AmeriCorps

Introduction Preclinical animal experiments and initial feasibility studies in humans have shown encouraging outcomes using the novel Saccular Endovascular Aneurysm Lattice (SEAL™) system for the treatment of both ruptured and unruptured wide‐neck intracranial aneurysms (IAs). The SEAL™ Interventional Pivotal IDE PMA Trial (SEAL™ IT) is designed to assess the safety and efficacy of the SEAL™ in patients with saccular IAs. This ongoing, prospective, multicenter trial includes three study arms and will enroll a total of 279 participants with wide‐neck bifurcation (WNBA), sidewall (SW), or acutely ruptured IAs across 50 U.S. sites. Methods Eligibility requirements include patients aged 20‐80 years with a wide‐neck saccular intracranial aneurysm (2‐19 mm) deemed suitable for treatment with the SEAL™ Intrasaccular Device (SID). Participants receive treatment using the SEAL™ device (Galaxy Therapeutics Inc.) and are monitored at discharge, and again at 3, 6, and 12 months, followed by yearly assessments for up to 5 years. The primary efficacy outcome is defined as complete aneurysm occlusion at 12 months without evidence of parent vessel stenosis or the need for retreatment, as determined by an independent core laboratory. Key safety outcomes include neurological death within 12 months, stroke occurring within the first 30 days, and ipsilateral stroke between 30 days and 1 year. Results As of submission, 163 WNBA, 58 WNSW, and 33 ruptured for a total of 254 patients (76.3% female; mean age 61.7 ± 11.3) have been enrolled at 50 sites. Mean aneurysm width was 5.2 ± 2.1, neck size of 3.7 ± 1.4, and neck‐to‐dome ratio of 1.4 ± 0.32. SEAL Arc was used in 63.6% and SEAL Base in 36.4%. Technical device success rate is 100% for WNBA, 94.8% WNSW, and 97.0% ruptured. The interim complete occlusion rate for the primary group is 84.5% at most recent date based on available imaging. Conclusion Preliminary data for the SEAL™ intrasaccular device is promising; Safety and effectiveness updates will be presented at the SVIN Conference.

This study contributes taxonomic information on the genus Eutimesius Roewer, 1913. Three new species are described: the sympatric species E. aroasp. nov. and E. guaichiasp. nov. from Yaracuy state and E. canoabosp. nov. from Carabobo state in Venezuela. The male of E. ephippiatus (Roewer, 1915) is described for the first time. Remarks are made on the distribution of E. ornatus, and a complimentary description of male genitalia is provided for E. simoni Roewer, 1913. New departmental records are added for E. ephippiatus and E. simoni. An updated distribution map and a key to the identification of the males of the species in the genus are presented.

In the United States, hospital rating system usefulness is limited by heterogeneity and conflicting results. US News Best Hospitals, Vizient Quality and Accountability Study, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Star Rating, Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade, and the Truven Top 100 Hospitals ratings were compared using Spearman correlations. Rank aggregation was used to combine the scores generating a Quality Composite Rank (QCR). The highest correlation between rating systems was shown between the Leapfrog Safety Grade and the CMS Star Rating. In a proportional odds logistic regression, a greater discordance between the CMS Star Rating, Vizient rank, US News, and Leapfrog was associated with a lower overall rank in the QCR. Lack of transparency and understanding about the differences and similarities for these hospital ranking systems complicates use of the measures. By combining the results of these ranking systems into a composite, the measurement of hospital quality can be simplified.

Each community-based participatory research (CBPR) partnership may incur "ripple effects" - impacts that happen outside the scope of planned projects. We used brainstorming and interviewing to create a roadmap that incorporated input from nine CBPR participants and five community/academic partners to retrospectively assess the ripple effects observed after five years of participatory research in one urban community. The resulting roadmap reflected a range of community impacts which we then divided into four key areas: impacts in the community (i.e., strategies, programs, and policies implemented by community partners), impacts on the CBPR team, impacts on individuals (participants and community members), and contributions to the field and the university. Our approach focused on observing what happened in the community that was directly or indirectly related to our partnership, process, products, and relationships. Much of the impact we observed reflected the synergy of sharing our research and community voice with responsive partners and stakeholders.

