Instrumented Section Research Articles

Maternal and perinatal outcome in obese pregnant patients

Introduction. Obesity represents a rapidly emerging epidemic amongst pregnant patients in South Australia, in particular in Adelaide's Northern suburbs, one of the poorest urban areas in Australia. The aim of the current study was to prepare a comprehensive overview of maternal and perinatal outcome in overweight, obese and morbidly obese pregnant patients.Material and methods. Retrospective review of women with singleton pregnancies delivering in the first 6 months of 2006; 100 with normal BMI (group I: BMI 19.1–25 kg/m2), 100 overweight (group II: BMI 25.1–30 kg/m2), 110 obese (group III: BMI 30.1–40 kg/m2) and 60 morbidly obese women (group IV: BMI >40 kg/m2) were identified with access to complete medical records. Outcome measures included booking demographics, booking blood pressures, glucose challenge and glucose tolerance results, hypertensive complications, pre-existing and gestational diabetes, instrumental deliveries, caesarean deliveries, blood loss, birth weights, Apgar scores, post-partum complications and psychological problems.Results. Women in group II, III and IV were characterised by higher systolic booking blood pressure (mean differences: 3.92, 9.94 and 9.84 respectively for group II, III and IV) and higher diastolic booking blood pressures (mean differences 3.02, 6.92 and 9.22 respectively). As a combined group II–IV, women were at increased risk for pre-existing morbidity (OR 2.33) and requiring medication (OR 2.13). Pregnancy hypertension occurred significantly more in group III and IV with OR 2.38 and 3.75. Women without pre-existing hypertension were also found to be at increased risk to develop gestational hypertension only if they belonged to group IV (OR 3.69). Women in group III and IV are at increased risk at gestational diabetes with OR 8.82 and 27.38. Women in group III and IV are less likely to have a spontaneous onset of labour with ORs of 2.18 and 3.51 for not having spontaneous onset of labour. Induction of labour occurred more often in group IV (OR 3.17). Requirement of instrumental deliveries or lower segment caesarean section occurred more often in group II, III and IV with OR 2.20, 3.28 and 5.47 respectively. Significant more blood loss was found in group III and IV with mean differences of 135.42 and 207.94 ml compared with group I. The birthweight in group III and IV are significantly higher with mean differences of 104.86 and 324.94 g. Macrosomia occurred more often in group IV (OR 4.04). Women in group III and IV had a longer overall hospital stay with mean differences of 0.58 and 1.09 days. Mental health issues were more common in group II, III and IV with OR 3.16, 3.53 and 4.17 respectively.Conclusion. These South Australian data from a socio-economically deprived area in Adelaide's Northern suburbs confirm that obesity during pregnancy represents a major risk for adverse outcome for patients with a whole spectrum of adverse pregnancy outcomes; obesity represents a major challenge for health care providers.

A study of temperature and traffic load related response in different layers in an instrumented flexible pavement

The first fully instrumented flexible pavement test section in Maine was constructed in Fall, 2005. Temperature data were collected for a period of 5 months and stress–strain data were collected by running a truck at different speeds. The temperature data were analysed to develop models to predict these temperatures on the basis of ambient temperature and solar radiation. The haversine equation was found to be suitable for modelling the strain response in HMA layers, whereas slight variations were used for modelling the responses in the subbase and subgrade layers. The strain in the HMA layer shows a lag when compared to the fitted model. The HMA tensile strains matched well with the predicted strains at lower time of loading and lower temperatures. Subbase stresses were greater than predicted values. The subbase strains matched well with the predicted ones. The measured subgrade stresses were greater than predicted stress values.

