past through an infinitely thin boundary, the present. In addition, the duration of the present (DP leads to the so-called 'granulation of time' in living beings, so that by the fusion of two successive pictures of the world, which are not entirely similar, they attain the perception of 'movement,' both in the real world as well as in the sham-movement in the mass media (TV.

Physical activity for health: examining similarities and differences ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

In the face of a rising diabetes epidemic, a target population for prevention programme is the children of patients with type 2 diabetes. This study examined physical activity of patients with type 2 diabetes and that of their adult children, and characterized the factors associated with physical inactivity among the participants.

Examining issues of underrepresented minority students in introductory physics

Science.gov (United States)

Watkins, Jessica Ellen

In this dissertation we examine several issues related to the retention of under-represented minority students in physics and science. In the first section, we show that in calculus-based introductory physics courses, the gender gap on the FCI is diminished through the use of interactive techniques, but in lower-level introductory courses, the gap persists, similar to reports published at other institutions. We find that under-represented racial minorities perform similar to their peers with comparable academic preparation on conceptual surveys, but their average exam grades and course grades are lower. We also examine student persistence in science majors; finding a significant relationship between pedagogy in an introductory physics course and persistence in science. In the second section, we look at student end-of-semester evaluations and find that female students rate interactive teaching methods a full point lower than their male peers. Looking more deeply at student interview data, we find that female students report more social issues related to the discussions in class and both male and female students cite feeling pressure to obtain the correct answer to clicker questions. Finally, we take a look an often-cited claim for gender differences in STEM participation: cognitive differences explain achievement differences in physics. We examine specifically the role of mental rotations in physics achievement and problem-solving, viewing mental rotations as a tool that students can use on physics problems. We first look at student survey results for lower-level introductory students, finding a low, but significant correlation between performance on a mental rotations test and performance in introductory physics courses. In contrast, we did not find a significant relationship for students in the upper-level introductory course. We also examine student problem-solving interviews to investigate the role of mental rotations on introductory problems.

Physical Examination for the Academic Psychiatrist: Primer and Common Clinical Scenarios.

Science.gov (United States)

Azzam, Pierre N; Gopalan, Priya; Brown, Jennifer R; Aquino, Patrick R

2016-04-01

As clinical psychiatry has evolved to mirror the patient care model followed in other medical specialties, psychiatrists are called upon increasingly to utilize general medical skills in routine practice. Psychiatrists who practice in academic settings are often required to generate broad differential diagnoses that include medical and neurologic conditions and, as a result, benefit from incorporating physical examination into their psychiatric assessments. Physical examination allows psychiatrists to follow and to teach patient-informed clinical practices and comprehensive treatment approaches. In this commentary, the authors encourage routine use of a targeted physical examination and outline common scenarios in which physical examination would be useful for the academic psychiatrist: delirium, toxidromes, and unexplained medical conditions (e.g., somatic symptom disorders).

Student performance of the general physical examination in internal medicine: an observational study

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Many practicing physicians lack skills in physical examination. It is not known whether physical examination skills already show deficiencies after an early phase of clinical training. At the end of the internal medicine clerkship students are expected to be able to perform a general physical examination in every new patient encounter. In a previous study, the basic physical examination items that should standardly be performed were set by consensus. The aim of the current observational study was to assess whether medical students were able to correctly perform a general physical examination regarding completeness as well as technique at the end of the clerkship internal medicine. Methods One hundred students who had just finished their clerkship internal medicine were asked to perform a general physical examination on a standardized patient as they had learned during the clerkship. They were recorded on camera. Frequency of performance of each component of the physical examination was counted. Adequacy of performance was determined as either correct or incorrect or not assessable using a checklist of short descriptions of each physical examination component. A reliability analysis was performed by calculation of the intra class correlation coefficient for total scores of five physical examinations rated by three trained physicians and for their agreement on performance of all items. Results Approximately 40% of the agreed standard physical examination items were not performed by the students. Students put the most emphasis on examination of general parameters, heart, lungs and abdomen. Many components of the physical examination were not performed as was taught during precourses. Intra-class correlation was high for total scores of the physical examinations 0.91 (p internal medicine clerkship. Possible causes and suggestions for improvement are discussed. PMID:24712683

An Examination of Science High School Students' Motivation towards Learning Biology and Their Attitude towards Biology Lessons

Science.gov (United States)

Kisoglu, Mustafa

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study is to examine motivation of science high school students towards learning biology and their attitude towards biology lessons. The sample of the study consists of 564 high school students (308 females, 256 males) studying at two science high schools in Aksaray, Turkey. In the study, the relational scanning method, which is…

Biological-based and physical-based optimization for biological evaluation of prostate patient's plans

Science.gov (United States)

Sukhikh, E.; Sheino, I.; Vertinsky, A.

2017-09-01

Modern modalities of radiation treatment therapy allow irradiation of the tumor to high dose values and irradiation of organs at risk (OARs) to low dose values at the same time. In this paper we study optimal radiation treatment plans made in Monaco system. The first aim of this study was to evaluate dosimetric features of Monaco treatment planning system using biological versus dose-based cost functions for the OARs and irradiation targets (namely tumors) when the full potential of built-in biological cost functions is utilized. The second aim was to develop criteria for the evaluation of radiation dosimetry plans for patients based on the macroscopic radiobiological criteria - TCP/NTCP. In the framework of the study four dosimetric plans were created utilizing the full extent of biological and physical cost functions using dose calculation-based treatment planning for IMRT Step-and-Shoot delivery of stereotactic body radiation therapy (SBRT) in prostate case (5 fractions per 7 Gy).

8. International Conference on Pulse Investigations in Chemistry, Biology and Physics - PULS'2008. Abstracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

The Report comprises abstracts of 68 communications (oral and posters) presented during the 8. International Conference on Pulse Investigations in Chemistry, Biology and Physics - PULS'2008, held on September 6 - 12, 2008 in Cracow. Presentations cover a variety of research fields representing different fields of pulse radiolysis in chemistry, biology and physics

8. International Conference on Pulse Investigations in Chemistry, Biology and Physics - PULS'2008. Abstracts

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2008-07-01

The Report comprises abstracts of 68 communications (oral and posters) presented during the 8. International Conference on Pulse Investigations in Chemistry, Biology and Physics - PULS'2008, held on September 6 - 12, 2008 in Cracow. Presentations cover a variety of research fields representing different fields of pulse radiolysis in chemistry, biology and physics.

The human heart and the circulatory system as an interesting interdisciplinary topic in lessons of physics and biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Volná, M; Látal, F; Kubínek, R; Richterek, L

2014-01-01

Many topics which are closely related can be found in the national curriculum of the Czech Republic for physics and biology. One of them is the heart and the circulatory system in the human body. This topic was examined cross curriculum, a teaching module was created and the topic was chosen for our research. The task was to determine if the students of bachelor study are aware of connections between physics and biology within this topic and whether we can help them effectively to describe the corresponding physics phenomena in the human body connected, for example, with a heart attack or with the measurement of blood pressure. In this paper, the heart and the circulatory system are presented as suitable topics for an interdisciplinary teaching module which includes both theoretical and experimental parts. The module was evaluated by a group of first-year undergraduate students of physics at the Faculty of Science, Palacký University. The acquired knowledge was compared with another control group through a test. The highest efficiency of the module was evaluated on the basis of questions that covered the calculation problems. (paper)

An algorithm to biological tissues evaluation in pediatric examinations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souza, R.T.F.; Miranda, J.R.A.; Alvarez, M.; Velo, A.F.; Pina, D.R.

2011-01-01

A prerequisite for the construction of phantoms is the quantification of the average thickness of biological tissues and the equivalence of these simulators in simulator material thicknesses. This study aim to develop an algorithm to classify and quantify tissues, based on normal distribution of CT numbers of anatomical structures found in the mean free path of the X-rays beam, using the examination histogram to carry out this evaluation. We have considered an algorithm for the determination of the equivalent biological tissues thickness from histograms. This algorithm classifies different biological tissues from tomographic exams in DICOM format and calculates the average thickness of these tissues. The founded results had revealed coherent with literature, presenting discrepancies of up to 21,6%, relative to bone tissue, analyzed for anthropomorphic phantom (RANDO). These results allow using this methodology in livings tissues, for the construction of thorax homogeneous phantoms, of just born and suckling patients, who will be used later in the optimization process of pediatrics radiographic images. (author)

How Can We Improve Problem Solving in Undergraduate Biology? Applying Lessons from 30 Years of Physics Education Research

Science.gov (United States)

Hoskinson, A.-M.; Caballero, M. D.; Knight, J. K.

2013-01-01

If students are to successfully grapple with authentic, complex biological problems as scientists and citizens, they need practice solving such problems during their undergraduate years. Physics education researchers have investigated student problem solving for the past three decades. Although physics and biology problems differ in structure and content, the instructional purposes align closely: explaining patterns and processes in the natural world and making predictions about physical and biological systems. In this paper, we discuss how research-supported approaches developed by physics education researchers can be adopted by biologists to enhance student problem-solving skills. First, we compare the problems that biology students are typically asked to solve with authentic, complex problems. We then describe the development of research-validated physics curricula emphasizing process skills in problem solving. We show that solving authentic, complex biology problems requires many of the same skills that practicing physicists and biologists use in representing problems, seeking relationships, making predictions, and verifying or checking solutions. We assert that acquiring these skills can help biology students become competent problem solvers. Finally, we propose how biology scholars can apply lessons from physics education in their classrooms and inspire new studies in biology education research. PMID:23737623

How can we improve problem solving in undergraduate biology? Applying lessons from 30 years of physics education research.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoskinson, A-M; Caballero, M D; Knight, J K

2013-06-01

If students are to successfully grapple with authentic, complex biological problems as scientists and citizens, they need practice solving such problems during their undergraduate years. Physics education researchers have investigated student problem solving for the past three decades. Although physics and biology problems differ in structure and content, the instructional purposes align closely: explaining patterns and processes in the natural world and making predictions about physical and biological systems. In this paper, we discuss how research-supported approaches developed by physics education researchers can be adopted by biologists to enhance student problem-solving skills. First, we compare the problems that biology students are typically asked to solve with authentic, complex problems. We then describe the development of research-validated physics curricula emphasizing process skills in problem solving. We show that solving authentic, complex biology problems requires many of the same skills that practicing physicists and biologists use in representing problems, seeking relationships, making predictions, and verifying or checking solutions. We assert that acquiring these skills can help biology students become competent problem solvers. Finally, we propose how biology scholars can apply lessons from physics education in their classrooms and inspire new studies in biology education research.

The relative importance of physical and biological energy in landscape evolution

Science.gov (United States)

Turowski, J. M.; Schwanghart, W.

2017-12-01

Landscapes are formed by the interplay of uplift and geomorphic processes, including interacting and competing physical and biological processes. For example, roots re-inforce soil and thereby stabilize hillslopes and the canopy cover of the forest may mediate the impact of precipitation. Furthermore, plants and animals act as geomorphic agents, directly altering landscape response and dynamics by their actions: tree roots may crack rocks, thus changing subsurface water flows and exposing fresh material for denudation; fungi excrete acids that accelerate rates of chemical weathering, and burrowing animals displace soil and rocks while digging holes for shelter or in search of food. Energetically, landscapes can be viewed as open systems in which topography stores potential energy above a base level. Tectonic processes add energy to the system by uplift and mechanically altering rock properties. Especially in unvegetated regions, erosion and transport by wind can be an important geomorphic process. Advection of atmospheric moisture in high altitudes provides potential energy that is converted by water fluxes through catchments. At the same time, the conversion of solar energy through atmospheric and biological processes drives primary production of living organisms. If we accept that biota influence geomorphic processes, then what is their energetic contribution to landscape evolution relative to physical processes? Using two case studies, we demonstrate that all components of energy input are negligible apart from biological production, quantified by net primary productivity (NPP) and potential energy conversion by water that is placed high up in the landscape as rainfall and leaves it as runoff. Assuming that the former is representative for biological energy and the latter for physical energy, we propose that the ratio of these two values can be used as a proxy for the relative importance of biological and physical processes in landscape evolution. All necessary

Redox Biology Final Examination 2016 | Center for Cancer Research

Science.gov (United States)

Numerous registrants have requested a certificate upon completion of the Redox Biology (RB) course. In order to obtain a certificate, you must answer 8 of the 12 questions below correctly. In the final examination, 1 question is derived from each of the 1-hour lectures. It is highly recommended that you have a copy of each PowerPoint presentation prior to taking the

Influence of different natural physical fields on biological processes

Science.gov (United States)

Mashinsky, A. L.

2001-01-01

In space flight conditions gravity, magnetic, and electrical fields as well as ionizing radiation change both in size, and in direction. This causes disruptions in the conduct of some physical processes, chemical reactions, and metabolism in living organisms. In these conditions organisms of different phylogenetic level change their metabolic reactions undergo changes such as disturbances in ionic exchange both in lower and in higher plants, changes in cell morphology for example, gyrosity in Proteus ( Proteus vulgaris), spatial disorientation in coleoptiles of Wheat ( Triticum aestivum) and Pea ( Pisum sativum) seedlings, mutational changes in Crepis ( Crepis capillaris) and Arabidopsis ( Arabidopsis thaliana) seedling. It has been found that even in the absence of gravity, gravireceptors determining spatial orientation in higher plants under terrestrial conditions are formed in the course of ontogenesis. Under weightlessness this system does not function and spatial orientation is determined by the light flux gradient or by the action of some other factors. Peculiarities of the formation of the gravireceptor apparatus in higher plants, amphibians, fish, and birds under space flight conditions have been observed. It has been found that the system in which responses were accompanied by phase transition have proven to be gravity-sensitive under microgravity conditions. Such reactions include also the process of photosynthesis which is the main energy production process in plants. In view of the established effects of microgravity and different natural physical fields on biological processes, it has been shown that these processes change due to the absence of initially rigid determination. The established biological effect of physical fields influence on biological processes in organisms is the starting point for elucidating the role of gravity and evolutionary development of various organisms on Earth.

Research on condensed matter and atomic physics using major experimental facilities and devices: Physics, chemistry, biology. Reports on results. Vol. 3. 4. Chemistry. 5. Biology. 6. Development of methods and instruments

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

This report in three volumes substantiates the contents of the programme survey published in September 1989. The progress reports cover the following research areas: Vol. I, (1). Atomic and molecular physics - free atoms, molecules, macromolecules, clusters, matrix-isolated atoms and molecules. (2) Physics and chemistry of surfaces and interfaces - epitaxy, surface structure, adsorption, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties, thin films, synthetic layer structure. Vol. II, (3). Solid-state physics, and materials science -structural research, lattice dynamics, magnetic structure and dynamics, electronic states; load; spin and pulse density fluctuations; diffusion and internal motion, defects, unordered systems and liquids. Vol. III, (4). Chemistry - bonding and structure, kinetics and reaction mechanisms, polymer research, analysis and synthesis. (5). Biology, - structure and dynamics of biological macromolecules, membrane and cell biology. (6) Development of methods and instruments - neutron sources, synchrotron sources, special accelerators, research with interlinked systems and devices. (orig.) [de

Russian science readings (chemistry, physics, biology)

CERN Document Server

Light, L

1949-01-01

Some years' experience in teaching Russian to working scientists who had already acquired the rudiments of the grammar convinced me of the need for a reader of the present type that would smooth the path of those wishing to study Russian scientific literature in the original. Although the subject matter comprises what I have described for convenience as chemistry, physics and biology, it could be read with equal profit by those engaged in any branch of pure or applied science. All the passages are taken from school textbooks, and acknowledgements are due to the authors of the works listed at the foot of the contents page.

The value of the physical examination in clinical practice: an international survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Elder, Andrew T; McManus, I Chris; Patrick, Alan; Nair, Kichu; Vaughan, Louella; Dacre, Jane

2017-12-01

A structured online survey was used to establish the views of 2,684 practising clinicians of all ages in multiple countries about the value of the physical examination in the contemporary practice of internal medicine. 70% felt that physical examination was 'almost always valuable' in acute general medical referrals. 66% of trainees felt that they were never observed by a consultant when undertaking physical examination and 31% that consultants never demonstrated their use of the physical examination to them. Auscultation for pulmonary wheezes and crackles were the two signs most likely to be rated as frequently used and useful, with the character of the jugular venous waveform most likely to be rated as -infrequently used and not useful. Physicians in contemporary hospital general medical practice continue to value the contribution of the physical examination to assessment of outpatients and inpatients, but, in the opinion of trainees, teaching and demonstration could be improved. © Royal College of Physicians 2017. All rights reserved.

Radiation physics, biophysics, and radiation biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, E.J.; Zaider, M.

1993-05-01

Research at the Center for Radiological Research is a multidisciplenary blend of physics, chemistry and biology aimed at understanding the mechanisms involved in the health problems resulting from human exposure to ionizing radiations. The focus is increased on biochemistry and the application of the techniques of molecular biology to the problems of radiation biology. Research highlights of the program from the past year are described. A mathematical model describing the production of single-strand and double-strand breaks in DNA as a function radiation quality has been completed. For the first time Monte Carlo techniques have been used to obtain directly the spatial distribution of DNA moieties altered by radiation. This information was obtained by including the transport codes a realistic description of the electronic structure of DNA. We have investigated structure activity relationships for the potential oncogenicity of a new generation of bioreductive drugs that function as hypoxic cytotoxins. Experimental and theoretical investigation of the inverse dose rate effect, whereby medium LET radiations actually produce an c effect when the dose is protracted, is now at a point where the basic mechanisms are reasonably understood and the complex interplay between dose, dose rate and radiation quality which is necessary for the effect to be present can now be predicted at least in vitro. In terms of early radiobiological damage, a quantitative link has been established between basic energy deposition and locally multiply damaged sites, the radiochemical precursor of DNA double strand breaks; specifically, the spatial and energy deposition requirements necessary to form LMDs have been evaluated. For the first time, a mechanically understood ''biological fingerprint'' of high-LET radiation has been established. Specifically measurement of the ratio of inter-to intra-chromosomal aberrations produces a unique signature from alpha-particles or neutrons

Radiation physics, biophysics, and radiation biology

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hall, E.J.; Zaider, M.

1993-05-01

Research at the Center for Radiological Research is a multidisciplenary blend of physics, chemistry and biology aimed at understanding the mechanisms involved in the health problems resulting from human exposure to ionizing radiations. The focus is increased on biochemistry and the application of the techniques of molecular biology to the problems of radiation biology. Research highlights of the program from the past year are described. A mathematical model describing the production of single-strand and double-strand breaks in DNA as a function radiation quality has been completed. For the first time Monte Carlo techniques have been used to obtain directly the spatial distribution of DNA moieties altered by radiation. This information was obtained by including the transport codes a realistic description of the electronic structure of DNA. We have investigated structure activity relationships for the potential oncogenicity of a new generation of bioreductive drugs that function as hypoxic cytotoxins. Experimental and theoretical investigation of the inverse dose rate effect, whereby medium LET radiations actually produce an c effect when the dose is protracted, is now at a point where the basic mechanisms are reasonably understood and the complex interplay between dose, dose rate and radiation quality which is necessary for the effect to be present can now be predicted at least in vitro. In terms of early radiobiological damage, a quantitative link has been established between basic energy deposition and locally multiply damaged sites, the radiochemical precursor of DNA double strand breaks; specifically, the spatial and energy deposition requirements necessary to form LMDs have been evaluated. For the first time, a mechanically understood biological fingerprint'' of high-LET radiation has been established. Specifically measurement of the ratio of inter-to intra-chromosomal aberrations produces a unique signature from alpha-particles or neutrons.

The Clinical anatomy of the physical examination of the abdomen: A comprehensive review.

Science.gov (United States)

Bilal, Muhammad; Voin, Vlad; Topale, Nitsa; Iwanaga, Joe; Loukas, Marios; Tubbs, R Shane

2017-04-01

Physical examination of the abdomen is an essential skill. Knowledge of its clinical anatomy and application is vital for making diagnoses. Misinterpretation of anatomy during examination can have serious consequences. This review addresses understanding of the anatomy, methodology, and complications of abdominal physical examination. It includes particular reference to modern technology and investigations. Physical examination is performed for diagnostic purposes. However, the art of physical examination is declining as more and more clinicians rely on newer technology. This can have regrettable consequences: negligence, waste of time and resources, and deterioration of clinical skills. With a sound knowledge of clinical anatomy, and realization of the importance of physical examination of the abdomen, clinician, and patients alike can benefit. Clin. Anat. 30:352-356, 2017. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Physical Activity: A Tool for Improving Health (Part 1--Biological Health Benefits)

Science.gov (United States)

Gallaway, Patrick J.; Hongu, Nobuko

2015-01-01

Extension educators have been promoting and incorporating physical activities into their community-based programs and improving the health of individuals, particularly those with limited resources. This article is the first of a three-part series describing the benefits of physical activity for human health: 1) biological health benefits of…

The Gravity of Regenerative Medicine; Physics, Chemistry & Biology behind it

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dedeepiya V

2008-01-01

Full Text Available The in-vitro expansion of cells of the organs/tissues and their re-implantation into the affected region/ tissue for treating cell/organ failure have been in practice for long, but in limited specialties. The in-vitro cell culture protocols use variety of biological reagents derived from animal sources and recombinant technologies. However, the optimal quantity of such biological components such as growth factors, cytokines etc.,needed for such cells to be grown in a non-physiological environment is still unknown. The use of such biological components have started to stir a controversy of late, due to the recognition of its potential hazards such as spread of prion diseases and contamination with non-human sialic acid proteins. Therefore synthetic reproducible biomaterials are gaining popularity in cell culture and tissue engineering. The biomaterials made of several chemical components based on physical parameters are starting to change certain concepts about the niche of cell culture and that of stem cell expansion and differentiation to specific lineages. Engler et al have already proven that a simple change in the matrix elasticity alone could change the lineage of the cells. Spencer et al have reported that a change in bioelectricity could change the morphogenesis during development. NCRM has been involved in cell culture and tissue engineering using approximately 240 different materials ranging from polymer hydrogel, gel with adherent inserts, nano composite materials, nano-coating technologies, nano-sheets and nano-films. These materials are used in cell culture in different hybrid combinations such as Floating 3D cell culture without adherent components in a homogenous hydrogel. Floating 3D cell culture with anchorage inserts. Flat surface- 2D adherent cell culture. Combined flat surface 2D cell culture (for differentiating cells and floating 3D culture (for undifferentiated cells. These combinations have started yielding several

ACL injury: How do the physical examination tests compare?

Science.gov (United States)

Koster, Christiaan H; Harmsen, Annelieke Mk; Lichtenberg, Miranda C; Bloemers, Frank W

2018-03-01

Three physical examination tests are most commonly used to evaluate cruciate ligament injury. The best known and most frequently used technique is the anterior drawer test. The other 2 tests, the Lachman test and the pivot shift test, are more difficult to perform and are used less often, especially by physicians untrained in their use. In addition, there is a relatively new diagnostic test: the lever sign test. The aim of our article is to provide a short, clinically relevant overview of the literature and to assess the diagnostic value of physical examination for the primary care physician.

Charge Migration in DNA Perspectives from Physics, Chemistry, and Biology

CERN Document Server

Chakraborty, Tapash

2007-01-01

Charge migration through DNA has been the focus of considerable interest in recent years. A deeper understanding of the nature of charge transfer and transport along the double helix is important in fields as diverse as physics, chemistry and nanotechnology. It has also important implications in biology, in particular in DNA damage and repair. This book presents contributions from an international team of researchers active in this field. It contains a wide range of topics that includes the mathematical background of the quantum processes involved, the role of charge transfer in DNA radiation damage, a new approach to DNA sequencing, DNA photonics, and many others. This book should be of value to researchers in condensed matter physics, chemical physics, physical chemistry, and nanoscale sciences.

Surface treatments for biological, chemical and physical applications

CERN Document Server

Karaman, Mustafa

2017-01-01

A step-by-step guide to the topic with a mix of theory and practice in the fields of biology, chemistry and physics. Straightforward and well-structured, the first chapter introduces fundamental aspects of surface treatments, after which examples from nature are given. Subsequent chapters discuss various methods to surface modification, including chemical and physical approaches, followed by the characterization of the functionalized surfaces. Applications discussed include the lotus effect, diffusion barriers, enzyme immobilization and catalysis. Finally, the book concludes with a look at future technology advances. Throughout the text, tutorials and case studies are used for training purposes to grant a deeper understanding of the topic, resulting in an essential reference for students as well as for experienced engineers in R&D.

Physical limits of feedback noise-suppression in biological networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhang, Jiajun; Yuan, Zhanjiang; Zhou, Tianshou

2009-01-01

Feedback is a ubiquitous control mechanism of biological networks, and has also been identified in a variety of regulatory systems and organisms. It has been shown that, for a given gain and with negligible intrinsic noise, negative feedback impairs noise buffering whereas positive feedback enhances noise buffering. We further investigate the influence of negative and positive feedback on noise in output signals by considering both intrinsic and extrinsic noise as well as operator noise. We find that, while maintaining the system sensitivity, either there exists a minimum of the output noise intensity corresponding to a biologically feasible feedback strength, or the output noise intensity is a monotonic function of feedback strength bounded by both biological and dynamical constraints. In both cases, feedback noise-suppression is physically limited. In other words, noise suppressed by negative or positive feedback cannot be reduced without limitation even in the case of slow transcription

Short communication: final year students' deficits in physical examination skills performance in Germany.

Science.gov (United States)

Krautter, Markus; Diefenbacher, Katja; Koehl-Hackert, Nadja; Buss, Beate; Nagelmann, Lars; Herzog, Wolfgang; Jünger, Jana; Nikendei, Christoph

2015-01-01

The physical examination of patients is an important diagnostic competence, but little is known about the examination skills of final-year medical students. To investigate physical examination skills of final-year medical students. In a cross-sectional study, 40 final-year students were asked to perform a detailed physical examination on standardized patients. Their performances were video-recorded and rated by independent video assessors. Video ratings showed a mean success rate of 40.1 % (SD 8.2). As regards accompanying doctor-patient communication, final-year students achieved a mean of no more than 36.7 % (SD 8.9) in the appropriate use of the corresponding communication items. Our study revealed severe deficits among final-year medical students in performing a detailed physical examination on a standardized patient. Thus, physical examination skills training should aim to improve these deficits while also paying attention to communicative aspects. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier GmbH.

Physical basis for biological effect

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Goodhead, D.T.

1987-01-01

Absorbed dose, or particle fluence, alone, are poor predictors of the biological effectiveness of ionizing radiations. Various radiation 'quality' parameters have been proposed to account quantitatively for the differences due to type of radiation. These include LET, quality factor (Q), lineal energy, specific energy and Z 2 /β 2 . However, all of these have major shortcomings, largely because they fail to describe adequately the microscopic stochastic properties of radiation which are primarily responsible for their relative effectiveness. Most biophysical models of radiation action now agree that the biological effectiveness of radiations are to a large extent determined by their very localized spatial properties of energy deposition (perhaps DNA and associated structures) and that the probability of residual permanent cellular damage (after cellular repair) depends on the nature of this initial macromolecular damage. Common features of these models make it clear that major future advances in identifying critical physical parameters of radiations for general practical application, or to describe their fundamental mechanisms of action, require accurate knowledge of the spatial patterns of energy deposition down to distances of the order of nanometres. Therefore, adequate descriptions are required of the nature and spatial distribution of the initial charged particles and of the interaction-by-interaction structure of the ensuing charged particle tracks. Recent development and application of Monte Carlo track structure simulations have already made it possible to commence such analyses of radiobiological data. (author). 56 refs, 7 figs

[Importance of history and physical examination for the care of nurses].

Science.gov (United States)

Santos, Neuma; Veiga, Patrícia; Andrade, Renata

2011-01-01

The history and physical examination are part of data collection of the Nursing Process. Its implementation is aimed at individualized care, holistic, humane and scientific foundation. The literature review was carried out in indexed databases as LILACS and SciELO, books and journals available in local libraries as published between the years 2000 to 2009. The aim is to describe the importance of clinical history and physical examination in the care provided by nurses. The results of this research will enable nursing students and health professionals can better understand the importance of history taking and physical examination to their professional practice, implement properly all stages of NAS and arouse interest in research on this topic.

Climate change and physical disturbance cause similar community shifts in biological soil crusts

Science.gov (United States)

Ferrenberg, Scott; Reed, Sasha C.; Belnap, Jayne

2015-01-01

Biological soil crusts (biocrusts)—communities of mosses, lichens, cyanobacteria, and heterotrophs living at the soil surface—are fundamental components of drylands worldwide, and destruction of biocrusts dramatically alters biogeochemical processes, hydrology, surface energy balance, and vegetation cover. While there has been long-standing concern over impacts of 5 physical disturbances on biocrusts (e.g., trampling by livestock, damage from vehicles), there is also increasing concern over the potential for climate change to alter biocrust community structure. Using long-term data from the Colorado Plateau, USA, we examined the effects of 10 years of experimental warming and altered precipitation (in full-factorial design) on biocrust communities, and compared the effects of altered climate with those of long-term physical 10 disturbance (>10 years of replicated human trampling). Surprisingly, altered climate and physical disturbance treatments had similar effects on biocrust community structure. Warming, altered precipitation frequency [an increase of small (1.2 mm) summer rainfall events], and physical disturbance from trampling all promoted early successional community states marked by dramatic declines in moss cover and increased cyanobacteria cover, with more variable effects 15 on lichens. While the pace of community change varied significantly among treatments, our results suggest that multiple aspects of climate change will affect biocrusts to the same degree as physical disturbance. This is particularly disconcerting in the context of warming, as temperatures for drylands are projected to increase beyond those imposed by the climate treatments used in our study.

From Molecules to Living Organisms : an Interplay between Biology and Physics : Lecture Notes of the Les Houches School of Physics

CERN Document Server

Nury, Hughes; Parcy, François; Ruigrok, Rob W H; Ziegler, Christine; Cugliandolo, Leticia F; Session CII

2016-01-01

The aim of this book is to provide new ideas for studying living matter by a simultaneous understanding of behavior from molecules to the cell, to the whole organism in the light of physical concepts. Indeed, forces guide most biological phenomena. In some cases these forces can be well-described and thus used to model a particular biological phenomenon. This is exemplified here by the study of membranes, where their shapes and curvatures can be modeled using a limited number of parameters that are measured experimentally. The growth of plants is another example where the combination of physics, biology and mathematics leads to a predictive model. The laws of thermodynamics are essential, as they dictate the behavior of proteins, or more generally biological molecules, in an aqueous environment. Integrated studies from the molecule to a larger scale need a combination of cutting-edge approaches, such as the use of new X-ray sources, in-cell NMR, cryo-electron microscopy or single-molecule microscopy. Some are...

Essential concepts and underlying theories from physics, chemistry, and mathematics for "biochemistry and molecular biology" majors.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Ann; Provost, Joseph; Roecklein-Canfield, Jennifer A; Bell, Ellis

2013-01-01

Over the past two years, through an NSF RCN UBE grant, the ASBMB has held regional workshops for faculty members from around the country. The workshops have focused on developing lists of Core Principles or Foundational Concepts in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, a list of foundational skills, and foundational concepts from Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics that all Biochemistry or Molecular Biology majors must understand to complete their major coursework. The allied fields working group created a survey to validate foundational concepts from Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics identified from participant feedback at various workshops. One-hundred twenty participants responded to the survey and 68% of the respondents answered yes to the question: "We have identified the following as the core concepts and underlying theories from Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics that Biochemistry majors or Molecular Biology majors need to understand after they complete their major courses: 1) mechanical concepts from Physics, 2) energy and thermodynamic concepts from Physics, 3) critical concepts of structure from chemistry, 4) critical concepts of reactions from Chemistry, and 5) essential Mathematics. In your opinion, is the above list complete?" Respondents also delineated subcategories they felt should be included in these broad categories. From the results of the survey and this analysis the allied fields working group constructed a consensus list of allied fields concepts, which will help inform Biochemistry and Molecular Biology educators when considering the ASBMB recommended curriculum for Biochemistry or Molecular Biology majors and in the development of appropriate assessment tools to gauge student understanding of how these concepts relate to biochemistry and molecular biology. © 2013 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

[Chemical, physical and biological risks in law enforcement].

Science.gov (United States)

Magrini, Andrea; Grana, Mario; Vicentini, Laura

2014-01-01

Chemical, physical and biological risks among public safety and security forces. Law enforcement personnel, involved in routine tasks and in emergency situations, are exposed to numerous and several occupational hazards (chemical, physical and biological) whith likely health and security consequences. These risks are particularly high when the organization and preparation are inadequate, there is a lacking or insufficient coordination, information, education and communication and safety and personal protective equipment are inadequate or insufficient. Despite the objective difficulties, caused by the actual special needs related to the service performed or the organizational peculiarities, the risk identification and assessment is essential for worker health and safety of personnel, as provided for by Legislative Decree no. 81/2008. Chemical risks include airborne pollutants due to vehicular traffic (carbon monoxide, ultrafine particles, benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, aldehydes, nitrogen and sulfur oxides, lead), toxic gases generated by combustion process following fires (aromatic hydrocarbons, PAHs, dioxins and furans, biphenyls, formaldehyde, metals and cyanides), substances emitted in case of chemical accidents (solvents, pesticides, toxic gases, caustics), drugs (methylamphetamine), riot control agents and self-defence spray, lead at firing ranges, and several materials and reagents used in forensic laboratory. The physical hazards are often caused by activities that induce biomechanical overload aid the onset of musculoskeletal disorders, the use of visual display terminals and work environments that may expose to heat stress and discomfort, high and low pressure, noise, vibrations, ionizing and non-ionizing radiation. The main biological risks are blood-borne diseases (viral hepatitis, AIDS), airborne diseases (eg, tuberculosis, meningitis, SARS, anthrax), MRSA, and vector-borne diseases. Many of these risk factors are unavoidable or are not

Integration of physics and biology: synergistic undergraduate education for the 21st century.

Science.gov (United States)

Woodin, Terry; Vasaly, Helen; McBride, Duncan; White, Gary

2013-06-01

This is an exciting time to be a biologist. The advances in our field and the many opportunities to expand our horizons through interaction with other disciplines are intellectually stimulating. This is as true for people tasked with helping the field move forward through support of research and education projects that serve the nation's needs as for those carrying out that research and educating the next generation of biologists. So, it is a pleasure to contribute to this edition of CBE-Life Sciences Education. This column will cover three aspects of the interactions of physics and biology as seen from the viewpoint of four members of the Division of Undergraduate Education of the National Science Foundation. The first section places the material to follow in context. The second reviews some of the many interdisciplinary physics-biology projects we support. The third highlights mechanisms available for supporting new physics-biology undergraduate education projects based on ideas that arise, focusing on those needing and warranting outside support to come to fruition.

Biological Physics : Poincaré seminar

CERN Document Server

Bio-physique : séminaire Poincaré

2011-01-01

This new volume in the Poincaré Seminar Series, describing recent developments at the interface between physics and biology, is directed towards a broad audience of physicists, biologists, and mathematicians. Both the theoretical and experimental aspects are covered, and particular care is devoted to the pedagogical nature of the presentations. The first survey article, by Jean-Francois Joanny and Jacques Prost, describes the theoretical advances made in the study of "active gels", with applications to liquid crystals and cell motility. Jasper van der Gucht and Cécile Sykes then report on recent advances made with biomimetic model systems in the understanding of cytokinesis. The next article, by Jonathon Howard, presents several molecular models for motor proteins, which are compared with experimental results for kinesin. David Lacoste and Kirone Mallick then show theoretically that similar ratchet models of motor proteins naturally satisfy a fundamental time-reversal symmetry, the Gallavotti-Cohen fluctuat...

A generic framework for individual-based modelling and physical-biological interaction

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Asbjørn; Mariani, Patrizio; Payne, Mark R.

2018-01-01

The increased availability of high-resolution ocean data globally has enabled more detailed analyses of physical-biological interactions and their consequences to the ecosystem. We present IBMlib, which is a versatile, portable and computationally effective framework for conducting Lagrangian...... scales. The open-source framework features a minimal robust interface to facilitate the coupling between individual-level biological models and oceanographic models, and we provide application examples including forward/backward simulations, habitat connectivity calculations, assessing ocean conditions...

Introduction to solitons and their applications in physics and biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Peyrard, M.

1995-01-01

The response of most of the physical systems to combined excitations is not a simple superposition of their response to individual stimuli. This is particularly true for biological systems in which the nonlinear effects are often the dominant ones. The intrinsic treatment of nonlinearities in mathematical models and physical systems has led to the emergence of the chaos and solitons concepts. The concept of soliton, relevant for systems with many degrees of freedom, provides a new tool in the studies of biomolecules because it has no equivalent in the world of linear excitations. The aim of this lecture is to present the main ideas that underline the soliton concept and to discuss some applications. Solitons are solitary waves, that propagate at constant speed without changing their shape. They are extremely stable to perturbations, in particular to collisions with small amplitude linear waves and with other solitons. Conditions to have solitons and equations of solitons propagation are analysed. Solitons can be divided into two main classes: topological and non-topological solitons which can be found at all scales and in various domains of physics and chemistry. Using simple examples, this paper shows how linear expansions can miss completely essential physical properties of a system. This is particularly characteristic for the pendulum chain example. Soliton theory offers alternative methods. Multiple scale approximations, or expansion on a soliton basis, can be very useful to provide a description of some physical phenomena. Nonlinear energy localization is also a very important concept valid for a large variety of systems. These concepts are probably even more relevant for biological molecules than for solid state physics, because these molecules are very deformable objects where large amplitude nonlinear motions or conformational changes are crucial for function. (J.S.). 14 refs., 9 figs

Physical articular examination in the activity of rheumatoid arthritis: a systematic review of the literature : Systematic review of the literature regarding physical examination in rheumatoid arthritis.

Science.gov (United States)

Medina, Yimy F; Ruíz-Gaviria, Rafael Eduardo; Buitrago-Lopez, Adriana; Villota, Catalina

2018-06-01

To summarize evidence concerning the articular examination needed to determine rheumatoid arthritis (RA) activity (follow-up or control) via a systematic review. A search of Medline, Embase, Lilacs, SciELO, the Web of Science, the National Technical Reports Library, and the reference lists of relevant studies through March 2017 was conducted using a systematic methodology to identify studies of patients with RA older than 18 years in which a detailed description of the physical examination or a description of the components of the articular examination was provided. Of 8322 references, 74 studies were included according to the selection criteria, and 6 references were ultimately included at the end of the review. Most of the included studies (n = 5) were associated with a moderate risk of bias. There was great variability among the studies and the articular examination methods used. Some studies presented the examination with a complete specification of the technique (n = 2), the consensus of rheumatologists (n = 2), or training through audiovisual materials and face-to-face courses (n = 2), but none of the studies explicitly showed the technique by which the physical examination was performed. Despite the importance of the clinical evaluation and physical examination of patients with RA for diagnosis, prognosis, clinimetrics, and follow-up, evidence concerning how to perform the articular examination is scarce.

