Genetic architecture controlling variation in grain carotenoid composition and concentrations in two maize populations.

Genetic control of maize grain carotenoid profiles is coordinated through several loci distributed throughout three secondary metabolic pathways, most of which exhibit additive, and more importantly, pleiotropic effects. The genetic basis for the variation in maize grain carotenoid concentrations was investigated in two F2:3 populations, DEexp × CI7 and A619 × SC55, derived from high total carotenoid and high β-carotene inbred lines. A comparison of grain carotenoid concentrations from population DEexp × CI7 grown in different environments revealed significantly higher concentrations and greater trait variation in samples harvested from a subtropical environment relative to those from a temperate environment.

Effect of adjustable gastric banding on changes in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and quality of life.

Objective: Bariatric surgery is an effective treatment for the reduction of weight in obese patients (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m(2) or 30 kg/m(2) with ≥1 comorbidities), who are refractory to behavioral and medical therapies. This study examined the effect of the adjustable gastric band (AGB) system on changes in gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) and patient-reported outcomes, including measures of quality of life.

Methods: Two-year interim analysis of patients (N = 171) in the 5 year, prospective APEX study who reported GERD prior to the AGB procedure.

A platform for testing and comparing of real-time decision-support algorithms in mobile environments.

The unavailability of a flexible system for realtime testing of decision-support algorithms in a pre-hospital clinical setting has limited their use. In this study, we describe a plug-and-play platform for real-time testing of decision-support algorithms during the transport of trauma casualties en route to a hospital. The platform integrates a standard-of-care vital-signs monitor, which collects numeric and waveform physiologic time-series data, with a rugged ultramobile personal computer.

Evaluating a virtual reality motor-skills simulator.

Evaluation was performed on a prototype low-cost virtual-reality motor-skills simulator (VRMSS) created at the Telehealth Research Institute, John A. Burns School of Medicine, in conjunction with the National Biocomputation Center, Stanford University. The VRMSS is specifically designed to teach baseline fine-motor skills used in surgery that are based on a matrix of elemental technical skills that comprise the tenets of surgical technique.

A Web-based, integrated simulation system for craniofacial surgical planning.

Background: Advances in computing over the last 10 years have rapidly improved imaging and simulation in health care. Implementation of three-dimensional protocols and image fusion techniques are moving diagnosis, treatment planning, and teaching to a next-generation paradigm. In addition, decreasing cost and increasing availability make generalized use of these techniques possible.

Integration of wireless sensor networks into cyberinfrastructure for monitoring Hawaiian "mountain-to-sea" environments.

Monitoring the complex environmental relationships and feedbacks of ecosystems on catchment (or mountain)-to-sea scales is essential for social systems to effectively deal with the escalating impacts of expanding human populations globally on watersheds. However, synthesis of emerging technologies into a robust observing platform for the monitoring of coupled human-natural environments on extended spatial scales has been slow to develop. For this purpose, the authors produced a new cyberinfrastructure for environmental monitoring which successfully merged the use of wireless sensor technologies, grid computing with three-dimensional (3D) geospatial data visualization/exploration, and a secured internet portal user interface, into a working prototype for monitoring mountain-to-sea environments in the high Hawaiian Islands.

Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding in an ambulatory surgery center.

Background: In the management of morbid obesity by laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB), careful patient preparation and attentive follow-up have been shown to produce the best long-term results.

Methods: Between November 2002 and August 2007, prospective data were collected on 2,411 consecutive patients, 84% of whom underwent LAGB at our freestanding outpatient surgery center, staffed by our dedicated multidisciplinary bariatric team. Outcomes reported include changes in mean body mass index (BMI), percentage excess body weight loss (%EBWL), and incidence of complications at 1 year, as well as the slippage rate up to 3 years.

Global forum on telemedicine: connecting the world through partnerships.

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) held the Global Forum on Telemedicine: Connecting the World Through Partnerships in September 2007 with sponsorship by the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC).

Outpatient laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding in super-obese patients.

Background: Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) is a safe and effective treatment for morbid obesity that is well suited to outpatient surgery. Super-obese patients (BMI > or = 50) are often viewed as higher risk patients, with their surgical procedures limited to hospital operating-rooms. We report our experience performing LAGB for super-obese patients in a freestanding ambulatory surgery center and describe the program elements that make this feasible and safe.

Real-time smoke and bleeding simulation in virtual surgery.

We present a particle-based smoke simulation and a particle-based fluid simulation in an interactive environment with rigid and deformable objects. Many smoke and fluid simulations offer high physical and visual accuracy, but the underlaying models are to complex to run in real-time while performing soft-tissue simulation, collision detection, and haptic device support at the same time. Our algorithms are based on simple models that allow the surgery simulation to run in real-time.

Centralized data recording for a distributed surgical skills trainer to facilitate automated proficiency evaluation.

Virtual reality simulators have the capability to automatically record user performance data in an unbiased, cost effective manner that is also less error prone than manual methods. Centralized data recording simplifies proficiency evaluation even more; however is not commonly available to date for surgical skills trainers. We will detail our approach in implementing a framework for distributed score recording over the Internet using a database for persistent storage.

Project hydra--a new paradigm of internet-based surgical simulation.

Computer-based surgical simulation systems have produced tremendous benefits and demonstrated validity as a better method for many areas of surgical skills acquisition. However, despite these benefits, broad proliferation of these systems has continued to be elusive. While in large part this lag in adoption of this technology is due to social factors (organizational momentum, curriculum integration difficulties, etc), the cost of computer-based simulation systems has certainly remained a major deterrent toward broad deployment.

