Design principles and common pool resource management: an institutional approach to evaluating community management in semi-arid Tanzania.

PubMed

Quinn, Claire H; Huby, Meg; Kiwasila, Hilda; Lovett, Jon C

2007-07-01

This paper analyses the role of institutions in the management of common pool resources (CPRs) in semi-arid Tanzania. Common property regimes have often been considered inadequate for the management of CPRs because of the problems of excludability, but they are becoming more widely supported as the way forward to overcome the problems of resource use and degradation in developing countries. A series of design principles for long enduring common property institutions have been proposed by Ostrom, but there is concern that they are not applicable to a wide range of real life situations or that they may be specific to certain types of CPR. Here, we compare these principles to the situation prevailing in 12 villages in six districts in semi-arid Tanzania. Data on management institutions were collected through semi-structured interviews and meetings at district and village level. The combined information was used to make a qualitative assessment of the strength with which each design principle appeared to operate in the management of forest, pasture and water resources. Boundaries, conflict and negotiation in CPR management are of key importance in semi-arid regions. However, the need for flexibility in order to deal with ecological uncertainty means that many management institutions would be considered weak or absent according to the design principle approach. This supports the view that the design principles should not be used as a 'blueprint to be imposed on resource management regimes' rather that they provide a framework for investigating common property regimes with the proviso that, certainly for semi-arid regions, they may highlight where management cannot be explained by institutional theory alone.

Factors driving deforestation in common-pool resources in northern Mexico.

PubMed

Perez-Verdin, Gustavo; Kim, Yeon-Su; Hospodarsky, Denver; Tecle, Aregai

2009-01-01

The theory of collective action has been extensively used to explain the relationship between common-based property regimes and the conservation of natural resources. However, there are two key components of the theory that literature reports as puzzles in which no consensus exists about their effect on the performance of common-pool resources. These are group size and heterogeneity. This study analyzes the effects of these two key components on the effectiveness of community-based forestry, called ejidos, to protect their forest resources in northern Mexico. We used a multinomial logit model to determine the contribution of 16 explanatory variables to the dependent variable, a measure of success of ejidos defined by the presence of deforested, degraded, or forested conditions. The results show that corn yield, marginality, percent of forest area, total population, a forest value index, distance to markets, roads and towns, were all statistically significant in driving deforested conditions. Deforestation becomes more attractive for poor communities and as corn yield and distance to towns, roads, and markets decrease. In general, group size and heterogeneity had no significant effects on the presence of deforested conditions. Deforestation is driven by resource-specific characteristics, such as location and soil productivity, not by ejidos' attributes, such as total area or number of members. We argue that current institutional policies focusing on the structure of property right arrangements should be shifted (1) to provide better technology for land cultivation; (2) to reduce the marginality problem in poor communities; and (3) to strengthen local institutions.

Revenue-sharing clubs provide economic insurance and incentives for sustainability in common-pool resource systems.

PubMed

Tilman, Andrew R; Levin, Simon; Watson, James R

2018-06-05

Harvesting behaviors of natural resource users, such as farmers, fishermen and aquaculturists, are shaped by season-to-season and day-to-day variability, or in other words risk. Here, we explore how risk-mitigation strategies can lead to sustainable use and improved management of common-pool natural resources. Over-exploitation of unmanaged natural resources, which lowers their long-term productivity, is a central challenge facing societies. While effective top-down management is a possible solution, it is not available if the resource is outside the jurisdictional bounds of any management entity, or if existing institutions cannot effectively impose sustainable-use rules. Under these conditions, alternative approaches to natural resource governance are required. Here, we study revenue-sharing clubs as a mechanism by which resource users can mitigate their income volatility and importantly, as a co-benefit, are also incentivized to reduce their effort, leading to reduced over-exploitation and improved resource governance. We use game theoretic analyses and agent-based modeling to determine the conditions in which revenue-sharing can be beneficial for resource management as well as resource users. We find that revenue-sharing agreements can emerge and lead to improvements in resource management when there is large variability in production/revenue and when this variability is uncorrelated across members of the revenue-sharing club. Further, we show that if members of the revenue-sharing collective can sell their product at a price premium, then the range of ecological and economic conditions under which revenue-sharing can be a tool for management greatly expands. These results have implications for the design of bottom-up management, where resource users themselves are incentivized to operate in ecologically sustainable and economically advantageous ways. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Moral equality and success of common-pool water governance in Namibia.