After the Greeting: Realizing the Potential of Physical Models in Cell Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Paluch, Ewa K

2015-12-01

Biophysics is increasingly taking center stage in cell biology as the tools for precise quantifications of cellular behaviors expand. Interdisciplinary approaches, combining quantitative physical modeling with cell biology, are of growing interest to journal editors, funding agencies, and hiring committees. However, despite an ever-increasing emphasis on the importance of interdisciplinary research, the student trained in biology may still be at a loss as to what it actually means. I discuss here some considerations on how to achieve meaningful and high-quality interdisciplinary work. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physical examination of the hemodialysis arteriovenous fistula to detect early dysfunction.

Science.gov (United States)

Abreo, Kenneth; Amin, Bakhtiar M; Abreo, Adrian P

2018-04-01

The maintenance of vascular access patency for end-stage renal disease patients on hemodialysis is necessary for survival. Many nephrologists, nurse practitioners, and nurses have limited experience with the physical examination of the arteriovenous fistula. In this review, we define key terms used in the assessment of an arteriovenous fistula. We discuss the arteriovenous fistula physical exam, including details of inspection, palpation, and auscultation. Using these concepts, we review the abnormal findings that can assist practitioners in determining the location of a stenosis. We review the existing literature that validates physical exam findings with gold standard tests such as ultrasound and angiography. Finally, we review data supporting the value of training physicians and nurses in arteriovenous fistula physical examination.

Mechanobiology by the numbers: a close relationship between biology and physics.

Science.gov (United States)

Schwarz, Ulrich S

2017-12-01

Studies of mechanobiology lie at the interface of various scientific disciplines from biology to physics. Accordingly, quantification and mathematical modelling have been instrumental in fuelling the progress in this rapidly developing research field, assisting experimental work on many levels.

Examining Prospective Pre-School and Biology Teachers’ Metacognitive Awareness and Epistemological Beliefs

OpenAIRE

BEDEL, Emine Ferda; ÇAKIR, Mustafa

2013-01-01

The primary aim of this study was to describe prospective pre-school and biology teachers’ level of metacognitive awareness and epistemological beliefs and to examine differences between the groups. The total of 286 pre-school and biology teacher candidates participated in the study. Participants were asked to complete the central epistemological beliefs questionnaire which consisted of four sub-scales namely: belief in science as a source of knowledge, belief in rational society, belief in s...

Research on condensed matter and atomic physics using major experimental facilities and devices: Physics, chemistry, biology. Reports on results. Vol. 2. 3. Solid state physics and materials science

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

This report in three volumes substantiates the contents of the programme survey published in September 1989. The progress reports cover the following research areas: Vol. I, (1). Atomic and molecular physics - free atoms, molecules, macromolecules, clusters, matrix-isolated atoms and molecules. (2) Physics and chemistry of surfaces and interfaces - epitaxy, surface structure, adsorption, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties, thin films, synthetic layer structure. Vol. II, (3). Solid-state physics, and materials science -structural research, lattice dynamics, magnetic structure and dynamics, electronic states; load; spin and pulse density fluctuations; diffusion and internal motion, defects, unordered systems and liquids. Vol. III, (4). Chemistry - bonding and structure, kinetics and reaction mechanisms, polymer research, analysis and synthesis. (5). Biology, - structure and dynamics of biological macromolecules, membrane and cell biology. (6) Development of methods and instruments - neutron sources, synchrotron sources, special accelerators, research with interlinked systems and devices. (orig.) [de

Utility of the physical examination in detecting pulmonary hypertension. A mixed methods study.

Science.gov (United States)

Colman, Rebecca; Whittingham, Heather; Tomlinson, George; Granton, John

2014-01-01

Patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) often present with a variety of physical findings reflecting a volume or pressure overloaded right ventricle (RV). However, there is no consensus regarding the diagnostic utility of the physical examination in PH. We conducted a systematic review of publications that evaluated the clinical examination and diagnosis of PH using MEDLINE (1946-2013) and EMBASE (1947-2013). We also prospectively evaluated the diagnostic utility of the physical examination findings. Patients who underwent right cardiac catheterization for any reason were recruited. After informed consent, participants were examined by 6 physicians (3 "specialists" and 3 "generalists") who were unaware of the results of the patient's hemodynamics. Each examiner independently assessed patients for the presence of a RV lift, loud P2, jugular venous distension (JVD), tricuspid insufficiency murmur and right-sided 4th heart sound at rest and during a slow inspiration. A global rating (scale of 1-5) of the likelihood that the patient had pulmonary hypertension was provided by each examiner. 31 articles that assessed the physical examination in PH were included in the final analysis. There was heterogeneity amongst the studies and many did not include control data. The sign most associated with PH in the literature was a loud pulmonic component of the second heart sound (P2). In our prospective study physical examination was performed on 52 subjects (25 met criteria for PH; mPAP ≥ 25 mmHg). The physical sign with the highest likelihood ratio (LR) was a loud P2 on inspiration with a LR +ve 1.9, 95% CrI [1.2, 3.1] when data from all examiners was analyzed together. Results from the specialist examiners had higher diagnostic utility; a loud P2 on inspiration was associated with a positive LR of 3.2, 95% CrI [1.5, 6.2] and a right sided S4 on inspiration had a LR +ve 4.7, 95% CI [1.0, 15.6]. No aspect of the physical exam, could consistently rule out PH (negative LRs 0

Health: The No-Man's-Land Between Physics and Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Mansfield, Peter J

2015-10-01

Health as a positive attribute is poorly understood because understanding requires concepts from physics, of which physicians and other life scientists have a very poor grasp. This paper reviews the physics that bears on biology, in particular complex quaternions and scalar fields, relates these to the morphogenetic fields proposed by biologists, and defines health as an attribute of living action within these fields. The distinction of quality, as juxtaposed with quantity, proves essential. Its basic properties are set out, but a science and mathematics of quality are awaited. The implications of this model are discussed, particularly as proper health enhancement could set a natural limit to demand for, and therefore the cost of, medical services.

Special physical examination tests for superior labrum anterior-posterior shoulder tears: an examination of clinical usefulness.

Science.gov (United States)

Sandrey, Michelle A

2013-01-01

Calvert E, Chambers GK, Regan W, Hawkins RH, Leith JM. Special physical examination tests for superior labrum anterior-posterior shoulder injuries are clinically limited and invalid: a diagnostic systematic review. J Clin Epidemiol. 2009;62(5):558-563. The systematic review focused on diagnostic accuracy studies to determine if evidence was sufficient to support the use of superior labrum anterior-posterior (SLAP) physical examination tests as valid and reliable. The primary question was whether there was sufficient evidence in the published literature to support the use of SLAP physical examination tests as valid and reliable diagnostic test procedures. Studies published in English were identified through database searches on MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane database (1970-2004) using the search term SLAP lesions. The medical subject headings of arthroscopy, shoulder joint, and athletic injuries were combined with test or testing, physical examination, and sensitivity and specificity to locate additional sources. Other sources were identified by rereviewing the reference lists of included studies and review articles. Studies were eligible based on the following criteria: (1) published in English, (2) focused on the physical examination of SLAP lesions, and (3) presented original data. A study was excluded if the article was limited to a clinical description of 1 or more special tests without any research focus to provide clinical accuracy data or if it did not focus on the topic. The abstracts that were located through the search strategies were reviewed, and potentially relevant abstracts were selected. Strict epidemiologic methods were used to obtain and collate all relevant studies; the authors developed a study questionnaire to record study name, year of publication, study design, sample size, and statistics. Validity of the diagnostic test study was determined by applying the 5 criteria proposed by Calvert et al. If the study met the inclusion and validity

UNCERTAINTY ON RADIATION DOSES ESTIMATED BY BIOLOGICAL AND RETROSPECTIVE PHYSICAL METHODS.

Science.gov (United States)

Ainsbury, Elizabeth A; Samaga, Daniel; Della Monaca, Sara; Marrale, Maurizio; Bassinet, Celine; Burbidge, Christopher I; Correcher, Virgilio; Discher, Michael; Eakins, Jon; Fattibene, Paola; Güçlü, Inci; Higueras, Manuel; Lund, Eva; Maltar-Strmecki, Nadica; McKeever, Stephen; Rääf, Christopher L; Sholom, Sergey; Veronese, Ivan; Wieser, Albrecht; Woda, Clemens; Trompier, Francois

2018-03-01

Biological and physical retrospective dosimetry are recognised as key techniques to provide individual estimates of dose following unplanned exposures to ionising radiation. Whilst there has been a relatively large amount of recent development in the biological and physical procedures, development of statistical analysis techniques has failed to keep pace. The aim of this paper is to review the current state of the art in uncertainty analysis techniques across the 'EURADOS Working Group 10-Retrospective dosimetry' members, to give concrete examples of implementation of the techniques recommended in the international standards, and to further promote the use of Monte Carlo techniques to support characterisation of uncertainties. It is concluded that sufficient techniques are available and in use by most laboratories for acute, whole body exposures to highly penetrating radiation, but further work will be required to ensure that statistical analysis is always wholly sufficient for the more complex exposure scenarios.

Radiation physics, biophysics, and radiation biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, E.J.; Zaider, M.

1991-05-01

Research at the Radiological Research Laboratory is a blend of physics, chemistry, and biology, involving research at the basic level with the admixture of a small proportion of pragmatic or applied research in support of radiation protection and/or radiotherapy. Current research topics include: oncogenic transformation assays, mutation studies involving interactions between radiation and environmental contaminants, isolation, characterization and sequencing of a human repair gene, characterization of a dominant transforming gene found in C3H 10T1/2 cells, characterize ab initio the interaction of DNA and radiation, refine estimates of the radiation quality factor Q, a new mechanistic model of oncogenesis showing the role of long-term low dose medium LET radiation, and time dependent modeling of radiation induced chromosome damage and subsequent repair or misrepair

Biological Movement and Laws of Physics.

Science.gov (United States)

Latash, Mark L

2017-07-01

Living systems may be defined as systems able to organize new, biology-specific, laws of physics and modify their parameters for specific tasks. Examples include the force-length muscle dependence mediated by the stretch reflex, and the control of movements with modification of the spatial referent coordinates for salient performance variables. Low-dimensional sets of referent coordinates at a task level are transformed to higher-dimensional sets at lower hierarchical levels in a way that ensures stability of performance. Stability of actions can be controlled independently of the actions (e.g., anticipatory synergy adjustments). Unintentional actions reflect relaxation processes leading to drifts of corresponding referent coordinates in the absence of changes in external load. Implications of this general framework for movement disorders, motor development, motor skill acquisition, and even philosophy are discussed.

From the Physical World to the Biological Universe: Historical Developments Underlying SETI

Science.gov (United States)

Dick, Steven J.

More than thirty years ago the French historian of science Alexandre Koyré (1957) wrote his classic volume, From the Closed World to the Infinite Universe, in which he argued that a fundamental shift in world view had taken place in 17th century cosmology. Between Nicholas of Cusa in the fifteenth century and Newton and Leibniz in the seventeenth, he found that the very terms in which humans thought about their universe had changed. These changes he characterized broadly as the destruction of the closed finite cosmos and the geometrization of space. The occasion of the Third International Bioastronomy Symposium in France is an especially appropriate time to argue that the SETI endeavor represents a test for a similar fundamental shift in cosmological world view, from the physical world to the biological universe. I define the biological universe, equivalent to what I have called before the biophysical cosmology (Dick, 1989), as the scientific world view which holds that life is widespread throughout the universe. In this case the biological universe does not necessarily supersede the physical universe, but a universe filled with life would certainly fundamentally alter our attitude toward the universe, and our place in it. Although Koyré mentioned life beyond the Earth as an adjunct to the revolution from the closed world to the infinite universe, only in the 1980s has the history of science begun to give full treatment to the subject. What follows is meant to be a contribution to that ongoing endeavor to understand where the extraterrestrial life debate fits in the history of science. The modern era in the extraterrestrial life debate is normally dated from Cocconi and Morrison's paper in 1959, and though one can always find precursors, this in my view is a valid perception. Cocconi and Morrison gave definite form to SETI, Frank Drake independently first carried out the experiment, a network of interested scientists began to form and met in Green Bank in

Research on condensed matter and atomic physics, using major experimental facilities and devices: Physics, chemistry, biology. Reports on results. Vol. 1. 1. Atomic and molecular physics. 2. Physics and chemistry of surfaces and interfaces

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1993-01-01

This report in three volumes substantiates the contents of the programme survey published in September 1989. The progress reports cover the following research areas: Vol. I, (1). Atomic and molecular physics - free atoms, molecules, macromolecules, clusters, matrix-isolated atoms and molecules. (2) Physics and chemistry of surfaces and interfaces - epitaxy, surface structure, adsorption, electrical, magnetic, and optical properties, thin films, synthetic layer structure. Vol. II, (3). Solid-state physics, and materials science -structural research, lattice dynamics, magnetic structure and dynamics, electronic states; load; spin and pulse density fluctuations; diffusion and internal motion, defects, unordered systems and liquids. Vol. III, (4). Chemistry - bonding and structure, kinetics and reaction mechanisms, polymer research, analysis and synthesis. (5). Biology, - structure and dynamics of biological macromolecules, membrane and cell biology. (6) Development of methods and instruments - neutron sources, synchrotron sources, special accelerators, research with interlinked systems and devices. (orig.) [de

4D-Var data assimilation system for a coupled physical-biological ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

A 3-compartment model of phytoplankton growth dynamics has been coupled with a primitive-equation circulation model to better understand and quantify physical and biological processes in the Adriatic Sea. This paper presents the development and application of a data assimilation procedure based on optimal.

S.E.A. Lab. Science Experiments and Activities. Marine Science for High School Students in Chemistry, Biology and Physics.

Science.gov (United States)

Hart, Kathy, Ed.

A series of science experiments and activities designed for secondary school students taking biology, chemistry, physics, physical science or marine science courses are outlined. Each of the three major sections--chemistry, biology, and physics--addresses concepts that are generally covered in those courses but incorporates aspects of marine…

Longitudinal examination of social and environmental influences on motivation for physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Richards, Elizabeth A; McDonough, Meghan; Fu, Rong

2017-10-01

Physical activity behavior is influenced by numerous factors including motivation, social interactions, and the walkability of the environment. To examine how social contexts and environmental features affect physical activity motivational processes across time. Participants (N=104) completed 3 monthly online surveys assessing self-determination theory constructs, social partners in physical activity, neighborhood walkability, and weekly physical activity. Longitudinal path analysis examined the degree to which physical activity was predicted by individual goals, orientation, and autonomy support and whether these associations were meditated by motivation and moderated by the social and environmental contexts of physical activity. The effect of controlled exercise orientations on physical activity was mediated by autonomous motivation. This association was stronger among those who perceived less crime in their neighborhoods. To improve the ability to tailor physical activity counseling it is important to understand how each person views exercise situations and to understand his/her social and neighborhood environments. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Radiation physics, biophysics, and radiation biology. Progress report, December 1, 1993--November 30, 1994

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hall, E.J.; Zaider, M.

1994-05-01

Research at the Center for Radiological Research is a blend of physics, chemistry and biology and epitomizes the multidisciplinary approach towards understanding the mechanisms involved in the health problems resulting from human exposure to ionizing radiations. To an increasing extent, the focus of attention is on biochemistry and the application of the techniques of molecular biology to the problems of radiation biology. Research highlights from the past year are briefly described.

Radiation physics, biophysics, and radiation biology. Progress report, December 1, 1993--November 30, 1994

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, E.J.; Zaider, M.

1994-05-01

Research at the Center for Radiological Research is a blend of physics, chemistry and biology and epitomizes the multidisciplinary approach towards understanding the mechanisms involved in the health problems resulting from human exposure to ionizing radiations. To an increasing extent, the focus of attention is on biochemistry and the application of the techniques of molecular biology to the problems of radiation biology. Research highlights from the past year are briefly described

The FAMULATUR PLUS as an innovative approach for teaching physical examination skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Jerg, Achim; Öchsner, Wolfgang; Wander, Henriette; Traue, Harald C; Jerg-Bretzke, Lucia

2016-01-01

The FAMULATUR PLUS is an innovative approach to teaching physical examination skills. The concept is aimed at medical students during the clinical part of their studies and includes a clinical traineeship (English for "Famulatur") extended to include various courses ("PLUS"). The courses are divided into clinical examination courses and problembased-learning (PBL) seminars. The concept's special feature is the full integration of these courses into a 30-day hospital traineeship. The aim is to facilitate the transfer of knowledge from the courses into daily practice. Each week of the FAMULATUR PLUS is structured in line with the courses and focuses on a particular part of the body (e.g., abdomen). A physical examination course under the supervision of a physician is offered at the beginning of the week. Here, medical students learn the relevant examination techniques by practicing on each other (partner exercises). Subsequently, the techniques taught are applied independently during everyday work on the ward, corrected by the supervisor, if necessary, and thereby reinforced. The final POL seminar takes place towards the end of the week. Possible differential diagnoses are developed based on a clinical case study. The goal is to check these by taking a fictitious medical history and performing a physical examination, as well as to make a preliminary diagnosis. Finally, during the PBL seminar, medical students will be shown how physical examination techniques can be efficiently applied in the diagnosis of common cardinal symptoms (e.g., abdominal pain). The initial implementation of the FAMULATUR PLUS proved the practical feasibility of the concept. In addition, the accompanying evaluation showed that the participants of the pilot project improved with regard to their practical physical examination skills.

Utility of the physical examination in detecting pulmonary hypertension. A mixed methods study.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rebecca Colman

Full Text Available INTRODUCTION: Patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH often present with a variety of physical findings reflecting a volume or pressure overloaded right ventricle (RV. However, there is no consensus regarding the diagnostic utility of the physical examination in PH. METHODS: We conducted a systematic review of publications that evaluated the clinical examination and diagnosis of PH using MEDLINE (1946-2013 and EMBASE (1947-2013. We also prospectively evaluated the diagnostic utility of the physical examination findings. Patients who underwent right cardiac catheterization for any reason were recruited. After informed consent, participants were examined by 6 physicians (3 "specialists" and 3 "generalists" who were unaware of the results of the patient's hemodynamics. Each examiner independently assessed patients for the presence of a RV lift, loud P2, jugular venous distension (JVD, tricuspid insufficiency murmur and right-sided 4th heart sound at rest and during a slow inspiration. A global rating (scale of 1-5 of the likelihood that the patient had pulmonary hypertension was provided by each examiner. RESULTS: 31 articles that assessed the physical examination in PH were included in the final analysis. There was heterogeneity amongst the studies and many did not include control data. The sign most associated with PH in the literature was a loud pulmonic component of the second heart sound (P2. In our prospective study physical examination was performed on 52 subjects (25 met criteria for PH; mPAP ≥ 25 mmHg. The physical sign with the highest likelihood ratio (LR was a loud P2 on inspiration with a LR +ve 1.9, 95% CrI [1.2, 3.1] when data from all examiners was analyzed together. Results from the specialist examiners had higher diagnostic utility; a loud P2 on inspiration was associated with a positive LR of 3.2, 95% CrI [1.5, 6.2] and a right sided S4 on inspiration had a LR +ve 4.7, 95% CI [1.0, 15.6]. No aspect of the physical exam, could

Utility of the Physical Examination in Detecting Pulmonary Hypertension. A Mixed Methods Study

Science.gov (United States)

Colman, Rebecca; Whittingham, Heather; Tomlinson, George; Granton, John

2014-01-01

Introduction Patients with pulmonary hypertension (PH) often present with a variety of physical findings reflecting a volume or pressure overloaded right ventricle (RV). However, there is no consensus regarding the diagnostic utility of the physical examination in PH. Methods We conducted a systematic review of publications that evaluated the clinical examination and diagnosis of PH using MEDLINE (1946–2013) and EMBASE (1947–2013). We also prospectively evaluated the diagnostic utility of the physical examination findings. Patients who underwent right cardiac catheterization for any reason were recruited. After informed consent, participants were examined by 6 physicians (3 “specialists” and 3 “generalists”) who were unaware of the results of the patient's hemodynamics. Each examiner independently assessed patients for the presence of a RV lift, loud P2, jugular venous distension (JVD), tricuspid insufficiency murmur and right-sided 4th heart sound at rest and during a slow inspiration. A global rating (scale of 1–5) of the likelihood that the patient had pulmonary hypertension was provided by each examiner. Results 31 articles that assessed the physical examination in PH were included in the final analysis. There was heterogeneity amongst the studies and many did not include control data. The sign most associated with PH in the literature was a loud pulmonic component of the second heart sound (P2). In our prospective study physical examination was performed on 52 subjects (25 met criteria for PH; mPAP ≥25 mmHg). The physical sign with the highest likelihood ratio (LR) was a loud P2 on inspiration with a LR +ve 1.9, 95% CrI [1.2, 3.1] when data from all examiners was analyzed together. Results from the specialist examiners had higher diagnostic utility; a loud P2 on inspiration was associated with a positive LR of 3.2, 95% CrI [1.5, 6.2] and a right sided S4 on inspiration had a LR +ve 4.7, 95% CI [1.0, 15.6]. No aspect of the physical exam, could

Biological and Physical Space Research Laboratory 2002 Science Review

Science.gov (United States)

Curreri, P. A. (Editor); Robinson, M. B. (Editor); Murphy, K. L. (Editor)

2003-01-01

With the International Space Station Program approaching core complete, our NASA Headquarters sponsor, the new Code U Enterprise, Biological and Physical Research, is shifting its research emphasis from purely fundamental microgravity and biological sciences to strategic research aimed at enabling human missions beyond Earth orbit. Although we anticipate supporting microgravity research on the ISS for some time to come, our laboratory has been vigorously engaged in developing these new strategic research areas.This Technical Memorandum documents the internal science research at our laboratory as presented in a review to Dr. Ann Whitaker, MSFC Science Director, in July 2002. These presentations have been revised and updated as appropriate for this report. It provides a snapshot of the internal science capability of our laboratory as an aid to other NASA organizations and the external scientific community.

Risk Factors, Pathobiomechanics and Physical Examination of Rotator Cuff Tears

Science.gov (United States)

Moulton, Samuel G.; Greenspoon, Joshua A.; Millett, Peter J.; Petri, Maximilian

2016-01-01

Background: It is important to appreciate the risk factors for the development of rotator cuff tears and specific physical examination maneuvers. Methods: A selective literature search was performed. Results: Numerous well-designed studies have demonstrated that common risk factors include age, occupation, and anatomic considerations such as the critical shoulder angle. Recently, research has also reported a genetic component as well. The rotator cuff axially compresses the humeral head in the glenohumeral joint and provides rotational motion and abduction. Forces are grouped into coronal and axial force couples. Rotator cuff tears are thought to occur when the force couples become imbalanced. Conclusion: Physical examination is essential to determining whether a patient has an anterosuperior or posterosuperior tear. Diagnostic accuracy increases when combining a series of examination maneuvers. PMID:27708731

Exploration of the value of using a formula sheet for physics examinations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chang, Wheijen; Shieh, Ruey S

2013-01-01

The purpose of this study is to explore whether and how allowing students to prepare their own formula sheet (FS) for use in examinations helps them engage in meaningful learning and improve their academic performance. An action research is adopted to conduct the study. Three years (2009–11) of evaluation of the FS policy in introductory physics courses was undertaken. The data collection consists of the students' FS, examination results, and self-reported surveys. The results show that the students who were allowed to bring an FS to the examination outperformed those who were not. It is also found that the quality of individual students' FS was significantly correlated to their examination score (p < 0.001). The reported benefits of using an FS consists of facilitating conceptual understanding, highlighting cognitive demands in learning physics, and alleviating stress in examinations. The FS strategy appears to have the potential for strengthening students' understanding of physics concepts. (paper)

Physical examination tests for screening and diagnosis of cervicogenic headache: A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Rubio-Ochoa, J; Benítez-Martínez, J; Lluch, E; Santacruz-Zaragozá, S; Gómez-Contreras, P; Cook, C E

2016-02-01

It has been suggested that differential diagnosis of headaches should consist of a robust subjective examination and a detailed physical examination of the cervical spine. Cervicogenic headache (CGH) is a form of headache that involves referred pain from the neck. To our knowledge, no studies have summarized the reliability and diagnostic accuracy of physical examination tests for CGH. The aim of this study was to summarize the reliability and diagnostic accuracy of physical examination tests used to diagnose CGH. A systematic review following PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) guidelines was performed in four electronic databases (MEDLINE, Web of Science, Embase and Scopus). Full text reports concerning physical tests for the diagnosis of CGH which reported the clinometric properties for assessment of CGH, were included and screened for methodological quality. Quality Appraisal for Reliability Studies (QAREL) and Quality Assessment of Studies of Diagnostic Accuracy (QUADAS-2) scores were completed to assess article quality. Eight articles were retrieved for quality assessment and data extraction. Studies investigating diagnostic reliability of physical examination tests for CGH scored poorer on methodological quality (higher risk of bias) than those of diagnostic accuracy. There is sufficient evidence showing high levels of reliability and diagnostic accuracy of the selected physical examination tests for the diagnosis of CGH. The cervical flexion-rotation test (CFRT) exhibited both the highest reliability and the strongest diagnostic accuracy for the diagnosis of CGH. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using web-based video to enhance physical examination skills in medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Orientale, Eugene; Kosowicz, Lynn; Alerte, Anton; Pfeiffer, Carol; Harrington, Karen; Palley, Jane; Brown, Stacey; Sapieha-Yanchak, Teresa

2008-01-01

Physical examination (PE) skills among U.S. medical students have been shown to be deficient. This study examines the effect of a Web-based physical examination curriculum on first-year medical student PE skills. Web-based video clips, consisting of instruction in 77 elements of the physical examination, were created using Microsoft Windows Moviemaker software. Medical students' PE skills were evaluated by standardized patients before and after implementation of the Internet-based video. Following implementation of this curriculum, there was a higher level of competency (from 87% in 2002-2003 to 91% in 2004-2005), and poor performances on standardized patient PE exams substantially diminished (from a 14%-22%failure rate in 2002-2003, to 4% in 2004-2005. A significant improvement in first-year medical student performance on the adult PE occurred after implementing Web-based instructional video.

4D-Var data assimilation system for a coupled physical biological ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

A 3-compartment model of phytoplankton growth dynamics has been coupled with a primitive-equation circulation model to better understand and quantify physical and biological processes in the Adriatic Sea. This paper presents the development and application of a data assimilation procedure based on optimal control ...

Physics of non-Newtonian fluids and interdisciplinary relations (biology and criminology)

Science.gov (United States)

Holubova, R.

2018-03-01

The aim of the paper is the presentation of an interdisciplinary topic that allows applying content knowledge in physics, mathematics and biology in real life environment. Students use to play games and view crime scenes but in common they have little knowledge about the science used during crime scene investigation. In this paper the science background of blood spatter analysis is presented—the physics of non-Newtonian fluids, the biology of blood and mathematics—the measurement and calculation of the angle of inpact, the relationship between height and spatter diameter. This topic was choosen according to the analysis of interviews with secondary and high school learners realized at four schools in Moravia, Czech Republic. The topic can be taught at secondary schools so as at a higher level at high schools. Hands-on activities are included. The teaching strategy supports group work. The appropriateness and reasonableness of the topic was checked in the real teaching process and the activities have had a positive feedback.

Modelling the Influence of Shielding on Physical and Biological Organ Doses

CERN Document Server

Ballarini, Francesca; Ferrari, Alfredo; Ottolenghi, Andrea; Pelliccioni, Maurizio; Scannicchio, Domenico

2002-01-01

Distributions of "physical" and "biological" dose in different organs were calculated by coupling the FLUKA MC transport code with a geometrical human phantom inserted into a shielding box of variable shape, thickness and material. While the expression "physical dose" refers to the amount of deposited energy per unit mass (in Gy), "biological dose" was modelled with "Complex Lesions" (CL), clustered DNA strand breaks calculated in a previous work based on "event-by-event" track-structure simulations. The yields of complex lesions per cell and per unit dose were calculated for different radiation types and energies, and integrated into a version of FLUKA modified for this purpose, allowing us to estimate the effects of mixed fields. As an initial test simulation, the phantom was inserted into an aluminium parallelepiped and was isotropically irradiated with 500 MeV protons. Dose distributions were calculated for different values of the shielding thickness. The results were found to be organ-dependent. In most ...

Medical educators' perspectives of teaching physical examinations using ultrasonography at the undergraduate level

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irene Ma

2013-03-01

Full Text Available Background: Ultrasonography is increasingly used for teaching physical examination in medical schools. This study seeks the opinions of educators as to which physical examinations would be most enhanced by the addition of ultrasonography. We also asked when ultrasound-aided physical examination teaching could have deleterious effects if used outside its intended scope. Methods: All of the educators from the University of Calgary Master Teacher Program were invited to complete a 22-item paper-based survey. Survey items were generated independently by two investigators, with input from an expert panel (N = 5. Results: Of the 36 educators, 27 (75% completed the survey. Examinations identified to be potentially most useful included: measuring the size of the abdominal aorta, identifying the presence/absence of ascites, identifying the presence/absence of pleural effusions, and measuring the size of the bladder. Examinations thought to be potentially most harmful included: identifying the presence/absence of intrauterine pregnancy, measuring the size of the abdominal aorta, and identifying the presence/absence of pericardial effusion. Conclusions: Examinations that are potentially the most useful may also be potentially the most harmful. When initiating an ultrasound curriculum for physical examinations, educators should weigh the risks and benefits of examinations chosen.

The FAMULATUR PLUS as an innovative approach for teaching physical examination skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jerg, Achim

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The FAMULATUR PLUS is an innovative approach to teaching physical examination skills. The concept is aimed at medical students during the clinical part of their studies and includes a clinical traineeship (English for “Famulatur” extended to include various courses (“PLUS”. The courses are divided into clinical examination courses and problembased-learning (PBL seminars. The concept’s special feature is the full integration of these courses into a 30-day hospital traineeship. The aim is to facilitate the transfer of knowledge from the courses into daily practice. Each week of the FAMULATUR PLUS is structured in line with the courses and focuses on a particular part of the body (e.g., abdomen. A physical examination course under the supervision of a physician is offered at the beginning of the week. Here, medical students learn the relevant examination techniques by practicing on each other (partner exercises. Subsequently, the techniques taught are applied independently during everyday work on the ward, corrected by the supervisor, if necessary, and thereby reinforced. The final POL seminar takes place towards the end of the week. Possible differential diagnoses are developed based on a clinical case study. The goal is to check these by taking a fictitious medical history and performing a physical examination, as well as to make a preliminary diagnosis. Finally, during the PBL seminar, medical students will be shown how physical examination techniques can be efficiently applied in the diagnosis of common cardinal symptoms (e.g., abdominal pain. The initial implementation of the FAMULATUR PLUS proved the practical feasibility of the concept. In addition, the accompanying evaluation showed that the participants of the pilot project improved with regard to their practical physical examination skills.

Chaperones and intimate physical examinations: what do male and female patients want?

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, V C; Choy, H T; Kwok, G Yj; Lam, H G; Lim, Q Y; Man, Y Y; Tang, C K; Wong, C C; Yu, Y F; Leung, G Kk

2017-02-01

Many studies of patients' perception of a medical chaperone have focused on female patients; that of male patients are less well studied. Moreover, previous studies were largely based on patient populations in English-speaking countries. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the perception and attitude of male and female Chinese patients to the presence of a chaperone during an intimate physical examination. A cross-sectional guided questionnaire survey was conducted on a convenient sample of 150 patients at a public teaching hospital in Hong Kong. Over 90% of the participants considered the presence of a chaperone appropriate during intimate physical examination, and 84% felt that doctors, irrespective of gender, should always request the presence of a chaperone. The most commonly cited reasons included the availability of an objective account should any legal issue arise, protection against sexual harassment, and to provide psychological support. This contrasted with the experience of those who had previously undergone an intimate physical examination of whom only 72.6% of women and 35.7% of men had reportedly been chaperoned. Among female participants, 75.0% preferred to be chaperoned during an intimate physical examination by a male doctor, and 28.6% would still prefer to be chaperoned when being examined by a female doctor. Among male participants, over 50% indicated no specific preference but a substantial minority reported a preference for chaperoned examination (21.2% for male doctor and 25.8% for female doctor). Patients in Hong Kong have a high degree of acceptance and expectations about the role of a medical chaperone. Both female and male patients prefer such practice regardless of physician gender. Doctors are strongly encouraged to discuss the issue openly with their patients before they conduct any intimate physical examination.

A core physical examination in internal medicine: what should students do and how about their supervisors?

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Haring, Catharina M; van der Meer, Jos W M; Postma, Cornelis T

2013-09-01

Performance of a focused physical examination will induce a high cognitive load for medical students in the early phase of the clinical clerkships. To come to a workable and clinically applicable standard physical examination for medical students to be used in every new patient in the daily clinical practice of internal medicine. A questionnaire held among physicians that supervise students during the clerkship of internal medicine in one Dutch training region. Of the complete list of physical examination 55 items were considered to be an integral part of the standard general physical examination for medical students. Most emphasized were elements of the physical examination aimed at general parameters, thorax and abdomen, vascular status, lymph nodes, spinal column, skin and some parts of the neurological examination. The standard physical examinations performed by supervisors themselves contain fewer items than they expected from the students. The expectations a supervisor has towards the student correlates with the frequency with which they apply the various components in their own physical examination. This study provides us with a 'core' physical examination for medical students that can be applied in the early phase of the clinical clerkships.

Physical Examination Findings Among Children and Adolescents With Obesity: An Evidence-Based Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Armstrong, Sarah; Lazorick, Suzanne; Hampl, Sarah; Skelton, Joseph A; Wood, Charles; Collier, David; Perrin, Eliana M

2016-02-01

Overweight and obesity affects 1 in 3 US children and adolescents. Clinical recommendations have largely focused on screening guidelines and counseling strategies. However, the physical examination of the child or adolescent with obesity can provide the clinician with additional information to guide management decisions. This expert-based review focuses on physical examination findings specific to children and adolescents with obesity. For each physical examination element, the authors define the finding and its prevalence among pediatric patients with obesity, discuss the importance and relevance of the finding, describe known techniques to assess severity, and review evidence regarding the need for additional evaluation. The recommendations presented represent a comprehensive review of current evidence as well as expert opinion. The goal of this review is to highlight the importance of conducting a targeted physical examination during pediatric weight management visits. Copyright © 2016 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Radiation physics, biophysics, and radiation biology: Progress report, December 1, 1987-November 30, 1988

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, E.J.; Zaider, M.; Delegianis, M.J.

1988-07-01

Research at the Radiological Research Laboratory is a blend of physics, chemistry, and biology, involving research at the basic level with the admixture of a small proportion of pragmatic or applied research in support of radiation protection and/or radiation therapy. At the current level of funding, approximately one quarter of the research of the Laboratory could be regarded as in support of radiotherapy, with the remainder addressing more basic issues. The new initiatives have been in two directions. First, there has been an increased emphasis on research in radiation chemistry, inasmuch as this subject which involves the study of free radicals and fast radiation chemistry processes starts to bridge the gap between physics and biology, between the initial deposition of radiant energy and its final expression in terms of biological consequences. Second, the emphasis in the biological research has moved towards studies at the molecular level, with the appointment of new members of staff with expertise in this area. Individual chapters were processed separately for the data base

Canada's Physical Activity Guide: examining print-based material for motivating physical activity in the workplace.

Science.gov (United States)

Plotnikoff, Ronald C; Todosijczuk, Ivan; Johnson, Steven T; Karunamuni, Nandini

2012-01-01

The authors conducted a secondary analysis on 202 adults from the Physical Activity Workplace Study. The aim of this analysis was to examine demographic characteristics associated with reading Canada's Physical Activity Guide (CPAG), being motivated by the guide, and whether participants in the Physical Activity Workplace Study who read the CPAG increased their physical activity levels over 1 year. Results revealed that less than 50% of participants read the full version of CPAG, and less than 10% were motivated by it. The CPAG also appears to be more appealing to and effective for women than for men. Although the CPAG had some influence in increasing mild physical activity levels in a workplace sample, there was also a decrease in physical activity levels among some members of the group. Overall, the effectiveness of CPAG was not substantial, and the findings of this analysis could help guide future targeted intervention materials and programs.

The definitions of information and meaning two possible boundaries between physics and biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbieri, Marcello

2004-01-01

The standard approach to the definition of the physical quantities has not produced satisfactory results with the concepts of information and meaning. In the case of information we have at least two unrelated definitions, while in the case of meaning we have no definition at all. Here it is shown that both information and meaning can be defined by operative procedures, but it is also pointed out that we need to recognize them as a new type of natural entities. They are not quantities (neither fundamental nor derived) because they cannot be measured, and they are not qualities because are not subjective features. Here it is proposed to call them nominable entities, i.e., entities which can be specified only by naming their components in their natural order. If the genetic code is not a linguistic metaphor but a reality, we must conclude that information and meaning are real natural entities, and now we must also conclude that they are not equivalent to the quantities and qualities of our present theoretical framework. This gives us two options. One is to extend the definition of physics and say that the list of its fundamental entities must include information and meaning. The other is to say that physics is the science of quantities only, and in this case information and meaning become the exclusive province of biology. The boundary between physics and biology, in short, is a matter of convention, but the existence of information and meaning is not. We can decide to study them in the framework of an extended physics or in a purely biological framework, but we cannot avoid studying them for what they are, i.e., as fundamental components of the fabric of Nature.

Examining the Role of Physical Appearance in Latino Adolescents' Ethnic Identity

Science.gov (United States)

Gonzales-Backen, Melinda A.; Umana-Taylor, Adriana J.

2011-01-01

Guided by ecological theory, the current study examined physical appearance as a moderator of the relation between familial ethnic socialization (FES) and ethnic identity among 167 Latino adolescents. Results indicated that FES was positively associated with ethnic identity exploration and resolution. Furthermore, as expected, physical appearance…

Telemedicine Physical Examination Utilizing a Consumer Device Demonstrates Poor Concordance with In-Person Physical Examination in Emergency Department Patients with Sore Throat: A Prospective Blinded Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Akhtar, Moneeb; Van Heukelom, Paul G; Ahmed, Azeemuddin; Tranter, Rachel D; White, Erinn; Shekem, Nathaniel; Walz, David; Fairfield, Catherine; Vakkalanka, J Priyanka; Mohr, Nicholas M

2018-02-22

Telemedicine allows patients to connect with healthcare providers remotely. It has recently expanded to evaluate low-acuity illnesses such as pharyngitis by using patients' personal communication devices. The purpose of our study was to compare the telemedicine-facilitated physical examination with an in-person examination in emergency department (ED) patients with sore throat. This was a prospective, observational, blinded diagnostic concordance study of patients being seen for sore throat in a 60,000-visit Midwestern academic ED. A telemedicine and a face-to-face examination were performed independently by two advanced practice providers (APP), blinded to the results of the other evaluator. The primary outcome was agreement on pharyngeal redness between the evaluators, with secondary outcomes of agreement and inter-rater reliability on 14 other aspects of the pharyngeal physical examination. We also conducted a survey of patients and providers to evaluate perceptions and preferences for sore throat evaluation using telemedicine. Sixty-two patients were enrolled, with a median tonsil size of 1.0. Inter-rater agreement (kappa) for tonsil size was 0.394, which was worse than our predetermined concordance threshold. Other kappa values ranged from 0 to 0.434, and telemedicine was best for detecting abnormal coloration of the palate and tender superficial cervical lymph nodes (anterior structures), but poor for detecting abnormal submandibular lymph nodes or asymmetry of the posterior pharynx (posterior structures). In survey responses, telemedicine was judged easier to use and more comfortable for providers than patients; however, neither patients nor providers preferred in-person to telemedicine evaluation. Telemedicine exhibited poor agreement with the in-person physical examination on the primary outcome of tonsil size, but exhibited moderate agreement on coloration of the palate and cervical lymphadenopathy. Future work should better characterize the importance of

The Use of Textbooks for Advanced-Level GCE Courses in Physics, Chemistry and Biology by Sixth-Form Students.