Maternal Obesity and Pregnancy

Obesity is a global health problem that is increasing in prevalence. The World Health Organization characterizes obesity as a pandemic issue, with a higher prevalence in females than males. Thus, many pregnant patients are seen with high body mass index (BMI). Obesity during pregnancy is considered a high-risk state because it is associated with many complications. Compared with normal-weight patients, obese patients have a higher prevalence of infertility. Once they conceive, they have higher rate of early miscarriage and congenital anomalies, including neural tube defects. Besides the coexistence of preexisting diabetes mellitus and chronic hypertension, obese women are more likely to have pregnancy-induced hypertension, gestational diabetes, thromboembolism, macrosomia, and spontaneous intrauterine demises in the latter half of pregnancy. Obese women also require instrument or Cesarean section delivery more often than average-weight women. Following Cesarean section delivery, obese women have a higher incidence of wound infection and disruption. Irrespective of the delivery mode, children born to obese mothers have a higher incidence of macrosomia and associated shoulder dystocia, which can be highly unpredictable. In addition to being large at birth, children born to obese mothers are also more susceptible to obesity in adolescence and adulthood. Prevention is the best way to prevent this problem. As pregnancy is the worst time to lose weight, women with a high BMI should be encouraged to lose weight prior to conceiving. During preconception counseling, they should be educated about the complications associated with high a BMI. Obese women should also be screened for hypertension and diabetes mellitus. In early pregnancy, besides being watchful about the higher association of miscarriage, obese women should be screened with ultrasound for congenital anomalies around 18 to 22 weeks. The ultrasound should be repeated close to term to check on the estimated fetal weight to rule out macrosomia. Obese pregnant women are screened for gestational diabetes around 24 to 28 weeks. During the second half of pregnancy, one needs to closely watch for signs and symptoms of pregnancy-induced hypertension. Once in labor, an early anesthesia consultation is highly recommended irrespective of delivery mode. When Cesarean section is performed, many obstetricians prefer an incision above the pannus to avoid skin infection. However, the incision should be decided upon the discretion of the surgeon. Peripartum, special attention is given to avoid thromboembolism by using compression stockings and early ambulation.

Electronic fetal heart rate monitoring: help or hindrance?

Cerebral Palsy is a non-progressive disease of the developing fetal brain thought to arise from hypoxic or infective insults in the antepartum and intrapartum periods. Electronic fetal monitoring in the form of the cardiotocography (CTG) was designed to assess fetal wellbeing and reduce the incidence of cerebral palsy: it has not. The widespread use of CTG in low risk women has increased the rate of intervention in the form of instrumental delivery and caesarean section. Severe abnormalities of the CTG require action either by fetal blood sampling or expedition of delivery; yet some of these babies with ‘pathological’ CTGs will have no evidence of fetal hypoxia (i.e. a normal cord pH). In addition, some pathological traces are not recognized or acted upon appropriately. This article discusses the case for and against electronic fetal monitoring in pregnant women.

Acoustical Demands for the Conductor's Location

For a conductor standing in front of an orchestra, some requirements place special demands on the room-acoustical conditions at his location: the control of a homogeneous sound of the individual string groups, the dynamic balance between different instrument sections, the orchestral dynamics as a whole and the balance between soloists or singers and the orchestra, and the spaciousness of the full sound to be expected in the audience area. Furthermore the conductor has to choose the seating arrangement of the orchestra. Whereas the listeners' loudness impression mainly is determined by the diffuse field level in the hall, the conductor's loudness impression depends predominantly on the direct sound and maybe additionally by early reflections coming from the walls around the orchestra and from above. Spatial impression is perceived generally in the frontal hemisphere; this leads to difficulties for the conductor in assessing the spatial impression in the audience area: As in the horizontal plane, he hears predominantly the direct sound of the orchestra, he can perceive a spatial impression only from the space above his location or from higher room sections behind the orchestra. Because of the directivity of the musical instruments, different seating arrangements of the instrument sections affect the tonal impression of the listeners; but as in all arrangements the players sit facing the conductor, he does not hear the influence of the directivity at his location and can assess it only by listening from the audience area.