Pyrogenic carbon (PyC) derived from charcoal particles (paleo + modern) deposited in the soil column has been little studied in the Amazon, and our understanding of the factors that control the spatial and vertical distribution of these materials in the region's forest soils is still unclear. The objective of this study was to test the effect of forest type and distance from the ignition source on the PyC stocks contained in macroscopic particles of soil charcoal (≥2mm; 1 m depth) dispersed in ecotone forests of the northern Brazilian Amazon. Thirty permanent plots were set up near a site that had been occupied by pre-Columbian and by modern populations until the late 1970s. The sampled plots represent seasonal and ombrophilous forests that occur under different hydro-edaphic restrictions. Our results indicate that the largest PyC stock was spatially dependent on distance to the ignition source (<3km), occurring mainly in flood-free ombrophilous forests (3.46±5.22Mg PyC/ha). The vertical distribution of PyC in the deeper layers of the soil (> 50cm) in seasonal forests was limited by hydro-edaphic impediments that restricted the occurrence of charcoal. These results suggest that PyC stocks derived from macroscopic charcoal particles in the soil of this Brazilian Amazon ecotone region are controlled by the distance from the ignition source of the fire, and that forest types with higher hydro-edaphic restrictions can inhibit formation and accumulation of charcoal. Making use of these distinctions reduces uncertainty and improves our ability to understand the variability of PyC stocks in forests with a history of fire in the Amazon.

In this paper, we model a single elevator scheduling problem as a mixed integer linear program (MILP). Based on an industrial prototype model for elevator moving dynamics, the nonlinear travel activities for the elevator are linearized in the scheduling problem. We propose a set of cutting planes that accelerate the computation time for solving the MILP for a set of testing cases under different scenarios. For the first time, an exact scheduling model is modeled with MILP, and the elevator moving dynamics model is based on a high-accuracy industrial prototype model. According to the model structure, it can be easily extended to various objectives and can be easily implemented. This model can serve as benchmarks for other approaches in simulation.

Considerando que a Qualidade de Vida no Trabalho (QVT) no Setor Publico e importante para o bem-estar dos servidores publicos, para a eficiencia e eficacia dos servicos prestados e para a satisfacao dos usuarios, o artigo faz uma revisao nao-sistematica da literatura sobre QVT na Administracao Publica brasileira, de 2007 a 2013. Seus objetivos especificos foram: analisar a autoria, frequencia por ano, tipo e veiculo de divulgacao das publicacoes, alem de apresentar resumos das mesmas com sua classificacao segundo o metodo de pesquisa utilizado, a populacao e a amostra estudadas, os objetivos e instrumentos de coleta de dados. Foram identificadas 24 publicacoes e sua analise levou a concluir que a area de estudos tem se mostrado regularmente produtiva, mas em estagio nao muito avancado de desenvolvimento cientifico, sugerindo-se novos estudos para amplia-la.

Forest fires (paleo + modern) have caused charcoal particles to accumulate in the soil vertical profile in Amazonia. This forest compartment is a long-term carbon reservoir with an important role in global carbon balance. Estimates of stocks remain uncertain in forests that have not been altered by deforestation but that have been impacted by understory fires and selective logging. We estimated the stock of pyrogenic carbon derived from charcoal accumulated in the soil profile of seasonal forest fragments impacted by fire and selective logging in the northern portion of Brazilian Amazonia. Sixty-nine soil cores to 1-m depth were collected in 12 forest fragments of different sizes. Charcoal stocks averaged 3.45 ± 2.17 Mg ha(-1) (2.24 ± 1.41 Mg C ha(-1) ). Pyrogenic carbon was not directly related to the size of the forest fragments. This carbon is equivalent to 1.40% (0.25% to 4.04%) of the carbon stocked in aboveground live tree biomass in these fragments. The vertical distribution of pyrogenic carbon indicates an exponential model, where the 0-30 cm depth range has 60% of the total stored. The total area of Brazil's Amazonian seasonal forests and ecotones not altered by deforestation implies 65-286 Tg of pyrogenic carbon accumulated along the soil vertical profile. This is 1.2-2.3 times the total amount of residual pyrogenic carbon formed by biomass burning worldwide in 1 year. Our analysis suggests that the accumulated charcoal in the soil vertical profile in Amazonian forests is a substantial pyrogenic carbon pool that needs to be considered in global carbon models.

Subsurface biofilms are central to bioremediation of chemical contaminants in soil and groundwater whereby micro-organisms degrade or sequester environmental pollutants like nitrate, hydrocarbons, chlorinated solvents and heavy metals. Current methods to monitor subsurface biofilm growth in situ are indirect. Previous laboratory research conducted at MSU has indicated that low-field nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is sensitive to biofilm growth in porous media, where biofilm contributes a polymer gel-like phase and enhances T2 relaxation. Here we show that a small diameter NMR well logging tool can detect biofilm accumulation in the subsurface using the change in T2 relaxation behavior over time. T2 relaxation distributions were measured over an 18 day experimental period by two NMR probes, operating at approximately 275 kHz and 400 kHz, installed in 10.2 cm wells in an engineered field testing site. The mean log T2 relaxation times were reduced by 62% and 43%, respectively, while biofilm was cultivated in the soil surrounding each well. Biofilm growth was confirmed by bleaching and flushing the wells and observing the NMR signal's return to baseline. This result provides a direct and noninvasive method to spatiotemporally monitor biofilm accumulation in the subsurface.