Science.gov (United States)

Newton, D. P.

1984-01-01

A survey of sixth-form students to determine the level of A-level textbook use in physics, chemistry, and biology in English schools found that texts are used primarily after the lesson, at the student's discretion, and with great variations between students. Biology texts were used most, and physics texts used least. (MBR)

Preservice Teachers' Epistemological Beliefs in Physics, Chemistry, and Biology: A Mixed Study

Science.gov (United States)

Topcu, Mustafa Sami

2013-01-01

The purposes of the study were to assess preservice teachers' domain-specific epistemological beliefs and to investigate whether preservice teachers distinguish disciplinary differences (physics, chemistry, and biology) in domain-specific epistemological beliefs. Mixed-method research design guided the present research. The researcher explored…

Physical Chemistry for the Chemical and Biological Sciences (by Raymond Chang)

Science.gov (United States)

Pounds, Andrew

2001-05-01

This book does offer an alternative approach to physical chemistry that is particularly well suited for those who want to pursue a course of study more focused on the biological sciences. It could also be an excellent choice for schools that mainly serve preprofessional programs or for schools that have split physical chemistry tracks to independently serve the B.S. and B.A. degrees. Since the book focuses on single-variable mathematics, schools that require only one year of calculus for their chemistry degree could also think about adopting it. However, in general, the use of the text as a drop-in replacement for physical chemistry for the B.S. degree is questionable owing to its lack of focus on quantum mechanics and its implications for spectroscopy.

Integrating soil physical and biological properties in contrasting tillage systems in organic and conventional farming

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Crittenden, S.J.; Goede, de R.G.M.

2016-01-01

Though soil physical and soil biological properties are intrinsically linked in the soil environment they are often studied separately. This work adds value to analyses of soil biophysical quality of tillage systems under organic and conventional farming systems by correlating physical and

Physics of Non-Newtonian Fluids and Interdisciplinary Relations (Biology and Criminology)

Science.gov (United States)

Holubova, R.

2018-01-01

The aim of the paper is the presentation of an interdisciplinary topic that allows applying content knowledge in physics, mathematics and biology in real life environment. Students use to play games and view crime scenes but in common they have little knowledge about the science used during crime scene investigation. In this paper the science…

Helium ions for radiotherapy? Physical and biological verifications of a novel treatment modality

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krämer, Michael, E-mail: m.kraemer@gsi.de; Scifoni, Emanuele; Schuy, Christoph; Rovituso, Marta; Maier, Andreas; Kaderka, Robert; Kraft-Weyrather, Wilma [Biophysics, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstr. 1, 64291 Darmstadt (Germany); Tinganelli, Walter; Durante, Marco [Biophysics, GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung GmbH, Planckstr. 1, 64291 Darmstadt, Germany and Trento Institute for Fundamental Physics and Application (TIFPA-INFN), 38123, via Sommarive 14, Trento (Italy); Brons, Stephan; Tessonnier, Thomas [Heidelberger Ionenstrahl-Therapiezentrum (HIT), Im Neuenheimer Feld 450, 69120 Heidelberg, Germany and Radioonkologie und Strahlentherapie, Universitätsklinikums Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Parodi, Katia [Heidelberger Ionenstrahl-Therapiezentrum (HIT), Im Neuenheimer Feld 450, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Radioonkologie und Strahlentherapie, Universitätsklinikums Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 400, 69120 Heidelberg (Germany); Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen (LMU Munich), Department of Medical Physics, Am Coulombwall 1, 85748 Munich (Germany)

2016-04-15

Purpose: Modern facilities for actively scanned ion beam radiotherapy allow in principle the use of helium beams, which could present specific advantages, especially for pediatric tumors. In order to assess the potential use of these beams for radiotherapy, i.e., to create realistic treatment plans, the authors set up a dedicated {sup 4}He beam model, providing base data for their treatment planning system TRiP98, and they have reported that in this work together with its physical and biological validations. Methods: A semiempirical beam model for the physical depth dose deposition and the production of nuclear fragments was developed and introduced in TRiP98. For the biological effect calculations the last version of the local effect model was used. The model predictions were experimentally verified at the HIT facility. The primary beam attenuation and the characteristics of secondary charged particles at various depth in water were investigated using {sup 4}He ion beams of 200 MeV/u. The nuclear charge of secondary fragments was identified using a ΔE/E telescope. 3D absorbed dose distributions were measured with pin point ionization chambers and the biological dosimetry experiments were realized irradiating a Chinese hamster ovary cells stack arranged in an extended target. Results: The few experimental data available on basic physical processes are reproduced by their beam model. The experimental verification of absorbed dose distributions in extended target volumes yields an overall agreement, with a slight underestimation of the lateral spread. Cell survival along a 4 cm extended target is reproduced with remarkable accuracy. Conclusions: The authors presented a simple simulation model for therapeutical {sup 4}He beams which they introduced in TRiP98, and which is validated experimentally by means of physical and biological dosimetries. Thus, it is now possible to perform detailed treatment planning studies with {sup 4}He beams, either exclusively or in

Biology 30: Grade 12 Diploma Examination = Biologie 30: Examen en vue du diplome 12 annee.

Science.gov (United States)

Alberta Dept. of Education, Edmonton. Student Evaluation Branch.

This document, in both English and French versions, is the Biology 30 Grade 12 Diploma Examination from Alberta Education. It is a 2.5 hour closed-book examination consisting of 48 multiple-choice and 8 numerical-response questions of equal value that are worth 70% of the examination, and 2 written-response questions of equal value worth 30% of…

Physical examination tests for the diagnosis of posterior cruciate ligament rupture: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Kopkow, Christian; Freiberg, Alice; Kirschner, Stephan; Seidler, Andreas; Schmitt, Jochen

2013-11-01

Systematic literature review. To summarize and evaluate research on the accuracy of physical examination tests for diagnosis of posterior cruciate ligament (PCL) tear. Rupture of the PCL is a severe knee injury that can lead to delayed rehabilitation, instability, or chronic knee pathologies. To our knowledge, there is currently no systematic review of studies on the diagnostic accuracy of clinical examination tests to evaluate the integrity of the PCL. A comprehensive systematic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE from 1946, Embase from 1974, and the Allied and Complementary Medicine Database from 1985 until April 30, 2012. Studies were considered eligible if they compared the results of physical examination tests performed in the context of a PCL physical examination to those of a reference standard (arthroscopy, arthrotomy, magnetic resonance imaging). Methodological quality assessment was performed by 2 independent reviewers using the revised version of the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS-2) tool. The search strategy revealed 1307 articles, of which 11 met the inclusion criteria for this review. In these studies, 11 different physical examination tests were identified. Due to differences in study types, different patient populations, and methodological quality, meta-analysis was not indicated. Presently, most physical examination tests have not been evaluated sufficiently enough to be confident in their ability to either confirm or rule out a PCL tear. The diagnostic accuracy of physical examination tests to assess the integrity of the PCL is largely unknown. There is a strong need for further research in this area. Level of Evidence Diagnosis, level 3a.

Validity of Combining History Elements and Physical Examination Tests to Diagnose Patellofemoral Pain.

Science.gov (United States)

Décary, Simon; Frémont, Pierre; Pelletier, Bruno; Fallaha, Michel; Belzile, Sylvain; Martel-Pelletier, Johanne; Pelletier, Jean-Pierre; Feldman, Debbie; Sylvestre, Marie-Pierre; Vendittoli, Pascal-André; Desmeules, François

2018-04-01

To assess the validity of diagnostic clusters combining history elements and physical examination tests to diagnose or exclude patellofemoral pain (PFP). Prospective diagnostic study. Orthopedic outpatient clinics, family medicine clinics, and community-dwelling. Consecutive patients (N=279) consulting one of the participating orthopedic surgeons (n=3) or sport medicine physicians (n=2) for any knee complaint. Not applicable. History elements and physical examination tests were obtained by a trained physiotherapist blinded to the reference standard: a composite diagnosis including both physical examination tests and imaging results interpretation performed by an expert physician. Penalized logistic regression (least absolute shrinkage and selection operator) was used to identify history elements and physical examination tests associated with the diagnosis of PFP, and recursive partitioning was used to develop diagnostic clusters. Diagnostic accuracy measures including sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values, and positive and negative likelihood ratios with associated 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated. Two hundred seventy-nine participants were evaluated, and 75 had a diagnosis of PFP (26.9%). Different combinations of history elements and physical examination tests including the age of participants, knee pain location, difficulty descending stairs, patellar facet palpation, and passive knee extension range of motion were associated with a diagnosis of PFP and used in clusters to accurately discriminate between individuals with PFP and individuals without PFP. Two diagnostic clusters developed to confirm the presence of PFP yielded a positive likelihood ratio of 8.7 (95% CI, 5.2-14.6) and 3 clusters to exclude PFP yielded a negative likelihood ratio of .12 (95% CI, .06-.27). Diagnostic clusters combining common history elements and physical examination tests that can accurately diagnose or exclude PFP compared to various knee

Physical examination prior to initiating hormonal contraception: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Tepper, Naomi K; Curtis, Kathryn M; Steenland, Maria W; Marchbanks, Polly A

2013-05-01

Provision of contraception is often linked with physical examination, including clinical breast examination (CBE) and pelvic examination. This review was conducted to evaluate the evidence regarding outcomes among women with and without physical examination prior to initiating hormonal contraceptives. The PubMed database was searched from database inception through March 2012 for all peer-reviewed articles in any language concerning CBE and pelvic examination prior to initiating hormonal contraceptives. The quality of each study was assessed using the United States Preventive Services Task Force grading system. The search did not identify any evidence regarding outcomes among women screened versus not screened with CBE prior to initiation of hormonal contraceptives. The search identified two case-control studies of fair quality which compared women who did or did not undergo pelvic examination prior to initiating oral contraceptives (OCs) or depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA). No differences in risk factors for cervical neoplasia, incidence of sexually transmitted infections, incidence of abnormal Pap smears or incidence of abnormal wet mount findings were observed. Although women with breast cancer should not use hormonal contraceptives, there is little utility in screening prior to initiation, due to the low incidence of breast cancer and uncertain value of CBE among women of reproductive age. Two fair quality studies demonstrated no differences between women who did or did not undergo pelvic examination prior to initiating OCs or DMPA with respect to risk factors or clinical outcomes. In addition, pelvic examination is not likely to detect any conditions for which hormonal contraceptives would be unsafe. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Complex network problems in physics, computer science and biology

Science.gov (United States)

Cojocaru, Radu Ionut

There is a close relation between physics and mathematics and the exchange of ideas between these two sciences are well established. However until few years ago there was no such a close relation between physics and computer science. Even more, only recently biologists started to use methods and tools from statistical physics in order to study the behavior of complex system. In this thesis we concentrate on applying and analyzing several methods borrowed from computer science to biology and also we use methods from statistical physics in solving hard problems from computer science. In recent years physicists have been interested in studying the behavior of complex networks. Physics is an experimental science in which theoretical predictions are compared to experiments. In this definition, the term prediction plays a very important role: although the system is complex, it is still possible to get predictions for its behavior, but these predictions are of a probabilistic nature. Spin glasses, lattice gases or the Potts model are a few examples of complex systems in physics. Spin glasses and many frustrated antiferromagnets map exactly to computer science problems in the NP-hard class defined in Chapter 1. In Chapter 1 we discuss a common result from artificial intelligence (AI) which shows that there are some problems which are NP-complete, with the implication that these problems are difficult to solve. We introduce a few well known hard problems from computer science (Satisfiability, Coloring, Vertex Cover together with Maximum Independent Set and Number Partitioning) and then discuss their mapping to problems from physics. In Chapter 2 we provide a short review of combinatorial optimization algorithms and their applications to ground state problems in disordered systems. We discuss the cavity method initially developed for studying the Sherrington-Kirkpatrick model of spin glasses. We extend this model to the study of a specific case of spin glass on the Bethe

Foundations of anticipatory logic in biology and physics.

Science.gov (United States)

Bettinger, Jesse S; Eastman, Timothy E

2017-12-01

Recent advances in modern physics and biology reveal several scenarios in which top-down effects (Ellis, 2016) and anticipatory systems (Rosen, 1980) indicate processes at work enabling active modeling and inference such that anticipated effects project onto potential causes. We extrapolate a broad landscape of anticipatory systems in the natural sciences extending to computational neuroscience of perception in the capacity of Bayesian inferential models of predictive processing. This line of reasoning also comes with philosophical foundations, which we develop in terms of counterfactual reasoning and possibility space, Whitehead's process thought, and correlations with Eastern wisdom traditions. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physical design correlates of efficiency and safety in emergency departments: a qualitative examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Pati, Debajyoti; Harvey, Thomas E; Pati, Sipra

2014-01-01

The objective of this study was to explore and identify physical design correlates of safety and efficiency in emergency department (ED) operations. This study adopted an exploratory, multimeasure approach to (1) examine the interactions between ED operations and physical design at 4 sites and (2) identify domains of physical design decision-making that potentially influence efficiency and safety. Multidisciplinary gaming and semistructured interviews were conducted with stakeholders at each site. Study data suggest that 16 domains of physical design decisions influence safety, efficiency, or both. These include (1) entrance and patient waiting, (2) traffic management, (3) subwaiting or internal waiting areas, (4) triage, (5) examination/treatment area configuration, (6) examination/treatment area centralization versus decentralization, (7) examination/treatment room standardization, (8) adequate space, (9) nurse work space, (10) physician work space, (11) adjacencies and access, (12) equipment room, (13) psych room, (14) staff de-stressing room, (15) hallway width, and (16) results waiting area. Safety and efficiency from a physical environment perspective in ED design are mutually reinforcing concepts--enhancing efficiency bears positive implications for safety. Furthermore, safety and security emerged as correlated concepts, with security issues bearing implications for safety, thereby suggesting important associations between safety, security, and efficiency.

Evidence for anecdotes: Examining use of stories in introductory biology courses with a mixed-methods approach

Science.gov (United States)

Kreps, Jennifer Susan

2005-11-01

Instructional stories can be an effective way to teach science concepts. However, research has not examined the extent to which stories are being used, and how they are received. More research on the use of story in biology classes may lead to more conscious use of story by instructors, which may lead to a better understanding of biological concepts by students. The purpose of this study was to examine how instructors and students use stories in university introductory biology courses, and the degree to which these stories are perceived to be effective. To examine this phenomenon, a nationwide instructor survey, a university-wide student survey, and multiple case studies were used. Two case studies included observation of lectures, interviews with (36) students, and interviews with instructors (4) over two semesters of an organismal biology course. Instructor survey participants (N = 78) were gathered by posting email invitations, and student survey participants (N = 260) were volunteers from introductory biology courses at a middle-sized university. Several types of stories were observed, including personal experience stories, historical anecdotes, and "you" stories. Students reported increased affective learning when stories were told, and remembered mostly humorous stories. In the instructor survey, no significant differences emerged between genders, type of biology taught, or communicator style and instructional story frequency. However, reports of personal experience story frequency did increase significantly (p ethnicity, although non-science majors reported that their instructors used stories significantly more frequently (p perceived learning loss for non-science majors, but not for science majors. The researcher suggests that stories can be an effective tool to teach biology, particularly if the instructor is aware of her audience and uses stories primarily to help students understand how concepts are related to "real life."

Progress report, Biology and Health Physics Division, October 1 to December 31, 1975

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1976-01-01

Interim research results are reported in health physics (dosimetry, monitoring), environmental research, population research (tumor induction in mammals, human health record linkage), and biology (radiobiology of rodents, bacteria, bacteriophage T4, and insects). (E.C.B.)

Physical, chemical, and biological properties of radiocerium relevant to radiation protection guidelines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

1978-01-01

Present knowledge of the relevant physical, chemical, and biological properties of radiocerium as a basis for establishing radiation protection guidelines is summarized. The first section of the report reviews the chemical and physical properties of radiocerium relative to the biological behavior of internally-deposited cerium and other lanthanides. The second section of the report gives the sources of radiocerium in the environment and the pathways to man. The third section of the report describes the metabolic fate of cerium in several mammalian species as a basis for predicting its metabolic fate in man. The fourth section of the report considers the biomedical effects of radiocerium in light of extensive animal experimentation. The last two sections of the report describe the history of radiation protection guidelines for radiocerium and summarize data required for evaluating the adequacy of current radiation protection guidelines. Each section begins with a summary of the most important findings that follow

The Enduring Value of the Physical Examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Zaman, Junaid A B

2018-05-01

This article focuses exclusively on physical examination (PE) in the context of clinical medicine, that is, the interaction between a health care provider and patient. In essence, there is not only benefit (value) to PE but also that it will last (endure) for some time. Both "enduring" and "value" are explored in more depth with respect to the future integration of PE into the clinical assessment of a patient and how its value extends well beyond current diagnostic/cost-based metrics. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Physical Examination for Men and Women With Urologic Chronic Pelvic Pain Syndrome: A MAPP (Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Chronic Pelvic Pain) Network Study.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Claire C; Miller, Jane L; Omidpanah, Adam; Krieger, John N

2018-06-01

To examine the feasibility of implementing a standardized, clinically relevant genitourinary examination for both men and women, and to identify physical examination findings characteristic of urologic chronic pelvic pain syndrome (UCPPS). This study analyzed 2 samples: men and women with UCPPS who participated in the Multidisciplinary Approach to the Study of Chronic Pelvic Pain (MAPP) Research Network Epidemiology and Phenotyping (EP) Study, and age-matched controls who were either positive for chronic fatigue syndrome or healthy (pain-free). We compared physical examination findings in both positive and healthy controls with UCPPS cases: findings from both the EP examinations and from an extended genitourinary examination. EP and extended examinations were performed on 143 participants: 62 UCPPS cases (30 women, 32 men), 42 positive controls (15 women, 27 men), and 39 healthy controls (22 women, 17 men). EP examinations showed that pelvic floor tenderness was more prevalent in cases (55.0%) than in positive (14.6%) or healthy controls (10.5%). Extended examinations revealed specific areas of tenderness in the pelvic floor musculature. Cases were also more likely than healthy controls to report tenderness in multiple areas, including suprapubic, symphysis pubis, and posterior superior iliac spine, and on bimanual examination. No comparative findings were specific to biological sex, and no evidence of pudendal neuropathy was observed on extended examination of cases or controls. The extended genitourinary examination is an easily administered addition to the assessment of men and women during evaluation for UCPPS. Physical findings may help to better categorize patients with UCPPS into clinically relevant subgroups for optimal treatment. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Is there an agreement among the items of the Korean physical therapist licensing examination, learning objectives of class subjects, and physical therapists' job descriptions?

Science.gov (United States)

Kang, Min-Hyeok; Kwon, Oh-Yun; Kim, Yong-Wook; Kim, Ji-Won; Kim, Tae-Ho; Oh, Tae-Young; Weon, Jong-Hyuk; Lee, Tae-Sik; Oh, Jae-Seop

2016-01-01

To determine the agreement among the items of the Korean physical therapist licensing examination, learning objectives of class subjects, and physical therapists' job descriptions. The main tasks of physical therapists were classified, and university courses related to the main tasks were also classified. Frequency analysis was used to determine the proportions of credits for the classified courses out of the total credits of major subjects, exam items related to the classified courses out of the total number of exam items, and universities that offer courses related to the Korean physical therapist licensing examination among the surveyed universities. The proportions of credits for clinical decision making and physical therapy diagnosis-related courses out of the total number credits for major subjects at universities were relatively low (2.06% and 2.58%, respectively). Although the main tasks of physical therapists are related to diagnosis and evaluation, the proportion of physiotherapy intervention-related items (35%) was higher than that of examination and evaluation-related items (25%) on the Korean physical therapist licensing examination. The percentages of universities that offer physical therapy diagnosis and clinical decision making-related courses were 58.62% and 68.97%, respectively. Both the proportion of physiotherapy diagnosis and evaluation-related items on the Korean physical therapist licensing examination, and the number of subjects related to clinical decision making and physical therapy diagnosis in the physical therapy curriculum, should be increased to ensure that the examination items and physical therapy curriculum reflect the practical tasks of physical therapists.

A model of heavy ion detection in physical and biological systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Waligorski, M.P.R.

1988-01-01

Track structure theory (the Katz model) and its application to the detection of heavy ions in physical and biological systems are reviewed. Following the use of a new corrected formula describing the radial distribution of average dose around the path of a heavy ion, based on results of Monte Carlo calculations and on results of experimental measurements, better agreement is achieved between model calculations and experimentally measured relative effectiveness, for enzymatic and viral systems, for the Fricke dosemeter and for alanine and thermoluminescent (TDL-700) dosemeters irradiated with beams of heavy charged particles. From experimentally measured RBE dependences for survival and frequency of neoplastic transformations in a mammalian cell culture irradiated with beams of energetic heavy ions, values of model parameters for these biological endpoints have been extracted, and a model extrapolation to the low-dose region performed. Results of model calculations are then compared with evaluations of the lung cancer hazard in populations exposed to radon and its progeny. The model can be applied to practical phenomenological analysis of radiation damage in solid-state systems and to dosimetry of charged particle and fast neutron beams using a variety of detectors. The model can also serve as a guide in building more basic models of the action of ionizing radiation with physical and biological systems and guide of development of models of radiation risk more relevant than that used presently. 185 refs., 31 figs., 3 tabs. (author)

Progress report, Biology and Health Physics Division, July 1 to September 30, 1975

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-11-01

Interim results are reported for research in health physics, i.e. dosimetry, detectors, and monitoring; environmental research (limnology, radionuclide migration and kinetics; population research (radiation carcinogenesis, radiation effects in human populations); and biology (radiobiology). (E.C.B.)

Nicotine dependence matters: examining longitudinal association between smoking and physical activity among Canadian adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Azagba, Sunday; Asbridge, Mark

2013-11-01

A number of studies point to the inverse relationship between physical activity and smoking; however, none has examined the role of nicotine dependence in physical activity participation among smokers. This study examined whether levels of nicotine dependence modify the association between leisure time physical activity and smoking status. The study used longitudinal data on 6795 adults from the Canadian National Population Health Survey (2004-2010). Generalized estimating equations were used to examine the association between physical activity, smoking, and nicotine dependence. We found that nicotine dependent smokers were significantly less likely to be physically active compared to non-smokers. Specifically, using the Fagerstrom Test for Nicotine Dependence, nicotine dependent smokers (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.55-0.76) were less likely to be physically active while no significant difference was found for non-dependent smokers (OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.80-1.02) compared to non-smokers. Nicotine dependence matters in shaping engagement in physical activity among daily smokers. Efforts directed at promoting smoking cessation through nicotine dependence treatment intervention may provide additional benefits to health and well-being through an increased participation in physical activity. © 2013.

Progress report, Biology and Health Physics Division, April 1 to June 30, 1975

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1975-09-01

Interim results are reported on research at CRNL in health physics (dosimetry, instrumentation, monitoring); environmental research (limnology, radionuclide migration and kinetics); populaton research (tumor induction in mammals, human health records); and biology (radiobiology, genetic studies). (E.C.B.)

Physical and biological factors determining the effective proton range

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Grün, Rebecca; Friedrich, Thomas; Krämer, Michael; Scholz, Michael; Zink, Klemens; Durante, Marco; Engenhart-Cabillic, Rita

2013-01-01

Purpose: Proton radiotherapy is rapidly becoming a standard treatment option for cancer. However, even though experimental data show an increase of the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) with depth, particularly at the distal end of the treatment field, a generic RBE of 1.1 is currently used in proton radiotherapy. This discrepancy might affect the effective penetration depth of the proton beam and thus the dose to the surrounding tissue and organs at risk. The purpose of this study was thus to analyze the impact of a tissue and dose dependent RBE of protons on the effective range of the proton beam in comparison to the range based on a generic RBE of 1.1.Methods: Factors influencing the biologically effective proton range were systematically analyzed by means of treatment planning studies using the Local Effect Model (LEM IV) and the treatment planning software TRiP98. Special emphasis was put on the comparison of passive and active range modulation techniques.Results: Beam energy, tissue type, and dose level significantly affected the biological extension of the treatment field at the distal edge. Up to 4 mm increased penetration depth as compared to the depth based on a constant RBE of 1.1. The extension of the biologically effective range strongly depends on the initial proton energy used for the most distal layer of the field and correlates with the width of the distal penumbra. Thus, the range extension, in general, was more pronounced for passive as compared to active range modulation systems, whereas the maximum RBE was higher for active systems.Conclusions: The analysis showed that the physical characteristics of the proton beam in terms of the width of the distal penumbra have a great impact on the RBE gradient and thus also the biologically effective penetration depth of the beam

The physical examination content of the Japanese National Health and Nutrition Survey: temporal changes.

Science.gov (United States)

Tanaka, Hisako; Imai, Shino; Nakade, Makiko; Imai, Eri; Takimoto, Hidemi

2016-12-01

Survey items of the Japan National Nutrition Survey (J-NNS) have changed over time. Several papers on dietary surveys have been published; however, to date, there are no in-depth papers regarding physical examinations. Therefore, we investigated changes in the survey items in the physical examinations performed in the J-NNS and the National Health and Nutrition Survey (NHNS), with the aim of incorporating useful data for future policy decisions. We summarized the description of physical examinations and marshalled the changes of survey items from the J-NNS and NHNS from 1946 to 2012. The physical examination is roughly classified into the following six components: some are relevant to anthropometric measurements, clinical measurements, physical symptoms, blood tests, lifestyle and medication by interview, and others. Items related to nutritional deficiency, such as anaemia and tendon reflex disappearance, and body weight measurements were collected during the early period, according to the instructions of the General Headquarters. From 1989, blood tests and measurement of physical activity were added, and serum total protein, total cholesterol, triglycerides, HDL-cholesterol, blood glucose, red blood corpuscles and haemoglobin measurements have been performed continuously for more than 20 years. This is the first report on the items of physical examination in the J-NNS and NHNS. Our research results provide basic information for the utilization of the J-NNS and NHNS, to researchers, clinicians or policy makers. Monitoring the current state correctly is essential for national health promotion, and also for improvement of the investigation methods to apply country-by-country comparisons.

Association between physical activity and kidney function: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Hawkins, Marquis S; Sevick, Mary Ann; Richardson, Caroline R; Fried, Linda F; Arena, Vincent C; Kriska, Andrea M

2011-08-01

Chronic kidney disease is a condition characterized by the deterioration of the kidney's ability to remove waste products from the body. Although treatments to slow the progression of the disease are available, chronic kidney disease may eventually lead to a complete loss of kidney function. Previous studies have shown that physical activities of moderate intensity may have renal benefits. Few studies have examined the effects of total movement on kidney function. The purpose of this study was to determine the association between time spent at all levels of physical activity intensity and sedentary behavior and kidney function. Data were obtained from the 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a cross-sectional study of a complex, multistage probability sample of the US population. Physical activity was assessed using an accelerometer and questionnaire. Glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) was estimated using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease study formula. To assess linear associations between levels of physical activity and sedentary behavior with log-transformed estimated GFR (eGFR), linear regression was used. In general, physical activity (light and total) was related to log eGFR in females and males. For females, the association between light and total physical activity with log eGFR was consistent regardless of diabetes status. For males, the association between light and total physical activity and log eGFR was only significant in males without diabetes. When examining the association between physical activity, measured objectively with an accelerometer, and kidney function, total and light physical activities were found to be positively associated with kidney function.

Time to Add a Fifth Pillar to Bedside Physical Examination: Inspection, Palpation, Percussion, Auscultation, and Insonation.

Science.gov (United States)

Narula, Jagat; Chandrashekhar, Y; Braunwald, Eugene

2018-04-01

Inspection, palpation, percussion, and auscultation have been the 4 pillars of clinical bedside medicine. Although these basic methods of physical examination have served us well, traditional bedside examination, for a number of reasons including diminishing interest and expertise, performs well less than what is required of a modern diagnostic strategy. Improving the performance of physical examination is vital given that it is crucial to guide diagnostic possibilities and further testing. Current efforts at improving physical examination skills during medical training have not been very successful, and incorporating appropriate technology at the bedside might improve its performance. Selective use of bedside ultrasound (or insonation) can be one such strategy that could be incorporated as the fifth component of the physical examination. Seeing pathology through imaging might improve interest in physical examination among trainees, and permit appropriate downstream testing and possibly superior decision making. Current ultrasound technology makes this feasible, and further miniaturization of ultrasound devices and reduced cost will allow for routine use at the bedside. It is time to have a wider debate and a possible consensus about updates required to enhance current paradigms of physical examination.

Tritium in the Physical and Biological Sciences. Vol. II. Proceedings of the Symposium on the Detection and Use of Tritium in the Physical and Biological Sciences

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1962-02-15

The use of tritium for research in physics, chemistry, biology and hydrology has in recent years become increasingly important. It was for this reason that the first international conference to discuss the progress of new developments was organized by the IAEA in conjunction with the Joint Commission on Applied Radioactivity and held from 3 - 10 May 1961, in Vienna. The first five sessions of the Symposium were devoted to the use of tritium in hydrology, physics and chemistry. Special emphasis was laid on the role of tritium as a tracer in hydrology, especially in the study of water movement. The establishment and improvement of counting and detection techniques to facilitate the application of tritium as a tracer was another aspect discussed in this part of the proceedings. Papers were read on the preparation of tritiated compounds and it was generally agreed that further clarification of the mechanism of various techniques, and of the Wilzbach gas exposure technique in particular, would lead to further developments in the synthesis of a number of tritium compounds important in biology. Other papers were concerned with tritium applications to studies of the mechanism of some chemical reactions together with the effects of tritium isotopes. During the second part of the Symposium the biological applications of tritium and tritiated compounds were discussed. These included general problems connected with the biological uses of tritium and the radiation effects of tritium on living organisms such as viruses, bacteria and cancer cells. The value of tritium in biological studies became apparent because of the ease with which a large number of metabolically active compounds such as hormones, vitamins and other important constituents in the body can be labelled with tritium. Tritium is also a weak beta-emitter and autoradiographs of tissues and single cells containing tritium-labelled compounds allow an excellent localization of the tracer. The Symposium was attended by

Tritium in the Physical and Biological Sciences. Vol. II. Proceedings of the Symposium on the Detection and Use of Tritium in the Physical and Biological Sciences

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1962-01-01

The use of tritium for research in physics, chemistry, biology and hydrology has in recent years become increasingly important. It was for this reason that the first international conference to discuss the progress of new developments was organized by the IAEA in conjunction with the Joint Commission on Applied Radioactivity and held from 3 — 10 May 1961, in Vienna. The first five sessions of the Symposium were devoted to the use of tritium in hydrology, physics and chemistry. Special emphasis was laid on the role of tritium as a tracer in hydrology, especially in the study of water movement. The establishment and improvement of counting and detection techniques to facilitate the application of tritium as a tracer was another aspect discussed in this part of the proceedings. Papers were read on the preparation of tritiated compounds and it was generally agreed that further clarification of the mechanism of various techniques, and of the Wilzbach gas exposure technique in particular, would lead to further developments in the synthesis of a number of tritium compounds important in biology. Other papers were concerned with tritium applications to studies of the mechanism of some chemical reactions together with the effects of tritium isotopes. During the second part of the Symposium the biological applications of tritium and tritiated compounds were discussed. These included general problems connected with the biological uses of tritium and the radiation effects of tritium on living organisms such as viruses, bacteria and cancer cells. The value of tritium in biological studies became apparent because of the ease with which a large number of metabolically active compounds such as hormones, vitamins and other important constituents in the body can be labelled with tritium. Tritium is also a weak beta-emitter and autoradiographs of tissues and single cells containing tritium-labelled compounds allow an excellent localization of the tracer. The Symposium was attended

Examining the Pathways between Gratitude and Self-Rated Physical Health across Adulthood

Science.gov (United States)

Hill, Patrick L.; Allemand, Mathias; Roberts, Brent W.

2012-01-01

The current study examined whether dispositional gratitude predicts physical health among adults, and if so, whether this relationship occurs because grateful individuals lead healthier lives, either psychologically or physically. Specifically, we examined whether psychological health, healthy activities, and willingness to seek help for health concerns mediated the link between gratitude and self-reported physical health, as well as if these mediational pathways are moderated by age, in a broad sample of Swiss adults (N = 962, Mage = 52 years, age range: 19 to 84). Dispositional gratitude correlated positively with self-reported physical health, and this link was mediated by psychological health, healthy activities, and willingness to seek help for health concerns. However, the indirect effects for psychological health and healthy activities were stronger for older than younger adults. In other words, the mechanisms explaining why gratitude predicts health appear to differ across adulthood. PMID:23139438

Tests and measures used by specialist physical therapists when examining patients with stroke.

Science.gov (United States)

Andrews, A Williams; Folger, Stephen E; Norbet, Shannon E; Swift, Lindsay C

2008-09-01

Examination procedures preferred by physical therapists have not been documented either specifically or comprehensively. The purpose of this study was to determine which tests and measures are used most frequently by specialists in the examination of adults with stroke. Physical therapy specialists were identified as having geriatric or neurologic certification through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialties. A request to participate in a Web-based survey was sent to 471 individuals in the American Physical Therapy Association's Directory of Certified Specialists. A comprehensive list of tests and measures was first derived from the Interactive Guide to Physical Therapist Practice. The list was finalized based on several exclusion criteria and the results of a pilot study. Subjects rated the frequency of use of 294 tests and measures with patients post-stroke on a Likert scale. The survey response rate was 31.7% (n = 128). The 50 most frequently used tests and measures were identified. The results of this study do not identify the tests and measures that clinicians should use, only those that the specialists use. Nevertheless, clinicians may want to consider tests and measurements frequently used by specialists when examining adults with stroke.

Simulating biological processes: stochastic physics from whole cells to colonies

Science.gov (United States)

Earnest, Tyler M.; Cole, John A.; Luthey-Schulten, Zaida

2018-05-01

The last few decades have revealed the living cell to be a crowded spatially heterogeneous space teeming with biomolecules whose concentrations and activities are governed by intrinsically random forces. It is from this randomness, however, that a vast array of precisely timed and intricately coordinated biological functions emerge that give rise to the complex forms and behaviors we see in the biosphere around us. This seemingly paradoxical nature of life has drawn the interest of an increasing number of physicists, and recent years have seen stochastic modeling grow into a major subdiscipline within biological physics. Here we review some of the major advances that have shaped our understanding of stochasticity in biology. We begin with some historical context, outlining a string of important experimental results that motivated the development of stochastic modeling. We then embark upon a fairly rigorous treatment of the simulation methods that are currently available for the treatment of stochastic biological models, with an eye toward comparing and contrasting their realms of applicability, and the care that must be taken when parameterizing them. Following that, we describe how stochasticity impacts several key biological functions, including transcription, translation, ribosome biogenesis, chromosome replication, and metabolism, before considering how the functions may be coupled into a comprehensive model of a ‘minimal cell’. Finally, we close with our expectation for the future of the field, focusing on how mesoscopic stochastic methods may be augmented with atomic-scale molecular modeling approaches in order to understand life across a range of length and time scales.

Where Is Earth Science? Mining for Opportunities in Chemistry, Physics, and Biology

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Julie; Ivey, Toni; Puckette, Jim

2013-01-01

The Earth sciences are newly marginalized in K-12 classrooms. With few high schools offering Earth science courses, students' exposure to the Earth sciences relies on the teacher's ability to incorporate Earth science material into a biology, chemistry, or physics course. ''G.E.T. (Geoscience Experiences for Teachers) in the Field'' is an…

RENEB - Running the European Network of biological dosimetry and physical retrospective dosimetry.

Science.gov (United States)

Kulka, Ulrike; Abend, Michael; Ainsbury, Elizabeth; Badie, Christophe; Barquinero, Joan Francesc; Barrios, Lleonard; Beinke, Christina; Bortolin, Emanuela; Cucu, Alexandra; De Amicis, Andrea; Domínguez, Inmaculada; Fattibene, Paola; Frøvig, Anne Marie; Gregoire, Eric; Guogyte, Kamile; Hadjidekova, Valeria; Jaworska, Alicja; Kriehuber, Ralf; Lindholm, Carita; Lloyd, David; Lumniczky, Katalin; Lyng, Fiona; Meschini, Roberta; Mörtl, Simone; Della Monaca, Sara; Monteiro Gil, Octávia; Montoro, Alegria; Moquet, Jayne; Moreno, Mercedes; Oestreicher, Ursula; Palitti, Fabrizio; Pantelias, Gabriel; Patrono, Clarice; Piqueret-Stephan, Laure; Port, Matthias; Prieto, María Jesus; Quintens, Roel; Ricoul, Michelle; Romm, Horst; Roy, Laurence; Sáfrány, Géza; Sabatier, Laure; Sebastià, Natividad; Sommer, Sylwester; Terzoudi, Georgia; Testa, Antonella; Thierens, Hubert; Turai, Istvan; Trompier, François; Valente, Marco; Vaz, Pedro; Voisin, Philippe; Vral, Anne; Woda, Clemens; Zafiropoulos, Demetre; Wojcik, Andrzej

2017-01-01

A European network was initiated in 2012 by 23 partners from 16 European countries with the aim to significantly increase individualized dose reconstruction in case of large-scale radiological emergency scenarios. The network was built on three complementary pillars: (1) an operational basis with seven biological and physical dosimetric assays in ready-to-use mode, (2) a basis for education, training and quality assurance, and (3) a basis for further network development regarding new techniques and members. Techniques for individual dose estimation based on biological samples and/or inert personalized devices as mobile phones or smart phones were optimized to support rapid categorization of many potential victims according to the received dose to the blood or personal devices. Communication and cross-border collaboration were also standardized. To assure long-term sustainability of the network, cooperation with national and international emergency preparedness organizations was initiated and links to radiation protection and research platforms have been developed. A legal framework, based on a Memorandum of Understanding, was established and signed by 27 organizations by the end of 2015. RENEB is a European Network of biological and physical-retrospective dosimetry, with the capacity and capability to perform large-scale rapid individualized dose estimation. Specialized to handle large numbers of samples, RENEB is able to contribute to radiological emergency preparedness and wider large-scale research projects.