PubMed

Schnegg, Michael; Bollig, Michael; Linke, Theresa

2016-09-01

In the course of decentralization, pastoral communities in Namibia have had to find new ways to share their most salient resource, water, and the costs involved in providing it. Using data from sixty communities, we examine (1) whether and to what extent different sharing rules emerge, (2) how variations can be explained, (3) how rules are perceived and influence success, and (4) what economic consequences they have. Our results reveal that either all members pay the same (numerical equality) or payment is according to usage (proportional equality). We find that although proportional equality provides more success, the rule can only pertain where the state maintains an active role. Simulations show that where it does not prevail, wealth inequality is likely to grow. These findings have political implications and suggest that, in the context of the widespread decentralization policies, the state should not withdraw if it aims to ensure the success of common-pool resource management and to fight poverty.

Do poorer people have poorer access to local resources and facilities? The distribution of local resources by area deprivation in Glasgow, Scotland☆

PubMed Central

Macintyre, Sally; Macdonald, Laura; Ellaway, Anne

2008-01-01

It has commonly been suggested that in modern cities individual or household deprivation (for example, low income or education) is amplified by area level deprivation (for example, lack of jobs or good schools), in ways which damage the health of the poorest and increase health inequalities. The aim of this study was to determine the location of a range of resources and exposures by deprivation in a UK city. We examined the location of 42 resources in Glasgow City, Scotland, in 2005–2006, by quintile of small area deprivation. Measures included number per 1000 population, network distance to nearest resource, and percentage of data zones containing at least one of each type of resource. Twelve resources had higher density in, and/or were closer to or more common in, more deprived neighbourhoods: public nurseries, public primary schools, police stations, pharmacies, credit unions, post offices, bus stops, bingo halls, public swimming pools, public sports centres, outdoor play areas, and vacant and derelict land/buildings. Sixteen had higher density in, and/or were closer to, or more common in, more affluent neighbourhoods: public secondary schools, private schools, banks, building societies, museums/art galleries, railway stations, subway stations, tennis courts, bowling greens, private health clubs, private swimming pools, colleges, A & E hospitals, parks, waste disposal sites, and tourist attractions. Private nurseries, Universities, fire stations, general, dental and ophthalmic practices, pawn brokers, ATMs, supermarkets, fast food chains, cafes, public libraries, golf courses, and cinemas showed no clear pattern by deprivation. Thus it appears that in the early 21st century access to resources does not always disadvantage poorer neighbourhoods in the UK. We conclude that we need to ensure that theories and policies are based on up-to-date and context-specific empirical evidence on the distribution of neighbourhood resources, and to engage in further research on interactions between individual and environmental factors in shaping health and health inequalities. PMID:18599170

Do poorer people have poorer access to local resources and facilities? The distribution of local resources by area deprivation in Glasgow, Scotland.

PubMed

Macintyre, Sally; Macdonald, Laura; Ellaway, Anne

2008-09-01

It has commonly been suggested that in modern cities individual or household deprivation (for example, low income or education) is amplified by area level deprivation (for example, lack of jobs or good schools), in ways which damage the health of the poorest and increase health inequalities. The aim of this study was to determine the location of a range of resources and exposures by deprivation in a UK city. We examined the location of 42 resources in Glasgow City, Scotland, in 2005-2006, by quintile of small area deprivation. Measures included number per 1000 population, network distance to nearest resource, and percentage of data zones containing at least one of each type of resource. Twelve resources had higher density in, and/or were closer to or more common in, more deprived neighbourhoods: public nurseries, public primary schools, police stations, pharmacies, credit unions, post offices, bus stops, bingo halls, public swimming pools, public sports centres, outdoor play areas, and vacant and derelict land/buildings. Sixteen had higher density in, and/or were closer to, or more common in, more affluent neighbourhoods: public secondary schools, private schools, banks, building societies, museums/art galleries, railway stations, subway stations, tennis courts, bowling greens, private health clubs, private swimming pools, colleges, A & E hospitals, parks, waste disposal sites, and tourist attractions. Private nurseries, Universities, fire stations, general, dental and ophthalmic practices, pawn brokers, ATMs, supermarkets, fast food chains, cafes, public libraries, golf courses, and cinemas showed no clear pattern by deprivation. Thus it appears that in the early 21st century access to resources does not always disadvantage poorer neighbourhoods in the UK. We conclude that we need to ensure that theories and policies are based on up-to-date and context-specific empirical evidence on the distribution of neighbourhood resources, and to engage in further research on interactions between individual and environmental factors in shaping health and health inequalities.