Acoustical characterization of orchestra platforms

In concert halls and other performance spaces it is important that acoustic conditions allow the musicians to hear each other and that there is a sufficient response from the room. Acoustical characterization of spaces for musicians, such as orchestra platforms, orchestra pits, and rehearsal rooms requires the measurements of the Early and Late Support, and other acoustical parameters described in the ISO/DC 3382-1 and in Literature. This work shows results from measurements carried out on five orchestra platforms, different in shape, size and materials of the boundary surfaces. Up to eight source positions were chosen in order to represent the main instrumental sections of the orchestra playing on the platform. Measurements were carried out without musicians, in conditions of empty stage and stage equipped as in concert configuration with stands, chairs, and risers. Some metrological problems connected with the reproducibility of results are considered as the directivity of the source and the small movements of the source and the microphone. The correlations between objective data show that the measured parameters are not always independent, but some groups of correlated measures, not completely separated, are found. The comparison of results allows to draw some connections with the main stage architectural features.

Geotechnical Characterization by In situ and Lab Tests to the Back-Analysis of a Supported Excavation in Metro do Porto

This paper summarizes the geotechnical characterization conducted for the design and subsequent analysis of a strutted excavation in “Metro do Porto”. This region is geologically dominated by heterogeneous weathered granite masses with deep residual soil profiles. Local saprolitic soils exhibit, by their nature, a particular behavior characterized by very sensitive and weak relic micro-structures, due to their specific genesis. This study has included the interpretation of a significant volume of in situ test results, triaxial tests over undisturbed samples and monitoring data, giving rise to specific correlations between testing and design parameters. Real time monitoring enabled a back-analysis by FEM of a well instrumented section of the strutted excavation, which was calibrated taking into account the derived correlations and the deformability behavior of this specific geotechnical ambient. This geomaterial, although revealing very high initial stiffness values (for very small strain ranges) has shown low stiffness values for “medium to high” strain levels, reflecting a singular strong non-linearity in the stress-strain behavior.

Rehabilitation of concrete pavements utilizing rubblization: a mechanistic based approach to HMA overlay thickness design

In Iowa, there are many portland cement concrete (PCC) type highway pavements. These pavements deteriorate over time due to materials, traffic and environmental related distresses and they are commonly rehabilitated by providing a hot-mix asphalt (HMA) overlay. To mitigate reflection cracking, a frequently observed distress on HMA overlaid PCC pavements, various fractured slab techniques are used, of which rubblization is considered to be the most utilized and effective technique. This paper describes the development of a mechanistic–empirical (M–E) thickness design system for HMA overlaid rubblized PCC pavements. In this computerized design procedure, HMA fatigue and subgrade rutting failure are considered using appropriate transfer functions. The design system strain predictions were validated using field results from an instrumented trial section in Polk county, Iowa.

Sensor selection, installation, and survivability in a geosynthetic-reinforced flexible pavement

Seventeen instrumented test sections were constructed on a geosynthetic-reinforced flexible pavement in Arkansas to determine the benefits of geosynthetic inclusions and collect dynamic response data from traffic loads to support a mechanistic-empirical pavement design procedure. A total of 129 sensors were installed to acquire dynamic measurements of stress and strain as well as static measurements of moisture content, pore pressure, temperature, and precipitation. Approximately 94% of the structural gages survived the construction phase, but 82% were still functional by the end of the test interval. Over 5000 m of cable and 370 m of protective conduit were installed. The purpose of this paper is to: (1) summarize the selection and installation criteria for the sensors and data acquisition system; (2) describe the construction procedure and modifications associated with each instrumented pavement layer; (3) detail the construction sequence of the protective pipe network; (4) discuss gage survivability and signal filtering; and (5) display typical response curves. This paper will provide sufficient detail and discuss specific recommendations that can be used by others in future full-scale field studies. While the initial testing program has been completed, the overall results and analysis from this project are beyond the scope of this paper.