Predictors of Heavy Stethoscope Contamination Following a Physical Examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Tschopp, Clément; Schneider, Alexis; Longtin, Yves; Renzi, Gesuele; Schrenzel, Jacques; Pittet, Didier

2016-06-01

BACKGROUND The degree of bacterial contamination of stethoscopes can vary significantly following a physical examination. OBJECTIVE To conduct a prospective study to investigate the impact of various environmental and patient characteristics on stethoscope contamination. METHODS Following a standardized examination, the levels of bacterial contamination of 4 regions of the physicians' hands and 2 sections of the stethoscopes, and the presence of different pathogenic bacteria, were assessed. Predictors of heavy stethoscope contamination were identified through multivariate logistic regression. RESULTS In total, 392 surfaces were sampled following examination of 56 patients. The microorganisms most frequently recovered from hands and stethoscopes were Enterococcus spp. (29% and 20%, respectively) and Enterobacteriaceae (16% and 7%, respectively). Staphylococcus aureus (either methicillin susceptible or resistant), extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Enterobacteriaceae, and Acinetobacter baumannii were recovered from 4%-9% of the samples from either hands or stethoscopes. There was a correlation between the likelihood of recovering these pathogens from the stethoscopes vs from the physicians' hands (ρ=0.79; P=.04). The level of patient's skin contamination was an independent predictor of contamination of the stethoscope diaphragm (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 1.001; P=.007) and tube (aOR, 1.001; P=.003). Male sex (aOR, 28.24; P=.01) and reception of a bed bath (aOR, 7.52; P=.048) were also independently associated with heavy tube contamination. CONCLUSIONS Stethoscope contamination following a single physical examination is not negligible and is associated with the level of contamination of the patient's skin. Prevention of pathogen dissemination is needed. Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2016;37:673-679.

Development and validation of a musculoskeletal physical examination decision-making test for medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Julie Y; Awan, Hisham M; Rowley, David M; Nagel, Rollin W

2013-01-01

Despite a renewed emphasis among educators, musculoskeletal education is still lacking in medical school and residency training programs. We created a musculoskeletal multiple-choice physical examination decision-making test to assess competency and physical examination knowledge of our trainees. We developed a 20-question test in musculoskeletal physical examination decision-making test with content that most medical students and orthopedic residents should know. All questions were reviewed by ratings of US orthopedic chairmen. It was administered to postgraduate year 2 to 5 orthopedic residents and 2 groups of medical students: 1 group immediately after their 3-week musculoskeletal course and the other 1 year after the musculoskeletal course completion. We hypothesized that residents would score highest, medical students 1 year post-musculoskeletal training lowest, and students immediately post-musculoskeletal training midrange. We administered an established cognitive knowledge test to compare student knowledge base as we expected the scores to correlate. Academic medical center in the Midwestern United States. Orthopedic residents, chairmen, and medical students. Fifty-four orthopedic chairmen (54 of 110 or 49%) responded to our survey, rating a mean overall question importance of 7.12 (0 = Not Important; 5 = Important; 10 = Very Important). Mean physical examination decision-making scores were 89% for residents, 77% for immediate post-musculoskeletal trained medical students, and 59% 1 year post-musculoskeletal trained medical students (F = 42.07, pphysical examination decision-making test was found to be internally consistent (Kuder-Richardson Formula 20 = 0.69). The musculoskeletal cognitive knowledge test was 78% for immediate post-musculoskeletal trained students and 71% for the 1 year post-musculoskeletal trained students. The student physical examination and cognitive knowledge scores were correlated (r = 0.54, pphysical examination decision-making test

Physical descriptions of the bacterial nucleoid at large scales, and their biological implications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Benza, Vincenzo G [Dipartimento di Fisica e Matematica, Universita dell' Insubria, Como (Italy); Bassetti, Bruno [Universita degli Studi di Milano, Dip. Fisica, Via Celoria 16, 20133 Milano (Italy); Dorfman, Kevin D [Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities, 421 Washington Ave. SE, Minneapolis, MN 55455 (United States); Scolari, Vittore F; Lagomarsino, Marco Cosentino [CNRS, UMR 7238 ' Microorganism Genomics' , Genomic Physics Group (France); Bromek, Krystyna; Cicuta, Pietro [Cavendish Laboratory, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB3 0HE (United Kingdom)

2012-07-15

Recent experimental and theoretical approaches have attempted to quantify the physical organization (compaction and geometry) of the bacterial chromosome with its complement of proteins (the nucleoid). The genomic DNA exists in a complex and dynamic protein-rich state, which is highly organized at various length scales. This has implications for modulating (when not directly enabling) the core biological processes of replication, transcription and segregation. We overview the progress in this area, driven in the last few years by new scientific ideas and new interdisciplinary experimental techniques, ranging from high space- and time-resolution microscopy to high-throughput genomics employing sequencing to map different aspects of the nucleoid-related interactome. The aim of this review is to present the wide spectrum of experimental and theoretical findings coherently, from a physics viewpoint. In particular, we highlight the role that statistical and soft condensed matter physics play in describing this system of fundamental biological importance, specifically reviewing classic and more modern tools from the theory of polymers. We also discuss some attempts toward unifying interpretations of the current results, pointing to possible directions for future investigation. (review article)

Graphical methods and Cold War scientific practice: the Stommel Diagram's intriguing journey from the physical to the biological environmental sciences.

Science.gov (United States)

Vance, Tiffany C; Doel, Ronald E

2010-01-01

In the last quarter of the twentieth century, an innovative three-dimensional graphical technique was introduced into biological oceanography and ecology, where it spread rapidly. Used to improve scientists' understanding of the importance of scale within oceanic ecosystems, this influential diagram addressed biological scales from phytoplankton to fish, physical scales from diurnal tides to ocean currents, and temporal scales from hours to ice ages. Yet the Stommel Diagram (named for physical oceanographer Henry Stommel, who created it in 1963) had not been devised to aid ecological investigations. Rather, Stommel intended it to help plan large-scale research programs in physical oceanography, particularly as Cold War research funding enabled a dramatic expansion of physical oceanography in the 1960s. Marine ecologists utilized the Stommel Diagram to enhance research on biological production in ocean environments, a key concern by the 1970s amid growing alarm about overfishing and ocean pollution. Before the end of the twentieth century, the diagram had become a significant tool within the discipline of ecology. Tracing the path that Stommel's graphical techniques traveled from the physical to the biological environmental sciences reveals a great deal about practices in these distinct research communities and their relative professional and institutional standings in the Cold War era. Crucial to appreciating the course of that path is an understanding of the divergent intellectual and social contexts of the physical versus the biological environmental sciences.

Physical biological coupling in the Pearl River Estuary

Science.gov (United States)

Harrison, Paul J.; Yin, Kedong; Lee, J. H. W.; Gan, Jianping; Liu, Hongbin

2008-07-01

The Pearl River Estuary is a subtropical estuary and the second largest in China based on discharge volume from the Pearl River. Processes in the estuary vary spatially and temporally (wet vs dry season). In the dry season at the head of the estuary, hypoxic and nearly anoxic conditions occur and NH 4 reaches >600 μM, NO 3 is ˜300 μM and nitrite is ˜60 μM indicating that nitrification and denitrification may be important dry season processes in the region extending 40 km upstream of the Humen outlet. There are very few biological studies conducted in this upper section of the estuary in either the dry or wet seasons and hence there is a need for further research in this region of the river. In the wet season, the salinity wedge extends to the Hongqimen outlet and oxygen is low (35-80% saturation). Nitrate is ˜100 μM, silicate ˜140 μM; and phosphate is relatively low at ˜0.5 μM, yielding an N:P ratio up to ˜200:1 in summer. Nutrients decrease in the lower estuary and primary productivity may become potentially P-limited. Eutrophication is not as severe as one would expect from the nutrient inputs from the Pearl River and from Hong Kong's sewage discharge. This estuary shows a remarkable capacity to cope with excessive nutrients. Physical processes such as river discharge, tidal flushing, turbulent dispersion, wind-induced mixing, and estuarine circulation play an important role in controlling the production and accumulation of algal blooms and the potential occurrence of hypoxia. Superimposed on the physical processes of the estuary are the chemical and biological processes involved in the production of the bloom. For example, the 100N:1P ratio indicates that P potentially limits the amount of algal biomass (and potential biological oxygen demand) in summer. While extended periods of hypoxia are rare in Hong Kong waters, episodic events have been reported to occur during late summer due to factors such as low wind, high rainfall and river discharge which

Radiation physics, biophysics and radiation biology. Progress report, October 1, 1980-September 30, 1981

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1981-07-01

Separate abstracts were prepared for the 29 papers in this progress report which deal with radiobiological physics, the biological effects of ionizing radiations, and the modification of these effects by chemical and pharmacological agents

The universal numbers. From Biology to Physics.

Science.gov (United States)

Marchal, Bruno

2015-12-01

I will explain how the mathematicians have discovered the universal numbers, or abstract computer, and I will explain some abstract biology, mainly self-reproduction and embryogenesis. Then I will explain how and why, and in which sense, some of those numbers can dream and why their dreams can glue together and must, when we assume computationalism in cognitive science, generate a phenomenological physics, as part of a larger phenomenological theology (in the sense of the greek theologians). The title should have been "From Biology to Physics, through the Phenomenological Theology of the Universal Numbers", if that was not too long for a title. The theology will consist mainly, like in some (neo)platonist greek-indian-chinese tradition, in the truth about numbers' relative relations, with each others, and with themselves. The main difference between Aristotle and Plato is that Aristotle (especially in its common and modern christian interpretation) makes reality WYSIWYG (What you see is what you get: reality is what we observe, measure, i.e. the natural material physical science) where for Plato and the (rational) mystics, what we see might be only the shadow or the border of something else, which might be non physical (mathematical, arithmetical, theological, …). Since Gödel, we know that Truth, even just the Arithmetical Truth, is vastly bigger than what the machine can rationally justify. Yet, with Church's thesis, and the mechanizability of the diagonalizations involved, machines can apprehend this and can justify their limitations, and get some sense of what might be true beyond what they can prove or justify rationally. Indeed, the incompleteness phenomenon introduces a gap between what is provable by some machine and what is true about that machine, and, as Gödel saw already in 1931, the existence of that gap is accessible to the machine itself, once it is has enough provability abilities. Incompleteness separates truth and provable, and machines can

Dose estimation of heavy ion beam by microdosimetry. Examination of the method to estimate biological effect from physical measurement of radiation quality

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kase, Yuki; Sakama, Makoto; Tsuzuki, Daigo; Abe, Kyoko; Saotome, Naoya; Matsufuji, Naruhiro; Kanai, Tatsuaki; Matsumoto, Kouki; Furusawa, Yoshiya

2007-01-01

The absorbed dose (AD) of heavy ion (HI) beam (here, carbon beam) in HI therapy (unit, EGy) (D st ) to exert the actual clinical effect is for the irradiation of tumors deep in the body and is thus estimated by AD corrected with the relative biological effectiveness (RBE) of clinical endpoint: i.e., the relation is expressed by the equation RBE=D st /D rad | same-effect (D rad is AD of the reference X-ray to yield the same effect as the HI used for the intended clinical endpoint). This paper describes the process of the estimation in the title with consideration of depth dependences of AD of HI in accordance to Bragg curve, and of biological AD as determined by colony assay of human salivary gland tumor cells: in NIRS, the desired AD in HI therapy is calculated by multiplying 1.5 to physically measured AD of HI at RBE 10% (10% survival of the cells). This factor has been obtained by microdosimetry of Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator in Chiba (HIMAC) ions in NIRS with a small spherical proportional counter (LET-1/2, Far West Technology) of the diameter 1.27 cm having the tissue equivalent plastic wall and chamber filled with 4.4 kPa of propane-based gas to make the tissue-equivalence size 1.0 μm diameter. The measuring principle is based on the microdosimetric kinetic model reported previously. The calculated dose is found to agree with AD in HI therapeutic planning within 10% fluctuation. (R.T.)

Natural physical and biological processes compromise the long-term performance of compacted soil caps

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, E.D.

1995-01-01

Compacted soil barriers are components of essentially all caps placed on closed waste disposal sites. The intended functions of soil barriers in waste facility caps include restricting infiltration of water and release of gases and vapors, either independently or in combination with synthetic membrane barriers, and protecting other manmade or natural barrier components. Review of the performance of installed soil barriers and of natural processes affecting their performance indicates that compacted soil caps may function effectively for relatively short periods (years to decades), but natural physical and biological processes can be expected to cause them to fail in the long term (decades to centuries). This paper addresses natural physical and biological processes that compromise the performance of compacted soil caps and suggests measures that may reduce the adverse consequences of these natural failure mechanisms

Necessity of introducing postencounter note describing history and physical examination at clinical performance examination in Korea.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Jonghoon

2014-06-01

Information gathering ability had been evaluated mainly via checklists in clinical performance examinations (CPX). But, it is not proved yet if students write the information correctly in postencounter note (PN), although they asked questions or performed physical examinations (PE) about the information when they interacted with standardized patients in CPX. This study addressed the necessity of introducing PN to evaluate the ability in CPX. After patient encounters, students were instructed to write the findings of history taking and physical examination that they considered as important information in approaching the patient's problems in PN. PNs were scored using answer keys selected from checklist items, which were considered to be recorded in PN by CPX experts. PNs of six CPX cases from 54 students were analyzed. Correlation coefficients between the key-checklist scores and PN scores of six cases were moderate to high (0.52 to 0.79). However, students frequently neglected some cardinal features of chief complains, pertinent findings of past/social history and PE, and pertinent negative findings of associated symptoms in PNs, which were checked as 'done' in the keys of checklists. It is necessary to introduce PN in CPX to evaluate the students' ability of synthesis and integration of patient information.

Multidrug-resistant bacteria infection and nursing quality management application in the department of physical examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Li; Luo, Qiang; Chen, Liangzhen; Jiao, Lingmei

2017-09-01

The main problem of clinical prevention and control of multi drug resistant bacteria infection is to strengthen the monitoring of pathogenic bacteria spectrum, this study research on the multi drug-resistant bacteria infection and nursing quality management application in the department of physical examination. The results of this study showed that the number of patients with multiple drug resistant infections showed an increasing trend. Therefore, once the patients with multiple drug-resistant bacteria infection are found, the prevention and control of the patients with multiple drug-resistant bacteria should be strictly followed, and the patient's medication care should be highly valued. Also, the nurses need to be classified based on the knowledge and skill characteristics of the nurses in the department of physical examination, and compare the nursing effect before and after classification and grouping. The physicians and individuals receiving physical examinations in the department of physical examination had a higher degree of satisfaction for nursing effect after classification compared with those before classification. Classification and grouping management helps improve the nursing quality and overall quality of the nurses in the department of physical examination.

Biological vs. physical mixing effects on benthic food web dynamics.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ulrike Braeckman

Full Text Available Biological particle mixing (bioturbation and solute transfer (bio-irrigation contribute extensively to ecosystem functioning in sediments where physical mixing is low. Macrobenthos transports oxygen and organic matter deeper into the sediment, thereby likely providing favourable niches to lower trophic levels (i.e., smaller benthic animals such as meiofauna and bacteria and thus stimulating mineralisation. Whether this biological transport facilitates fresh organic matter assimilation by the metazoan lower part of the food web through niche establishment (i.e., ecosystem engineering or rather deprives them from food sources, is so far unclear. We investigated the effects of the ecosystem engineers Lanice conchilega (bio-irrigator and Abra alba (bioturbator compared to abiotic physical mixing events on survival and food uptake of nematodes after a simulated phytoplankton bloom. The (13C labelled diatom Skeletonema costatum was added to 4 treatments: (1 microcosms containing the bioturbator, (2 microcosms containing the bio-irrigator, (3 control microcosms and (4 microcosms with abiotic manual surface mixing. Nematode survival and subsurface peaks in nematode density profiles were most pronounced in the bio-irrigator treatment. However, nematode specific uptake (Δδ(13C of the added diatoms was highest in the physical mixing treatment, where macrobenthos was absent and the diatom (13C was homogenised. Overall, nematodes fed preferentially on bulk sedimentary organic material rather than the added diatoms. The total C budget (µg C m(-2, which included TO(13C remaining in the sediment, respiration, nematode and macrobenthic uptake, highlighted the limited assimilation by the metazoan benthos and the major role of bacterial respiration. In summary, bioturbation and especially bio-irrigation facilitated the lower trophic levels mainly over the long-term through niche establishment. Since the freshly added diatoms represented only a limited food

Non-ionizing radiations : physical characteristics, biological effects and health hazard assessment

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Repacholi, M.H.

1988-01-01

The Workshop was a project of the International Non-Ionizing Radiation Committee of IRPA and comprised a series of educational lectures and demonstrations intended to give a comprehensive overview of non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation: physical characteristics, sources of concern, levels of exposure, mechanisms of interaction and reported effects of these fields and radiations with biological tissues, human studies, health risk assessment, national and international standards and guidelines, and protective measures

Critical-Thinking Grudge Match: Biology vs. Chemistry--Examining Factors That Affect Thinking Skill in Nonmajors Science

Science.gov (United States)

Quitadamo, Ian J.; Kurtz, Martha J.; Cornell, Caitlyn Nicole; Griffith, Lindsay; Hancock, Julie; Egbert, Brandi

2011-01-01

Chemistry students appear to bring significantly higher critical-thinking skill to their nonmajors course than do biology students. Knowing student preconceptions and thinking ability is essential to learning growth and effective teaching. Of the factors investigated, ethnicity and high school physics had the largest impact on critical-thinking…

Content analysis of physical examination templates in electronic health records using SNOMED CT.

Science.gov (United States)

Gøeg, Kirstine Rosenbeck; Chen, Rong; Højen, Anne Randorff; Elberg, Pia

2014-10-01

Most electronic health record (EHR) systems are built on proprietary information models and terminology, which makes achieving semantic interoperability a challenge. Solving interoperability problems requires well-defined standards. In contrast, the need to support clinical work practice requires a local customization of EHR systems. Consequently, contrasting goals may be evident in EHR template design because customization means that local EHR organizations can define their own templates, whereas standardization implies consensus at some level. To explore the complexity of balancing these two goals, this study analyzes the differences and similarities between templates in use today. A similarity analysis was developed on the basis of SNOMED CT. The analysis was performed on four physical examination templates from Denmark and Sweden. The semantic relationships in SNOMED CT were used to quantify similarities and differences. Moreover, the analysis used these identified similarities to investigate the common content of a physical examination template. The analysis showed that there were both similarities and differences in physical examination templates, and the size of the templates varied from 18 to 49 fields. In the SNOMED CT analysis, exact matches and terminology similarities were represented in all template pairs. The number of exact matches ranged from 7 to 24. Moreover, the number of unrelated fields differed a lot from 1/18 to 22/35. Cross-country comparisons tended to have more unrelated content than within-country comparisons. On the basis of identified similarities, it was possible to define the common content of a physical examination. Nevertheless, a complete view on the physical examination required the inclusion of both exact matches and terminology similarities. This study revealed that a core set of items representing the physical examination templates can be generated when the analysis takes into account not only exact matches but also terminology

The biology and polymer physics underlying large-scale chromosome organization.

Science.gov (United States)

Sazer, Shelley; Schiessel, Helmut

2018-02-01

Chromosome large-scale organization is a beautiful example of the interplay between physics and biology. DNA molecules are polymers and thus belong to the class of molecules for which physicists have developed models and formulated testable hypotheses to understand their arrangement and dynamic properties in solution, based on the principles of polymer physics. Biologists documented and discovered the biochemical basis for the structure, function and dynamic spatial organization of chromosomes in cells. The underlying principles of chromosome organization have recently been revealed in unprecedented detail using high-resolution chromosome capture technology that can simultaneously detect chromosome contact sites throughout the genome. These independent lines of investigation have now converged on a model in which DNA loops, generated by the loop extrusion mechanism, are the basic organizational and functional units of the chromosome. © 2017 The Authors. Traffic published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Environmental parameters of the Tennessee River in Alabama. 2: Physical, chemical, and biological parameters. [biological and chemical effects of thermal pollution from nuclear power plants on water quality

Science.gov (United States)

Rosing, L. M.

1976-01-01

Physical, chemical and biological water quality data from five sites in the Tennessee River, two in Guntersville Reservoir and three in Wheeler Reservoir were correlated with climatological data for three annual cycles. Two of the annual cycles are for the years prior to the Browns Ferry Nuclear Power Plant operations and one is for the first 14 months of Plant operations. A comparison of the results of the annual cycles indicates that two distinct physical conditions in the reservoirs occur, one during the warm months when the reservoirs are at capacity and one during the colder winter months when the reservoirs have been drawn-down for water storage during the rainy months and for weed control. The wide variations of physical and chemical parameters to which the biological organisms are subjected on an annual basis control the biological organisms and their population levels. A comparison of the parameters of the site below the Power plant indicates that the heated effluent from the plant operating with two of the three reactors has not had any effect on the organisms at this site. Recommendations given include the development of prediction mathematical models (statistical analysis) for the physical and chemical parameters under specific climatological conditions which affect biological organisms. Tabulated data of chemical analysis of water and organism populations studied is given.

Calculating life? Duelling discourses in interdisciplinary systems biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Calvert, Jane; Fujimura, Joan H

2011-06-01

A high profile context in which physics and biology meet today is in the new field of systems biology. Systems biology is a fascinating subject for sociological investigation because the demands of interdisciplinary collaboration have brought epistemological issues and debates front and centre in discussions amongst systems biologists in conference settings, in publications, and in laboratory coffee rooms. One could argue that systems biologists are conducting their own philosophy of science. This paper explores the epistemic aspirations of the field by drawing on interviews with scientists working in systems biology, attendance at systems biology conferences and workshops, and visits to systems biology laboratories. It examines the discourses of systems biologists, looking at how they position their work in relation to previous types of biological inquiry, particularly molecular biology. For example, they raise the issue of reductionism to distinguish systems biology from molecular biology. This comparison with molecular biology leads to discussions about the goals and aspirations of systems biology, including epistemic commitments to quantification, rigor and predictability. Some systems biologists aspire to make biology more similar to physics and engineering by making living systems calculable, modelable and ultimately predictable-a research programme that is perhaps taken to its most extreme form in systems biology's sister discipline: synthetic biology. Other systems biologists, however, do not think that the standards of the physical sciences are the standards by which we should measure the achievements of systems biology, and doubt whether such standards will ever be applicable to 'dirty, unruly living systems'. This paper explores these epistemic tensions and reflects on their sociological dimensions and their consequences for future work in the life sciences. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estuary-ocean connectivity: fast physics, slow biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Raimonet, Mélanie; Cloern, James E

2017-06-01

Estuaries are connected to both land and ocean so their physical, chemical, and biological dynamics are influenced by climate patterns over watersheds and ocean basins. We explored climate-driven oceanic variability as a source of estuarine variability by comparing monthly time series of temperature and chlorophyll-a inside San Francisco Bay with those in adjacent shelf waters of the California Current System (CCS) that are strongly responsive to wind-driven upwelling. Monthly temperature fluctuations inside and outside the Bay were synchronous, but their correlations weakened with distance from the ocean. These results illustrate how variability of coastal water temperature (and associated properties such as nitrate and oxygen) propagates into estuaries through fast water exchanges that dissipate along the estuary. Unexpectedly, there was no correlation between monthly chlorophyll-a variability inside and outside the Bay. However, at the annual scale Bay chlorophyll-a was significantly correlated with the Spring Transition Index (STI) that sets biological production supporting fish recruitment in the CCS. Wind forcing of the CCS shifted in the late 1990s when the STI advanced 40 days. This shift was followed, with lags of 1-3 years, by 3- to 19-fold increased abundances of five ocean-produced demersal fish and crustaceans and 2.5-fold increase of summer chlorophyll-a in the Bay. These changes reflect a slow biological process of estuary-ocean connectivity operating through the immigration of fish and crustaceans that prey on bivalves, reduce their grazing pressure, and allow phytoplankton biomass to build. We identified clear signals of climate-mediated oceanic variability in this estuary and discovered that the response patterns vary with the process of connectivity and the timescale of ocean variability. This result has important implications for managing nutrient inputs to estuaries connected to upwelling systems, and for assessing their responses to changing

Examination of Signatures of Recent Positive Selection on Genes Involved in Human Sialic Acid Biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Moon, Jiyun M; Aronoff, David M; Capra, John A; Abbot, Patrick; Rokas, Antonis

2018-03-28

Sialic acids are nine carbon sugars ubiquitously found on the surfaces of vertebrate cells and are involved in various immune response-related processes. In humans, at least 58 genes spanning diverse functions, from biosynthesis and activation to recycling and degradation, are involved in sialic acid biology. Because of their role in immunity, sialic acid biology genes have been hypothesized to exhibit elevated rates of evolutionary change. Consistent with this hypothesis, several genes involved in sialic acid biology have experienced higher rates of non-synonymous substitutions in the human lineage than their counterparts in other great apes, perhaps in response to ancient pathogens that infected hominins millions of years ago (paleopathogens). To test whether sialic acid biology genes have also experienced more recent positive selection during the evolution of the modern human lineage, reflecting adaptation to contemporary cosmopolitan or geographically-restricted pathogens, we examined whether their protein-coding regions showed evidence of recent hard and soft selective sweeps. This examination involved the calculation of four measures that quantify changes in allele frequency spectra, extent of population differentiation, and haplotype homozygosity caused by recent hard and soft selective sweeps for 55 sialic acid biology genes using publicly available whole genome sequencing data from 1,668 humans from three ethnic groups. To disentangle evidence for selection from confounding demographic effects, we compared the observed patterns in sialic acid biology genes to simulated sequences of the same length under a model of neutral evolution that takes into account human demographic history. We found that the patterns of genetic variation of most sialic acid biology genes did not significantly deviate from neutral expectations and were not significantly different among genes belonging to different functional categories. Those few sialic acid biology genes that

Influence of the workplace on learning physical examination skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Duvivier, Robbert; Stalmeijer, Renée; van Dalen, Jan; van der Vleuten, Cees; Scherpbier, Albert

2014-03-28

Hospital clerkships are considered crucial for acquiring competencies such as diagnostic reasoning and clinical skills. The actual learning process in the hospital remains poorly understood. This study investigates how students learn clinical skills in workplaces and factors affecting this. Six focus group sessions with 32 students in Internal Medicine rotation (4-9 students per group; sessions 80-90 minutes). Verbatim transcripts were analysed by emerging themes and coded independently by three researchers followed by constant comparison and axial coding. Students report to learn the systematics of the physical examination, gain agility and become able to recognise pathological signs. The learning process combines working alongside others and working independently with increasing responsibility for patient care. Helpful behaviour includes making findings explicit through patient files or during observation, feedback by abnormal findings and taking initiative. Factors affecting the process negatively include lack of supervision, uncertainty about tasks and expectations, and social context such as hierarchy of learners and perceived learning environment. Although individual student experiences vary greatly between different hospitals, it seems that proactivity and participation are central drivers for learning. These results can improve the quality of existing programmes and help design new ways to learn physical examination skills.

Examining Student Attitudes in Introductory Physics via the Math Attitude and Expectations Survey (MAX)

Science.gov (United States)

Hemingway, Deborah; Eichenlaub, Mark; Losert, Wolfgang; Redish, Edward F.

2017-01-01

Student often face difficulties with using math in science, and this exploratory project seeks to address the underlying mechanisms that lead to these difficulties. This mixed-methods project includes the creation of two novel assessment surveys, the Mathematical Epistemic Games Survey (MEGS) and the Math Attitude and Expectations Survey (MAX). The MAX, a 30-question Likert-scale survey, focuses on the attitudes towards using mathematics of the students in a reformed introductory physics course for the life sciences (IPLS) which is part of the National Experiment in Undergraduate Education (NEXUS/Physics) developed at the University of Maryland (UMD). Preliminary results from the MAX are discussed with specific attention given to students' attitudes towards math and physics, opinions about interdisciplinarity, and the usefulness of physics in academic settings as well as in professional biological research and modern medicine settings.

History and physical examination of hip injuries in elderly adults.

Science.gov (United States)

Hamedan Al Maqbali, Mohammed Abdullah

2014-01-01

Hip fracture is the most common injury occurring to elderly people and is associated with restrictions of the activities of the patients themselves. The discovery of a hip fracture can be the beginning of a complex journey of care, from initial diagnosis, through operational procedures to rehabilitation. The patient's history and physical examination form the basis of the diagnosis and monitoring of elderly patients with hip problems and dictate the appropriate treatment strategy to be implemented. The aim of this study is to discuss the different diagnoses of hip pain in a case study of an elderly woman who initially complained of pain in her right knee following a fall at home. It shows that musculoskeletal physical examination determined the management of the hip fracture that was found to be present. In addition, the aim of this article is to review diagnostic tests such as radiographs and recommend appropriate management and treatment of hip fractures in elderly patients.

Shifting to structures in physics and biology: a prophylactic for promiscuous realism.

Science.gov (United States)

French, Steven

2011-06-01

Within the philosophy of science, the realism debate has been revitalised by the development of forms of structural realism. These urge a shift in focus from the object oriented ontologies that come and go through the history of science to the structures that remain through theory change. Such views have typically been elaborated in the context of theories of physics and are motivated by, first of all, the presence within such theories of mathematical equations that allow straightforward representation of the relevant structures; and secondly, the implications of such theories for the individuality and identity of putative objects. My aim in this paper is to explore the possibility of extending such views to biological theories. An obvious concern is that within the context of the latter it is typically insisted that we cannot find the kinds of highly mathematised structures that structural realism can point to in physics. I shall indicate how the model-theoretic approach to theories might help allay such concerns. Furthermore, issues of identity and individuality also arise within biology. Thus Dupré has recently noted that there exists a 'General Problem of Biological Individuality' which relates to the issue of how one divides 'massively integrated and interconnected' systems into discrete components. In response Dupré advocates a form of 'Promiscuous Realism' that holds, for example, that there is no unique way of dividing the phylogenetic tree into kinds. Instead I shall urge serious consideration of those aspects of the work of Dupré and others that lean towards a structuralist interpretation. By doing so I hope to suggest possible ways in which a structuralist stance might be extended to biology. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The psychiatric inpatient physical health assessment sheet (PIPHAS): a useful tool to improve the speed, efficiency, and documentation of physical examination in new psychiatric inpatients.

Science.gov (United States)

Pettipher, Alexander; Ovens, Richard

2015-01-01

There is increased morbidity and mortality among patients suffering from mental illness. This is believed to be multi-factorial. Poor access to healthcare, the stigma of mental illness, reduced clinic attendance, lifestyle factors, and side effects of medications are cited as possible contributing factors. It is therefore vital to perform a physical examination to identify previously undiagnosed conditions during the admission of a psychiatric inpatient. The Royal College of Psychiatrists recommends that all patients admitted to a psychiatric hospital should receive a full physical examination on admission, or within twenty-four hours of admission. A snapshot audit was carried out at Prospect Park Hospital in Reading, which highlighted that The Royal College of Psychiatrist's recommendation, along with Trust guidelines regarding physical examination were not being met, with only 78 out of 111 patients (70.3%) undergoing an examination during their admission. In addition to this, examinations were often poorly documented and not covering all examination domains. A psychiatric inpatient physical health assessment sheet (PIPHAS) was designed and introduced, providing a quick and standardised approach to the documentation of a physical examination. After the intervention was put into practice, its impact was assessed by performing a retrospective review of the admission clerking notes of the next 100 admissions to Prospect Park Hospital. Following the introduction of the PIPHAS form there was an increase in the number of patients undergoing physical examination on admission to hospital (75 out of 100 patients, 75%). There was also an increase in the thorough documentation of all examination domains (e.g. respiratory examination) for patients that had a completed PIPHAS form scanned within their medical records. This quality improvement project demonstrates that the PIPHAS form is a useful tool to improve the speed, efficiency, and documentation of a thorough physical

Dynamic light scattering with applications to chemistry, biology, and physics

CERN Document Server

Berne, Bruce J

2000-01-01

Lasers play an increasingly important role in a variety of detection techniques, making inelastic light scattering a tool of growing value in the investigation of dynamic and structural problems in chemistry, biology, and physics. Until the initial publication of this work, however, no monograph treated the principles behind current developments in the field.This volume presents a comprehensive introduction to the principles underlying laser light scattering, focusing on the time dependence of fluctuations in fluid systems; it also serves as an introduction to the theory of time correlation f

Diagnostic accuracy of scapular physical examination tests for shoulder disorders: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Alexis A; Wassinger, Craig A; Frank, Mason; Michener, Lori A; Hegedus, Eric J

2013-09-01

To systematically review and critique the evidence regarding the diagnostic accuracy of physical examination tests for the scapula in patients with shoulder disorders. A systematic, computerised literature search of PubMED, EMBASE, CINAHL and the Cochrane Library databases (from database inception through January 2012) using keywords related to diagnostic accuracy of physical examination tests of the scapula. The Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies tool was used to critique the quality of each paper. Eight articles met the inclusion criteria; three were considered to be of high quality. Of the three high-quality studies, two were in reference to a 'diagnosis' of shoulder pain. Only one high-quality article referenced specific shoulder pathology of acromioclavicular dislocation with reported sensitivity of 71% and 41% for the scapular dyskinesis and SICK scapula test, respectively. Overall, no physical examination test of the scapula was found to be useful in differentially diagnosing pathologies of the shoulder.

Physical Examination-Indicated Cerclage: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Ehsanipoor, Robert M; Seligman, Neil S; Saccone, Gabriele; Szymanski, Linda M; Wissinger, Christina; Werner, Erika F; Berghella, Vincenzo

2015-07-01

To estimate the effectiveness of physical examination-indicated cerclage in the setting of second-trimester cervical dilatation by systematic review and meta-analysis of published studies. We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, Scopus, ClinicalTrials.gov, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library for studies published between 1966 and 2014 that evaluated cervical cerclage for the treatment of cervical insufficiency. The search yielded 6,314 citations. We included cohort studies and randomized controlled trials comparing cerclage placement with expectant management of women with cervical dilatation between 14 and 27 weeks of gestation. Two investigators independently reviewed each citation for inclusion or exclusion and discordant decisions were arbitrated by a third reviewer. Summary estimates were reported as the mean difference and 95% confidence interval (CI) for continuous variables or relative risk and with 95% CI for dichotomous outcomes. Fixed- and random-effects meta-analysis was used, depending on heterogeneity. Ten studies met inclusion criteria and were included in the final analysis. One was a randomized controlled trial, two were prospective cohort studies, and the remaining seven were retrospective cohort studies. Of the 757 women, 485 (64%) underwent physical examination-indicated cerclage placement and 272 (36%) were expectantly managed. Cerclage was associated with increased neonatal survival (71% compared with 43%; relative risk 1.65, 95% CI 1.19-2.28) and prolongation of pregnancy (mean difference 33.98 days, 95% CI 17.88-50.08). Physical examination-indicated cerclage is associated with a significant increase in neonatal survival and prolongation of pregnancy of approximately 1 month when compared with no such cerclage. The strength of this conclusion is limited by the potential for bias in the included studies.

Living matter—nexus of physics and biology in the 21st century

Science.gov (United States)

Gardel, Margaret L.

2012-01-01

Cells are made up of complex assemblies of cytoskeletal proteins that facilitate force transmission from the molecular to cellular scale to regulate cell shape and force generation. The “living matter” formed by the cytoskeleton facilitates versatile and robust behaviors of cells, including their migration, adhesion, division, and morphology, that ultimately determine tissue architecture and mechanics. Elucidating the underlying physical principles of such living matter provides great opportunities in both biology and physics. For physicists, the cytoskeleton provides an exceptional toolbox to study materials far from equilibrium. For biologists, these studies will provide new understanding of how molecular-scale processes determine cell morphological changes. PMID:23112229

Vertical stratification of physical, chemical and biological components in two saline lakes Shira and Shunet (South Siberia, Russia)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Degermendzhy, A.G.; Zadereev, E.S.; Rogozin, D.Y.; Prokopkin, I.; Barkhatov, Y.V.; Tolomeev, A.; Khromechek, E.B.; Janse, J.H.; Mooij, W.M.; Gulati, R.D.

2010-01-01

A feature of meromictic lakes is that several physicochemical and biological gradients affect the vertical distribution of different organisms. The vertical stratification of physical, chemical and biological components in saline, fishless meromictic lakes Shira and Shunet (Siberia, Russia) is quite

Evaluation of conformal radiotherapy techniques through physics and biologic criteria

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bloch, Jonatas Carrero

2012-01-01

In the fight against cancer, different irradiation techniques have been developed based on technological advances and aiming to optimize the elimination of tumor cells with the lowest damage to healthy tissues. The radiotherapy planning goal is to establish irradiation technical parameters in order to achieve the prescribed dose distribution over the treatment volumes. While dose prescription is based on radiosensitivity of the irradiated tissues, the physical calculations on treatment planning take into account dosimetric parameters related to the radiation beam and the physical characteristics of the irradiated tissues. To incorporate tissue's radiosensitivity into radiotherapy planning calculations can help particularize treatments and establish criteria to compare and elect radiation techniques, contributing to the tumor control and the success of the treatment. Accordingly, biological models of cellular response to radiation have to be well established. This work aimed to study the applicability of using biological models in radiotherapy planning calculations to aid evaluating radiotherapy techniques. Tumor control probability (TCP) was studied for two formulations of the linear-quadratic model, with and without repopulation, as a function of planning parameters, as dose per fraction, and of radiobiological parameters, as the α/β ratio. Besides, the usage of biological criteria to compare radiotherapy techniques was tested using a prostate planning simulated with Monte Carlo code PENELOPE. Afterwards, prostate planning for five patients from the Hospital das Clinicas da Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirao Preto, USP, using three different techniques were compared using the tumor control probability. In that order, dose matrices from the XiO treatment planning system were converted to TCP distributions and TCP-volume histograms. The studies performed allow the conclusions that radiobiological parameters can significantly influence tumor control

Radiation damage and repair in cells and cell components. Part 2. Physical radiations and biological significance. Final report

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fluke, D.J.