A national-scale authentication infrastructure.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Butler, R.; Engert, D.; Foster, I.

2000-12-01

Today, individuals and institutions in science and industry are increasingly forming virtual organizations to pool resources and tackle a common goal. Participants in virtual organizations commonly need to share resources such as data archives, computer cycles, and networks - resources usually available only with restrictions based on the requested resource's nature and the user's identity. Thus, any sharing mechanism must have the ability to authenticate the user's identity and determine if the user is authorized to request the resource. Virtual organizations tend to be fluid, however, so authentication mechanisms must be flexible and lightweight, allowing administrators to quickly establish andmore » change resource-sharing arrangements. However, because virtual organizations complement rather than replace existing institutions, sharing mechanisms cannot change local policies and must allow individual institutions to maintain control over their own resources. Our group has created and deployed an authentication and authorization infrastructure that meets these requirements: the Grid Security Infrastructure. GSI offers secure single sign-ons and preserves site control over access policies and local security. It provides its own versions of common applications, such as FTP and remote login, and a programming interface for creating secure applications.« less

Managing a Common Pool Resource: Real Time Decision-Making in a Groundwater Aquifer

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sahu, R.; McLaughlin, D.

2017-12-01

In a Common Pool Resource (CPR) such as a groundwater aquifer, multiple landowners (agents) are competing for a limited resource of water. Landowners pump out the water to grow their own crops. Such problems can be posed as differential games, with agents all trying to control the behavior of the shared dynamic system. Each agent aims to maximize his/her own personal objective like agriculture yield, being aware that the action of every other agent collectively influences the behavior of the shared aquifer. The agents therefore choose a subgame perfect Nash equilibrium strategy that derives an optimal action for each agent based on the current state of the aquifer and assumes perfect information of every other agents' objective function. Furthermore, using an Iterated Best Response approach and interpolating techniques, an optimal pumping strategy can be computed for a more-realistic description of the groundwater model under certain assumptions. The numerical implementation of dynamic optimization techniques for a relevant description of the physical system yields results qualitatively different from the previous solutions obtained from simple abstractions.This work aims to bridge the gap between extensive modeling approaches in hydrology and competitive solution strategies in differential game theory.

The survival of the conformist: social pressure and renewable resource management.

PubMed

Tavoni, Alessandro; Schlüter, Maja; Levin, Simon

2012-04-21

This paper examines the role of other-regarding behavior as a mechanism for the establishment and maintenance of cooperation in resource use under variable social and environmental conditions. By coupling resource stock dynamics with social dynamics concerning compliance to a social norm prescribing non-excessive resource extraction in a common pool resource, we show that when reputational considerations matter and a sufficient level of social stigma affects the violators of a norm, sustainable outcomes are achieved. We find large parameter regions where norm-observing and norm-violating types coexist, and analyze to what extent such coexistence depends on the environment. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

New Fund Allows Colleges to Pool Resources for Large-Scale Real-Estate Investments.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McMillen, Liz

1988-01-01

The Real Estate Investment Trust, a companion organization to the Common Trust, allows colleges to commit as little as $50,000 for investments in commercial properties at minimum risk, which could protect endowments while providing returns comparable to those of the stock market. (MSE)

Defining wilderness quality: the role of standards in wilderness management—a workshop proceedings.

Treesearch

B. Shelby; G. Stankey; B. Shindler

1992-01-01

Integral to maintaining wilderness quality is the implementation of ecological, social, and management standards. A substantial body of wilderness research management experience exists nationwide as a common-pool resource for professionals with a specialized interest in incorporating standards into planning processes. In a 2-day interactive workshop, wilderness...

The Interactive Effect of Pro-Environmental Disciplinary Concentration under Cooperation versus Competition Contexts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cuadrado, Esther; Tabernero, Carmen; García, Rocío; Luque, Bárbara

2017-01-01

This research explores the relevance of cooperation and students' environmental disciplinary concentration on decision-making with respect to environmental issues--specifically the use of water, a limited common-pool resource. For this purpose, 61 environmental sciences students and 46 educational sciences students played the role of farmers and…

Common Pool Water Markets and their Role in Facilitating Land Use Change in Drying Climates

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Teasley, R. L.; Milke, M.; Raffensperger, J. F.; Zargar, M.

