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Aim: The aims of this report are to (1) describe a novel prehospital 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) configuration and transmission procedure used in the Synthesized Twelve-lead ST Monitoring and Real-time Tele-electrocardiography Study and to (2) report on the frequency of arrhythmias in field ECGs compared with the first hospital ECG.Methods: The Synthesized Twelve-lead ST Monitoring and Real-time Tele-electrocardiography Study is a 5-year randomized clinical trial ending in 2008. All emergency vehicles responding to 911 calls in Santa Cruz County, Calif, have been equipped with portable monitor defibrillators with a special study software that (1) synthesizes a 12-lead ECG from 5 electrodes, (2) measures ST amplitudes in all 12 leads every 30 seconds, and (3) automatically transmits an ECG to the target emergency department if there is a change in ST amplitude of 200 microV in 1 lead or more or 100 microV in 2 contiguous leads or more lasting 2.5 minutes. An initial ECG is transmitted by paramedics, which activates the software. Subsequent transmissions of ST event ECGs occur automatically without paramedic decision making.Results: Prehospital ECGs had a greater frequency of arrhythmias than the first hospital ECG in the group as a whole (n = 433; 33.3% vs 28.9%; P < or = .001), as well as the subgroup with acute coronary syndrome (n = 185; 30.3% vs 26.5%; P < or = .001). More tachyarrhythmias occurred in the field and slightly more bradyarrhythmias occurred at the time of the first hospital ECG.Conclusions: Prehospital continuous 12-lead ST-segment ischemia monitoring with computer-assisted automatic mobile telephone transmission of ST event ECGs to the target hospital is feasible. More arrhythmias occur in the prehospital phase than are evident on the first hospital ECG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the least understood aspects of aquatic ecology is the role of riparian zones of lakes, and how these habitats and their functions are impacted by human development of lakeshores. We investigated the effects of residential lakeshore development on littoral coarse woody debris (CWD) distribution and on riparian forest characteristics by comparing 18 lakes in the U.S. Pacific Northwest with 16 previously surveyed lakes in the U.S. Upper Midwest. Residential development had a strong negative effect on CWD and riparian forest characteristics at both local and whole-lake scales. There was a strong positive correlation between riparian forest density and littoral CWD abundance in both regions. We found regional variation in CWD and riparian forest characteristics, mostly owing to differences in native forests. Our results suggest the role of local processes in determining CWD distribution and point to potential regional differences in littoral habitat structure associated with forest composition and lake-shore development that may have consequences for littoral-pelagic coupling in lakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We conducted a statistical analysis of a long-term (1964-1998) record of intra- and interannual temperature fluctuations in Lake Washington, Washington. Lake Washington has experienced a warming trend, with overall increases of 1.5 (0.045°C yr[sup-1]) and 0.9°C (0.026°C yr[sup-1]), respectively, for temperature data weighted over the surface (0-10 m) and entire lake volume. This warming trend was greatest for the period from April to September and was smallest and nonsignificant for November-February. A principal-components analysis of the long-term mean monthly temperature time series identified two independent modes of interannual variability. The first mode represented the months of the year when the lake warms and is warmest (e.g., March-October) and explained 54% of the variability in the overall time series. The second mode represented the months when the lake cools and is coldest (November-February) and explained 24% of the variability. The March-October mode was positively correlated with interannual variability in air temperatures and the Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO), multivariate r² = 0.65. The November-February mode was positively correlated with air temperature, PDO, relative humidity, solar radiation, and wind speed (r² = 0.83). A heat budget model indicated that long-term trends had a secondary role and interannual variability dominated, with exceptions being net long-wave atmospheric radiation and surface-emitted radiation, for which the long-term trend explained ∼25% and 53% of the total variance, respectively. An increase in incoming long-wave radiation fluxes was mainly associated with the increase in minimum daily temperatures (0.06°C yr[sup-1], r² = 0.47), especially during the March-October mode, when the linear trend accounted for 85% of the variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A classic example of a sustainable fishery is that targeting sockeye salmon in Bristol Bay, Alaska, where record catches have occurred during the last 20 years. The stock complex is an amalgamation of several hundred discrete spawning populations. Structured within lake systems, individual populations display diverse life history characteristics and local adaptations to the variation in spawning and rearing habitats. This biocomplexity has enabled the aggregate of populations to sustain its productivity despite major changes in climatic conditions affecting the freshwater and marine environments during the last century. Different geographic and life history components that were minor producers during one climatic regime have dominated during others, emphasizing that the biocomplexity of fish stocks is critical for maintaining their resilience to environmental change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deals with a study which examined how human residential development influenced the level of lake eutrophication in the Seattle, Washington region. Materials and methods; Results; Management implications.