1984-08-01

The report comprises a teaching text, encompassing all physical radiations likely to be of biological interest, and the relevant biological effects and their significance. Topics include human radiobiology, delayed effects, radiation absorption in organisms, aqueous radiation chemistry, cell radiobiology, mutagenesis, and photobiology

The relationship between history and physical examination findings and the outcome of electrodiagnostic testing in patients with sciatica referred to physical therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Savage, Nathan J; Fritz, Julie M; Thackeray, Anne

2014-07-01

Cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study. To investigate the relationship between history and physical examination findings and the outcome of electrodiagnostic testing in patients with sciatica referred to physical therapy. Electrodiagnostic testing is routinely used to evaluate patients with sciatica. Recent evidence suggests that the presence of radiculopathy identified with electrodiagnostic testing may predict better functional outcomes in these patients. While some patient history and physical examination findings have been shown to predict the presence of disc herniation or neurological insult, little is known about their relationship to the results of electrodiagnostic testing. Electrodiagnostic testing was performed on 38 patients with sciatica who participated in a randomized trial that compared different physical therapy interventions. The diagnostic gold standard was the presence or absence of radiculopathy, based on the results of the needle electromyographic examination. Diagnostic sensitivity and specificity values were calculated, along with corresponding likelihood ratios, for select patient history and physical examination variables. No significant relationship was found between select patient history and physical examination findings, analyzed individually or in combination, and the outcome of electrodiagnostic testing. Diagnostic sensitivity values ranged from 0.03 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.00, 0.24) to a high of 0.95 (95% CI: 0.72, 0.99), and specificity values ranged from 0.10 (95% CI: 0.02, 0.34) to a high of 0.95 (95% CI: 0.72, 0.99). Positive likelihood ratios ranged from 0.15 (95% CI: 0.01, 2.87) to a high of 2.33 (95% CI: 0.71, 7.70), and negative likelihood ratios ranged from 2.00 (95% CI: 0.35, 11.48) to a low of 0.50 (95% CI: 0.03, 8.10). In this investigation, the relationship between patient history and physical examination findings and the outcome of electrodiagnostic testing among patients with sciatica was not found to be

Examining the relationship between psychosocial working conditions, physical work demands, and leisure time physical activity in Canada.

Science.gov (United States)

Morassaei, Sara; Smith, Peter M

2011-10-01

To examine the effects of psychosocial working conditions and physical work demands on leisure time physical activity (LTPA). Using path analysis, direct and indirect effects of self-reported working conditions on LTPA levels were assessed in a representative sample of 4167 workers from the 2000 to 2001 Canadian National Population Health Survey. Higher levels of skill discretion and decision latitude were associated with higher LTPA. Physical work demands had opposite effects among men versus women, and skill discretion had a stronger effect among women than among men. Job security had a stronger effect on older workers and those without children younger than 13 years. The results support the influence of the work environment on LTPA and suggest that certain work conditions should be targeted in future interventions seeking to impact participation in physical activity.

Accuracy of Medical Students in Detecting Pleural Effusion Using Lung Ultrasound as an Adjunct to the Physical Examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Steinmetz, Peter; Oleskevich, Sharon; Dyachenko, Alina; McCusker, Jane; Lewis, John

2018-03-25

This study compared the accuracy of medical students in identifying pleural effusion in hospitalized patients using the physical examination versus lung ultrasound (US). Fourth-year medical students (n = 14) received 20 hours of general practical US training (including 2 hours of specialized lung US training) plus theoretical and video documentation. The students used the physical examination alone versus the physical examination plus lung US to document the presence or absence of pleural effusion in the right and left hemithoraces of hospitalized patients (n = 11 patients; 22 hemithoraces examined 544 times in total). The reference standard for identification of pleural effusion was a lung US examination by 2 expert point-of-care sonographers. The odds of correctly identifying the presence versus absence of pleural effusion was 5 times greater with lung US as an adjunct to the physical examination compared to the physical examination alone (odds ratio [OR], 5.1 from multivariate logistic regression; 95% confidence interval, 3.3-8.0). The addition of lung US to the physical examination resulted in an increase in sensitivity from 48% to 90%, in specificity from 73% to 86%, and in accuracy from 60% to 88%. The benefits of using US were greater when pleural effusion was present versus absent (OR, 10.8 versus 2.4) and when examining older versus younger patients (OR, 10.2 versus 2.8). These results demonstrate that medical students' ability to detect the presence or absence of pleural effusion is superior when using lung US as an adjunct to the physical examination than when using the physical examination alone. © 2018 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Biological and physical controls in the Southern Ocean on past millennial-scale atmospheric CO2 changes.

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Gottschalk, Julia; Skinner, Luke C; Lippold, Jörg; Vogel, Hendrik; Frank, Norbert; Jaccard, Samuel L; Waelbroeck, Claire

2016-05-17

Millennial-scale climate changes during the last glacial period and deglaciation were accompanied by rapid changes in atmospheric CO2 that remain unexplained. While the role of the Southern Ocean as a 'control valve' on ocean-atmosphere CO2 exchange has been emphasized, the exact nature of this role, in particular the relative contributions of physical (for example, ocean dynamics and air-sea gas exchange) versus biological processes (for example, export productivity), remains poorly constrained. Here we combine reconstructions of bottom-water [O2], export production and (14)C ventilation ages in the sub-Antarctic Atlantic, and show that atmospheric CO2 pulses during the last glacial- and deglacial periods were consistently accompanied by decreases in the biological export of carbon and increases in deep-ocean ventilation via southern-sourced water masses. These findings demonstrate how the Southern Ocean's 'organic carbon pump' has exerted a tight control on atmospheric CO2, and thus global climate, specifically via a synergy of both physical and biological processes.

Meta-cognition about biological sex and gender-stereotypic physical appearance: consequences for the assessment of leadership competence.

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Sczesny, Sabine; Kühnen, Ulrich

2004-01-01

Previous findings are inconsistent with regard to whether men are judged as being more or less competent leaders than women. However, masculine-relative to feminine-looking persons seem to be judged consistently as more competent leaders. Can this different impact of biological sex and physical appearance be due to the disparate availability of meta-cognitive knowledge about both sources? The results of Study 1 indicated that individuals possess meta-cognitive knowledge about a possible biasing influence of persons' biological sex, but not for their physical appearance. In Study 2, participants judged the leadership competence of a male versus female stimulus person with either masculine or feminine physical appearance. In addition, the available cognitive capacity was manipulated. When high capacity was available, participants corrected for the influence of stimulus persons' sex, but they fell prey to this influence under cognitive load. However, the effect of physical appearance was not moderated by cognitive capacity.

Summer nitrogenous nutrient transport and its fate in the Taiwan Strait: A coupled physical-biological modeling approach

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Wang, Jia; Hong, Huasheng; Jiang, Yuwu; Chai, Fei; Yan, Xiao-Hai

2013-09-01

In order to understand the fate of nutrients in the Taiwan Strait during summer, we built a coupled physical-biological numerical ocean model, which can capture the basic hydrographic and biological features within the strait. The nutrient that we chose to model is dissolved inorganic nitrogen (DIN). The model includes individual reservoirs for nitrate (NO3) and ammonium (NH4). Both the observational evidence and model results show that NO3 in the strait originates primarily from the upwelling subsurface water in the northern South China Sea (SCS) that enters the strait via the eastern and western routes separated by the Taiwan Bank. The coupled physical and biological effects on the NO3 transport at these two routes are highlighted in the study. For the western route, the shallow topography and the coastal upwelling intensify the biological uptake of NO3 in the whole water column. Consequently, the nitrogenous contribution by this route is mainly in form of the particulate organic nitrogen (PON). In contrast, NO3 is transported conservatively below the nitricline at the deep eastern route, contributing the whole NO3 supply in the TWS. The model estimates the fluxes of DIN and PON into the TWS, from the northern SCS, are 1.8 and 4 kmol s-1, respectively. Over half (˜1 kmol s-1) of the DIN is synthesized into PON by the phytoplankton in the strait. Overall, this study estimates the physical and biological effects on the nutrient transport in the TWS during summer.

Influence of the workplace on learning physical examination skills

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Hospital clerkships are considered crucial for acquiring competencies such as diagnostic reasoning and clinical skills. The actual learning process in the hospital remains poorly understood. This study investigates how students learn clinical skills in workplaces and factors affecting this. Methods Six focus group sessions with 32 students in Internal Medicine rotation (4–9 students per group; sessions 80–90 minutes). Verbatim transcripts were analysed by emerging themes and coded independently by three researchers followed by constant comparison and axial coding. Results Students report to learn the systematics of the physical examination, gain agility and become able to recognise pathological signs. The learning process combines working alongside others and working independently with increasing responsibility for patient care. Helpful behaviour includes making findings explicit through patient files or during observation, feedback by abnormal findings and taking initiative. Factors affecting the process negatively include lack of supervision, uncertainty about tasks and expectations, and social context such as hierarchy of learners and perceived learning environment. Conclusion Although individual student experiences vary greatly between different hospitals, it seems that proactivity and participation are central drivers for learning. These results can improve the quality of existing programmes and help design new ways to learn physical examination skills. PMID:24678562

Femoral anteversion assessment: Comparison of physical examination, gait analysis, and EOS biplanar radiography.

Science.gov (United States)

Westberry, David E; Wack, Linda I; Davis, Roy B; Hardin, James W

2018-05-01

Multiple measurement methods are available to assess transverse plane alignment of the lower extremity. This study was performed to determine the extent of correlation between femoral anteversion assessment using simultaneous biplanar radiographs and three-dimensional modeling (EOS imaging), clinical hip rotation by physical examination, and dynamic hip rotation assessed by gait analysis. Seventy-seven patients with cerebral palsy (GMFCS Level I and II) and 33 neurologically typical children with torsional abnormalities completed a comprehensive gait analysis with same day biplanar anterior-posterior and lateral radiographs and three-dimensional transverse plane assessment of femoral anteversion. Correlations were determined between physical exam of hip rotation, EOS imaging of femoral anteversion, and transverse plane hip kinematics for this retrospective review study. Linear regression analysis revealed a weak relationship between physical examination measures of hip rotation and biplanar radiographic assessment of femoral anteversion. Similarly, poor correlation was found between clinical evaluation of femoral anteversion and motion assessment of dynamic hip rotation. Correlations were better in neurologically typical children with torsional abnormalities compared to children with gait dysfunction secondary to cerebral palsy. Dynamic hip rotation cannot be predicted by physical examination measures of hip range of motion or from three-dimensional assessment of femoral anteversion derived from biplanar radiographs. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Teleology in biology, chemistry and physics education: what primary teachers should know

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

KOSTAS KAMPOURAKIS

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Recent research in cognitive psychology suggests that children develop intuitions that may clash with what is accepted by scientists, thus making certain scientific concepts difficult to understand. Children possess intuitions about design and purpose that make them provide teleological explanations to many different sorts of tasks. One possible explanation for the origin of the bias to view objects as made for something derives from an early sensitivity to intentional agents and to their behavior as intentional object users and object makers. What is important is that teleological explanations may not be exclusively restricted in biological phenomena, as commonly assumed. Consequently, primary school teachers should take that into account when teaching biology, chemistry or physics concepts and try to refrain from enforcing students’ teleological intuitions.

Physical Activity and Telomere Biology: Exploring the Link with Aging-Related Disease Prevention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew T. Ludlow

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Physical activity is associated with reduced risk of several age-related diseases as well as with increased longevity in both rodents and humans. Though these associations are well established, evidence of the molecular and cellular factors associated with reduced disease risk and increased longevity resulting from physical activity is sparse. A long-standing hypothesis of aging is the telomere hypothesis: as a cell divides, telomeres shorten resulting eventually in replicative senescence and an aged phenotype. Several reports have recently associated telomeres and telomere-related proteins to diseases associated with physical inactivity and aging including cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, and hypertension. Interestingly several reports have also shown that longer telomeres are associated with higher physical activity levels, indicating a potential mechanistic link between physical activity, reduced age-related disease risk, and longevity. The primary purpose of this review is to discuss the potential importance of physical activity in telomere biology in the context of inactivity- and age-related diseases. A secondary purpose is to explore potential mechanisms and important avenues for future research in the field of telomeres and diseases associated with physical inactivity and aging.

Physical examination tests for the diagnosis of femoroacetabular impingement. A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Pacheco-Carrillo, Aitana; Medina-Porqueres, Ivan

2016-09-01

Numerous clinical tests have been proposed to diagnose FAI, but little is known about their diagnostic accuracy. To summarize and evaluate research on the accuracy of physical examination tests for diagnosis of FAI. A search of the PubMed, SPORTDiscus and CINAHL databases was performed. Studies were considered eligible if they compared the results of physical examination tests to those of a reference standard. Methodological quality and internal validity assessment was performed by two independent reviewers using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies (QUADAS) tool. The systematic search strategy revealed 298 potential articles, five of which articles met the inclusion criteria. After assessment using the QUADAS score, four of the five articles were of high quality. Clinical tests included were Impingement sign, IROP test (Internal Rotation Over Pressure), FABER test (Flexion-Abduction-External Rotation), Stinchfield/RSRL (Resisted Straight Leg Raise) test, Scour test, Maximal squat test, and the Anterior Impingement test. IROP test, impingement sign, and FABER test showed the most sensitive values to identify FAI. The diagnostic accuracy of physical examination tests to assess FAI is limited due to its heterogenecity. There is a strong need for sound research of high methodological quality in this area. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Physical examination-indicated cerclage in singleton and twin pregnancies: maternal-fetal outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Bernabeu, Andrea; Goya, Maria; Martra, Miquel; Suy, Anna; Pratcorona, Laia; Merced, Carme; Llurba, Elisa; Casellas, Manel; Carreras, Elena; Cabero, Luis

2016-01-01

To study maternal and perinatal outcomes after physical examination-indicated cerclage in both singleton and twin pregnancies and evaluate the possible risk factors associated. Retrospective review of all women undergoing physical examination-indicated cerclage at the Hospital Vall d'Hebro, Barcelona from January 2009 to December 2012 after being diagnosed with cervical incompetence and risk of premature birth. During the study period, 60 cases of women diagnosed with cervical incompetence who were carrying live and morphologically-normal fetuses (53 singleton and 7 twin pregnancies), and who had an imminent risk of premature birth were evaluated. Mean gestational age until birth was 35 weeks in singleton and 32 weeks in twin pregnancies. Four cases (7.5%) of immature births and one case (2.0%) of neonatal death were recorded in singleton pregnancies. No cases of immature births or neonatal deaths were recorded in twin pregnancies. Diagnostic amniocentesis was performed IN all cases to rule out possible chorioamnionitis. Physical examination-indicated cerclage for cervical incompetence in women at risk for immature or preterm birth demonstrates good perinatal prognosis without increasing maternal morbidity in either singleton or twin pregnancies. The increase in gestation time in our study may also have been due to the fact that patients with subclinical chorioamnionitis were excluded by diagnostic amniocentesis.

Point-of-care cardiac ultrasound techniques in the physical examination: better at the bedside.

Science.gov (United States)

Kimura, Bruce J

2017-07-01

The development of hand-carried, battery-powered ultrasound devices has created a new practice in ultrasound diagnostic imaging, called 'point-of-care' ultrasound (POCUS). Capitalising on device portability, POCUS is marked by brief and limited ultrasound imaging performed by the physician at the bedside to increase diagnostic accuracy and expediency. The natural evolution of POCUS techniques in general medicine, particularly with pocket-sized devices, may be in the development of a basic ultrasound examination similar to the use of the binaural stethoscope. This paper will specifically review how POCUS improves the limited sensitivity of the current practice of traditional cardiac physical examination by both cardiologists and non-cardiologists. Signs of left ventricular systolic dysfunction, left atrial enlargement, lung congestion and elevated central venous pressures are often missed by physical techniques but can be easily detected by POCUS and have prognostic and treatment implications. Creating a general set of repetitive imaging skills for these entities for application on all patients during routine examination will standardise and reduce heterogeneity in cardiac bedside ultrasound applications, simplify teaching curricula, enhance learning and recollection, and unify competency thresholds and practice. The addition of POCUS to standard physical examination techniques in cardiovascular medicine will result in an ultrasound-augmented cardiac physical examination that reaffirms the value of bedside diagnosis. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Differences in biological maturation, anthropometry and physical performance between playing positions in youth team handball.

Science.gov (United States)

Matthys, Stijn P J; Fransen, Job; Vaeyens, Roel; Lenoir, Matthieu; Philippaerts, Renaat

2013-01-01

It was the goal of this cross-sectional study to examine differences in maturity, anthropometry and physical performance between youth handball players across different playing positions (i.e. goalkeeper, back, pivot and wing). Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA), accounting for biological maturation, was used to assess positional differences in 472 male youth handball players from three age groups: U14, U15 and U16. Differences in age at peak height velocity were found in all age groups. Backs were significantly more mature than wings in U14 and U15 and than wings and pivots in U16. Furthermore, backs are overall taller, have a bigger arm span and perform best on tests for strength, agility and speed, especially in the U15 age group. Therefore, it can be concluded that youth players with the most advanced maturation status and the most favourable anthropometry and physical fitness scores, are consistently positioned in the back position. Players with a less advanced maturity status and an overall smaller stature are placed on the wing or pivot positions. In conclusion, it seems that anthropometrical and maturational characteristics are used by coaches to directly and/or indirectly select players for specific field positions. This strategy is risky since anthropometry and maturity status change over the years.

Diagnosis of Pediatric Foreign Body Ingestion: Clinical Presentation, Physical Examination, and Radiologic Findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Sink, Jacquelyn R; Kitsko, Dennis J; Mehta, Deepak K; Georg, Matthew W; Simons, Jeffrey P

2016-04-01

(1) To describe clinical and radiologic findings in patients with esophageal foreign bodies. (2) To examine the sensitivity and specificity of history, physical examination, and radiologic studies in children with suspected foreign body ingestion. A retrospective cohort study was performed evaluating all children who underwent esophagoscopy for suspected foreign body ingestion at our institution from 2006 to 2013. Five hundred forty-three patients were included (54% male). Average age was 4.7 years (SD = 4.1 years). Foreign bodies were identified on esophagoscopy in 497 cases (92%). Ingestion was witnessed in 23% of cases. Most common presenting symptoms were choking/gagging (49%), vomiting (47%), and dysphagia/odynophagia (42%). Most patients with foreign bodies had a normal exam (76%). Most foreign bodies were radiopaque (83%). In 59% of patients with normal chest radiographs, a foreign body was present. Sensitivity and specificity of 1 or more findings on history, physical examination, and imaging were 99% and 0%, 21% and 76%, and 83% and 100%, respectively. Most patients with esophageal foreign bodies are symptomatic. Although many patients will have a normal physical examination, an abnormal exam should increase suspicion for a foreign body. Most esophageal foreign bodies are radiopaque, but a normal chest radiograph cannot rule out a foreign body. © The Author(s) 2015.

Courses in Modern Physics for Non-science Majors, Future Science Teachers, and Biology Students

Science.gov (United States)

Zollman, Dean

2001-03-01

For the past 15 years Kansas State University has offered a course in modern physics for students who are not majoring in physics. This course carries a prerequisite of one physics course so that the students have a basic introduction in classical topics. The majors of students range from liberal arts to engineering. Future secondary science teachers whose first area of teaching is not physics can use the course as part of their study of science. The course has evolved from a lecture format to one which is highly interactive and uses a combination of hands-on activities, tutorials and visualizations, particularly the Visual Quantum Mechanics materials. Another course encourages biology students to continue their physics learning beyond the introductory course. Modern Miracle Medical Machines introduces the basic physics which underlie diagnosis techniques such as MRI and PET and laser surgical techniques. Additional information is available at http://www.phys.ksu.edu/perg/

Advantages and challenges of using physics curricula as a model for reforming an undergraduate biology course.

Science.gov (United States)

Donovan, D A; Atkins, L J; Salter, I Y; Gallagher, D J; Kratz, R F; Rousseau, J V; Nelson, G D

2013-06-01

We report on the development of a life sciences curriculum, targeted to undergraduate students, which was modeled after a commercially available physics curriculum and based on aspects of how people learn. Our paper describes the collaborative development process and necessary modifications required to apply a physics pedagogical model in a life sciences context. While some approaches were easily adapted, others provided significant challenges. Among these challenges were: representations of energy, introducing definitions, the placement of Scientists' Ideas, and the replicability of data. In modifying the curriculum to address these challenges, we have come to see them as speaking to deeper differences between the disciplines, namely that introductory physics--for example, Newton's laws, magnetism, light--is a science of pairwise interaction, while introductory biology--for example, photosynthesis, evolution, cycling of matter in ecosystems--is a science of linked processes, and we suggest that this is how the two disciplines are presented in introductory classes. We illustrate this tension through an analysis of our adaptations of the physics curriculum for instruction on the cycling of matter and energy; we show that modifications of the physics curriculum to address the biological framework promotes strong gains in student understanding of these topics, as evidenced by analysis of student work.

Open Water Processes of the San Francisco Estuary: From Physical Forcing to Biological Responses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wim Kimmerer

2004-02-01

Full Text Available This paper reviews the current state of knowledge of the open waters of the San Francisco Estuary. This estuary is well known for the extent to which it has been altered through loss of wetlands, changes in hydrography, and the introduction of chemical and biological contaminants. It is also one of the most studied estuaries in the world, with much of the recent research effort aimed at supporting restoration efforts. In this review I emphasize the conceptual foundations for our current understanding of estuarine dynamics, particularly those aspects relevant to restoration. Several themes run throughout this paper. First is the critical role physical dynamics play in setting the stage for chemical and biological responses. Physical forcing by the tides and by variation in freshwater input combine to control the movement of the salinity field, and to establish stratification, mixing, and dilution patterns throughout the estuary. Many aspects of estuarine dynamics respond to interannual variation in freshwater flow; in particular, abundance of several estuarine-dependent species of fish and shrimp varies positively with flow, although the mechanisms behind these relationships are largely unknown. The second theme is the importance of time scales in determining the degree of interaction between dynamic processes. Physical effects tend to dominate when they operate at shorter time scales than biological processes; when the two time scales are similar, important interactions can arise between physical and biological variability. These interactions can be seen, for example, in the response of phytoplankton blooms, with characteristic time scales of days, to stratification events occurring during neap tides. The third theme is the key role of introduced species in all estuarine habitats; particularly noteworthy are introduced waterweeds and fishes in the tidal freshwater reaches of the estuary, and introduced clams there and in brackish water. The

Hip Dysplasia: Clinical Signs and Physical Examination Findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Syrcle, Jason

2017-07-01

Hip dysplasia is a common developmental disorder of the dog, consisting of varying degrees of hip laxity, progressive remodeling of the structures of the hip, and subsequent development of osteoarthritis. It is a juvenile-onset condition, with clinical signs often first evident at 4 to 12 months of age. A tentative diagnosis of hip dysplasia can be made based on signalment, history, and physical examination findings. The Ortolani test is a valuable tool for identifying juvenile dogs affected with this condition. Further diagnostics can then be prioritized, contributing to prompt diagnosis and appropriate treatment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Physical examination tests for hip dysfunction and injury.

Science.gov (United States)

Reiman, Michael P; Mather, Richard C; Cook, Chad E

2015-03-01

Physical examination tests for hip dysfunction and injury of the strongest diagnostic accuracy were identified in a recent systematic review with meta-analysis in BJSM. These tests are described in this article. A detailed description of the various different tests is given, with photographs for each test procedure. Diagnostic interpretation of each test requires careful consideration, with special attention to specific variables such as test performance and patient population. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Progress report, Biology and Health Physics Division, April 1 to June 30, 1978

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

The effects of neutrons reflected by the body of a wearer of a neutron threshold activation detector have been determined experimentally. Agreement with the previously calculated effect was good. Calculations and experiments are in progress on the response of organic scintillators to fast neutron and gamma radiation. Other work in health physics included examination of the feasibility of using water-permeable membranes to separate HTO from HT and design of instrumentation for measuring discharge of radio-xenons from a Mo-99 production plant. A variety of environmental research programs included studies dealing with the effects of thermal stress on food-chain organisms in fresh water and mobility of arsenic in sand columns. Computer studies on linked health records will be phased out at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories. Similar work will be performed at Statistics Canada, the University of British Columbia, and in Hawaii under its cancer register. Work in biology has continued to focus upon the effects of radiation on a variety of organisms, ranging from bacterial viruses to humans. The principal target for long-term biological effects of radiation on all living organisms is DNA. The chemical nature of damage caused in DNA by radiation and the response of cells to this damage is being studied by a variety of biochemical and genetic techniques. Studies on cultured skin cells from various humans have shown interesting characteristics associated with different rare hereditary diseases. It has now been shown that repair-deficient ataxia telangiectasia (AT) cells are surprisingly different from repair-proficient AT cells in their reponse to ultraviolet light at 313 nm. (OST)

Life sciences: Nuclear medicine, radiation biology, medical physics, 1980-1994. International Atomic Energy Agency Publications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1994-11-01

The catalogue lists all sales publications of the IAEA dealing with Life Sciences issued during the period 1980-1994. The publications are grouped in the following chapters: Nuclear Medicine (including Radiopharmaceuticals), Radiation Biology and Medical Physics (including Dosimetry)

Microgravity Fluids for Biology, Workshop

Science.gov (United States)

Griffin, DeVon; Kohl, Fred; Massa, Gioia D.; Motil, Brian; Parsons-Wingerter, Patricia; Quincy, Charles; Sato, Kevin; Singh, Bhim; Smith, Jeffrey D.; Wheeler, Raymond M.

2013-01-01

Microgravity Fluids for Biology represents an intersection of biology and fluid physics that present exciting research challenges to the Space Life and Physical Sciences Division. Solving and managing the transport processes and fluid mechanics in physiological and biological systems and processes are essential for future space exploration and colonization of space by humans. Adequate understanding of the underlying fluid physics and transport mechanisms will provide new, necessary insights and technologies for analyzing and designing biological systems critical to NASAs mission. To enable this mission, the fluid physics discipline needs to work to enhance the understanding of the influence of gravity on the scales and types of fluids (i.e., non-Newtonian) important to biology and life sciences. In turn, biomimetic, bio-inspired and synthetic biology applications based on physiology and biology can enrich the fluid mechanics and transport phenomena capabilities of the microgravity fluid physics community.

The Examination of the Attitudes of Secondary School Students towards Physical Education Course

Science.gov (United States)

Keskin, Özkan; Hergüner, Gülten; Dönmez, Ahmet; Berisha, Milaim; Üçan, Erkan

2017-01-01

The aim of this study is to examine the attitudes of primary education students towards physical education courses according to certain variables. 640 students from elementary schools in the city center and several counties of Sakarya participated in the study. In the designating of the students' attitudes towards the physical education courses,…

Nitrogen Retention in Coastal Marine Sediments—a Field Study of the Relative Importance of Biological and Physical Removal in a Danish Estuary

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laurentius Nielsen, Søren; Risgaard-Petersen, Nils; Banta, Gary

2017-01-01

The aim of this study was to elucidate the relative importance of physical versus biological loss processes for the removal of microphytobenthic (MPB) bound nitrogen in a coastal environment at different times of the year via a dual isotope labeling technique. We used 51Cr, binding to inorganic...... were able to discern the relative importance of physical and biological processes. The isotope marking was supplemented with measurements of sediment chlorophyll biomass and oxygen fluxes, allowing us to evaluate MPB biomass as well as primary production vs. respiration in the sediment. In spring...... was physically dominated due to low MPB biomasses and activity combined with a significant storm event. Our data support the hypothesis that the relative balance between physical and biological processes in determining retention and removal of MPB-bound nitrogen changes seasonally....

Disentangling physical and biological drivers of phytoplankton dynamics in a coastal system.

Science.gov (United States)

Cianelli, Daniela; D'Alelio, Domenico; Uttieri, Marco; Sarno, Diana; Zingone, Adriana; Zambianchi, Enrico; d'Alcalà, Maurizio Ribera

2017-11-20

This proof-of-concept study integrates the surface currents measured by high-frequency coastal radars with plankton time-series data collected at a fixed sampling point from the Mediterranean Sea (MareChiara Long Term Ecological Research site in the Gulf of Naples) to characterize the spatial origin of phytoplankton assemblages and to scrutinize the processes ruling their dynamics. The phytoplankton community generally originated from the coastal waters whereby species succession was mainly regulated by biological factors (life-cycle processes, species-specific physiological performances and inter-specific interactions). Physical factors, e.g. the alternation between coastal and offshore waters and the horizontal mixing, were also important drivers of phytoplankton dynamics promoting diversity maintenance by i) advecting species from offshore and ii) diluting the resident coastal community so as to dampen resource stripping by dominant species and thereby increase the numerical importance of rarer species. Our observations highlight the resilience of coastal communities, which may favour their persistence over time and the prevalence of successional events over small time and space scales. Although coastal systems may act differently from one another, our findings provide a conceptual framework to address physical-biological interactions occurring in coastal basins, which can be generalised to other areas.

A Comparison of Biological and Physical Risk Factors for Cardiovascular Disease in Overweight/Obese Individuals With and Without Prediabetes.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Tingting

2017-12-01

Compared with type 2 diabetes, evaluating the direct biological and physical risk factors for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in overweight/obese adults with and without prediabetes is less understood. Therefore, the aim of the study was to compare baseline biological and physical risk factors for CVD among overweight/obese adults with and without prediabetes. A secondary data analysis was performed. Three hundred forty-one overweight/obese participants were included in the analysis. Compared with non-prediabetics, prediabetics had higher fasting blood glucose, body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, and triglycerides. Prediabetics were also more likely to be insulin resistant than non-prediabetics. Participants with prediabetes had much lower cardiorespiratory fitness than those without prediabetes. Findings from this study suggest that healthy overweight/obese adults with prediabetes were likely at higher biological and physical risk of CVD at baseline compared with those without prediabetes. Early intervention to improve CVD risk progression among persons with prediabetes is essential.

Life as physics and chemistry: A system view of biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Baverstock, Keith

2013-04-01

Cellular life can be viewed as one of many physical natural systems that extract free energy from their environments in the most efficient way, according to fundamental physical laws, and grow until limited by inherent physical constraints. Thus, it can be inferred that it is the efficiency of this process that natural selection acts upon. The consequent emphasis on metabolism, rather than replication, points to a metabolism-first origin of life with the adoption of DNA template replication as a second stage development. This order of events implies a cellular regulatory system that pre-dates the involvement of DNA and might, therefore, be based on the information acquired as peptides fold into proteins, rather than on genetic regulatory networks. Such an epigenetic cell regulatory model, the independent attractor model, has already been proposed to explain the phenomenon of radiation induced genomic instability. Here it is extended to provide an epigenetic basis for the morphological and functional diversity that evolution has yielded, based on natural selection of the most efficient free energy transduction. Empirical evidence which challenges the current genetic basis of cell and molecular biology and which supports the above proposal is discussed. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Radiation physics, biophysics, and radiation biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, E.J.; Zaider, M.; Delegianis, M.J.

1989-07-01

An important event of the year was the designation of our Laboratory as a Center for Radiological Research by the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Vice-President for Health Sciences. Center status acknowledges the size and importance of the research efforts in this area, and allows a greater measure of independence in administrative matters. While the name has changed from a Laboratory to a Center within the Medical School, the mission and charge remain the same. The efforts of the Center are a multidisciplinary mix of physics, chemistry, and biology, mostly at a basic level, with the admixture of a small proportion of pragmatic or applied research in support of radiation protection or radiation therapy. About a quarter of our funding, mostly individual research awards, could be regarded as in direct support of radiotherapy, with the remainder (an NCI program project grant and DOE grants) being in support of research addressing more basic issues. An important effort currently underway concerns ab-initio calculations of the dielectric response function of condensed water. This investigation has received the coveted designation, ''Grand Challenge Project,'' awarded by DOE to research work which represents ''distinct advance on a major scientific or engineering problem that is broadly recognized as important within the mission of the Department.''

Quantum Processes and Dynamic Networks in Physical and Biological Systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Dudziak, Martin Joseph

Quantum theory since its earliest formulations in the Copenhagen Interpretation has been difficult to integrate with general relativity and with classical Newtonian physics. There has been traditionally a regard for quantum phenomena as being a limiting case for a natural order that is fundamentally classical except for microscopic extrema where quantum mechanics must be applied, more as a mathematical reconciliation rather than as a description and explanation. Macroscopic sciences including the study of biological neural networks, cellular energy transports and the broad field of non-linear and chaotic systems point to a quantum dimension extending across all scales of measurement and encompassing all of Nature as a fundamentally quantum universe. Theory and observation lead to a number of hypotheses all of which point to dynamic, evolving networks of fundamental or elementary processes as the underlying logico-physical structure (manifestation) in Nature and a strongly quantized dimension to macroscalar processes such as are found in biological, ecological and social systems. The fundamental thesis advanced and presented herein is that quantum phenomena may be the direct consequence of a universe built not from objects and substance but from interacting, interdependent processes collectively operating as sets and networks, giving rise to systems that on microcosmic or macroscopic scales function wholistically and organically, exhibiting non-locality and other non -classical phenomena. The argument is made that such effects as non-locality are not aberrations or departures from the norm but ordinary consequences of the process-network dynamics of Nature. Quantum processes are taken to be the fundamental action-events within Nature; rather than being the exception quantum theory is the rule. The argument is also presented that the study of quantum physics could benefit from the study of selective higher-scale complex systems, such as neural processes in the brain

Biological scaling and physics

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Unknown

Conversely, the average life-span, which is inverse to the ... Some find the catchy “life has an added dimension” (West et al ... works argument, which applies even outside biology, has .... While accounting for the (– 1/4) power, the thread of.

Novel Use of Ultrasound to Teach Reproductive System Physical Examination Skills and Pelvic Anatomy.

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Parikh, Tejal; Czuzak, Maria; Bui, Naomi; Wildner, Corinna; Koch, Bryna; Leko, Elizabeth; Rappaport, William; Adhikari, Srikar; Gordon, Paul; Gura, Mike; Ellis, Susan

2018-03-01

To determine whether integration of ultrasound (US) into a reproductive system examination clinical skills lab can increase confidence in palpating key reproductive structures during testicular and bimanual pelvic examinations, reduce anxiety about conducting testicular and bimanual pelvic examinations, and improve performance on multiple-choice questions based on structure identification using US images. Second-year medical students enrolled in the Life Cycle preclinical course participated in this cross-sectional study. A single learning activity was developed to pair the teaching of the reproductive system physical examination with the use of US in the clinical skills lab. The evaluation of the teaching session consisted of a pre-post analysis of student self-reported knowledge, confidence, and anxiety. The response rate for the pre survey was 82% (n = 96), and the rate for the post survey was 79% (n = 93). Students' confidence in their ability to identify reproductive system structures on US images increased from pre to post survey. Their confidence in their ability to palpate the epididymis, uterus, and ovary during a physical examination improved, and their anxiety about conducting testicular and bimanual pelvic examinations decreased. Student satisfaction with the session was high. Students' performance on multiple-choice questions based on structure identification using US images was at 96% or higher. Our study findings support the integration of US into a reproductive system examination clinical skills lab. Medical students acquire competency and confidence in reproductive system physical examination skills with US integration. © 2017 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.

Pre-Participation Physical Examinations

Science.gov (United States)

... live longer, healthier lives. Research shows that moderate physical activity – such as 30 minutes a day of brisk walking – significantly contributes to longevity. Even a person with risk factors like high ...

Effects of Physical Exercise on Cognitive Functioning and Wellbeing: Biological and Psychological Benefits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Mandolesi

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Much evidence shows that physical exercise (PE is a strong gene modulator that induces structural and functional changes in the brain, determining enormous benefit on both cognitive functioning and wellbeing. PE is also a protective factor for neurodegeneration. However, it is unclear if such protection is granted through modifications to the biological mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration or through better compensation against attacks. This concise review addresses the biological and psychological positive effects of PE describing the results obtained on brain plasticity and epigenetic mechanisms in animal and human studies, in order to clarify how to maximize the positive effects of PE while avoiding negative consequences, as in the case of exercise addiction.

Biological effectiveness and application of heavy ions in radiation therapy described by a physical and biological model

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Olsen, K.J.; Hansen, J.W.

1982-12-01

A description is given of the physical basis for applying track structure theory in the determination of the effectiveness of heavy-ion irradiation of single- and multi-hit target systems. It will be shown that for applying the theory to biological systems the effectiveness of heavy-ion irradiation is inadequately described by an RBE-factor, whereas the complete formulation of the probability of survival must be used, as survival depends on both radiation quality and dose. The theoretical model of track structure can be used in dose-effect calculations for neutron-, high-LET, and low-LET radiation applied simultaneously in therapy. (author)

A Mokken scale analysis of the peer physical examination questionnaire.

Science.gov (United States)

Vaughan, Brett; Grace, Sandra

2018-01-01

Peer physical examination (PPE) is a teaching and learning strategy utilised in most health profession education programs. Perceptions of participating in PPE have been described in the literature, focusing on areas of the body students are willing, or unwilling, to examine. A small number of questionnaires exist to evaluate these perceptions, however none have described the measurement properties that may allow them to be used longitudinally. The present study undertook a Mokken scale analysis of the Peer Physical Examination Questionnaire (PPEQ) to evaluate its dimensionality and structure when used with Australian osteopathy students. Students enrolled in Year 1 of the osteopathy programs at Victoria University (Melbourne, Australia) and Southern Cross University (Lismore, Australia) were invited to complete the PPEQ prior to their first practical skills examination class. R, an open-source statistics program, was used to generate the descriptive statistics and perform a Mokken scale analysis. Mokken scale analysis is a non-parametric item response theory approach that is used to cluster items measuring a latent construct. Initial analysis suggested the PPEQ did not form a single scale. Further analysis identified three subscales: 'comfort', 'concern', and 'professionalism and education'. The properties of each subscale suggested they were unidimensional with variable internal structures. The 'comfort' subscale was the strongest of the three identified. All subscales demonstrated acceptable reliability estimation statistics (McDonald's omega > 0.75) supporting the calculation of a sum score for each subscale. The subscales identified are consistent with the literature. The 'comfort' subscale may be useful to longitudinally evaluate student perceptions of PPE. Further research is required to evaluate changes with PPE and the utility of the questionnaire with other health profession education programs.

Clinical Assessment of Physical Examination Maneuvers for Superior Labral Anterior to Posterior Lesions.

Science.gov (United States)

Somerville, Lyndsay E; Willits, Kevin; Johnson, Andrew M; Litchfield, Robert; LeBel, Marie-Eve; Moro, Jaydeep; Bryant, Dianne

2017-10-01

Purpose  Shoulder pain and disability pose a diagnostic challenge owing to the numerous etiologies and the potential for multiple disorders to exist simultaneously. The evidence to support the use of clinical tests for superior labral anterior to posterior complex (SLAP) is weak or absent. The purpose of this study is to determine the diagnostic validity of physical examination maneuvers for SLAP lesions by performing a methodologically rigorous, clinically applicable study. Methods  We recruited consecutive new shoulder patients reporting pain and/or disability. The physician took a history and indicated their certainty about each possible diagnosis ("certain the diagnosis is absent/present," or "uncertain requires further testing"). The clinician performed the physical tests for diagnoses where uncertainty remained. Magnetic resonance imaging arthrogram and arthroscopic examination were the gold standards. We calculated sensitivity, specificity, and likelihood ratios (LRs) and investigated whether combinations of the top tests provided stronger predictions. Results  Ninety-three patients underwent physical examination for SLAP lesions. When using the presence of a SLAP lesion (Types I-V) as disease positive, none of the tests was sensitive (10.3-33.3) although they were moderately specific (61.3-92.6). When disease positive was defined as repaired SLAP lesion (including biceps tenodesis or tenotomy), the sensitivity (10.5-38.7) and specificity (70.6-93.8) of tests improved although not by a substantial amount. None of the tests was found to be clinically useful for predicting repairable SLAP lesions with all LRs close to one. The compression rotation test had the best LR for both definitions of disease (SLAP tear present = 1.8 and SLAP repaired = 1.67). There was no optimal combination of tests for diagnosing repairable SLAP lesions, with at least two tests positive providing the best combination of measurement properties (sensitivity 46.1% and

Normal mode analysis and applications in biological physics.