2010-12-01

Concern is growing worldwide that climate change will lead to drier climates in many regions and in turn diminish water resources. To protect these limited resources, users may need to shift water use to more economically productive areas. However, changing the land use associated with water permits can be quite difficult, because water is not easily traded. Water markets have been well researched as a method for trading water between users, but these markets can often be difficult and costly requiring one-to-one trades between buyers and sellers. In contrast to a one-to-one market, a common pool market can reduce the transaction costs associated with trading water. In this research, a common pool market is applied to an example groundwater system set up in GWM2000 with ten users and various environmental constraints. The users represent three types of the largest groundwater users in the Canterbury region of New Zealand: agricultural, dairy and livestock. The response matrix from GWM2000 is used to develop constraints in the market model along with user bids. Bids are calculated from economic and water use data for Canterbury, New Zealand. Varying spatial distributions of water users by type are evaluated for the effect on the market under drying conditions. These conditions are simulated from climate change scenarios produced by the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand. The results demonstrate potential land use changes falls under drying conditions. As water availability falls, the price for additional water increases, particularly near environmental constraints, driving the land and water towards more efficient uses.

Stakeholder analysis and social-biophysical interdependencies for common pool resource management: La Brava Wetland (Argentina) as a case study.

PubMed

Romanelli, Asunción; Massone, Héctor E; Escalante, Alicia H

2011-09-01

This article gives an account of the implementation of a stakeholder analysis framework at La Brava Wetland Basin, Argentina, in a common-pool resource (CPR) management context. Firstly, the context in which the stakeholder framework was implemented is described. Secondly, a four-step methodology is applied: (1) stakeholder identification, (2) stakeholder differentiation-categorization, (3) investigation of stakeholders' relationships, and (4) analysis of social-biophysical interdependencies. This methodology classifies stakeholders according to their level of influence on the system and their potential in the conservation of natural resources. The main influential stakeholders are La Brava Village residents and tourism-related entrepreneurs who are empowered to make the more important decisions within the planning process of the ecosystem. While these key players are seen as facilitators of change, there are other groups (residents of the inner basin and fishermen) which are seen mainly as key blockers. The applied methodology for the Stakeholder Analysis and the evaluation of social-biophysical interdependencies carried out in this article can be seen as an encouraging example for other experts in natural sciences to learn and use these methods developed in social sciences. Major difficulties and some recommendations of applying this method in the practice by non-experts are discussed.

Application of random effects to the study of resource selection by animals

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gillies, C.S.; Hebblewhite, M.; Nielsen, S.E.; Krawchuk, M.A.; Aldridge, Cameron L.; Frair, J.L.; Saher, D.J.; Stevens, C.E.; Jerde, C.L.

2006-01-01

1. Resource selection estimated by logistic regression is used increasingly in studies to identify critical resources for animal populations and to predict species occurrence.2. Most frequently, individual animals are monitored and pooled to estimate population-level effects without regard to group or individual-level variation. Pooling assumes that both observations and their errors are independent, and resource selection is constant given individual variation in resource availability.3. Although researchers have identified ways to minimize autocorrelation, variation between individuals caused by differences in selection or available resources, including functional responses in resource selection, have not been well addressed.4. Here we review random-effects models and their application to resource selection modelling to overcome these common limitations. We present a simple case study of an analysis of resource selection by grizzly bears in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains with and without random effects.5. Both categorical and continuous variables in the grizzly bear model differed in interpretation, both in statistical significance and coefficient sign, depending on how a random effect was included. We used a simulation approach to clarify the application of random effects under three common situations for telemetry studies: (a) discrepancies in sample sizes among individuals; (b) differences among individuals in selection where availability is constant; and (c) differences in availability with and without a functional response in resource selection.6. We found that random intercepts accounted for unbalanced sample designs, and models with random intercepts and coefficients improved model fit given the variation in selection among individuals and functional responses in selection. Our empirical example and simulations demonstrate how including random effects in resource selection models can aid interpretation and address difficult assumptions limiting their generality. This approach will allow researchers to appropriately estimate marginal (population) and conditional (individual) responses, and account for complex grouping, unbalanced sample designs and autocorrelation.