Escala de avaliação de comportamento sexual de risco para adultos: tradução e adaptação transcultural para o português brasileiro

INTRODUÇÃO: A investigação sistemática e detalhada dos comportamentos sexuais de risco constitui um dos principais alicerces para o desenvolvimento de pesquisas que visam à criação de intervenções eficazes para a prevenção do HIV. OBJETIVO: Descrever e discutir as etapas do processo de adaptação lingüístico-cultural das versões masculina e feminina da Escala de Avaliação de Comportamento Sexual de Risco para pacientes psiquiátricos para o português brasileiro pelo Projeto Interdisciplinar em Sexualidade, Saúde Mental e AIDS. MÉTODOS: Treinamento dos investigadores brasileiros no instrumento original, comparação da tradução e da retrotradução, seguida de adaptação lingüístico-cultural à luz da fase formativa do projeto, resultando em uma versão utilizada no treinamento dos entrevistadores brasileiros em entrevistas com pacientes psiquiátricos. Verificação lingüística, confiabilidade qualitativa do instrumento e confiabilidade entre entrevistadores constituíram as etapas complementares para a versão final do questionário. RESULTADOS: Exclusão e adição de seções e itens da escala, tanto nos aspectos conceituais quanto estruturais, foram realizadas, bem como a incorporação de achados resultantes da fase formativa do piloto da pesquisa e mudanças lingüísticas relativas ao registro empregado.

Hydrostatic, Temperature, Time-Displacement Model for Concrete Dams

This paper presents frequency domain solution algorithms of the one-dimensional transient heat transfer equation that describes temperature variations in arch dam cross sections. Algorithms are developed to compute the temperature T(x,t), spatial distribution, and time evolution for the “direct” problem, where the temperature variations are specified at the upstream and downstream faces, and for the “inverse” problem, where temperatures have been measured at thermometers located inside instrumented dam sections. The resulting nonlinear temperature field is decomposed in an effective average temperature, Tm(t), and a linear temperature difference, Tg(x,t), from which the dam thermal displacement response can be deducted. The proposed frequency domain solution procedures are able to reproduce an arbitrary transient heat response by appending trailing temperatures at the end of thermal signals, thus transforming a periodic heat transfer problem in a transient one. The frequency domain solution procedures are used to develop the HTT (hydrostatic, temperature, time) statistical model to interpret concrete dam-recorded pendulum displacements. In the HTT model, the thermal loads are arbitrary and can contain temperature drift or unusual temperature conditions. The explicit use of Tm(t) and Tg(x,t) in the HTT dam displacement model allows extrapolation for temperature conditions that have never been experienced by the dam before (within the assumption of elastic behavior). The HTT model is applied to the 131-m-high Schlegeis arch dam, and the results are compared with the HST (hydrostatic, seasonal, time) displacement model that is widely used in practice.

Pore water pressure and horizontal stress changes measured during construction of a contiguous bored pile multi-propped retaining wall in Lower Cretaceous clays

The design and construction of a contiguous bored pile propped retained cut on the approaches to Ashford International Station raised some challenging design issues. Design problems associated with under-drainage and groundwater control (including the performance of semi-permeable propped retaining walls) and the effects of wall installation and movement on in situ stresses were compounded by the relatively limited geotechnical engineering experience of the Atherfield and Weald Clay formations. Differences in the permeabilities of these two strata were expected, but the impact of these on the design was only fully established at the start of construction. Some aspects of the engineering behaviour of the Atherfield and Weald Clays are discussed with reference to an instrumented section of the propped retained cut. The changes in total horizontal stress and pore water pressures measured during and over a six-year period following construction of the retained cut are presented, and their significance is discussed.

A new 122 mm electromechanical drill for deep ice-sheet coring (DISC): 2. Mechanical design

AbstractThe deep ice-sheet coring (DISC) drill consists of four major mechanical drilling subsystems and four subsystems supporting on-surface activities. The mechanical drilling subsystems are a drill sonde, a drill cable, a tower and a winch. The drill sonde is the down-hole portion of the drill system and consists of six distinct sections: (1) the cutter head, (2) the core barrel, (3) the screen section, (4) the motor/pump section, (5) the instrument section and (6) the upper sonde, which includes anti-torques and drill cable terminations. The drill cable not only provides the means of supporting the drill sonde in the borehole, but also provides conduits for electrical power and data transmission. The tower tilts to allow the drill sonde to be serviced in the horizontal position without removing it from the tower. The winch provides a means of quickly raising the sonde from the borehole and providing the fine control necessary for coring operations.