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Dykeman, Eric C; Sankey, Otto F

2010-10-27

Normal mode analysis has become a popular and often used theoretical tool in the study of functional motions in enzymes, viruses, and large protein assemblies. The use of normal modes in the study of these motions is often extremely fruitful since many of the functional motions of large proteins can be described using just a few normal modes which are intimately related to the overall structure of the protein. In this review, we present a broad overview of several popular methods used in the study of normal modes in biological physics including continuum elastic theory, the elastic network model, and a new all-atom method, recently developed, which is capable of computing a subset of the low frequency vibrational modes exactly. After a review of the various methods, we present several examples of applications of normal modes in the study of functional motions, with an emphasis on viral capsids.

Physical, biological and clinical basis of light ions using in radiotherapy: EULIMA project

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chauvel, P.

1991-01-01

Improving the efficiency of radiotherapy is a constant concern in oncology: more than half of the patients who contract cancer receive radiotherapy at some stage. Use of charged particles in radiotherapy represents indisputable progress in localization of the dose delivered to tumour masses, thereby allowing reduction of dose received by adjacent healthy tissues. Protons improve the physical selectivity of the irradiation, i.e. the dose distribution. High-LET (Linear Energy Transfer) radiations produce different biological effects, decreasing the differences in radiosensitivity, and allowing radiation therapy to control radioresistant tumours. Fast neutrons represent the most known of these high-LET particles, but they suffer of a relatively poor physical selectivity. The two approaches (physical selectivity and biological advantages) are joined in by light ions (Carbon, Oxygen, Neon). Highly selective high-LET radiation therapy can be performed for radioresistant tumours without damage to healthy tissues. Preliminary results obtained in Berkeley (USA) demonstrate an improved local control of unresectable, slowly growing tumours, confirming what could be extrapolated from proton and neutrontherapy. Furthermore, radioactive light ion beams can be used to verify the accuracy of treatment planning by checking the range of the particle with a PET camera, and in the future for the treatment itself. In the framework of its programme Europe against Cancer, the Commission of the European Communities participates in the funding of the EULIMA (European Light Ion Medical Accelerator) project feasibility study, aiming to design an hospital-based light ion therapy facility in Europe [fr

Understanding the medical markers of elder abuse and neglect: physical examination findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Gibbs, Lisa M

2014-11-01

A specific foundation of knowledge is important for evaluating potential abuse from physical findings in the older adult. The standard physical examination is a foundation for detecting many types of abuse. An understanding of traumatic injuries, including patterns of injury, is important for health care providers, and inclusion of elder abuse in the differential diagnosis of patient care is essential. One must possess the skills needed to piece the history, including functional capabilities, and physical findings together. Armed with this skill set, health care providers will develop the confidence needed to identify and intervene in cases of elder abuse. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial on the Effects of Technology-aided Testing and Feedback on Physical Activity and Biological Age Among Employees in a Medium-sized Enterprise.

Science.gov (United States)

Liukkonen, Mika; Nygård, Clas-Håkan; Laukkanen, Raija

2017-12-01

It has been suggested that engaging technology can empower individuals to be more proactive about their health and reduce their health risks. The aim of the present intervention was to study the effects of technology-aided testing and feedback on physical activity and biological age of employees in a middle-sized enterprise. In all, 121 employees (mean age 42 ± 10 years) participated in the 12-month three-arm cluster randomized trial. The fitness measurement process (Body Age) determined the participants' biological age in years. Physical activity was measured with the International Physical Activity Questionnaire Short Form. Physical activity did not change during the intervention. Biological age (better fitness) improved in all groups statistically significantly ( p  physical activity but may enhance physical fitness measured by biological age.

Allostatic load and biological anthropology.

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Edes, Ashley N; Crews, Douglas E

2017-01-01

Multiple stressors affect developing and adult organisms, thereby partly structuring their phenotypes. Determining how stressors influence health, well-being, and longevity in human and nonhuman primate populations are major foci within biological anthropology. Although much effort has been devoted to examining responses to multiple environmental and sociocultural stressors, no holistic metric to measure stress-related physiological dysfunction has been widely applied within biological anthropology. Researchers from disciplines outside anthropology are using allostatic load indices (ALIs) to estimate such dysregulation and examine life-long outcomes of stressor exposures, including morbidity and mortality. Following allostasis theory, allostatic load represents accumulated physiological and somatic damage secondary to stressors and senescent processes experienced over the lifespan. ALIs estimate this wear-and-tear using a composite of biomarkers representing neuroendocrine, cardiovascular, metabolic, and immune systems. Across samples, ALIs are associated significantly with multiple individual characteristics (e.g., age, sex, education, DNA variation) of interest within biological anthropology. They also predict future outcomes, including aspects of life history variation (e.g., survival, lifespan), mental and physical health, morbidity and mortality, and likely health disparities between groups, by stressor exposures, ethnicity, occupations, and degree of departure from local indigenous life ways and integration into external and commodified ones. ALIs also may be applied to similar stress-related research areas among nonhuman primates. Given the reports from multiple research endeavors, here we propose ALIs may be useful for assessing stressors, stress responses, and stress-related dysfunction, current and long-term cognitive function, health and well-being, and risk of early mortality across many research programs within biological anthropology. © 2017 American

Multiple physical healthcare needs among outpatients with schizophrenia: findings from a health examination study.

Science.gov (United States)

Eskelinen, Saana; Sailas, Eila; Joutsenniemi, Kaisla; Holi, Matti; Koskela, Tuomas H; Suvisaari, Jaana

2017-08-01

Despite the abundant literature on physical comorbidity, the full range of the concurrent somatic healthcare needs among individuals with schizophrenia has rarely been studied. This observational study aimed to assess the distressing somatic symptoms and needs for physical health interventions in outpatients with schizophrenia, and factors predicting those needs. A structured, comprehensive health examination was carried out, including a visit to a nurse and a general practitioner on 275 outpatients with schizophrenia. The required interventions were classified by type of disease. Logistic regression was used to assess the influence of sociodemographic factors, lifestyle, functional limitations, factors related to psychiatric disorder, and healthcare use on the need for interventions. In total, 44.9% of the patients (mean age 44.9 years) reported somatic symptoms affecting daily life; 87.6% needed specific interventions for a disease or condition, most commonly for cardiovascular, dermatological, dental, ophthalmological, and gastrointestinal conditions, and for altered glucose homeostasis. Smoking and obesity predicted significantly a need of any intervention, but the predictors varied in each disease category. Strikingly, use of general practitioner services during the previous year did not reduce the need for interventions. Health examinations for outpatients with schizophrenia revealed numerous physical healthcare needs. The health examinations for patients with schizophrenia should contain a medical history taking and a physical examination, in addition to basic measurements and laboratory tests. Prevention and treatment of obesity and smoking should be given priority in order to diminish somatic comorbidities in schizophrenia.

Relationship of physical examination test of shoulder instability to arthroscopic findings in dogs.

Science.gov (United States)

Devitt, Chad M; Neely, Marlon R; Vanvechten, Brian J

2007-10-01

To determine the diagnostic validity of commonly used physical examination maneuvers for shoulder instability. Retrospective study. Dogs (n=24) referred for shoulder arthroscopy. Results of physical maneuvers and arthroscopic findings were recorded and sensitivity, specificity, positive likelihood ratios (LR+), and negative likelihood ratios (LR-) were calculated for each of 4 physical examination test findings for arthroscopic changes in the medial, lateral, cranial, or caudal compartments of the shoulder joint viewed in dorsal recumbency by lateral and craniomedial portals. Distribution of compartment changes was: medial (17 dogs), caudal (15), cranial (12), and lateral (5). The biceps test had a moderate effect (LR+=9) on post-test probability of cranial compartment changes and a small effect on post-test probability of lateral and caudal compartment changes (LR+=3 and 2.4, respectively). Hyperabduction had a minimal effect and mediolateral instability test had a small effect (LR+=1.64 and 2.68, respectively) on post-test probability of medial compartment changes. Craniocaudal instability test had little to no effect on post-test probability of changes in any compartment. Physical examination tests evaluated were limited in their ability to predict the type of arthroscopic pathology in this study population. Clinicians should understand that a diagnostic test performs inconsistently based on prevalence of a condition in a given patient population. The use of likelihood ratios can assist clinicians in determining the probability of intraarticular changes from a group with a differing prevalence than the patient population presented.

Using the Physical Examination to Diagnose Patients with Acute Dizziness and Vertigo.

Science.gov (United States)

Edlow, Jonathan A; Newman-Toker, David

2016-04-01

Emergency department (ED) patients who present with acute dizziness or vertigo can be challenging to diagnose. Roughly half have general medical disorders that are usually apparent from the context, associated symptoms, or initial laboratory tests. The rest include a mix of common inner ear disorders and uncommon neurologic ones, particularly vertebrobasilar strokes or posterior fossa mass lesions. In these latter cases, misdiagnosis can lead to serious adverse consequences for patients. Our aim was to assist emergency physicians to use the physical examination effectively to make a specific diagnosis in patients with acute dizziness or vertigo. Recent evidence indicates that the physical examination can help physicians accurately discriminate between benign inner ear conditions and dangerous central ones, enabling correct management of peripheral vestibular disease and avoiding dangerous misdiagnoses of central ones. Patients with the acute vestibular syndrome mostly have vestibular neuritis, but some have stroke. Data suggest that focused eye movement examinations, at least when performed by specialists, are more sensitive for detecting early stroke than brain imaging, including diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging. Patients with the triggered episodic vestibular syndrome mostly have benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV), but some have posterior fossa mass lesions. Specific positional tests to provoke nystagmus can confirm a BPPV diagnosis at the bedside, enabling immediate curative therapy, or indicate the need for imaging. Emergency physicians can effectively use the physical examination to make a specific diagnosis in patients with acute dizziness or vertigo. They must understand the limitations of brain imaging. This may reduce misdiagnosis of serious central causes of dizziness, including posterior circulation stroke and posterior fossa mass lesions, and improve resource utilization. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Synthetic biological networks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Archer, Eric; Süel, Gürol M

2013-01-01

Despite their obvious relationship and overlap, the field of physics is blessed with many insightful laws, while such laws are sadly absent in biology. Here we aim to discuss how the rise of a more recent field known as synthetic biology may allow us to more directly test hypotheses regarding the possible design principles of natural biological networks and systems. In particular, this review focuses on synthetic gene regulatory networks engineered to perform specific functions or exhibit particular dynamic behaviors. Advances in synthetic biology may set the stage to uncover the relationship of potential biological principles to those developed in physics. (review article)

Continuous physical examination during subcortical resection in awake craniotomy patients: Its usefulness and surgical outcome.

Science.gov (United States)

Bunyaratavej, Krishnapundha; Sangtongjaraskul, Sunisa; Lerdsirisopon, Surunchana; Tuchinda, Lawan

2016-08-01

To evaluate the value of physical examination as a monitoring tool during subcortical resection in awake craniotomy patients and surgical outcomes. Authors reviewed medical records of patients underwent awake craniotomy with continuous physical examination for pathology adjacent to the eloquent area. Between January 2006 and August 2015, there were 37 patients underwent awake craniotomy with continuous physical examination. Pathology was located in the left cerebral hemisphere in 28 patients (75.7%). Thirty patients (81.1%) had neuroepithelial tumors. Degree of resections were defined as total, subtotal, and partial in 16 (43.2%), 11 (29.7%) and 10 (27.0%) patients, respectively. Median follow up duration was 14 months. The reasons for termination of subcortical resection were divided into 3 groups as follows: 1) by anatomical landmark with the aid of neuronavigation in 20 patients (54%), 2) by reaching subcortical stimulation threshold in 8 patients (21.6%), and 3) by abnormal physical examination in 9 patients (24.3%). Among these 3 groups, there were statistically significant differences in the intraoperative (p=0.002) and early postoperative neurological deficit (p=0.005) with the lowest deficit in neuronavigation group. However, there were no differences in neurological outcome at later follow up (3-months p=0.103; 6-months p=0.285). There were no differences in the degree of resection among the groups. Continuous physical examination has shown to be of value as an additional layer of monitoring of subcortical white matter during resection and combining several methods may help increase the efficacy of mapping and monitoring of subcortical functions. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Comparative physical, chemical and biological assessment of simple and titanium-doped ovine dentine-derived hydroxyapatite coatings fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

Science.gov (United States)

Duta, L.; Mihailescu, N.; Popescu, A. C.; Luculescu, C. R.; Mihailescu, I. N.; Çetin, G.; Gunduz, O.; Oktar, F. N.; Popa, A. C.; Kuncser, A.; Besleaga, C.; Stan, G. E.

2017-08-01

We report on the synthesis by Pulsed Laser Deposition of simple and Ti doped hydroxyapatite thin films of biological (ovine dentine) origin. Detailed physical, chemical, mechanical and biological investigations were performed. Morphological examination of films showed a surface composed of spheroidal particulates, of micronic size. Compositional analyses pointed to the presence of typical natural doping elements of bone, along with a slight non-stoichiometry of the deposited films. Structural investigations proved the monophasic hydroxyapatite nature of both simple and Ti doped films. Ti doping of biological hydroxyapatite induced an overall downgrade of the films crystallinity together with an increase of the films roughness. It is to be emphasized that bonding strength values measured at film/Ti substrate interface were superior to the minimum value imposed by International Standards regulating the load-bearing implant coatings. In vitro tests on Ti doped structures, compared to simple ones, revealed excellent biocompatibility in human mesenchymal stem cell cultures, a higher proliferation rate and a good cytocompatibility. The obtained results aim to elucidate the overall positive role of Ti doping on the hydroxyapatite films performance, and demonstrate the possibility to use this novel type of coatings as feasible materials for future implantology applications.

The Stress-Metabolic Syndrome Relationship in Adolescents: An Examination of the Moderating Potential of Physical Activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Megan E; Pivarnik, Jim; Pfeiffer, Karin; Maier, Kimberly S; Eisenmann, Joey C; Ewing, Martha

2016-10-01

The role of psychosocial stress in the development of obesity and metabolic syndrome is receiving increased attention and has led to examination of whether physical activity may moderate the stress-metabolic syndrome relationship. The current study examined relationships among physical activity, stress, and metabolic syndrome in adolescents. Participants (N = 126; 57 girls, 69 boys) were assessed for anthropometry, psychosocial stress, physical activity, and metabolic syndrome variables; t tests were used to examine sex differences, and regression analysis was used to assess relationships among variables controlling for sex and maturity status. Mean body mass index approached the 75th percentile for both sexes. Typical sex differences were observed for systolic blood pressure, time spent in moderate and vigorous physical activity, and perceived stress. Although stress was not associated with MetS (β = -.001, P = .82), a modest, positive relationship was observed with BMI (β = .20, P = .04). Strong relationships between physical activity and stress with MetS or BMI were not found in this sample. Results may be partially explained by overall good physical health status of the participants. Additional research in groups exhibiting varying degrees of health is needed.

Inadequacies of Physical Examination as a Cause of Medical Errors and Adverse Events: A Collection of Vignettes.

Science.gov (United States)

Verghese, Abraham; Charlton, Blake; Kassirer, Jerome P; Ramsey, Meghan; Ioannidis, John P A

2015-12-01

Oversights in the physical examination are a type of medical error not easily studied by chart review. They may be a major contributor to missed or delayed diagnosis, unnecessary exposure to contrast and radiation, incorrect treatment, and other adverse consequences. Our purpose was to collect vignettes of physical examination oversights and to capture the diversity of their characteristics and consequences. A cross-sectional study using an 11-question qualitative survey for physicians was distributed electronically, with data collected from February to June of 2011. The participants were all physicians responding to e-mail or social media invitations to complete the survey. There were no limitations on geography, specialty, or practice setting. Of the 208 reported vignettes that met inclusion criteria, the oversight was caused by a failure to perform the physical examination in 63%; 14% reported that the correct physical examination sign was elicited but misinterpreted, whereas 11% reported that the relevant sign was missed or not sought. Consequence of the physical examination inadequacy included missed or delayed diagnosis in 76% of cases, incorrect diagnosis in 27%, unnecessary treatment in 18%, no or delayed treatment in 42%, unnecessary diagnostic cost in 25%, unnecessary exposure to radiation or contrast in 17%, and complications caused by treatments in 4%. The mode of the number of physicians missing the finding was 2, but many oversights were missed by many physicians. Most oversights took up to 5 days to identify, but 66 took longer. Special attention and skill in examining the skin and its appendages, as well as the abdomen, groin, and genitourinary area could reduce the reported oversights by half. Physical examination inadequacies are a preventable source of medical error, and adverse events are caused mostly by failure to perform the relevant examination. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Examining problem solving in physics-intensive Ph.D. research

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne E. Leak

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Problem-solving strategies learned by physics undergraduates should prepare them for real-world contexts as they transition from students to professionals. Yet, graduate students in physics-intensive research face problems that go beyond problem sets they experienced as undergraduates and are solved by different strategies than are typically learned in undergraduate coursework. This paper expands the notion of problem solving by characterizing the breadth of problems and problem-solving processes carried out by graduate students in physics-intensive research. We conducted semi-structured interviews with ten graduate students to determine the routine, difficult, and important problems they engage in and problem-solving strategies they found useful in their research. A qualitative typological analysis resulted in the creation of a three-dimensional framework: context, activity, and feature (that made the problem challenging. Problem contexts extended beyond theory and mathematics to include interactions with lab equipment, data, software, and people. Important and difficult contexts blended social and technical skills. Routine problem activities were typically well defined (e.g., troubleshooting, while difficult and important ones were more open ended and had multiple solution paths (e.g., evaluating options. In addition to broadening our understanding of problems faced by graduate students, our findings explore problem-solving strategies (e.g., breaking down problems, evaluating options, using test cases or approximations and characteristics of successful problem solvers (e.g., initiative, persistence, and motivation. Our research provides evidence of the influence that problems students are exposed to have on the strategies they use and learn. Using this evidence, we have developed a preliminary framework for exploring problems from the solver’s perspective. This framework will be examined and refined in future work. Understanding problems

Examining problem solving in physics-intensive Ph.D. research

Science.gov (United States)

Leak, Anne E.; Rothwell, Susan L.; Olivera, Javier; Zwickl, Benjamin; Vosburg, Jarrett; Martin, Kelly Norris

2017-12-01

Problem-solving strategies learned by physics undergraduates should prepare them for real-world contexts as they transition from students to professionals. Yet, graduate students in physics-intensive research face problems that go beyond problem sets they experienced as undergraduates and are solved by different strategies than are typically learned in undergraduate coursework. This paper expands the notion of problem solving by characterizing the breadth of problems and problem-solving processes carried out by graduate students in physics-intensive research. We conducted semi-structured interviews with ten graduate students to determine the routine, difficult, and important problems they engage in and problem-solving strategies they found useful in their research. A qualitative typological analysis resulted in the creation of a three-dimensional framework: context, activity, and feature (that made the problem challenging). Problem contexts extended beyond theory and mathematics to include interactions with lab equipment, data, software, and people. Important and difficult contexts blended social and technical skills. Routine problem activities were typically well defined (e.g., troubleshooting), while difficult and important ones were more open ended and had multiple solution paths (e.g., evaluating options). In addition to broadening our understanding of problems faced by graduate students, our findings explore problem-solving strategies (e.g., breaking down problems, evaluating options, using test cases or approximations) and characteristics of successful problem solvers (e.g., initiative, persistence, and motivation). Our research provides evidence of the influence that problems students are exposed to have on the strategies they use and learn. Using this evidence, we have developed a preliminary framework for exploring problems from the solver's perspective. This framework will be examined and refined in future work. Understanding problems graduate students

Depressive symptoms predict head and neck cancer survival: Examining plausible behavioral and biological pathways.

Science.gov (United States)

Zimmaro, Lauren A; Sephton, Sandra E; Siwik, Chelsea J; Phillips, Kala M; Rebholz, Whitney N; Kraemer, Helena C; Giese-Davis, Janine; Wilson, Liz; Bumpous, Jeffrey M; Cash, Elizabeth D

2018-03-01

Head and neck cancers are associated with high rates of depression, which may increase the risk for poorer immediate and long-term outcomes. Here it was hypothesized that greater depressive symptoms would predict earlier mortality, and behavioral (treatment interruption) and biological (treatment response) mediators were examined. Patients (n = 134) reported depressive symptomatology at treatment planning. Clinical data were reviewed at the 2-year follow-up. Greater depressive symptoms were associated with significantly shorter survival (hazard ratio, 0.868; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.819-0.921; P ratio, 0.865; 95% CI, 0.774-0.966; P = .010), and poorer treatment response (odds ratio, 0.879; 95% CI, 0.803-0.963; P = .005). The poorer treatment response partially explained the depression-survival relation. Other known prognostic indicators did not challenge these results. Depressive symptoms at the time of treatment planning predict overall 2-year mortality. Effects are partly influenced by the treatment response. Depression screening and intervention may be beneficial. Future studies should examine parallel biological pathways linking depression to cancer survival, including endocrine disruption and inflammation. Cancer 2018;124:1053-60. © 2018 American Cancer Society. © 2018 American Cancer Society.

Predicting Salmonella populations from biological, chemical, and physical indicators in Florida surface waters.

Science.gov (United States)

McEgan, Rachel; Mootian, Gabriel; Goodridge, Lawrence D; Schaffner, Donald W; Danyluk, Michelle D

2013-07-01

Coliforms, Escherichia coli, and various physicochemical water characteristics have been suggested as indicators of microbial water quality or index organisms for pathogen populations. The relationship between the presence and/or concentration of Salmonella and biological, physical, or chemical indicators in Central Florida surface water samples over 12 consecutive months was explored. Samples were taken monthly for 12 months from 18 locations throughout Central Florida (n = 202). Air and water temperature, pH, oxidation-reduction potential (ORP), turbidity, and conductivity were measured. Weather data were obtained from nearby weather stations. Aerobic plate counts and most probable numbers (MPN) for Salmonella, E. coli, and coliforms were performed. Weak linear relationships existed between biological indicators (E. coli/coliforms) and Salmonella levels (R(2) Florida surface water through logistic regression.

The Hanford Nuclear Reservation (1943-1987): a case study of the interface between physics and biology during the cold war

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Macuglia, Daniele [Fishbein Center for the History of Science and Medicine, University of Chicago, IL (United States)

2011-07-01

During its active period (1943-1987) the Hanford Nuclear Reservation shaped the history of US nuclear research. It also constitutes an interesting case study of the interface between physics, biology and the politics of Cold War society. Although supposed to turn the US into a stronger military force during the Cold War, the remarkable biological consequences of the nuclear research carried out in the facility ended up overshadowing its original political purpose. The high-level of radioactive waste harmed thousands of people living in the area, causing relevant environmental disasters which make the site the most contaminated area in the US even today. Nuclear research is uniquely dangerous since radiation can cause severe consequences both in terms of lives injured and environmental damage. I address various ways in which nuclear physics and biology were used - and abused - at the Hanford Site to combine the needs of politics with the needs of a healthy society. This paper further investigates the moral responsibility of science to society and the way in which biological research informed nuclear physics about the deleterious consequences of radiation on environment and on the human body.

Can Physical Examination Create a Stener Lesion?

Science.gov (United States)

Lankachandra, Manesha; Eggers, John P; Bogener, James W; Hutchison, Richard L

2017-09-01

The purpose of this study is to determine whether a Stener lesion can be created while testing stability of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) of the thumb. Testing was performed in a manner that reproduced clinical examination. Six fresh frozen hand and forearm specimens underwent sequential sectioning of the accessory UCL, the proper UCL, and the ulnar sagittal band. Measurements of radial deviation of the metacarpophalangeal (MCP) joint were taken with the thumb in neutral rotation, pronation and supination, both with 0 degrees and with 30 degrees of flexion of the MCP joint. Visual examination was performed to assess the presence of a Stener lesion. No Stener lesion was created in any position as long as the fascial origin of the ulnar sagittal band at the adductor pollicis longus remained intact. After creating a defect in the ulnar sagittal band, a Stener lesion was created in two specimens, but only when the thumb was flexed and supinated. Pronation provided more stability, and supination provided less stability, with one or both components cut, especially when testing at 30° of flexion. Compared to both components cut without flexion or rotation, there was a statistically significant difference in angulation with the 30 degrees of MCP joint flexion in both neutral rotation in supination. Performing a physical examination to assess the amount of instability of an ulnar collateral ligament injury did not create a Stener lesion if the exam was performed in a controlled, gentle manner with the thumb held without rotation. If the thumb is held in neutral rotation during the exam, an iatrogenic Stener lesion should not be created.

Treatment plan ranking using physical and biological indices

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ebert, M. A.; University of Western Asutralia, WA

2001-01-01

Full text: The ranking of dose distributions is of importance in several areas such as i) comparing rival treatment plans, ii) comparing iterations in an optimisation routine, and iii) dose-assessment of clinical trial data. This study aimed to investigate the influence of choice of objective function in ranking tumour dose distributions. A series of physical (mean, maximum, minimum, standard deviation of dose) dose-volume histogram (DVH) reduction indices and biologically-based (tumour-control probability - TCP; equivalent uniform dose -EUD) indices were used to rank a series of hypothetical DVHs, as well as DVHs obtained from a series of 18 prostate patients. The distribution in ranking and change in distribution with change in indice parameters were investigated. It is found that not only is the ranking of DVHs dependent on the actual model used to perform the DVH reduction, it is also found to depend on the inherent characteristics of each model (i.e., selected parameters). The adjacent figure shows an example where the 18 prostate patients are ranked (grey-scale from black to white) by EUD when an α value of 0.8 Gy -1 is used in the model. The change of ranking as α varies is evident. Conclusion: This study has shown that the characteristics of the model selected in plan optimisation or DVH ranking will have an impact on the ranking obtained. Copyright (2001) Australasian College of Physical Scientists and Engineers in Medicine

Nuclear physics and biology

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Valentin, L.

1994-01-01

This paper is about nuclear instrumentation and biological concepts, based on images from appropriate Β detectors. First, three detectors are described: the SOFI detector, for gene mapping, the SOFAS detector, for DNA sequencing and the RIHR detector, for in situ hybridization. Then, the paper presents quantitative imaging in molecular genetic and functional imaging. (TEC)

Tritium in the Physical and Biological Sciences. V. 1. Proceedings of a Symposium

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1962-01-15

The use of tritium for research in physics, chemistry, biology and hydrology has in recent years become increasingly important. It was for this reason that the first international conference to discuss the progress of new developments was organized by the IAEA in conjunction with the Joint Commission on Applied Radioactivity and held from 3-10 May 1961, in Vienna. The first five sessions of the Symposium were devoted to the use of tritium in hydrology, physics and chemistry. Special emphasis was laid on the role of tritium as a tracer in hydrology, especially in the study of water movement. The establishment and improvement of counting and detection techniques to facilitate the application of tritium as a tracer was another aspect discussed in this part of the proceedings. Papers were read on the preparation of tritiated compounds and it was generally agreed that further clarification of the mechanism of various techniques, and of the Wilzbach gas exposure technique in particular, would lead to further developments in the synthesis of a number of tritium compounds important in biology. Other papers were concerned with tritium applications to studies of the mechanism of some chemical reactions together with the effects of tritium isotopes. During the second part of the Symposium the biological applications of tritium and tritiated compounds were discussed. These included general problems connected with the biological uses of tritium and the radiation effects of tritium on living organisms such as viruses, bacteria and cancer cells. The value of tritium in biological studies became apparent because of the ease with which a large number of metabolically active compounds such as hormones, vitamins and other important constituents in the body can be labelled with tritium. Tritium is also a weak beta-emitter and autoradiographie s of tissues and single cells containing tritium-labelled compounds allow an excellent localization of the tracer. The Symposium was attended by

IBPRO - A Novel Short-Duration Teaching Course in Advanced Physics and Biology Underlying Cancer Radiotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Joiner, Michael C; Tracey, Monica W; Kacin, Sara E; Burmeister, Jay W

2017-06-01

This article provides a summary and status report of the ongoing advanced education program IBPRO - Integrated course in Biology and Physics of Radiation Oncology. IBPRO is a five-year program funded by NCI. It addresses the recognized deficiency in the number of mentors available who have the required knowledge and skill to provide the teaching and training that is required for future radiation oncologists and researchers in radiation sciences. Each year, IBPRO brings together 50 attendees typically at assistant professor level and upwards, who are already qualified/certified radiation oncologists, medical physicists or biologists. These attendees receive keynote lectures and activities based on active learning strategies, merging together the clinical, biological and physics underpinnings of radiation oncology, at the forefront of the field. This experience is aimed at increasing collaborations, raising the level and amount of basic and applied research undertaken in radiation oncology, and enabling attendees to confidently become involved in the future teaching and training of researchers and radiation oncologists.

Chronic low back pain in older adults: prevalence, reliability, and validity of physical examination findings.

Science.gov (United States)

Weiner, Debra K; Sakamoto, Sara; Perera, Subashan; Breuer, Paula

2006-01-01

To develop a structured physical examination protocol that identifies common biomechanical and soft-tissue abnormalities for older adults with chronic low back pain (CLBP) that can be used as a triage tool for healthcare providers and to test the interobserver reliability and discriminant validity of this protocol. Cross-sectional survey and examination. Older adult pain clinic. One hundred eleven community-dwelling adults aged 60 and older with CLBP and 20 who were pain-free. Clinical history for demographics, pain duration, previous lumbar surgery or advanced imaging, neurogenic claudication, and imaging clinically serious symptoms. Physical examination for scoliosis, functional leg length discrepancy, pain with lumbar movement, myofascial pain (paralumbar, piriformis, tensor fasciae latae (TFL)), regional bone pain (sacroiliac joint (SIJ), hip, vertebral body), and fibromyalgia. Scoliosis was prevalent in those with (77.5%) and without pain (60.0%), but prevalence of SIJ pain (84% vs 5%), fibromyalgia tender points (19% vs 0%), myofascial pain (96% vs 10%), and hip pain (48% vs 0%) was significantly different between groups (P physical examination. Their recognition may save unnecessary healthcare expenditure and patient suffering.

The effects of urbanization on the biological, physical, and chemical characteristics of coastal New England streams

Science.gov (United States)

Coles, James F.; Cuffney, Thomas F.; McMahon, Gerard; Beaulieu, Karen M.

2004-01-01

During August 2000, responses of biological communities (invertebrates, fish, and algae), physical habitat, and water chemistry to urban intensity were compared among 30 streams within 80 miles of Boston, Massachusetts. Sites chosen for sampling represented a gradient of the intensity of urban development (urban intensity) among drainage basins that had minimal natural variability. In this study, spatial differences were used as surrogates for temporal changes to represent the effects of urbanization over time. The degree of urban intensity for each drainage basin was characterized with a standardized urban index (0-100, lowest to highest) derived from land cover, infrastructure, and socioeconomic variables. Multivariate and multimetric analyses were used to compare urban index values with biological, physical, and chemical data to determine how the data indicated responses to urbanization. Multivariate ordinations were derived for the invertebrate-, fish-, and algae-community data by use of correspondence analysis, and ordinations were derived for the chemical and physical data by use of principal-component analysis. Site scores from each of the ordinations were plotted in relation to the urban index to test for a response. In all cases, the primary axis scores showed the strongest response to the urban index, indicating that urbanization was a primary factor affecting the data ordination. For the multimetric analyses, each of the biological data sets was used to calculate a series of community metrics. For the sets of chemical and physical data, the individual variables and various combinations of individual variables were used as measured and derived metrics, respectively. Metrics that were generally most responsive to the urban index for each data set included: EPT (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera) taxa for invertebrates; cyprinid taxa for fish; diatom taxa for algae; bicarbonate, conductivity, and nitrogen for chemistry; and water depth and temperature

Nonequilibrium thermodynamics transport and rate processes in physical, chemical and biological systems

CERN Document Server

Demirel, Yasar

2014-01-01

Natural phenomena consist of simultaneously occurring transport processes and chemical reactions. These processes may interact with each other and may lead to self-organized structures, fluctuations, instabilities, and evolutionary systems. Nonequilibrium Thermodynamics, 3rd edition emphasizes the unifying role of thermodynamics in analyzing the natural phenomena. This third edition updates and expands on the first and second editions by focusing on the general balance equations for coupled processes of physical, chemical, and biological systems. The new edition contains a new chapte

Physical and biological pretreatment quality assurance of the head and neck cancer plan with the volumetric modulated arc therapy

Science.gov (United States)

Park, So-Hyun; Lee, Dong-Soo; Lee, Yun-Hee; Lee, Seu-Ran; Kim, Min-Ju; Suh, Tae-Suk

2015-09-01

The aim of this work is to demonstrate both the physical and the biological quality assurance (QA) aspects as pretreatment QA of the head and neck (H&N) cancer plan for the volumetric modulated arc therapy (VMAT). Ten H&N plans were studied. The COMPASS® dosimetry analysis system and the tumor control probability (TCP) and the normal tissue complication probability (NTCP) calculation free program were used as the respective measurement and calculation tools. The reliability of these tools was verified by a benchmark study in accordance with the TG-166 report. For the physical component of QA, the gamma passing rates and the false negative cases between the calculated and the measured data were evaluated. The biological component of QA was performed based on the equivalent uniform dose (EUD), TCP and NTCP values. The evaluation was performed for the planning target volumes (PTVs) and the organs at risks (OARs), including the eyes, the lens, the parotid glands, the esophagus, the spinal cord, and the brainstem. All cases had gamma passing rates above 95% at an acceptance tolerance level with the 3%/3 mm criteria. In addition, the false negative instances were presented for the PTVs and OARs. The gamma passing rates exhibited a weak correlation with false negative cases. For the biological QA, the physical dose errors affect the EUD and the TCP for the PTVs, but no linear correlation existed between them. The EUD and NTCP for the OARs were shown the random differences that could not be attributed to the dose errors from the physical QA. The differences in the EUD and NTCP between the calculated and the measured results were mainly demonstrated for the parotid glands. This study describes the importance and the necessity of improved QA to accompany both the physical and the biological aspects for accurate radiation treatment.

Predicting Salmonella Populations from Biological, Chemical, and Physical Indicators in Florida Surface Waters

OpenAIRE

McEgan, Rachel; Mootian, Gabriel; Goodridge, Lawrence D.; Schaffner, Donald W.; Danyluk, Michelle D.

2013-01-01

Coliforms, Escherichia coli, and various physicochemical water characteristics have been suggested as indicators of microbial water quality or index organisms for pathogen populations. The relationship between the presence and/or concentration of Salmonella and biological, physical, or chemical indicators in Central Florida surface water samples over 12 consecutive months was explored. Samples were taken monthly for 12 months from 18 locations throughout Central Florida (n = 202). Air and wat...

The diagnostic value of history and physical examination for COPD in suspected or known cases: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Broekhuizen, Berna D L; Sachs, Alfred P E; Oostvogels, Rimke; Hoes, Arno W; Verheij, Theo J M; Moons, Karel G M

2009-08-01

According to current guidelines, spirometry should be performed in patients suspected of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) by the results of history taking and physical examination. However, little is known about the diagnostic value of patient history and physical examination for COPD. To review the existing evidence on the diagnostic value of history taking and physical examination in recognizing COPD in patients suspected of COPD. A systematic literature search was performed in electronic medical databases. Studies were included after using defined inclusion and exclusion criteria and judged on their methodological quality by using the Quality Assessment of Diagnostic Accuracy Studies criteria. A formal meta-analysis was not performed because all studied items of history and physical examination were investigated in only in a maximum of three studies. Six studies were included. The history items dyspnoea, wheezing, previous consultation for wheezing or cough, self-reported COPD, age and smoking and the physical examination items wheezing, forced expiratory time, laryngeal height and prolonged expiration were found to have diagnostic value for COPD. These items were studied in maximally three studies and study population studies were heterogenic. The reference test for COPD in five of the six studies concerned obstructive lung disease in general and not COPD. There is insufficient evidence to assess the value of history taking and physical examination for diagnosing COPD.

Requirements for the special examination of isotope diagnostic specialists

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Csakany, Gyoergy

1986-01-01

Isotope diagnostic specialists are required to possess general paraclinical knowledge about nuclear physical principles, basic radiological measuring methods including up-to-date ones such as scintiscanning and tomography, as well as about radiopharmacology, radiation biology, health physics, radiation protection and organizational and economic aspects of the examinations. Clinical isotope diagnostic requirements comprise the proper selection among different radiological methods, the correct application of certain diagnostic procedures in practise, and the evaluation of the results in accordance with the symptoms on various fields of medical science. (V.N.)

Physics for doctors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Seibt, W.

1987-01-01

The author of this short text book treats all theme ranges of the subject catalogue for the medical preliminary examination and presents simultaneously the foundations of physics in a simple, concise, and although closed form. Many examples, which have a close relation to working-day and environment and which origin whenever possible from the medical field, illustrate the physical facts and laws. So it is suggested to the reader that finally all life processes and also a manifold of diagnostic and therapeutic methods are based on physical laws. The mathematical tools, which are also for this elementary representation indispensable, are mediated in the first chapter of the book. Also here examples from medicine and biology establish the direct relation to the main study. The easily understandable layout of the book with many illustrative pictures, especially pronounced definitions, as well as summarizing tables facilitates the fast repeating in the preparation for the examination. Generally the book presents to the student of medicine the physical knowledge important for him in a balanced and easily accessible form. (orig.) [de

Graduate student training and creating new physics labs for biology students, killing two birds with one stone.

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Barbara

2001-03-01

At UCSD biology majors are required to take 3 quarters of a calculus based physics course. This is taught in a standard format large lecture class partly by faculty and partly by freeway flyers. We are working with physics graduate students who are also participating in our PFPF (Preparing Future Physics Faculty) program to write, review, and teach new weekly labs for these biology students. This provides an experience for the grad student that is both rewarding to them and useful to the department. The grad students participate in curriculum development, they observe the students behaviour in the labs, and assess the effectiveness of different lab formats. The labs are intended to provide an interactive, hands on experience with a wide variety of equipment which is mostly both simple and inexpensive. Both students and grads find the labs to be engaging and fun. Based on group discussions the labs are modified to try to try to create the best teaching environment. The biology students benefit from the improvements both in the quality of the labs they do, and from the enthusiasm of the TAs who take an active interest in their learning. The ability to make significant changes to the material taught maintains the interest of the grad students and helps to make the labs a stable and robust environment.

Interest in STEM is contagious for students in biology, chemistry, and physics classes.