Application of random effects to the study of resource selection by animals.

PubMed

Gillies, Cameron S; Hebblewhite, Mark; Nielsen, Scott E; Krawchuk, Meg A; Aldridge, Cameron L; Frair, Jacqueline L; Saher, D Joanne; Stevens, Cameron E; Jerde, Christopher L

2006-07-01

1. Resource selection estimated by logistic regression is used increasingly in studies to identify critical resources for animal populations and to predict species occurrence. 2. Most frequently, individual animals are monitored and pooled to estimate population-level effects without regard to group or individual-level variation. Pooling assumes that both observations and their errors are independent, and resource selection is constant given individual variation in resource availability. 3. Although researchers have identified ways to minimize autocorrelation, variation between individuals caused by differences in selection or available resources, including functional responses in resource selection, have not been well addressed. 4. Here we review random-effects models and their application to resource selection modelling to overcome these common limitations. We present a simple case study of an analysis of resource selection by grizzly bears in the foothills of the Canadian Rocky Mountains with and without random effects. 5. Both categorical and continuous variables in the grizzly bear model differed in interpretation, both in statistical significance and coefficient sign, depending on how a random effect was included. We used a simulation approach to clarify the application of random effects under three common situations for telemetry studies: (a) discrepancies in sample sizes among individuals; (b) differences among individuals in selection where availability is constant; and (c) differences in availability with and without a functional response in resource selection. 6. We found that random intercepts accounted for unbalanced sample designs, and models with random intercepts and coefficients improved model fit given the variation in selection among individuals and functional responses in selection. Our empirical example and simulations demonstrate how including random effects in resource selection models can aid interpretation and address difficult assumptions limiting their generality. This approach will allow researchers to appropriately estimate marginal (population) and conditional (individual) responses, and account for complex grouping, unbalanced sample designs and autocorrelation.

The influence of environmental forcing on biodiversity and extinction in a resource competition model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vakulenko, Sergey A.; Sudakov, Ivan; Mander, Luke

2018-03-01

In this paper, we study a model of many species that compete, directly or indirectly, for a pool of common resources under the influence of periodic, stochastic, and/or chaotic environmental forcing. Using numerical simulations, we find the number and sequence of species going extinct when the community is initially packed with a large number of species of random initial densities. Thereby, any species with a density below a given threshold is regarded to be extinct.

The influence of environmental forcing on biodiversity and extinction in a resource competition model.

PubMed

Vakulenko, Sergey A; Sudakov, Ivan; Mander, Luke

2018-03-01

In this paper, we study a model of many species that compete, directly or indirectly, for a pool of common resources under the influence of periodic, stochastic, and/or chaotic environmental forcing. Using numerical simulations, we find the number and sequence of species going extinct when the community is initially packed with a large number of species of random initial densities. Thereby, any species with a density below a given threshold is regarded to be extinct.

Continental shelves as potential resource of rare earth elements.

PubMed

Pourret, Olivier; Tuduri, Johann

2017-07-19

The results of this study allow the reassessment of the rare earth elements (REE) external cycle. Indeed, the river input to the oceans has relatively flat REE patterns without cerium (Ce) anomalies, whereas oceanic REE patterns exhibit strong negative Ce anomalies and heavy REE enrichment. Indeed, the processes at the origin of seawater REE patterns are commonly thought to occur within the ocean masses themselves. However, the results from the present study illustrate that seawater-like REE patterns already occur in the truly dissolved pool of river input. This leads us to favor a partial or complete removal of the colloidal REE pool during estuarine mixing by coagulation, as previously shown for dissolved humic acids and iron. In this latter case, REE fractionation occurs because colloidal and truly dissolved pools have different REE patterns. Thus, the REE patterns of seawater could be the combination of both intra-oceanic and riverine processes. In this study, we show that the Atlantic continental shelves could be considered potential REE traps, suggesting further that shelf sediments could potentially become a resource for REE, similar to metalliferous deep sea sediments.