Validation of 3DFE Analysis of Rigid Pavement Dynamic Response to Moving Traffic and Nonlinear Temperature Gradient Effects

The response of dowel jointed concrete pavements to the combined effect of nonlinear thermal gradient and moving axle load is examined using three-dimensional finite-element (3DFE) modeling. The 3DFE-computed response to moving axle load was field validated versus measured concrete slab response to a fully loaded moving dump truck. The 3DFE-predicted slab curling due to nonlinear thermal gradient through the slab thickness was validated versus: (1) corner-dowel bar bending as measured using instrumented dowel embedded in an instrumented rigid pavement section in West Virginia; and (2) Westergaard’s closed-form solution. The effects of slab thickness, slab length, axle loading position, and axle type on slab stresses are examined. It is shown that while a negative temperature gradient reduces the intensity of traffic-induced stresses, positive temperature gradient increases it several fold. Formulas are developed for the computation of the peak principal stresses due to the combined effect of tandem axle l...

A new 122 mm electromechanical drill for deep ice-sheet coring (DISC): 3. Control, electrical and electronics design

AbstractThe deep ice-sheet coring (DISC) drill developed by Ice Coring and Drilling Services under contract to the US National Science Foundation is an electromechanical drill designed to take 122 mm ice cores to depths of 4000 m. Electronic, electrical and control systems are major aspects of the DISC drill. The drill sonde, the down-hole portion of the drill system, requires approximately 5 kW of d.c. power for the cutter and drill motors and instrumentation. Power is transmitted via a drill cable from a modified, commercially available surface d.c. power supply operating at 1000V to power modules in the sonde instrumentation section. These modules regulate the power to the motors to 300 V d.c. and to lower voltages for the instrumentation and control electronics. Cutter and pump motors are controlled by electronics that include motor controllers. There are 20 distinct sensors in the drill sonde which measure conditions such as hole fluid temperature, motor fluid temperature, drill orientation, etc. On-board electronics facilitate communication of control commands and data between the surface and the drill sonde. Electronics also play an integral part in the operation of surface equipment such as the winch in raising and lowering the sonde in the borehole. Overall control of the DISC drill system is provided by a PC-based supervisory control system that allows the drill operators to monitor and control all aspects of the drilling operation.

Improving the Usability of a Mainstream Cell Phone for Individuals with Low Vision

This study investigated improving the usability of a mainstream cell phone for use by individuals with low vision by providing a means to display the text of the keys in large print on the phone's screen. No functionality was removed and no special equipment was required, and thus access was provided at no extra cost, which is a different paradigm from other forms of assistive technology, which usually require individuals with disabilities to purchase special models or external adaptation to use available models. The enlargment techniques we tested were designed to be transparent and accessible by users whenever they need extra assistance in dialing. This study was based on the hypothesis that the accuracy of dialing mainstream cell phones by people with low vision would improve with the provision of enlarging techniques. The enlargement techniques were expected to be of greater assistance when users with low vision were dialing telephone numbers with letters rather than when dialing digit-only number sequences. METHOD Instrument The commercially available Kyocera 7135 smartphone (a cell phone plus personal digital assistant) was chosen for the study because of its programmability. Although the cell phone was turned off during the dialing tasks, the tones associated with key presses were reproduced to simulate the typical experience of using the cell phone. The cell phone used in this study is pictured in Figures 1 and 2. [FIGURES 1-2 OMITTED] The Kyocera 7135 is a flip cell phone with a color screen and a 7/8-inch by 1 7/8-inch Graffiti touch panel at the base of the screen. A white label with a blue diamond (BD) was placed over this touch area to create a single button, the BD-button. Because of the lack of contrast between the background and the numbers and letters on the phone's keys, white labels with black text containing each key's information were placed over the keys. Enlarging techniques Two enlarging techniques (suspend and display and delay and display) were developed, and the programs were loaded into the cell phone. The two techniques used the same degree of enlargement on the cell phone's screen. Both were designed to function with the BD-button that was described in the Instrument section. The techniques differed in the way that a number is entered into the cell phone after a key is pressed. The suspend-and-display technique suspends operation of the dialing function and displays, without dialing, the enlarged key labels. When using this feature, the caller holds down the BD-button and presses another key. The number and letters associated with that key are then enlarged and displayed on the screen (but the key is not dialed or activated). When the caller finds the key that he or she wants to include in the number or letter sequence to be dialed, he or she releases the BD-button and pushes the desired key again to input the number or letter of the key (see Figure 1). The delay-and-display technique involves a time delay for activation of a depressed key (Vanderheiden, Law, & Kelso, 1999), in which the user again holds down the BD-button, and the selected key is again enlarged and displayed. However, with the delay-and-display mode, the number is entered into the dialing queue only when the key is held down for a prescribed period of time (the duration of the dialing delay can be adjusted according to user preference). A progress bar at the top of the screen indicates the length of time before the number will enter the dialing queue (see Figure 2). Both the suspend-and-display and the delay-and-display techniques work for all keys on the cell phone. For both techniques, when the BD-button is released, the cell phone returns to standard operation. Experimental design The experiment was divided into four stages. In each stage, the participants used a different dialing mode: 1. …

