University of North Carolina at Wilmington

About: University of North Carolina at Wilmington is a education organization based out in Wilmington, North Carolina, United States. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Poison control. The organization has 3329 authors who have published 6797 publications receiving 186308 citations.

Improving clinical breast examination training in a medical school: a randomized controlled trial.

Abstract: To evaluate a new program for teaching clinical breast examination, a class of 156 second-year medical students were randomized into an experimental group (practice and feedback on silicone breast models and women volunteers) and a control group (lecture only). During a simulated practical clinical examination routinely conducted at the end of the second year, the experimental group students used more suggested palpation techniques during a patient examination (4.6 vs 2.0; p<0.0001) and found more simulated lumps in a silicone model (4.7 vs 4.4; p<0.05). Practice with immediate feedback is more effective than lecture alone in teaching clinical breast examination.

Biogeography rather than association with cyanobacteria structures symbiotic microbial communities in the marine sponge Petrosia ficiformis

Abstract: The sponge Petrosia ficiformis is ubiquitous in the Mediterranean Sea and Eastern Atlantic Ocean, hosting a diverse assemblage of bacteria, including, in illuminated sites, cyanobacteria. Two closely related sponge color morphs have been described, one inside caves and at their entrance (white/pink), and one on the rocky cliffs (violet). The presence of the different morphs and their ubiquity in the Mediterranean (from North-West to South-East) provides an opportunity to examine which factors mostly affect the associated microbial communities in this species: (i) presence of phototrophic symbionts or (ii) biogeography. 16S rRNA gene tag pyrosequencing data of the microbial communities revealed that Chloroflexi, Gammaproteobacteria, and Acidobacteria dominated the bacterial communities of all sponges analyzed. Chlorophyll a content, TEM observations and DNA sequence data confirmed the presence of the cyanobacterium Synechococcus feldmannii in violet and pink morphs of P. ficiformis and their absence in white color morphs. Rather than cyanobacterial symbionts (i.e., color morphs) accounting for variability in microbial symbiont communities, a biogeographic trend was observed between P. ficiformis collected in Israel and Italy. Analyses of partial 18S rRNA and mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (COX1) gene sequences revealed consistent genetic divergence between the violet and pink-white morphotypes of P. ficiformis. Overall, data indicated that microbial symbiont communities were more similar in genetically distinct P. ficiformis from the same location, than genetically similar P. ficiformis from distant locations.

Adélie penguin diet and climate change during the middle to late Holocene in northern Marguerite Bay, Antarctic Peninsula

Abstract: We investigated one active and three abandoned Adelie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae) colonies in northern Marguerite Bay, Antarctic Peninsula, during austral summer 2000. Extinct colonies were located by ground survey on small islands and recognized by concentrations of nest pebbles. The colonies were excavated to recover organic remains from ornithogenic soils. Radiocarbon dates on penguin bone and eggshell provided a 6,000-year occupation history after correction for the marine-carbon reservoir effect; this history was compared to the paleoclimate record (ice cores and marine sediments) to assess patterns in occupation by penguins with episodes of climate change. We quantified prey remains recovered from the sites to examine potential dietary shifts by penguins with climatic change. Two species, Antarctic silverfish (Pleuragramma antarcticum) and squid (Psychroteuthis glacialis), were most commonly represented in the sediments. The data indicate that silverfish may have been exploited more during cool, and squid in warm climatic intervals in the past.

Sunlight-induced photochemical decay of oxidants in natural waters: implications in ballast water treatment.

Abstract: The transport and discharge of ship ballast water has been recognized as a major vector for the introduction of invasive species. Chemical oxidants, long used in drinking water and wastewater treatment, are alternative treatment methods for the control of invasive species currently being tested for use on ships. One concern when a ballasted vessel arrives in port is the adverse effects of residual oxidant in the treated water. The most common oxidants include chlorine (HOCl/OCl-), bromine (HOBr/OBr-), ozone (03), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), chlorine dioxide (ClO2), and monochloramine (NH2Cl). The present study was undertaken to evaluate the sunlight-mediated photochemical decomposition of these oxidants. Sunlight photodecomposition was measured at various pH using either distilled water or oligotrophic Gulf Stream water for specific oxidants. For selected oxidants, quantum yields at specific wavelengths were obtained. An environmental photochemical model, GCSOLAR, also provided predictions of the fate (sunlight photolysis half-lives) of HOCI/OCl-, HOBr/OBr-, ClO2, and NH2Cl for two different seasons at latitude 40 degrees and in water with two different concentrations of chromophoric dissolved organic matter. These data are useful in assessing the environmental fate of ballast water treatment oxidants if they were to be discharged in port.

A Collision-Free Surveillance System Using Smart UAVs in Multi Domain IoT

Abstract: In this letter, we introduce a surveillance model for multi domain IoT environment, which is supported by reinforced barriers with collision-avoidance using heterogeneous smart UAVs. Formally, we define a problem whose goal is minimizing the maximum movement of smart UAVs on condition that collision-avoidance among UAVs is assured when they fly between initial positions and specific spots in order to build reinforced barrier in multi domain. After ILP formulation of the defined problem, a novel approach is proposed to solve the problem. Also, we analyze the performance of the developed scheme through extensive simulations with various scenarios.