Robustness of norm-driven cooperation in the commons

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Sustainable use of common-pool resources such as fish, water or forests depends on the cooperation of resource users that restrain their individual extraction to socially optimal levels. Empirical evidence has shown that under certain social and biophysical conditions, self-organized cooperation in the commons can evolve. Global change, however, may drastically alter these conditions. We assess the robustness of cooperation to environmental variability in a stylized model of a community that harvests a shared resource. Community members follow a norm of socially optimal resource extraction, which is enforced through social sanctioning. Our results indicate that both resource abundance and a small increase in resource variability can lead to collapse of cooperation observed in the no-variability case, while either scarcity or large variability have the potential to stabilize it. The combined effects of changes in amount and variability can reinforce or counteract each other depending on their size and the initial level of cooperation in the community. If two socially separate groups are ecologically connected through resource leakage, cooperation in one can destabilize the other. These findings provide insights into possible effects of global change and spatial connectivity, indicating that there is no simple answer as to their effects on cooperation and sustainable resource use. PMID:26740611

Moral hazard.

PubMed

Chambers, David W

2009-01-01

Civil societies set aside a common pool of resources to help those with whom chance has dealt harshly. Frequently we allow access to these common resources when bad luck is assisted by foolishness and lack of foresight. Sometimes we may even help ourselves to a few of those common assets since others are doing so and they are public goods, the cost of which is shared and has already been paid. Moral hazard is the questionable ethical practice of increasing opportunity for individual gain while shifting risk for loss to the group. Bailout is an example. What makes moral hazard so widespread and difficult to manage is that it is easier for individuals to see their advantage than it is for groups to see theirs. Runaway American healthcare costs can be explained in these terms. Cheating, overtreatment, commercialism, and other moral problems in dentistry can be traced to the interaction between opportunistic individual behavior and permissive group responses common in moral hazard.

Genetic Distinctiveness of Rye In situ Accessions from Portugal Unveils a New Hotspot of Unexplored Genetic Resources

PubMed Central

Monteiro, Filipa; Vidigal, Patrícia; Barros, André B.; Monteiro, Ana; Oliveira, Hugo R.; Viegas, Wanda

2016-01-01

Rye (Secale cereale L.) is a cereal crop of major importance in many parts of Europe and rye breeders are presently very concerned with the restrict pool of rye genetic resources available. Such narrowing of rye genetic diversity results from the presence of “Petkus” pool in most modern rye varieties as well as “Petkus” × “Carsten” heterotic pool in hybrid rye breeding programs. Previous studies on rye's genetic diversity revealed moreover a common genetic background on landraces (ex situ) and cultivars, regardless of breeding level or geographical origin. Thus evaluation of in situ populations is of utmost importance to unveil “on farm” diversity, which is largely undervalued. Here, we perform the first comprehensive assessment of rye's genetic diversity and population structuring using cultivars, ex situ landraces along a comprehensive sampling of in situ accessions from Portugal, through a molecular-directed analysis using SSRs markers. Rye genetic diversity and population structure analysis does not present any geographical trend but disclosed marked differences between genetic backgrounds of in situ accessions and those of cultivars/ex situ collections. Such genetic distinctiveness of in situ accessions highlights their unexplored potential as new genetic resources, which can be used to boost rye breeding strategies and the production of new varieties. Overall, our study successfully demonstrates the high prospective impact of comparing genetic diversity and structure of cultivars, ex situ, and in situ samples in ascertaining the status of plant genetic resources (PGR). PMID:27630658

75 FR 76975 - 2015 Resource Pool-Sierra Nevada Region

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-10

...The Western Area Power Administration (Western), a Federal power marketing administration of DOE, announces the Final 2015 Resource Pool allocations pursuant to its 2004 Power Marketing Plan (Marketing Plan) for the Sierra Nevada Customer Service Region (SNR). This notice includes a summary of the comments received on Western's proposed 2015 Resource Pool allocations and Western's responses.

"Getting on the Balcony to See the Patterns on the Dance Floor below": Considering Organizational Culture in a University-School-Community Collaboration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miller, Peter M.

2007-01-01

Organizational issues are of particular importance in the planning of university-school-community partnerships because in their efforts to pool resources for the attainment of mutually agreed-on ends, it is evident that partnership participants commonly operate in diverse living, schooling, and working environments. This qualitative study sought…

10 CFR 905.32 - Resource extensions and resource pool size.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 4 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Resource extensions and resource pool size. 905.32 Section 905.32 Energy DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY ENERGY PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT PROGRAM Power Marketing Initiative... of penalties pursuant to § 905.17, Western may make such resources available within the marketing...