Science.gov (United States)

Hazari, Zahra; Potvin, Geoff; Cribbs, Jennifer D; Godwin, Allison; Scott, Tyler D; Klotz, Leidy

2017-08-01

We report on a study of the effect of peers' interest in high school biology, chemistry, and physics classes on students' STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)-related career intentions and course achievement. We define an interest quorum as a science class where students perceive a high level of interest for the subject matter from their classmates. We hypothesized that students who experience such an interest quorum are more likely to choose STEM careers. Using data from a national survey study of students' experiences in high school science, we compared the effect of five levels of peer interest reported in biology, chemistry, and physics courses on students' STEM career intentions. The results support our hypothesis, showing a strong, positive effect of an interest quorum even after controlling for differences between students that pose competing hypotheses such as previous STEM career interest, academic achievement, family support for mathematics and science, and gender. Smaller positive effects of interest quorums were observed for course performance in some cases, with no detrimental effects observed across the study. Last, significant effects persisted even after controlling for differences in teaching quality. This work emphasizes the likely importance of interest quorums for creating classroom environments that increase students' intentions toward STEM careers while enhancing or maintaining course performance.

Interest in STEM is contagious for students in biology, chemistry, and physics classes

Science.gov (United States)

Hazari, Zahra; Potvin, Geoff; Cribbs, Jennifer D.; Godwin, Allison; Scott, Tyler D.; Klotz, Leidy

2017-01-01

We report on a study of the effect of peers’ interest in high school biology, chemistry, and physics classes on students’ STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics)–related career intentions and course achievement. We define an interest quorum as a science class where students perceive a high level of interest for the subject matter from their classmates. We hypothesized that students who experience such an interest quorum are more likely to choose STEM careers. Using data from a national survey study of students‘ experiences in high school science, we compared the effect of five levels of peer interest reported in biology, chemistry, and physics courses on students‘ STEM career intentions. The results support our hypothesis, showing a strong, positive effect of an interest quorum even after controlling for differences between students that pose competing hypotheses such as previous STEM career interest, academic achievement, family support for mathematics and science, and gender. Smaller positive effects of interest quorums were observed for course performance in some cases, with no detrimental effects observed across the study. Last, significant effects persisted even after controlling for differences in teaching quality. This work emphasizes the likely importance of interest quorums for creating classroom environments that increase students’ intentions toward STEM careers while enhancing or maintaining course performance. PMID:28808678

Physical, chemical, and biological data collected in Weeks Bay, Alabama (June 1990 - May 2000) (NODC Accession 0116469)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — Abstract: This dataset contains ten years of physical, chemical, and biological data collected during shipboard surveys in Weeks Bay, Alabama, between June 1990 and...

Physics through the 1990s: scientific interfaces and technological applications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1986-01-01

The volume examines the scientific interfaces and technological applications of physics. Twelve areas are dealt with: biological physics--biophysics, the brain, and theoretical biology; the physics-chemistry interface--instrumentation, surfaces, neutron and synchrotron radiation, polymers, organic electronic materials; materials science; geophysics--tectonics, the atmosphere and oceans, planets, drilling and seismic exploration, and remote sensing; computational physics--complex systems and applications in basic research; mathematics--field theory and chaos; microelectronics--integrated circuits, miniaturization, future trends; optical information technologies--fiber optics and photonics; instrumentation; physics applications to energy needs and the environment; national security--devices, weapons, and arms control; medical physics--radiology, ultrasonics, NMR, and photonics. An executive summary and many chapters contain recommendations regarding funding, education, industry participation, small-group university research and large facility programs, government agency programs, and computer database needs

Subjective neighborhood assessment and physical inactivity: An examination of neighborhood-level variance.

Science.gov (United States)

Prochaska, John D; Buschmann, Robert N; Jupiter, Daniel; Mutambudzi, Miriam; Peek, M Kristen

2018-06-01

Research suggests a linkage between perceptions of neighborhood quality and the likelihood of engaging in leisure-time physical activity. Often in these studies, intra-neighborhood variance is viewed as something to be controlled for statistically. However, we hypothesized that intra-neighborhood variance in perceptions of neighborhood quality may be contextually relevant. We examined the relationship between intra-neighborhood variance of subjective neighborhood quality and neighborhood-level reported physical inactivity across 48 neighborhoods within a medium-sized city, Texas City, Texas using survey data from 2706 residents collected between 2004 and 2006. Neighborhoods where the aggregated perception of neighborhood quality was poor also had a larger proportion of residents reporting being physically inactive. However, higher degrees of disagreement among residents within neighborhoods about their neighborhood quality was significantly associated with a lower proportion of residents reporting being physically inactive (p=0.001). Our results suggest that intra-neighborhood variability may be contextually relevant in studies seeking to better understand the relationship between neighborhood quality and behaviors sensitive to neighborhood environments, like physical activity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

"Heidelberg standard examination" and "Heidelberg standard procedures" - Development of faculty-wide standards for physical examination techniques and clinical procedures in undergraduate medical education.

Science.gov (United States)

Nikendei, C; Ganschow, P; Groener, J B; Huwendiek, S; Köchel, A; Köhl-Hackert, N; Pjontek, R; Rodrian, J; Scheibe, F; Stadler, A-K; Steiner, T; Stiepak, J; Tabatabai, J; Utz, A; Kadmon, M

2016-01-01

The competent physical examination of patients and the safe and professional implementation of clinical procedures constitute essential components of medical practice in nearly all areas of medicine. The central objective of the projects "Heidelberg standard examination" and "Heidelberg standard procedures", which were initiated by students, was to establish uniform interdisciplinary standards for physical examination and clinical procedures, and to distribute them in coordination with all clinical disciplines at the Heidelberg University Hospital. The presented project report illuminates the background of the initiative and its methodological implementation. Moreover, it describes the multimedia documentation in the form of pocketbooks and a multimedia internet-based platform, as well as the integration into the curriculum. The project presentation aims to provide orientation and action guidelines to facilitate similar processes in other faculties.

Is physical examination required before prescribing hormones to patients with gender dysphoria?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Vardi, Y.; Wylie, K.R.; Moser, C; Assalian, P.; Dean, J.; Asscheman, H.

2008-01-01

Introduction. A genital examination can have psychologic effects on a patient, particularly when the source of their sexual medicine complaint is a body part. How necessary is a physical exam before prescribing hormones in cases of gender dsyphoria? Methods. Five people with expertise and/or

Correlation between physical examination and intraoperative findings in shoulder disease treated by arthroscopy. Statistical analysis of 150 patients.

Science.gov (United States)

García Parra, P; Anaya Rojas, M; Jiménez Bravo, B; González Oria, M O; Lisbona Muñoz, M; Gil Álvarez, J J; Cano Luis, P

2016-01-01

Only a few clinical exploratory manoeuvres are truly discriminatory and useful in shoulder disease. The aim of this study is to correlate the physical examination results of the shoulder with the true diagnosis found by arthroscopy. A retrospective case series of 150 patients with the most common surgical conditions of the shoulder. Data were collected on the suspicion of each pathology, the physical examination of the patient, and the actual discovery of the disease during arthroscopic surgery. The Bankart examination manoeuvres of the lesion show the best results, with a 92.1% positive prediction value (PPV), a 99.1% negative predictive value (NPV), followed by the impingement syndrome, with a PPV of 94.4%, and total cuff rupture with a PPV of 92.3%.Exploration of the superior labrum anterior to posterior (SLAP) lesion had an NPV of 99.1%. Physical examination is sufficient to diagnose or rule out Bankart. A positive physical examination provides the complete rupture of the rotator cuff, and requires further studies. The patients suspected of subacromial syndrome only need an NMR if the physical tests are negative. The conclusions drawn from this work can have a significant impact on both cost savings (by reducing forward tests), and saving time in certain cases in which, after appropriate physical examination, surgery may be indicated without losing time in intermediate steps. Copyright © 2016 SECOT. Publicado por Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Biological effects and physical safety aspects of NMR imaging and in vivo spectroscopy

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tenforde, T.S.; Budinger, T.F.

1985-08-01

An assessment is made of the biological effects and physical hazards of static and time-varying fields associated with the NMR devices that are being used for clinical imaging and in vivo spectroscopy. A summary is given of the current state of knowledge concerning the mechanisms of interaction and the bioeffects of these fields. Additional topics that are discussed include: (1) physical effects on pacemakers and metallic implants such as aneurysm clips, (2) human health studies related to the effects of exposure to nonionizing electromagnetic radiation, and (3) extant guidelines for limiting exposure of patients and medical personnel to the fields produced by NMR devices. On the basis of information available at the present time, it is concluded that the fields associated with the current generation of NMR devices do not pose a significant health risk in themselves. However, rigorous guidelines must be followed to avoid the physical interaction of these fields with metallic implants and medical electronic devices. 476 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs.

Biological effects and physical safety aspects of NMR imaging and in vivo spectroscopy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tenforde, T.S.; Budinger, T.F.

1985-08-01

An assessment is made of the biological effects and physical hazards of static and time-varying fields associated with the NMR devices that are being used for clinical imaging and in vivo spectroscopy. A summary is given of the current state of knowledge concerning the mechanisms of interaction and the bioeffects of these fields. Additional topics that are discussed include: (1) physical effects on pacemakers and metallic implants such as aneurysm clips, (2) human health studies related to the effects of exposure to nonionizing electromagnetic radiation, and (3) extant guidelines for limiting exposure of patients and medical personnel to the fields produced by NMR devices. On the basis of information available at the present time, it is concluded that the fields associated with the current generation of NMR devices do not pose a significant health risk in themselves. However, rigorous guidelines must be followed to avoid the physical interaction of these fields with metallic implants and medical electronic devices. 476 refs., 5 figs., 2 tabs

Context dependence of students' views about the role of equations in understanding biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Watkins, Jessica; Elby, Andrew

2013-06-01

Students' epistemological views about biology--their ideas about what "counts" as learning and understanding biology--play a role in how they approach their courses and respond to reforms. As introductory biology courses incorporate more physics and quantitative reasoning, student attitudes about the role of equations in biology become especially relevant. However, as documented in research in physics education, students' epistemologies are not always stable and fixed entities; they can be dynamic and context-dependent. In this paper, we examine an interview with an introductory student in which she discusses the use of equations in her reformed biology course. In one part of the interview, she expresses what sounds like an entrenched negative stance toward the role equations can play in understanding biology. However, later in the interview, when discussing a different biology topic, she takes a more positive stance toward the value of equations. These results highlight how a given student can have diverse ways of thinking about the value of bringing physics and math into biology. By highlighting how attitudes can shift in response to different tasks, instructional environments, and contextual cues, we emphasize the need to attend to these factors, rather than treating students' beliefs as fixed and stable.

Promoting convergence: The integrated graduate program in physical and engineering biology at Yale University, a new model for graduate education.

Science.gov (United States)

Noble, Dorottya B; Mochrie, Simon G J; O'Hern, Corey S; Pollard, Thomas D; Regan, Lynne

2016-11-12

In 2008, we established the Integrated Graduate Program in Physical and Engineering Biology (IGPPEB) at Yale University. Our goal was to create a comprehensive graduate program to train a new generation of scientists who possess a sophisticated understanding of biology and who are capable of applying physical and quantitative methodologies to solve biological problems. Here we describe the framework of the training program, report on its effectiveness, and also share the insights we gained during its development and implementation. The program features co-teaching by faculty with complementary specializations, student peer learning, and novel hands-on courses that facilitate the seamless blending of interdisciplinary research and teaching. It also incorporates enrichment activities to improve communication skills, engage students in science outreach, and foster a cohesive program cohort, all of which promote the development of transferable skills applicable in a variety of careers. The curriculum of the graduate program is integrated with the curricular requirements of several Ph.D.-granting home programs in the physical, engineering, and biological sciences. Moreover, the wide-ranging recruiting activities of the IGPPEB serve to enhance the quality and diversity of students entering graduate school at Yale. We also discuss some of the challenges we encountered in establishing and optimizing the program, and describe the institution-level changes that were catalyzed by the introduction of the new graduate program. The goal of this article is to serve as both an inspiration and as a practical "how to" manual for those who seek to establish similar programs at their own institutions. © 2016 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 44(6):537-549, 2016. © 2016 The Authors Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Education published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

Medial tibial stress syndrome can be diagnosed reliably using history and physical examination.

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Winters, M; Bakker, E W P; Moen, M H; Barten, C C; Teeuwen, R; Weir, A

2017-02-08

The majority of sporting injuries are clinically diagnosed using history and physical examination as the cornerstone. There are no studies supporting the reliability of making a clinical diagnosis of medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS). Our aim was to assess if MTSS can be diagnosed reliably, using history and physical examination. We also investigated if clinicians were able to reliably identify concurrent lower leg injuries. A clinical reliability study was performed at multiple sports medicine sites in The Netherlands. Athletes with non-traumatic lower leg pain were assessed for having MTSS by two clinicians, who were blinded to each others' diagnoses. We calculated the prevalence, percentage of agreement, observed percentage of positive agreement (Ppos), observed percentage of negative agreement (Pneg) and Kappa-statistic with 95%CI. Forty-nine athletes participated in this study, of whom 46 completed both assessments. The prevalence of MTSS was 74%. The percentage of agreement was 96%, with Ppos and Pneg of 97% and 92%, respectively. The inter-rater reliability was almost perfect; k=0.89 (95% CI 0.74 to 1.00), phistory and physical examination, in clinical practice and research settings. We also found that concurrent lower leg injuries are common in athletes with MTSS. © Article author(s) (or their employer(s) unless otherwise stated in the text of the article) 2017. All rights reserved. No commercial use is permitted unless otherwise expressly granted.

Physics at a glance full physics content of the new GCSE

CERN Document Server

Mills, Tim

2008-01-01

This book aims to cover all the GCSE Physics material needed to meet the specifications of the examining boards Edexcel, AQA, WJEC and OCR (both 21st Century Science and Gateway) both for single and double awards. The content also covers the additional topics necessary for the Physics GCSE single award. It is the third book in the series following 'Biology at a Glance' and 'Chemistry at a Glance' and it encourages learners to use a mind mapping approach to revision. Just like the other books in the series, each page contains clear annotated illustrations that will help the reader to assimilate

Velocity-curvature patterns limit human-robot physical interaction.

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Maurice, Pauline; Huber, Meghan E; Hogan, Neville; Sternad, Dagmar

2018-01-01

Physical human-robot collaboration is becoming more common, both in industrial and service robotics. Cooperative execution of a task requires intuitive and efficient interaction between both actors. For humans, this means being able to predict and adapt to robot movements. Given that natural human movement exhibits several robust features, we examined whether human-robot physical interaction is facilitated when these features are considered in robot control. The present study investigated how humans adapt to biological and non-biological velocity patterns in robot movements. Participants held the end-effector of a robot that traced an elliptic path with either biological (two-thirds power law) or non-biological velocity profiles. Participants were instructed to minimize the force applied on the robot end-effector. Results showed that the applied force was significantly lower when the robot moved with a biological velocity pattern. With extensive practice and enhanced feedback, participants were able to decrease their force when following a non-biological velocity pattern, but never reached forces below those obtained with the 2/3 power law profile. These results suggest that some robust features observed in natural human movements are also a strong preference in guided movements. Therefore, such features should be considered in human-robot physical collaboration.

Correlating Multimodal Physical Sensor Information with Biological Analysis in Ultra Endurance Cycling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giles D.Warrington

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The sporting domain has traditionally been used as a testing ground for new technologies which subsequently make their way into the public domain. This includes sensors. In this article a range of physical and biological sensors deployed in a 64 hour ultra-endurance non-stop cycling race are described. A novel algorithm to estimate the energy expenditure while cycling and resting during the event are outlined. Initial analysis in this noisy domain of “sensors in the field” are very encouraging and represent a first with respect to cycling.

Page | 1 MEDICO-LEGAL EXAMINATION OF BIOLOGICAL ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Fr. Ikenga

what triggers sexual arousal and the responses of both male and female to ... Keywords: Biological responses, Sexual Stimulation, Rape, Defence of Provocation, Criminal Law, ..... it all control over his emotions and action but also that, that feeling had an ... It is that which arouses, moves, calls forth, causes or occasions.

Do physical examination and CT-scan measures of femoral neck anteversion and tibial torsion relate to each other?

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Sangeux, Morgan; Mahy, Jessica; Graham, H Kerr

2014-01-01

Informed clinical decision making for femoral and/or tibial de-rotation osteotomies requires accurate measurement of patient function through gait analysis and anatomy through physical examination of bony torsions. Validity of gait analysis has been extensively studied; however, controversy remains regarding the accuracy of physical examination measurements of femoral and tibial torsion. Comparison between CT-scans and physical examination measurements of femoral neck anteversion (FNA) and external tibial torsion (ETT) were retrospectively obtained for 98 (FNA) and 64 (ETT) patients who attended a tertiary hospital for instrumented gait analysis between 2007 and 2010. The physical examination methods studied for femoral neck anteversion were the trochanteric prominence angle test (TPAT) and the maximum hip rotation arc midpoint (Arc midpoint) and for external tibial torsion the transmalleolar axis (TMA). Results showed that all physical examination measurements statistically differed to the CT-scans (bias(standard deviation): -2(14) for TPAT, -10(12) for Arc midpoint and -16(9) for TMA). Bland and Altman plots showed that method disagreements increased with increasing bony torsions in all cases but notably for TPAT. Regression analysis showed that only TMA and CT-scan measurement of external tibial torsion demonstrated good (R(2)=57%) correlation. Correlations for both TPAT (R(2)=14%) and Arc midpoint (R(2)=39%) with CT-scan measurements of FNA were limited. We conclude that physical examination should be considered as screening techniques rather than definitive measurement methods for FNA and ETT. Further research is required to develop more accurate measurement methods to accompany instrumented gait analysis. Copyright © 2013. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Evaluation of effect of self-examination and physical examination on breast cancer.

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Hassan, Lotfi Mohammad; Mahmoud, Noori; Miller, Anthony B; Iraj, Harrirchi; Mohsen, Mirzaei; Majid, Jafarizadea; Reza, Sadeghian Mohammad; Mojgan, Minosepehr

2015-08-01

Breast cancer is the number one cancer of women in the world. More than 90% of breast cancers can be cured with early diagnosis followed by effective multimodality treatment. The efficacy of screening by breast self-examination (BSE) and breast physical examination (BPx) is best evaluated using randomized screening trials. A total of 12,660 women aged 35-64 years, 6330 in the intervention group and 6330 in the control group, were randomly selected from four areas of Yazd city, I.R. of Iran. The number of detected cancers along with kind of cancer, staging of cancer, the route of detected cancer and the number of deaths during the first 5 years of the study were collected and analyzed. No significance difference between the two groups was seen in respect to socio-demographic and socio-economic variables (P > 0.05). Subjects in the intervention group had a response rate of 83.5% for attending the health center and 80.2% for visiting the assigned surgeon. A total of 31 and 13 new cases of breast cancer were identified in the intervention and control groups, respectively, of which 48.5% of cases in the intervention group were breast cancer in the two groups with a ratio of 2.4 was observed. BSE & BPx have a significant effect in detecting breast cancers at early stages (<3) suggesting they are effective screening tests with high availability and low costs that can be applied at the community level. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Enhancing elderly health examination effectiveness by adding physical function evaluations and interventions.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Chia-Ming; Chang, Ching-I; Yu, Wen-Ruey; Yang, Winnie; Hsu, Chih-Cheng; Chen, Ching-Yu

This study aimed to assess the benefit of adding physical function evaluations and interventions to routine elderly health examination. This is a Quasi-experimental controlled trial. 404 elderly adults (aged 70 and over) scoring 3-6 on the Canadian Study of Health and Aging Clinical Frailty Scale Chinese In-Person Interview Version (CSHA-CFS) in a 2012 annual elderly health examination were enrolled. Both the control and experimental groups received the routine annual health examination with the latter further provided with functional evaluations, exercise instruction, and nutrition education. 112 (84.8%) persons in the experiment group and 267 (98.2%) in the control group completed the study. CSHA-CFS performance of the experimental group was more likely to improve (odds ratio=9.50, 95% confidence interval (CI)=4.62-19.56) and less likely to deteriorate (OR=0.04, 95% CI=0.01-0.31) one year after intervention. Within the experimental group, Fried Frailty Index improvement percentage surpassed the deterioration percentage (29.5% vs. 0.9%, pPhysical Performance Battery increased from 10.0±1.6 to 11.6±0.9 (pexamination appeared to benefit the health of adults aged 70 years and older. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Progress report, Biology and Health Physics Division, January 1 to March 31, 1978

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Progress of work in Biology and Health Physics Division is reported for first quarter 1978. Measurements of liquid and plastic scintillator responses over a wide range of gamma-ray energies and calculations of the shape of the Compton electron distribution have been made for different scintillator sizes. Other work performed in health physics included determination of errors involved in accurate determination of dose-equivalents resulting from tritium ingestion, and development of radiation monitors and techniques for using them to best advantage. A wide range of environmental studies were underway during the quarter, notably 14 C/ 12 C ratio measurement using an accelerator-spectrometer and contiuing studies of the beneficial uses of thermal effluents. Development of computer linkage techniques for medical records continued. Practical applications of the approach include linkage of personal exposure histories with death records pertaining to the exposed individuals. Work in the Biology Branch has continued to focus upon the effects of radiation on a variety of living organisms, ranging from bacterial viruses to humans. The principal sensitive target for long-term biological effects of radiation on all living organisms is DNA. The chemical nature of the damage caused in DNA by radiation and the response of cells to this damage is being studied by a variety of biochemical and genetic techniques. A review of literature on the causes of cancer in humans has continued. If effects are linearly related to total dose, as is normally assumed for purposes of radiation protection, then the total number of fatal cancers predicted to arise from the use of nuclear power in the future should be about 100 times less than the number induced by urban air pollution resulting from the combustion of coal and oil to produce the same amount of electricity. (OST)

Correlation between physical examination and three-dimensional gait analysis in the assessment of rotational abnormalities in children with cerebral palsy.

Science.gov (United States)

Teixeira, Fernando Borge; Ramalho Júnior, Amancio; Morais Filho, Mauro César de; Speciali, Danielli Souza; Kawamura, Catia Miyuki; Lopes, José Augusto Fernandes; Blumetti, Francesco Camara

2018-01-01

Objective To evaluate the correlation between physical examination data concerning hip rotation and tibial torsion with transverse plane kinematics in children with cerebral palsy; and to determine which time points and events of the gait cycle present higher correlation with physical examination findings. Methods A total of 195 children with cerebral palsy seen at two gait laboratories from 2008 and 2016 were included in this study. Physical examination measurements included internal hip rotation, external hip rotation, mid-point hip rotation and the transmalleolar axis angle. Six kinematic parameters were selected for each segment to assess hip rotation and shank-based foot rotation. Correlations between physical examination and kinematic measures were analyzed by Spearman correlation coefficients, and a significance level of 5% was considered. Results Comparing physical examination measurements of hip rotation and hip kinematics, we found moderate to strong correlations for all variables (pphysical examination and hip rotation kinematics (rho range: 0.48-0.61). Moderate correlations were also found between the transmalleolar axis angle measurement on physical examination and foot rotation kinematics (rho range 0.44-0.56; p<0.001). Conclusion These findings may have clinical implications in the assessment and management of transverse plane gait deviations in children with cerebral palsy.

[Physical activity: results of the German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults (DEGS1)].

Science.gov (United States)

Krug, S; Jordan, S; Mensink, G B M; Müters, S; Finger, J; Lampert, T

2013-05-01

Regular physical activity can have a positive effect on health at any age. Today's lifestyles, however, can often be characterised as sedentary. Therefore, the promotion of physical activity and sports has become an integral part of public health measures. The representative data of adults aged 18 to 79 years in Germany obtained from the "German Health Interview and Examination Survey for Adults" (DEGS1) provide an overview of self-estimated current physical activity behaviour. The results show that one third of the adult population claims to pay close attention to reaching a sufficient level of physical activity and one fourth participates in sports for at least 2 h/week on a regular basis. Thus, the percentage of adults regularly engaged in sports has increased compared to the previous "German National Health Interview and Examination Survey 1998". Still, four out of five adults do not achieve at least 2.5 h/week of moderate-intensity physical activity as recommended by the World Health Organisation. Consequently, future individual-level and population-level interventions should focus on target group-specific measures while continuing to promote regular physical activity in all segments of the population. An English full-text version of this article is available at SpringerLink as supplemental.

Comparison of Technology Use between Biology and Physics Teachers in a 1:1 Laptop Environment

Science.gov (United States)

Crook, Simon J.; Sharma, Manjula D.; Wilson, Rachel

2015-01-01

Using a mixed-methods approach the authors compared the associated practices of senior physics teachers (n = 7) and students (n = 53) in a 1:1 laptop environment with those of senior biology teachers (n = 10) and students (n = 125) also in a 1:1 laptop environment, in seven high schools in Sydney, NSW, Australia. They found that the physics…

Structures linking physical and biological processes in headwater streams of the Maybeso watershed, Southeast Alaska

Science.gov (United States)

Mason D. Bryant; Takashi Gomi; Jack J. Piccolo

2007-01-01

We focus on headwater streams originating in the mountainous terrain of northern temperate rain forests. These streams rapidly descend from gradients greater than 20% to less than 5% in U-shaped glacial valleys. We use a set of studies on headwater streams in southeast Alaska to define headwater stream catchments, link physical and biological processes, and describe...

The reliability of physical examination tests for the diagnosis of anterior cruciate ligament rupture--A systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Lange, Toni; Freiberg, Alice; Dröge, Patrik; Lützner, Jörg; Schmitt, Jochen; Kopkow, Christian

2015-06-01

Systematic literature review. Despite their frequent application in routine care, a systematic review on the reliability of clinical examination tests to evaluate the integrity of the ACL is missing. To summarize and evaluate intra- and interrater reliability research on physical examination tests used for the diagnosis of ACL tears. A comprehensive systematic literature search was conducted in MEDLINE, EMBASE and AMED until May 30th 2013. Studies were included if they assessed the intra- and/or interrater reliability of physical examination tests for the integrity of the ACL. Methodological quality was evaluated with the Quality Appraisal of Reliability Studies (QAREL) tool by two independent reviewers. 110 hits were achieved of which seven articles finally met the inclusion criteria. These studies examined the reliability of four physical examination tests. Intrarater reliability was assessed in three studies and ranged from fair to almost perfect (Cohen's k = 0.22-1.00). Interrater reliability was assessed in all included studies and ranged from slight to almost perfect (Cohen's k = 0.02-0.81). The Lachman test is the physical tests with the highest intrarater reliability (Cohen's k = 1.00), the Lachman test performed in prone position the test with the highest interrater reliability (Cohen's k = 0.81). Included studies were partly of low methodological quality. A meta-analysis could not be performed due to the heterogeneity in study populations, reliability measures and methodological quality of included studies. Systematic investigations on the reliability of physical examination tests to assess the integrity of the ACL are scarce and of varying methodological quality. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Total physical activity volume, physical activity intensity, and metabolic syndrome: 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Churilla, James R; Fitzhugh, Eugene C

2012-02-01

This study examined the association of total physical activity volume (TPAV) and physical activity (PA) from three domains [leisure-time physical activity (LTPA), domestic, transportation] with metabolic syndrome. We also investigated the relationship between LTPA intensity and metabolic syndrome risk. Sample included adults who participated in the 1999-2004 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Physical activity measures were created for TPAV, LTPA, domestic PA, and transportational PA. For each, a six-level measure based upon no PA (level 1) and quintiles (levels 2-6) of metabolic equivalents (MET)·min·wk(-1) was created. A three-level variable associated with the current Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) PA recommendation was also created. SAS and SUDAAN were used for the statistical analysis. Adults reporting the greatest volume of TPAV and LTPA were found to be 36% [odds ratio (OR) 0.64; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.49-0.83] and 42% (OR 0.58; 95% CI 0.43-0.77), respectively, less likely to have metabolic syndrome. Domestic and transportational PA provided no specific level of protection from metabolic syndrome. Those reporting a TPAV that met the DHHS PA recommendation were found to be 33% (OR 0.67; 95%; CI 0.55-0.83) less likely to have metabolic syndrome compared to their sedentary counterparts. Adults reporting engaging in only vigorous-intensity LTPA were found to be 37% (OR 0.63; 95 CI 0.42-0.96) to 56% (OR 0.44; 95% CI 0.29-0.67) less likely to have metabolic syndrome. Volume, intensity, and domain of PA may all play important roles in reducing the prevalence and risk of metabolic syndrome.

Physics must join with biology in better assessing risk from low-dose irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Feinendegen, L. E.; Neumann, R. D.

2005-01-01

This review summarises the complex response of mammalian cells and tissues to low doses of ionising radiation. This thesis encompasses induction of DNA damage, and adaptive protection against both renewed damage and against propagation of damage from the basic level of biological organisation to the clinical expression of detriment. The induction of DNA damage at low radiation doses apparently is proportional to absorbed dose at the physical/chemical level. However, any propagation of such damage to higher levels of biological organisation inherently follows a sigmoid function. Moreover, low-dose-induced inhibition of damage propagation is not linear, but instead follows a dose-effect function typical for adaptive protection, after an initial rapid rise it disappears at doses higher than ∼0.1-0.2 Gy to cells. The particular biological response duality at low radiation doses precludes the validity of the linear-no-threshold hypothesis in the attempt to relate absorbed dose to cancer. In fact, theory and observation support not only a lower cancer incidence than expected from the linear-no-threshold hypothesis, but also a reduction of spontaneously occurring cancer, a hormetic response, in the healthy individual. (authors)

Biological effectiveness of neutrons: Research needs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Casarett, G.W.; Braby, L.A.; Broerse, J.J.; Elkind, M.M.; Goodhead, D.T.; Oleinick, N.L.

1994-02-01

The goal of this report was to provide a conceptual plan for a research program that would provide a basis for determining more precisely the biological effectiveness of neutron radiation with emphasis on endpoints relevant to the protection of human health. This report presents the findings of the experts for seven particular categories of scientific information on neutron biological effectiveness. Chapter 2 examines the radiobiological mechanisms underlying the assumptions used to estimate human risk from neutrons and other radiations. Chapter 3 discusses the qualitative and quantitative models used to organize and evaluate experimental observations and to provide extrapolations where direct observations cannot be made. Chapter 4 discusses the physical principles governing the interaction of radiation with biological systems and the importance of accurate dosimetry in evaluating radiation risk and reducing the uncertainty in the biological data. Chapter 5 deals with the chemical and molecular changes underlying cellular responses and the LET dependence of these changes. Chapter 6, in turn, discusses those cellular and genetic changes which lead to mutation or neoplastic transformation. Chapters 7 and 8 examine deterministic and stochastic effects, respectively, and the data required for the prediction of such effects at different organizational levels and for the extrapolation from experimental results in animals to risks for man. Gaps and uncertainties in this data are examined relative to data required for establishing radiation protection standards for neutrons and procedures for the effective and safe use of neutron and other high-LET radiation therapy

Biological effectiveness of neutrons: Research needs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Casarett, G.W.; Braby, L.A.; Broerse, J.J.; Elkind, M.M.; Goodhead, D.T.; Oleinick, N.L.

1994-02-01

The goal of this report was to provide a conceptual plan for a research program that would provide a basis for determining more precisely the biological effectiveness of neutron radiation with emphasis on endpoints relevant to the protection of human health. This report presents the findings of the experts for seven particular categories of scientific information on neutron biological effectiveness. Chapter 2 examines the radiobiological mechanisms underlying the assumptions used to estimate human risk from neutrons and other radiations. Chapter 3 discusses the qualitative and quantitative models used to organize and evaluate experimental observations and to provide extrapolations where direct observations cannot be made. Chapter 4 discusses the physical principles governing the interaction of radiation with biological systems and the importance of accurate dosimetry in evaluating radiation risk and reducing the uncertainty in the biological data. Chapter 5 deals with the chemical and molecular changes underlying cellular responses and the LET dependence of these changes. Chapter 6, in turn, discusses those cellular and genetic changes which lead to mutation or neoplastic transformation. Chapters 7 and 8 examine deterministic and stochastic effects, respectively, and the data required for the prediction of such effects at different organizational levels and for the extrapolation from experimental results in animals to risks for man. Gaps and uncertainties in this data are examined relative to data required for establishing radiation protection standards for neutrons and procedures for the effective and safe use of neutron and other high-LET radiation therapy.

Learning Physical Examination Skills outside Timetabled Training Sessions: What Happens and Why?

Science.gov (United States)

Duvivier, Robbert J.; van Geel, Koos; van Dalen, Jan; Scherpbier, Albert J. J. A.; van der Vleuten, Cees P. M.

2012-01-01

Lack of published studies on students' practice behaviour of physical examination skills outside timetabled training sessions inspired this study into what activities medical students undertake to improve their skills and factors influencing this. Six focus groups of a total of 52 students from Years 1-3 using a pre-established interview guide.…

Diagnostic strategies using physical examination are minimally useful in defining carpal tunnel syndrome in population-based research studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Descatha, A; Dale, A-M; Franzblau, A; Coomes, J; Evanoff, B

2010-02-01

We evaluated the utility of physical examination manoeuvres in the prediction of carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) in a population-based research study. We studied a cohort of 1108 newly employed workers in several industries. Each worker completed a symptom questionnaire, a structured physical examination and nerve conduction study. For each hand, our CTS case definition required both median nerve conduction abnormality and symptoms classified as "classic" or "probable" on a hand diagram. We calculated the positive predictive values and likelihood ratios for physical examination manoeuvres in subjects with and without symptoms. The prevalence of CTS in our cohort was 1.2% for the right hand and 1.0% for the left hand. The likelihood ratios of a positive test for physical provocative tests ranged from 2.0 to 3.3, and those of a negative test from 0.3 to 0.9. The post-test probability of positive testing was study found that physical examination, alone or in combination with symptoms, was not predictive of CTS in a working population. We suggest using specific symptoms as a first-level screening tool, and nerve conduction study as a confirmatory test, as a case definition strategy in research settings.

Analysis of MIR-18 results for physical and biological dosimetry: radiation shielding effectiveness in LEO

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cucinotta, F.A.; Wilson, J.W.; Williams, J.R.; Dicello, J.F.

2000-01-01

We compare models of radiation transport and biological response to physical and biological dosimetry results from astronauts on the Mir space station. Transport models are shown to be in good agreement with physical measurements and indicate that the ratio of equivalent dose from the Galactic Cosmic Rays (GCR) to protons is about 3/2:1 and that this ratio will increase for exposures to internal organs. Two biological response models are used to compare to the Mir biodosimetry for chromosome aberration in lymphocyte cells; a track-structure model and the linear-quadratic model with linear energy transfer (LET) dependent weighting coefficients. These models are fit to in vitro data for aberration formation in human lymphocytes by photons and charged particles. Both models are found to be in reasonable agreement with data for aberrations in lymphocytes of Mir crew members: however there are differences between the use of LET dependent weighting factors and track structure models for assigning radiation quality factors. The major difference in the models is the increased effectiveness predicted by the track model for low charge and energy ions with LET near 10 keV/μm. The results of our calculations indicate that aluminum shielding, although providing important mitigation of the effects of trapped radiation, provides no protective effect from the galactic cosmic rays (GCR) in low-earth orbit (LEO) using either equivalent dose or the number of chromosome aberrations as a measure until about 100 g/cm 2 of material is used

NATO Advanced Study Institute on Mixed-Valence Compounds : Theory and Applications in Chemistry, Physics, Geology, and Biology

CERN Document Server

1980-01-01

It has been a decade since two seminal reviews demonstrated that mixed-valence compounds share many unique and fascinating features. The insight pro­ vided by those early works has promoted a great deal of both experimental and theoretical study. As a result of extensive efforts, our understanding of the bonding and properties of mixed-valence compounds has advanced substantially. There has been no compre­ hensive treatment of mixed-valence compounds since 1967, and the meeting convened at Oxford in September, 1979, provided a unique opportunity to examine the subject and its many ramifications. Mixed-valence compounds play an important role in many fields. Although the major impact of the subject has been in chemistry, its importance has become increasingly clear in solid state physics, geology, and biology. Extensive interest and effort in the field of molecular metals has demonstrated that mixed-valency is a prerequisite for high elec­ trical conductivity. The intense colors of many minerals have been s...

Adolescents' reports of physical violence by peers in residential care settings: an ecological examination.

Science.gov (United States)

Khoury-Kassabri, Mona; Attar-Schwartz, Shalhevet

2014-03-01

Physical victimization by peers was examined among 1,324 Jewish and Arab adolescents, aged 11 to 19, residing in 32 residential care settings (RCS) for children at-risk in Israel. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) was used to examine the relationships between physical victimization and adolescents' characteristics (age, gender, self-efficacy, adjustment difficulties, maltreatment by staff, and perceived social climate) as well as institution-level characteristics (care setting type, size, structure, and ethnic affiliation). For this study, we define physical violence as being grabbed, shoved, kicked, punched, hit with a hand, or hit with an object. Over 50% (56%) of the adolescents surveyed reported having experienced at least one form of physical violence by peers. Boys and younger adolescents were more likely to be victimized than girls and older adolescents. The results show that adolescents with adjustment difficulties or low social self-efficacy, and adolescents who perceive an institution's staff as strict and/or had experienced maltreatment by staff, are vulnerable groups for peer victimization. Lower levels of victimization were found in RCS with a familial element than in traditional group settings. Institutions with high concentrations of young people with adjustment difficulties and violent staff behaviors had higher levels of violence among residents. Applying an ecological perspective to an investigation of peer victimization in RCS enables the identification of risk factors at adolescent and institution levels. This type of examination has implications for child welfare practice and policy that can help in the development of prevention and intervention methods designed to tackle the involvement in violence of youth in care.

Physical, chemical, and biological data collected in Mobile Bay, Alabama in May 1989-December 1999 (NODC Accession 0116496)

Data.gov (United States)

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Department of Commerce — This dataset contains physical, chemical, and biological data collected during ten years of near-monthly shipboard surveys carried out in Mobile Bay between May 1989...

Annual physical examination reports vary by gender once teenagers become sexually active

Science.gov (United States)

Marcell, Arik V.; Matson, Pam; Ellen, Jonathan M.; Ford, Carol A.