Features a study that tested the hypothesis that sockeye salmon in Lake Washington, Washington experience growth limitation because of content of phosphorus or specific essential fatty acids in their diet. Equations and parameter values for the bioenergetics model; Potential for food quality limitation of growth; Ratios of phosphorus to carbon for both sockeye salmon and zooplankton.

Increased exposure to ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation has been proposed as a major environmental stressor leading to global, amphibian declines. Prior experimental evidence from the U.S. Pacific Northwest (PNW) indicating the acute embryonic sensitivity of at least four amphibian species to UV-B has been central to the literature about amphibian decline. However, these results have not been expanded to address population-scale effects and natural landscape variation in UV-B transparency of water at amphibian breeding sites: both necessary links to assess the importance of UV-B for amphibian declines. We quantified the UV-B transparency of 136 potential amphibian breeding sites to establish the pattern of UV-B exposure across two montane regions in the PNW. Our data suggest that 85% of sites are naturally protected by dissolved organic matter in pond water, and that only a fraction of breeding, sites are expected to experience UV-B intensities exceeding levels associated with elevated egg mortality. Thus, the spectral characteristics of natural waters likely mediate the physiological effects of UV-B on amphibian eggs in all but the clearest waters. These data imply that UV-B is unlikely to cause broad amphibian declines across the landscape of the American Northwest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the American Heart Association recommends a prehospital electrocardiogram (ECG) be recorded for all patients who access the emergency medical system with symptoms of acute coronary syndrome (ACS), widespread use of prehospital ECG has not been achieved in the United States. A 5-year prospective randomized clinical trial was conducted in a predominately rural county in northern California to test a simple strategy for acquiring and transmitting prehospital ECGs that involved minimal paramedic training and decision making. A 12-lead ECG was synthesized from 5 electrodes and continuous ST-segment monitoring was performed with ST-event ECGs automatically transmitted to the destination hospital emergency department. Patients randomized to the experimental group had their ECGs printed out in the emergency department with an audible voice alarm, whereas control patients had an ECG after hospital arrival, as was the standard of care in the county. The result was that nearly 3/4 (74%) of 4,219 patients with symptoms of ACS over the 4-year study enrollment period had a prehospital ECG. Mean time from 911 call to first ECG was 20 minutes in those with a prehospital ECG versus 79 minutes in those without a prehospital ECG (p <0.0001). Mean paramedic scene time in patients with a prehospital ECG was just 2 minutes longer than in those without a prehospital ECG (95% confidence interval 1.2 to 3.6, p <0.001). Patients with non–ST-elevation myocardial infarction or unstable angina pectoris had a faster time to first intravenous drug and there was a suggested trend for a faster door-to-balloon time and lower risk of mortality in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction. In conclusion, increased paramedic use of prehospital ECGs and decreased hospital treatment times for ACS are feasible with a simple approach tailored to characteristics of a local geographic region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal variability in lake phytoplankton is controlled largely by a complex interplay between hydrodynamic and chemical factors, and food web interactions. We explored mechanisms underlying phytoplankton interannual variability in Lake Washington (USA), using a 25-yr time series of water quality data (1975–1999). Time-series analysis and PCA were used to decompose chlorophyll data into modes of variability. We found that phytoplankton dynamics in Lake Washington were characterized by four seasonal modes, each of which was associated with different ecological processes. The first mode coincided with the period when the system was light limited (January–March) and phytoplankton patterns were driven by the amount of available solar radiation. The second mode (April–June) coincided with the peak of the spring bloom and the subsequent decline of phytoplankton biomass, and was largely controlled by total phosphorus levels and grazing pressure from cladoceran zooplankton. Evidence of co-dependence and tight relationship between phytoplankton and cladoceran dynamics were also found from July to October when a large portion of the phosphorus supply in the mixed layer was provided by zooplankton excretion. The fourth mode (November–December) was associated with the transition to thermal and chemical homogeneity and the winter phytoplankton minima (2–2.5μg/l). Finally, we examined the effects of meteorological forcing and large-scale oceanic climate fluctuations (ENSO and PDO) on phytoplankton dynamics and assessed the significance of their role on the interannual variability in the lake. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]