Vacuum consolidation and its combination with embankment loading

A method is proposed for determining the optimum penetration depth of prefabricated vertical drains (PVDs) in cases where vacuum consolidation is combined with the use of PVDs in a clayey deposit with two-way drainage. The advantages of combining vacuum pressure with embankment loading are discussed in terms of reducing preloading-induced lateral displacement of the subsoil, increasing the effective surcharge loading, and reducing construction time in the case of road construction. A vacuum consolidation project conducted in Saga, Japan, is described, and the results from a fully instrumented test section are presented and analyzed using a two-dimensional finite element approach. The numerical simulations compare well with the field measurements. The validated numerical approach is then used to examine the response of soft subsoil subjected to vacuum consolidation. The results confirm the usefulness of the proposed method for determining the optimum penetration depth of PVDs and the advantages of combining vacuum pressure with embankment loading.Key words: vacuum consolidation, preloading, prefabricated vertical drain, FEM analysis, embankment.

Dynamic Relaxation: A Technique for Detailed Thermo-Elastic Structural Analysis of Transportation Structures

Dynamic relaxation is a technique developed to solve static problems through an explicit integration in finite element. The main advantage of such a technique is the ability to solve a large problem in a relatively short time compared with the traditional implicit techniques, especially when using nonlinear material models. This paper describes the use of such a technique in analyzing large transportation structures as dowel jointed concrete pavements and 306-m-long, reinforced concrete bridge superstructure under the effect of temperature variations. The main feature of the pavement model is the detailed modeling of dowel bars and their interfaces with the surrounding concrete using extremely fine mesh of solid elements, while in the bridge structure it is the detailed modeling of the girder-deck interface as well as the bracing members between the girders. The 3DFE results were found to be in a good agreement with experimentally measured data obtained from an instrumented pavements sections and a highway bridge constructed in West Virginia. Thus, such a technique provides a good tool for analyzing the response of large structures to static loads in a fraction of the time required by traditional, implicit finite element methods.

Difference between In Situ Flexible Pavement Measured and Calculated Stresses and Strains

One of the 12 instrumented sections of the Virginia Smart Road was used to compare measured vertical compressive stress and measured transverse horizontal strain under the hot-mix asphalt (HMA) layer induced by a 25.8 kN (5.8 kip) single tire and a 39.5 kN (8.9 kip) set of dual tires to those calculated using layered linear elastic theory. The pavement section is composed of 38 mm (1.5 in.) HMA wearing surface, 150 mm (6 in.) of HMA base mix, 75 mm (3 in.) of asphalt stabilized open graded drainage layer, 150 mm (6 in.) of cement stabilized aggregate layer, and 175 mm (7 in.) of unbound aggregate base. The subgrade is a fill material composed mainly of rocks. Measured stresses were obtained using pressure cells embedded in the pavement during construction. Horizontal transverse strain was measured using H-type strain gauges that were also embedded during construction. Temperature in the pavement layers was measured using embedded T-type thermocouples. Theoretically calculated stresses and strains were obtained using software based on the layered-elastic theory (Kenpave, Bisar 3.0, Elsym5, and Everstress 5.0). In addition, two finite-element approaches were used. Results indicated that the layered elastic theory overestimates pavement responses at low and intermediate temperatures, but significantly underestimates the pavement responses to vehicular loading at high temperatures.