A surgical and fine-motor skills trainer for everyone? Touch and force-feedback in a virtual reality environment for surgical training.

Access to the laboratory component of a class is limited by resources, while lab training is not currently possible for distance learning. To overcome the problem a solution is proposed to enable hands-on, interactive, objectively scored and appropriately mentored learning in a widely accessible environment. The proposed solution is the Virtual-Reality Motor-Skills trainer to teach basic fine-motor skills using Haptics for touch and feel interaction as well as a 3D virtual reality environment for visualization.

A multiparameter wearable physiologic monitoring system for space and terrestrial applications.

A novel, unobtrusive and wearable, multiparameter ambulatory physiologic monitoring system for space and terrestrial applications, termed LifeGuard, is presented. The core element is a wearable monitor, the crew physiologic observation device (CPOD), that provides the capability to continuously record two standard electrocardiogram leads, respiration rate via impedance plethysmography, heart rate, hemoglobin oxygen saturation, ambient or body temperature, three axes of acceleration, and blood pressure. These parameters can be digitally recorded with high fidelity over a 9-h period with precise time stamps and user-defined event markers.

Adjustable gastric banding in an ambulatory surgery center.

Background: We report our early experience with 343 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) as an outpatient procedure in a self-standing ambulatory surgery center.

Methods: Between Apr 2003 and Feb 2005, data was collected prospectively on 343 consecutive patients who underwent LAGB as an outpatient.

Results: There were 305 females (88.

A surgical simulator for planning and performing repair of cleft lips.

Unlabelled: The objective of this project was to develop a computer-based surgical simulation system for planning and performing cleft lip repair. This system allows the user to interact with a virtual patient to perform the traditional steps of cleft-lip repair (rotation-advancement technique).

Materials And Methods: The system interfaces to force-feedback (haptic) devices to track the user's motion and provide feedback during the procedure, while performing real-time soft-tissue simulation.

Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding: weight loss, co-morbidities, medication usage and quality of life at one year.

Background: The objective of this study was to determine the weight loss, changes in co-morbidities, medication usage and general health status at 1 year after laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB).

Methods: Prospective data were obtained from all subjects undergoing LAGB. These measurements included a medical history and review of systems, medications, height and weight and the SF-36 general health survey.

Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding: early experience in 400 consecutive patients in the USA.

Background: Early experience with 400 consecutive patients who underwent laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding (LAGB) is reported.

Methods: From Nov 2002 to Aug 2004, prospective data were collected on 400 consecutive LAGB patients and evaluated retrospectively.

Results: There were 354 (88.

User interface paradigms for patient-specific surgical planning: lessons learned over a decade of research.

This paper covers work in virtual reality-based, patient-specific surgical planning over the past decade. It aims to comprehensively examine the user interface paradigms and system designs during that period of time and to objectively analyze their effectiveness for the task. The goal is to provide useful feedback on these interface and implementation paradigms to aid other researchers in this field.

The fundamental manipulations of surgery: a structured vocabulary for designing surgical curricula and simulators.

A structured vocabulary is proposed for supporting the design and development of advanced surgical simulators. Nine fundamental surgical instrument-tissue actions or manipulations are defined and common synonyms provided. The vocabulary focuses on "target skills" that are familiar to surgeons, in comparison with "enabling skills" from the lexicon of instructional designers and psychometricians.

Effect of environment on resistance to the European corn borer (Lepidoptera: Crambidae) in maize.

The European corn borer, Ostrinia nubilalis (Hübner) (Lepidoptera: Crambidae), is a major pest of maize, Zea mays L., in many temperate parts of the world. Genotype-by-environment interaction effects can make relative performance unpredictable and may hamper selection for resistance to European corn borer.

The personal digital assistant (PDA) as a tool for telementoring endoscopic procedures.

The telementoring of surgical procedures is currently achieved via a wired infrastructure that usually requires sophisticated videoconference systems. This project represents the first step in assessing the potential for using handheld computers as a mobile alternative to current telementoring systems. Specifically, this project compares a handheld computer to a standard CRT monitor regarding their capability to accurately display video images from an endoscopic procedure.

Spring: a general framework for collaborative, real-time surgical simulation.

We describe the implementation details of a real-time surgical simulation system with soft-tissue modeling and multi-user, multi-instrument, networked haptics. The simulator is cross-platform and runs on various Unix and Windows platforms. It is written in C++ with OpenGL for graphics; GLUT, GLUI, and MUI for user interface; and supports parallel processing.

Generalized interactions using virtual tools within the spring framework: cutting.

We present schemes for real-time generalized mesh cutting. Starting with the a basic example, we describe the details of implementing cutting on single and multiple surface objects as well as hybrid and volumetric meshes using virtual tools with single and multiple cutting surfaces. These methods have been implemented in a robust surgical simulation environment allowing us to model procedures ranging from animal dissection to cleft lip correction.

Generalized interactions using virtual tools within the spring framework: probing, piercing, cauterizing and ablating.

We present schemes for real-time generalized interactions such as probing, piercing, cauterizing and ablating virtual tissues. These methods have been implemented in a robust, real-time (haptic rate) surgical simulation environment allowing us to model procedures including animal dissection, microsurgery, hysteroscopy, and cleft lip repair.