2010-01-01

Introduction Few sexually active male adolescents receive sexual/reproductive health (SRH) services. We examine whether the association between adolescents’ sexual behavior status and physical examination over time can help us understand why. Methods We conducted longitudinal cohort analysis of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health with 9239 adolescents who completed the baseline school (1994/95) and Wave 2 (1996) follow-up surveys approximately 1.5 years later (retention rate=71%). We fit logistic regression models with random effects to estimate individual odds of reporting a physical examination in the past 12 months at follow-up, as compared to baseline, stratified by sexual behavior status and gender, and adjusting for sociodemographic and healthcare access factors. Results 34.5% males and 38.2% females reported experiencing vaginal intercourse by follow-up, and 22.4% males and 24.7% females reported first experiencing intercourse during the study. Among sexually active adolescents, about half reported annual exams and one-fifth no exams. Among females, baseline to follow-up exam reports significantly increased in: sex initiators (adjusted Odds Ratio [95% confidence interval]=2.09 [1.66–2.64]); those reporting sex at both times (2.16 [1.51–3.09]); and those reporting no sex either time (2.47 [2.00–3.04]). Among males, baseline to follow-up exam reports significantly increased in those reporting no sex either time (1.57 [1.26–1.96]) and showed increasing trends in sex initiators (1.27 [0.92–1.76]). Discussion A majority of sexually active adolescents report annual physical exams over time. Providers should not miss opportunities to deliver evidence-based SRH to sexually active adolescents. Future efforts are needed to increase all adolescents’ access to SRH services. PMID:21700156

The effect of shape on drag: a physics exercise inspired by biology

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Fingerut, Jonathan; Johnson, Nicholas; Mongeau, Eric; Habdas, Piotr

2017-07-01

As part of a biomechanics course aimed at upper-division biology and physics majors, but applicable to a range of student learning levels, this laboratory exercise provides an insight into the effect of shape on hydrodynamic performance, as well an introduction to computer aided design (CAD) and 3D printing. Students use hydrodynamic modeling software and simple CAD programs to design a shape with the least amount of drag based on strategies gleaned from the study of natural forms. Students then print the shapes using a 3D printer and test their shapes against their classmates in a friendly competition. From this exercise, students gain a more intuitive sense of the challenges that organisms face when moving through fluid environments, the physical phenomena involved in moving through fluids at high Reynolds numbers and observe how and why certain morphologies, such as streamlining, are common answers to the challenge of swimming at high speeds.

Insufficient evidence for the use of a physical examination to detect maltreatment in children without prior suspicion: a systematic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Hoytema van Konijnenburg, Eva Mm; Teeuw, Arianne H; Sieswerda-Hoogendoorn, Tessa; Leenders, Arnold G E; van der Lee, Johanna H

2013-12-06

Although it is often performed in clinical practice, the diagnostic value of a screening physical examination to detect maltreatment in children without prior suspicion has not been reviewed. This article aims to evaluate the diagnostic value of a complete physical examination as a screening instrument to detect maltreatment in children without prior suspicion. We systematically searched the databases of MEDLINE, EMBASE, PsychINFO, CINAHL, and ERIC, using a sensitive search strategy. Studies that i) presented medical findings of a complete physical examination for screening purposes in children 0-18 years, ii) specifically recorded the presence or absence of signs of child maltreatment, and iii) recorded child maltreatment confirmed by a reference standard, were included. Two reviewers independently performed study selection, data extraction, and quality appraisal using the QUADAS-2 tool. The search yielded 4,499 titles, of which three studies met the eligibility criteria. The prevalence of confirmed signs of maltreatment during screening physical examination varied between 0.8% and 13.5%. The designs of the studies were inadequate to assess the diagnostic accuracy of a screening physical examination for child maltreatment. Because of the lack of informative studies, we could not draw conclusions about the diagnostic value of a screening physical examination in children without prior suspicion of child maltreatment.

Clinical history and physical examination skills - A requirement for radiographers?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Snaith, Beverly A.; Lancaster, Anne

2008-01-01

Radiographer's roles have evolved with their scope broadening over the last 20 years culminating in the development of advanced and consultant posts. Yet one development has not been embraced, despite being inherent in medicine and a common extension of nurse and other allied health professionals' roles, is that of clinical assessment. This article explores the evolving role of the radiographer and discusses whether this should include skills in clinical history taking and physical examination. Issues for education and development will be addressed together with examples of current and potential roles

The Photo-Physics of Polythiophene Nanoparticles for Biological Applications.

Science.gov (United States)

Bargigia, Ilaria; Zucchetti, Elena; Srimath Kandada, Ajay Ram; Moreira, Miguel; Bossio, Caterina; Wong, Walter; Miranda, Paulo; Decuzzi, Paolo; Soci, Cesare; D'Andrea, Cosimo; Lanzani, Guglielmo

2018-05-01

In this work the photo-physics of poly(3-hexyltiophene) nanoparticles (NPs) is investigated in the context of their biological applications. The NPs made as colloidal suspensions in aqueous buffers present a distinct absorption band in the low energy region. Based on systematic analysis of absorption and transient absorption spectra taken under different pH conditions, this band is associated to charge transfer states generated by the polarization of loosely bound polymer chains and originated from complexes formed with electron withdrawing species. Importantly, the ground state depletion of these states upon photo-excitation is active even in the microsecond timescales, suggesting that they act as precursor states for long-living polarons which could be beneficial for cellular stimulation. Preliminary results of transient absorption microscopy of NPs internalized within the cells reveal the presence of long-living species, further substantiating their relevance in bio-interfaces. © 2018 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

A novel biological 'twin-father' temporal paradox of General Relativity in a Gödel universe - Where reproductive biology meets theoretical physics.

Science.gov (United States)

Ashrafian, Hutan

2018-03-01

Several temporal paradoxes exist in physics. These include General Relativity's grandfather and ontological paradoxes and Special Relativity's Langevin-Einstein twin-paradox. General relativity paradoxes can exist due to a Gödel universe that follows Gödel's closed timelike curves solution to Einstein's field equations. A novel biological temporal paradox of General Relativity is proposed based on reproductive biology's phenomenon of heteropaternal fecundation. Herein, dizygotic twins from two different fathers are the result of concomitant fertilization during one menstrual cycle. In this case an Oedipus-like individual exposed to a Gödel closed timelike curve would sire a child during his maternal fertilization cycle. As a consequence of heteropaternal superfecundation, he would father his own dizygotic twin and would therefore generate a new class of autofraternal superfecundation, and by doing so creating a 'twin-father' temporal paradox. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Predictive validity of examinations at the Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) level

OpenAIRE

Farrugia, Josette; Ventura, Frank

2007-01-01

This paper presents the predictive validity of results obtained by 16-year-old Maltese students in the May 2004 Secondary Education Certificate (SEC) examinations in Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Mathematics, Computing, English and Maltese for the Advanced level examinations in these subjects taken by the same students two years later. The study checks whether the SEC level is a good foundation for the higher level, the likelihood of obtaining a high grade at A-level from particular SEC result...

Biological effects of ionizing radiations. Radiological accident from Goiania, GO, Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Okuno, Emico

2013-01-01

This article presents the fundaments of radiation physics, the natural and artificial sources, biological effects, radiation protection. We also examine the sequence of events that resulted in Goiania accident with a source of caesium-137 from abandoned radiotherapy equipment and its terrible consequences. (author)

The role of physical examinations in studies of musculoskeletal disorders of the elbow

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kryger, Ann Isabel; Lassen, C. F.; Andersen, JH

2007-01-01

OBJECTIVES: To present data on pain and physical findings from the elbow region, and to discuss the role of diagnostic criteria in epidemiological studies of epicondylitis. METHODS: From a cohort of computer workers a subgroup of 1369 participants, who reported at least moderate pain in the neck...... completed on the day of examination. RESULTS: 349 participants met the authors' criteria for being an arm case and 249 were elbow cases. Among the 1369 participants the prevalence of at least mild palpation tenderness and indirect tenderness at the lateral epicondyle was 5.8%. The occurrence of physical...... findings increased markedly by level of pain score. Only about one half with physical findings fulfilled the authors' pain criteria for having lateral epicondylitis. A large part with physical findings reported no pain at all in the elbow in any of the two questionnaires, 28% and 22%, respectively. Inter...

Biological-Physical Coupling in the Gulf of Maine: Satellite and Model Studies of Phytoplankton Variability

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, Andrew C.; Chai, F.; Townsend, D. W.; Xue, H.

2002-01-01

The goals of this project were to acquire, process, QC, archive and analyze SeaWiFS chlorophyll fields over the Gulf of Maine and Scotia Shelf region. The focus of the analysis effort was to calculate and quantify seasonality and interannual. variability of SeaWiFS-measured phytoplankton biomass in the study area and compare these to physical forcing and hydrography. An additional focus within this effort was on regional differences within the heterogeneous biophysical regions of the Gulf of Maine / Scotia Shelf. Overall goals were approached through the combined use of SeaWiFS and AVHRR data and the development of a coupled biology-physical numerical model.

Examining the Values of Students in the Physical Education and Sport Departments

Science.gov (United States)

Gullu, Mehmet

2016-01-01

In this study, the values of students in the physical education and sport departments were examined according to their gender, age, grade, and departments. The questionnaire method was used in the study. As the data collection tool, the Portrait Values Questionnaire was applied. The study group consisted of a total of 389 students 126 of whom were…

Emerging concepts for management of river ecosystems and challenges to applied integration of physical and biological sciences in the Pacific Northwest, USA

Science.gov (United States)

Rieman, Bruce; Dunham, Jason B.; Clayton, James

2006-01-01

Integration of biological and physical concepts is necessary to understand and conserve the ecological integrity of river systems. Past attempts at integration have often focused at relatively small scales and on mechanistic models that may not capture the complexity of natural systems leaving substantial uncertainty about ecological responses to management actions. Two solutions have been proposed to guide management in the face of that uncertainty: the use of “natural variability” in key environmental patterns, processes, or disturbance as a reference; and the retention of some areas as essentially unmanaged reserves to conserve and represent as much biological diversity as possible. Both concepts are scale dependent because dominant processes or patterns that might be referenced will change with scale. Context and linkages across scales may be as important in structuring biological systems as conditions within habitats used by individual organisms. Both ideas view the physical environment as a template for expression, maintenance, and evolution of ecological diversity. To conserve or restore a diverse physical template it will be important to recognize the ecologically important differences in physical characteristics and processes among streams or watersheds that we might attempt to mimic in management or represent in conservation or restoration reserves.

Radiation physics, biophysics, and radiation biology. Progress report, December 1, 1985-November 30, 1986

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, E.J.

1986-07-01

This is the annual report of the Radiological Research Laboratory of the Department of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University. The bulk of the research of the Laboratory involves basic and fundamental aims, not confined to radiotherapy. Research carried out in the Laboratory covers the determination of microdosimetry quantities, computer simulation of particle tracks, determination of oncogenic transformation, and the transfection of DNA into cells. The Hallmark of the Laboratory is the interaction between physics and biology

The biological and physical role of mulch in the rehabilitation of custed soil in the Sahel

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mando, A.; Stroosnijder, L.

1999-01-01

During three consecutive years (1993–1995) a split-plot design with three replications was used to study the biological and physical role of mulch in the improvement of crusted soil water balance and its productivity in the north of Burkina Faso. The main treatment was the use of an insecticide, to

Examining a conceptual model of parental nurturance, parenting practices and physical activity among 5-6 year olds.

Science.gov (United States)

Sebire, Simon J; Jago, Russell; Wood, Lesley; Thompson, Janice L; Zahra, Jezmond; Lawlor, Deborah A

2016-01-01

Parenting is an often-studied correlate of children's physical activity, however there is little research examining the associations between parenting styles, practices and the physical activity of younger children. This study aimed to investigate whether physical activity-based parenting practices mediate the association between parenting styles and 5-6 year-old children's objectively-assessed physical activity. 770 parents self-reported parenting style (nurturance and control) and physical activity-based parenting practices (logistic and modeling support). Their 5-6 year old child wore an accelerometer for five days to measure moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA). Linear regression was used to examine direct and indirect (mediation) associations. Data were collected in the United Kingdom in 2012/13 and analyzed in 2014. Parent nurturance was positively associated with provision of modeling (adjusted unstandardized coefficient, β = 0.11; 95% CI = 0.02, 0.21) and logistic support (β = 0.14; 0.07, 0.21). Modeling support was associated with greater child MVPA (β = 2.41; 0.23, 4.60) and a small indirect path from parent nurturance to child's MVPA was identified (β = 0.27; 0.04, 0.70). Physical activity-based parenting practices are more strongly associated with 5-6 year old children's MVPA than parenting styles. Further research examining conceptual models of parenting is needed to understand in more depth the possible antecedents to adaptive parenting practices beyond parenting styles. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Examine the Relationship between Dynamic Balance and Physical Fitness Tests in Preschool Children

OpenAIRE

杉浦, 宏季; Sugiura, Hiroki; 杉本, 寛恵; Sugimoto, Hiroe

2016-01-01

This study examined the relationship between dynamic balance tests and various physical fitness tests in preschool children. The subjects were 22 preschool children (age, 5.0+0.4years; height, 107.3+5.7cm; weight, 17.9+3.4 kg). Dynamic balance was assessed by walking the length of a balance beam several times (beam height, 30cm; width, 10cm; length, 200cm) and walking a pathway (width, 10cm; length, 200cm). Physical fitness was assessed with activities such as a 25-meter run, continuous bilat...

Radiation physics, biophysics, and radiation biology. Final report, October 1, 1971--September 30, 1977

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rossi, H.H.; Hall, E.J.

1978-02-01

Research under Contract EY-76-C-02-3243 has been carried out in the area of Radiation Physics, Biophysics and Radiation Biology. During the period of this contract the major accomplishments include, in Physics, the refinement of tissue equivalent dosimetry, the formulation of the concepts of microdosimetry, the development of apparatus used in microdosimetry, and the development of ionization chambers with internal gas multiplication. Principal contributions in Radiobiology have included the determination of RBE and OER as a function of neutron energy, the study of combined effects of radiation and a variety of other agents, and the investigation of the transformation of cells in tissue culture. Theoretical research centered around the development of the theoretical framework of microdosimetry and the establishment of the Theory of Dual Radiation Action. In a cooperative effort with Brookhaven National Laboratory, a major accelerator facility dedicated exclusively to Radiobiology and Radiation Physics, has been developed. Members of the laboratory have performed extensive service to national and international organizations

[On the necessity to prepare new "Rules for the organization and conduction of forensic biological examination and studies by the State Forensic Examination Boards of the Russian Federation"].

Science.gov (United States)

Gusarov, A A

2010-01-01

The author substantiates the necessity to prepare new "Rules for the organization and conduction of forensic biological examination and studies by the State Forensic Examination Boards of the Russian Federation". Their long-term absence of the reviewed document has negatively influenced the quality of work of these facilities. The structure and contents of the three previous versions of the Rules for the study of material evidence (1934, 1956, and 1996) are analysed. The structure of the new variant is designed to optimize the work of forensic medical examination bureaus and the performance of relevant studies.

Who Becomes a Physics Major? A Long-term Longitudinal Study Examining the Roles of Pre-college Beliefs about Physics and Learning Physics, Interest, and Academic Achievement

Science.gov (United States)

Perkins, Katherine K.; Gratny, Mindy

2010-10-01

In this paper, we examine the correlation between students' beliefs upon entering college and their likelihood of continuing on to become a physics major. Since 2004, we have collected CLASS survey and self-reported level-of-interest responses from students in the first-term, introductory calculus-based physics course (N>2500). Here, we conduct a retrospective analysis of students' incoming CLASS scores and level of interest, comparing those students who go on to become physics majors with those who do not. We find the incoming CLASS scores and reported interest of these future physics majors to be substantially higher than the class average, indicating that these students enter their first college course already having quite expert-like beliefs. The comparative differences are much smaller for grades, SAT score, and university predicted-GPA.

Biological physics and synchrotron radiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Filhol, J.M.; Chavanne, J.; Weckert, E.

2001-01-01

This conference deals with the applications of synchrotron radiation to current problems in biology and medicine. Seven sessions take stock on the subject: sources and detectors; inelastic scattering and dynamics; muscle diffraction; reaction mechanisms; macromolecular assemblies; medical applications; imaging and spectroscopy. The document presents the papers abstracts. (A.L.B.)

Biological physics and synchrotron radiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Filhol, J M; Chavanne, J [European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, 38 - Grenoble (France); Weckert, E [Hasylab at Desy, Hamburg (Germany); and others

2001-07-01

This conference deals with the applications of synchrotron radiation to current problems in biology and medicine. Seven sessions take stock on the subject: sources and detectors; inelastic scattering and dynamics; muscle diffraction; reaction mechanisms; macromolecular assemblies; medical applications; imaging and spectroscopy. The document presents the papers abstracts. (A.L.B.)

Essential Concepts and Underlying Theories from Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics for "Biochemistry and Molecular Biology" Majors

Science.gov (United States)

Wright, Ann; Provost, Joseph; Roecklein-Canfield, Jennifer A.; Bell, Ellis

2013-01-01

Over the past two years, through an NSF RCN UBE grant, the ASBMB has held regional workshops for faculty members from around the country. The workshops have focused on developing lists of Core Principles or Foundational Concepts in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, a list of foundational skills, and foundational concepts from Physics, Chemistry,…

Complementarity beyond physics Niels Bohr's parallels

CERN Document Server

Bala, Arun

2017-01-01

In this study Arun Bala examines the implications that Niels Bohr’s principle of complementarity holds for fields beyond physics. Bohr, one of the founding figures of modern quantum physics, argued that the principle of complementarity he proposed for understanding atomic processes has parallels in psychology, biology, and social science, as well as in Buddhist and Taoist thought. But Bohr failed to offer any explanation for why complementarity might extend beyond physics, and his claims have been widely rejected by scientists as empty speculation. Scientific scepticism has only been reinforced by the naïve enthusiasm of postmodern relativists and New Age intuitionists, who seize upon Bohr’s ideas to justify anti-realist and mystical positions. Arun Bala offers a detailed defence of Bohr’s claim that complementarity has far-reaching implications for the biological and social sciences, as well as for comparative philosophies of science, by explaining Bohr’s parallels as responses to the omnipresence...

Chemistry and Biology

Science.gov (United States)

Wigston, David L.

1970-01-01

Discusses the relationship between chemisty and biology in the science curriculum. Points out the differences in perception of the disciplines, which the physical scientists favoring reductionism. Suggests that biology departments offer a special course for chemistry students, just as the chemistry departments have done for biology students.…

Medial tibial stress syndrome can be diagnosed reliably using history and physical examination

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Winters, M.; Bakker, E. W. P.; Moen, M. H.; Barten, C. C.; Teeuwen, R.; Weir, A.

2017-01-01

The majority of sporting injuries are clinically diagnosed using history and physical examination as the cornerstone. There are no studies supporting the reliability of making a clinical diagnosis of medial tibial stress syndrome (MTSS). Our aim was to assess if MTSS can be diagnosed reliably, using

A timeless biology.

Science.gov (United States)

Tozzi, Arturo; Peters, James F; Chafin, Clifford; De Falco, Domenico; Torday, John S

2018-05-01

Contrary to claims that physics is timeless while biology is time-dependent, we take the opposite standpoint: physical systems' dynamics are constrained by the arrow of time, while living assemblies are time-independent. Indeed, the concepts of "constraints" and "displacements" shed new light on the role of continuous time flow in life evolution, allowing us to sketch a physical gauge theory for biological systems in long timescales. In the very short timescales of biological systems' individual lives, time looks like "frozen" and "fixed", so that the second law of thermodynamics is momentarily wrecked. The global symmetries (standing for biological constrained trajectories, i.e. the energetic gradient flows dictated by the second law of thermodynamics in long timescales) are broken by local "displacements" where time is held constant, i.e., modifications occurring in living systems. Such displacements stand for brief local forces, able to temporarily "break" the cosmic increase in entropy. The force able to restore the symmetries (called "gauge field") stands for the very long timescales of biological evolution. Therefore, at the very low speeds of life evolution, time is no longer one of the four phase space coordinates of a spacetime Universe: it becomes just a gauge field superimposed to three-dimensional biological systems. We discuss the implications in biology: when assessing living beings, the underrated role of isolated "spatial" modifications needs to be emphasized, living apart the evolutionary role of time. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparative physical, chemical and biological assessment of simple and titanium-doped ovine dentine-derived hydroxyapatite coatings fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Duta, L.; Mihailescu, N.; Popescu, A.C.; Luculescu, C.R. [National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 077125 Magurele (Romania); Mihailescu, I.N., E-mail: ion.mihailescu@inflpr.ro [National Institute for Lasers, Plasma and Radiation Physics, 077125 Magurele (Romania); Çetin, G.; Gunduz, O. [Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, Marmara University, 34722 Istanbul (Turkey); Oktar, F.N. [Department of Bioengineering, Faculty of Engineering, Marmara University, 34722 Istanbul (Turkey); Department of Medical Imaging Techniques, Vocational School of Health Services, Marmara University, 34668 Istanbul (Turkey); Nanotechnology and Biomaterials Application & Research Centre, Marmara University, 34722 Istanbul (Turkey); Popa, A.C. [National Institute of Materials Physics, 077125 Magurele (Romania); Army Centre for Medical Research, 010195 Bucharest (Romania); Kuncser, A.; Besleaga, C. [National Institute of Materials Physics, 077125 Magurele (Romania); Stan, G.E., E-mail: george_stan@infim.ro [National Institute of Materials Physics, 077125 Magurele (Romania)

2017-08-15

Highlights: • Pulsed laser deposition of Ti doped hydroxyapatite films of biological origin. • Downgrade of films’ crystallinity and increase of roughness induced by Ti doping. • Bonding strength values superior to minimum value imposed by ISO standards. • Excellent biocompatibility in hMSC cultures of Ti doped structures. • Ti doped hydroxyapatite films as feasible materials for implantology applications. - Abstract: We report on the synthesis by Pulsed Laser Deposition of simple and Ti doped hydroxyapatite thin films of biological (ovine dentine) origin. Detailed physical, chemical, mechanical and biological investigations were performed. Morphological examination of films showed a surface composed of spheroidal particulates, of micronic size. Compositional analyses pointed to the presence of typical natural doping elements of bone, along with a slight non-stoichiometry of the deposited films. Structural investigations proved the monophasic hydroxyapatite nature of both simple and Ti doped films. Ti doping of biological hydroxyapatite induced an overall downgrade of the films crystallinity together with an increase of the films roughness. It is to be emphasized that bonding strength values measured at film/Ti substrate interface were superior to the minimum value imposed by International Standards regulating the load-bearing implant coatings. In vitro tests on Ti doped structures, compared to simple ones, revealed excellent biocompatibility in human mesenchymal stem cell cultures, a higher proliferation rate and a good cytocompatibility. The obtained results aim to elucidate the overall positive role of Ti doping on the hydroxyapatite films performance, and demonstrate the possibility to use this novel type of coatings as feasible materials for future implantology applications.

Comparative physical, chemical and biological assessment of simple and titanium-doped ovine dentine-derived hydroxyapatite coatings fabricated by pulsed laser deposition

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Duta, L.; Mihailescu, N.; Popescu, A.C.; Luculescu, C.R.; Mihailescu, I.N.; Çetin, G.; Gunduz, O.; Oktar, F.N.; Popa, A.C.; Kuncser, A.; Besleaga, C.; Stan, G.E.

2017-01-01

Highlights: • Pulsed laser deposition of Ti doped hydroxyapatite films of biological origin. • Downgrade of films’ crystallinity and increase of roughness induced by Ti doping. • Bonding strength values superior to minimum value imposed by ISO standards. • Excellent biocompatibility in hMSC cultures of Ti doped structures. • Ti doped hydroxyapatite films as feasible materials for implantology applications. - Abstract: We report on the synthesis by Pulsed Laser Deposition of simple and Ti doped hydroxyapatite thin films of biological (ovine dentine) origin. Detailed physical, chemical, mechanical and biological investigations were performed. Morphological examination of films showed a surface composed of spheroidal particulates, of micronic size. Compositional analyses pointed to the presence of typical natural doping elements of bone, along with a slight non-stoichiometry of the deposited films. Structural investigations proved the monophasic hydroxyapatite nature of both simple and Ti doped films. Ti doping of biological hydroxyapatite induced an overall downgrade of the films crystallinity together with an increase of the films roughness. It is to be emphasized that bonding strength values measured at film/Ti substrate interface were superior to the minimum value imposed by International Standards regulating the load-bearing implant coatings. In vitro tests on Ti doped structures, compared to simple ones, revealed excellent biocompatibility in human mesenchymal stem cell cultures, a higher proliferation rate and a good cytocompatibility. The obtained results aim to elucidate the overall positive role of Ti doping on the hydroxyapatite films performance, and demonstrate the possibility to use this novel type of coatings as feasible materials for future implantology applications.

Dynamics and thermodynamics in hierarchically organized systems applications in physics, biology and economics

CERN Document Server

Auger, P

2013-01-01

One of the most fundamental and efficient ways of conceptualizing complex systems is to organize them hierarchically. A hierarchically organized system is represented by a network of interconnected subsystems, each of which has its own network of subsystems, and so on, until some elementary subsystems are reached that are not further decomposed. This original and important book proposes a general mathematical theory of a hierarchical system and shows how it can be applied to very different topics such as physics (Hamiltonian systems), biology (coupling the molecular and the cellular levels), e

The influence of students' gender on equity in Peer Physical Examination: a qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Vnuk, Anna K; Wearn, Andy; Rees, Charlotte E

2017-08-01

Peer Physical Examination (PPE) is an educational tool used globally for learning early clinical skills and anatomy. In quantitative research, there are differences in students' preferences and actual participation in PPE by gender. This novel study qualitatively explores the effect that gender has on medical students' experiences of learning physical examination through PPE. We employ an interpretative approach to uncover the PPE experiences of students from a European, graduate-entry medical school. Volunteers participated in either individual or group interviews. The data were transcribed, de-identified and analysed using thematic analysis. There was evidence of gender inequity in PPE, with students describing significant imbalances in participation. Male students adopted roles that generated significant personal discomfort and led to fewer experiences as examiners. Assumptions were made by tutors and students about gender roles: male students' ready acceptance of exposure to be examined and female students' need to be protected from particular examinations. In contrast with the first assumption, male students did feel coerced or obliged to be examined. Students described their experiences of taking action to break down the gender barrier. Importantly, students reported that tutors played a role in perpetuating inequities. These findings, whilst relating to one university, have implications for all settings where PPE is used. Educators should be vigilant about gender issues and the effect that they may have on students' participation in PPE to ensure that students are not disadvantaged in their learning.

Analysis of Science Process Skills in West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Physics Practical Examinations in Nigeria

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.O. Akinbobola

2010-06-01

Full Text Available This study analyzes the science process skills in West African senior secondary school certificate physics practical examinations in Nigeria for a period of 10 years (1998-2007. Ex-post facto design was adopted for the study. The 5 prominent science process skills identified out of the 15 used in the study are: manipulating (17%, calculating (14%, recording (14%, observing (12% and communicating (11%. The results also show high percentage rate of basic (lower order science process skills (63% as compared to the integrated (higher order science process skills (37%. The results also indicate that the number of basic process skills is significantly higher than the integrated process skills in the West African senior secondary school certificate physics practical examinations in Nigeria. It is recommended that the examination bodies in Nigeria should include more integrated science process skills into the senior secondary school physics practical examinations so as to enable the students to be prone to creativity, problem solving, reflective thinking, originality and invention which are vital ingredients for science and technological development of any nation.

Reliability and prevalence of physical performance examination assessing mobility and balance in older persons in the US: data from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey.

Science.gov (United States)

Ostchega, Y; Harris, T B; Hirsch, R; Parsons, V L; Kington, R; Katzoff, M

2000-09-01

This report provides reliability and prevalence estimates by sex, age, and race/ethnicity of an observed physical performance examination (PPE) assessing mobility and balance. The Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III) 1988-1994. A cross-sectional nationally representative survey. All persons aged 60 and older (n = 5,403) who performed the PPE either in the mobile examination center (MEC) or in the home during NHANES III (conducted 1988-1994). The PPE included timed chair stand, full tandem stand, and timed 8-foot walk. Timed chair stand and 8-foot timed walk were reliable measurements (Intraclass Correlations > 0.5). Women were significantly slower (P physically limited than men.

Examining the Knowledge and Capacity of Elementary Teachers to Implement Classroom Physical Activity Breaks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Danae M. DINKEL

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This study examined teachers’ zone of proximal development for classroom physical activity breaks by assessing teachers’ knowledge and capacity for implementing classroom physical activity breaks. Five school districts of various sizes (n=346 teachers took part in a short online survey. Descriptive statistics were calculated and chi-square analyses were used to identify differences between districts. Almost all teachers utilized classroom physical activity to some extent. A third of teachers who stated they implemented classroom physical activity, experienced barriers to implementation. A majority of teachers were interested in learning more about classroom physical activity. There were significant differences between districts on the number of days per week classroom physical activity was integrated, the frequency of collaboration that occurred between teachers, the percentage of teachers who experienced barriers, and preferred delivery method of professional development. These findings support the importance of identifying teachers’ zone of proximal development to increase the use of classroom physical activity breaks. Understanding teachers’ knowledge and capacity for implementing classroom physical activity breaks can allow educational professionals to shift the implementation of classroom physical activity beyond sporadic use by isolated teachers and schools to a more systematic and consistent delivery across classrooms and throughout districts.

How well do second-year students learn physical diagnosis? Observational study of an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Simon Steven R

2002-01-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Little is known about using the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE in physical diagnosis courses. The purpose of this study was to describe student performance on an OSCE in a physical diagnosis course. Methods Cross-sectional study at Harvard Medical School, 1997–1999, for 489 second-year students. Results Average total OSCE score was 57% (range 39–75%. Among clinical skills, students scored highest on patient interaction (72%, followed by examination technique (65%, abnormality identification (62%, history-taking (60%, patient presentation (60%, physical examination knowledge (47%, and differential diagnosis (40% (p Conclusions Students scored higher on interpersonal and technical skills than on interpretive or integrative skills. Station scores identified specific content that needs improved teaching.

Effect of physical activity and sedentary behavior on serum prostate-specific antigen concentrations: results from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), 2003-2006.

Science.gov (United States)

Loprinzi, Paul D; Kohli, Manish

2013-01-01

To examine the association between accelerometer-derived sedentary and physical activity and prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in a nationally representative sample of men in the United States. Data from the 2003-2004 and 2005-2006 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey cycles were used in the present study, with data from 1672 adult male participants used in the analyses. The manuscript was prepared between July 7, 2012, and September 26, 2012. Sedentary and physical activity was objectively measured using an accelerometer. Covariates included various demographic, dietary, biological, and immunologic variables including age, height, weight, body mass index, race/ethnicity, marital status, education, and poverty-income ratio; dietary fiber, fat, protein, and carbohydrate intake and total energy intake; vitamin C and vitamin E; alcohol intake; medication use; concentrations of cotinine, total cholesterol, and high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; blood pressure (elevated or not elevated); diabetes; C-reactive protein; and white blood cell count and number of basophils and eosinophils. Only after controlling for all covariates, for every 1-hour increase in sedentary behavior, participants were 16% more likely to have an elevated PSA concentration (odds ratio, 1.16 [95% CI, 1.06-1.27]; P=.001). For every 1-hour increase in light physical activity, participants were 18% less likely to have an elevated PSA concentration (odds ratio, 0.82 [95% CI, 0.68-1.00]; P=.05). Individuals who engage in more sedentary behavior and lower levels of light physical activity have higher PSA concentrations. Future studies are needed to better identify the potential underlying mechanisms delineating the association between sedentary and physical activity and PSA concentration. Copyright © 2013 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Effect of startup circuit exercise on derivatives reactive oxygen metabolites, biological antioxidant potential levels and physical fitness of adolescents boys with intellectual disabilities.

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Chang-Gyun; Lee, Jin-Seok

2016-10-01

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of starup circuit exercise program on derivatives reactive oxygen metabolite (d-ROM) and biological antioxidant potential (BAP) levels and physical fitness of adolescents with intellectual disabilities, and to sugesst exercise programs to promote the health and physical development of such adolescents. Twelve students with intellectual disabilities were divided into two groups; circuit exercise group (CE group: n=6; age, 14.83±0.98 years; height, 163.83±5.78 cm; body mass, 67.08±3.32 kg; %Fat, 25.68±2.42), control group (CON group: n=6; age: 15.00±0.63 years; height, 162.33±4.41 cm; body mass, 67.50±3.62 kg; %Fat, 26.96±2.06). The CE group performed the CE program 4 times a week over a 12-week period. The CON group maintained their activities of daily living. The following were measured before and after intervention: physical fitness by before and after the completion of the training programm, and were measured and blood samples were assessed. The results of the study indicate that the 12-week CE program increased significantly physical fitness ( P <0.05). Furthermore, This study proved that the CE program improved physical fitness, and reduced the d-ROM levels, and increased the BAP levels of the adolescents with intellectual disabilities. Therefore, it may enhance the health and physical development of adolescents boys with intellectual disabilities.

An Examination of Sixth Graders' Self-Determined Motivation and Learning in Physical Education

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Sun, Haichun; Chen, Ang

2010-01-01

Self-determination theory (SDT), when applied in education, emphasizes helping learners internalize extrinsic motivation so as to regulate their learning behavior from an amotivation state to intrinsic motivation. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between SDT components and learning in middle school physical education.…

Utility of AD8 for Cognitive Impairment in a Chinese Physical Examination Population: A Preliminary Study

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Xie, Yue; Gao, Ya; Jia, Jianjun; Wang, Xiaohong; Wang, Zhenfu; Xie, Hengge

2014-01-01

Objective. To investigate the utility of AD8 for cognitive impairment in a Chinese physical examination population. Methods. Military cadres who took routine physical examination in Chinese PLA General Hospital from Jan 1, 2013, to Dec 31, 2013, were subjected to AD8 scale. Individual information such as age, gender, and education was also collected. All data were analyzed by SPSS 19.0. Results. 1544 subjects were enrolled in this study with mean age 75.4 ± 10.6 years. The subjects who scored 0 to 8 of AD8 scale were 1015, 269, 120, 60, 30, 14, 19, 8, and 9, respectively. Corresponding proportions were 65.7%, 17.4%, 7.8%, 3.9%, 2.0%, 0.9%, 1.2%, 0.5%, and 0.6%, respectively. The endorsement prevalence of 8 questions was 5.6%, 9.2%, 6.6%, 9.2%, 4.8%, 4.5%, 8.9%, and 24.1%, respectively. The endorsement prevalence of question 8 was significantly higher than others (P physical examination population. PMID:25436227

WE-E-17A-07: Patient-Specific Mathematical Neuro-Oncology: Biologically-Informed Radiation Therapy and Imaging Physics

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Swanson, K; Corwin, D [Northwestern University, Chicago, IL (United States); Rockne, R

2014-06-15

Purpose: To demonstrate a method of generating patient-specific, biologically-guided radiation therapy (RT) plans and to quantify and predict response to RT in glioblastoma. We investigate the biological correlates and imaging physics driving T2-MRI based response to radiation therapy using an MRI simulator. Methods: We have integrated a patient-specific biomathematical model of glioblastoma proliferation, invasion and radiotherapy with a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm for intensity-modulated RT optimization to construct individualized, biologically-guided plans. Patient-individualized simulations of the standard-of-care and optimized plans are compared in terms of several biological metrics quantified on MRI. An extension of the PI model is used to investigate the role of angiogenesis and its correlates in glioma response to therapy with the Proliferation-Invasion-Hypoxia- Necrosis-Angiogenesis model (PIHNA). The PIHNA model is used with a brain tissue phantom to predict tumor-induced vasogenic edema, tumor and tissue density that is used in a multi-compartmental MRI signal equation for generation of simulated T2- weighted MRIs. Results: Applying a novel metric of treatment response (Days Gained) to the patient-individualized simulation results predicted that the optimized RT plans would have a significant impact on delaying tumor progression, with Days Gained increases from 21% to 105%. For the T2- MRI simulations, initial validation tests compared average simulated T2 values for white matter, tumor, and peripheral edema to values cited in the literature. Simulated results closely match the characteristic T2 value for each tissue. Conclusion: Patient-individualized simulations using the combination of a biomathematical model with an optimization algorithm for RT generated biologically-guided doses that decreased normal tissue dose and increased therapeutic ratio with the potential to improve survival outcomes for treatment of glioblastoma. Simulated T2-MRI

WE-E-17A-07: Patient-Specific Mathematical Neuro-Oncology: Biologically-Informed Radiation Therapy and Imaging Physics

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Swanson, K; Corwin, D; Rockne, R

2014-01-01

Purpose: To demonstrate a method of generating patient-specific, biologically-guided radiation therapy (RT) plans and to quantify and predict response to RT in glioblastoma. We investigate the biological correlates and imaging physics driving T2-MRI based response to radiation therapy using an MRI simulator. Methods: We have integrated a patient-specific biomathematical model of glioblastoma proliferation, invasion and radiotherapy with a multiobjective evolutionary algorithm for intensity-modulated RT optimization to construct individualized, biologically-guided plans. Patient-individualized simulations of the standard-of-care and optimized plans are compared in terms of several biological metrics quantified on MRI. An extension of the PI model is used to investigate the role of angiogenesis and its correlates in glioma response to therapy with the Proliferation-Invasion-Hypoxia- Necrosis-Angiogenesis model (PIHNA). The PIHNA model is used with a brain tissue phantom to predict tumor-induced vasogenic edema, tumor and tissue density that is used in a multi-compartmental MRI signal equation for generation of simulated T2- weighted MRIs. Results: Applying a novel metric of treatment response (Days Gained) to the patient-individualized simulation results predicted that the optimized RT plans would have a significant impact on delaying tumor progression, with Days Gained increases from 21% to 105%. For the T2- MRI simulations, initial validation tests compared average simulated T2 values for white matter, tumor, and peripheral edema to values cited in the literature. Simulated results closely match the characteristic T2 value for each tissue. Conclusion: Patient-individualized simulations using the combination of a biomathematical model with an optimization algorithm for RT generated biologically-guided doses that decreased normal tissue dose and increased therapeutic ratio with the potential to improve survival outcomes for treatment of glioblastoma. Simulated T2-MRI

An examination of multilevel factors that may explain gender differences in children's physical activity.

Science.gov (United States)

Crespo, Noe C; Corder, Kirsten; Marshall, Simon; Norman, Gregory J; Patrick, Kevin; Sallis, Jim F; Elder, John P

2013-09-01

Girls are less physically active than boys, yet no single study has examined the factors that may explain gender differences in children's physical activity (PA). This study was a cross-sectional analysis of data from 116 caregivers and their children aged 5-8 years who participated in the MOVE study. Caregivers reported various factors that may relate to children's PA (eg, encouragement for child PA and PA equipment at home). Child PA was measured by 7-day accelerometry. Linear regression tested for the variance in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) explained by gender and several variables. Gender and ethnicity interactions were examined. Caregivers were mostly female (97%), mean age 38 ± 6 years, mean BMI 28 ± 6 (kg/m2). Child's mean age was 8.1 ± 0.7, 54% were female and 40% were overweight/obese. Girls were less physically active than boys (54.1 ± 19.7 vs. 65.2 ± 28.0 daily minutes of MVPA, respectively). Among girls, more days of PE/week was associated with greater MVPA. Among boys, greater parent support for PA, greater parent modeling for PA, and greater number of PA equipment in the home were associated with greater MVPA. This study supports that boys and girls have different correlates for MVPA, which may partly explain gender differences in PA.