Announcement

ANNOUNCEMENTSAnnouncementPublished Online:01 May 2006https://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.00018.2006MoreSectionsPDF (37 KB)Download PDF ToolsExport citationAdd to favoritesGet permissionsTrack citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInEmailWeChat Dr. Kenneth R. Spring has been named the 2006 recipient of the Robert W. Berliner Award for Excellence in Renal Physiology, sponsored by Abbott Laboratories and presented by the Renal Section of the American Physiological Society. Dr. Spring will receive the award at the Renal Dinner on Tuesday, April 4, 2006.Dr. Spring attended Tufts University as both an undergraduate in Biology and for dental school, earning his DMD cum laude in 1966. He worked at the Veterans Affairs (VA) Hospital in Long Beach, California, from 1966 to 1967 and at the VA Hospital in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, from 1967 to 1968, where he was a Chief Investigator. He then attended the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he completed his PhD in the Department of Physiology in 1971 under the supervision of Dr. Charles Paganelli. After a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Gerhard Giebisch in the Department of Physiology, Yale University College of Medicine, from 1971 to 1975, he accepted a position as a Senior Staff Fellow at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism. He became a Research Physiologist at the NIH in 1978. He received the NIH Director’s Award in 1988 and was also made Chief, Section on Transport Physiology, at the Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism in 1988, a position he held until he retired in 2002. In 2001 he received an NIH Merit Award.Dr. Spring is a world-recognized expert on microscopy applications to biological systems, as well as being an inventor of many ingenious devices used worldwide for biological research. He has published over a 130 peer-reviewed manuscripts on the use and application of these techniques to the study of transport physiology. His research focused on the study of salt and water transport in “leaky epithelia,” such as the renal proximal tubule; then, he switched his emphasis to applying optical methods to the regulation of cell volume, and finally, before he retired, demonstrated the functional role of the central cilium as a flow sensor in epithelial cells by performing experiments that demonstrated how bending the cilium increased intracellular calcium. During these years of research, he has trained numerous young scientists who have become leaders in the field of ion transport physiology and was always willing to share his expertise in microscopy with investigators from across the world.Dr. Spring was also a faculty member at the Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, Massachusetts, from 1980 until he retired, teaching courses on quantitative light microscopy and advanced quantitative light microscopy. Dr. Spring served on several study sections, advisory committees, and editorial boards, including those of the Journal of Membrane Biology and Cytology (formerly Bioimaging), of which he was also associate editor from 1992 to 2002, the NIH Shared Instrumentation Study Section, and the National Science Foundation Biological Instrumentation and Instrument Development Study Section. Finally, in 2001 he authored a very funny book of autobiographical short stories, What Were You Thinking, which detailed his escapades growing up in a fishing village in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Following retirement he went back to his first love of fishing and boat-building; he is now the part-owner and founder of Small Open Boats in Solomons, Maryland, where he builds wooden boats and provides tools, materials, and expertise for others to do the same.The APS Renal Section’s Berliner Award Committee was composed of Heddwen L. Brooks (Renal Section Awards Chair); Pamela K. Carmines (Renal Section Chair), Jeff M. Sands (Editor, American Journal of Physiology-Renal Physiology), and Glenn Reinhart (Abbott Laboratories). Download figureDownload PowerPointThis article has no references to display. Download PDF Previous Back to Top FiguresReferencesRelatedInformation More from this issue > Volume 290Issue 5May 2006Pages F1278-F1278 Copyright & PermissionsCopyright © 2006 the American Physiological Societyhttps://doi.org/10.1152/ajprenal.00018.2006History Published online 1 May 2006 Published in print 1 May 2006 Metrics