Transaction costs and community-based natural resource management in Nepal.

PubMed

Adhikari, Bhim; Lovett, Jon C

2006-01-01

Transaction costs in community-based resource management are incurred by households attempting to enforce property right rules over common resources similar to those inherent in private property rights. Despite their importance, transaction costs of community-based management of common pool resources (CPRs) are often not incorporated into the economic analysis of participatory resource management. This paper examines the transaction costs incurred by forest users in community forestry (CF) based on a survey of 309 households belonging to eight different forest user groups (FUGs) in the mid hills of Nepal. The analysis reveals that the average 'poor' household incurred Nepalese rupees (NRS) 1265 in transaction costs annually, while wealthier 'rich' households incurred an average of NRS 2312 per year. Although richer households bear higher proportions of such costs, transaction costs for CF management as a percentage of resource appropriation costs are higher for poorer households (26%) than those of middle-wealth (24%) or rich households (14%). There are also village differences in the level of transaction costs. The results show that transaction costs are a major component of resource management costs and vary according to socio-economic status of resource users and characteristics of the community.

View Points of an Ecologist on Practical Environmental Ethic: Socioecology, Common-Pool Resources and Conservation.

PubMed

Castilla, Juan Carlos

2016-01-01

The paper centers on environmental practical ethic point of views according to a professional ecologist. Ecology and the science of Socio-ecology are defined. The framework of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment initiative (MA 2003), including the use of ecosystems as the environmental unit of analysis, ecosystem services and human well-being as the center for assessment are discussed. Common-pool resources (CPR) and the allegory of the tragedy of the commons are used to illustrate main scientific and ethical environmental approaches, and above all to highlight the case of climate change, considering ″air-atmosphere″ as a CPR. The need to adopt practical personal environmental ethical positions is highlighted. Furthermore, on climate change, a discussion on the need to develop environmental and socio-ecological polycentric approaches: top-down and bottom-up, is included. An updated discussion on the concept of conservation, including main scientific and ethic points of view, is presented. Pope Francis's Encyclical, Laudato Si', is used to highlight environmental, socio-ecological and ethical aspects behind the comprehensive concept of Integral Ecology. The paper ends with a short synthesis on Earth modern unseen and astonishing environmental and socio-ecological rates of changes, and identifying the main barriers for personal environmental engagement. A call is done regarding the urgent need for socio-environmental ethic personal engagement and collective actions.

75 FR 44942 - 2015 Resource Pool-Sierra Nevada Customer Service Region

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-30

...The Western Area Power Administration (Western), a Federal power marketing administration of the Department of Energy (DOE), published its 2004 Power Marketing Plan (Marketing Plan) for the Sierra Nevada Customer Service Region (SNR) in the Federal Register on June 25, 1999. The Marketing Plan specifies the terms and conditions under which Western will market power from the Central Valley Project (CVP) and the Washoe Project beginning January 1, 2005, and continuing through December 31, 2024. The Marketing Plan provided for a portion of SNR's resources to be reallocated through a 2015 Resource Pool. On June 3, 2009, Western published a Call for 2015 Resource Pool Applications. On September 28, 2009, Western published a Notice of Extension to file applications. This notice announces Western's proposed allocations of power from the 2015 Resource Pool.

78 FR 79436 - Boulder Canyon Project-Post-2017 Resource Pool

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-30

... Pool AGENCY: Western Area Power Administration, DOE. ACTION: Notice of final marketing criteria and... marketing agency of the Department of Energy (DOE), announces the Boulder Canyon Project (BCP) post-2017 resource pool marketing criteria and is calling for applications from entities interested in an allocation...

International efforts to protect the global cotton genetic resources

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The genetic resources of cotton are classified into five tetraploid species in the primary gene pool, 20 diploid species in the secondary gene pool, and 25 diploid species in the tertiary gene pool. Unlike several globally important grain crops, the Consultative Group on International Agricultural R...

A Method for Measuring Fishing Effort by Small-Scale Fish Aggregating Device (FAD) Fishers from the Commonwealth of Dominica

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alvard, Michael; McGaffey, Ethan; Carlson, David

2015-01-01

We used global positioning system (GPS) technology and tracking analysis to measure fishing effort by marine, small-scale, fish aggregating device (FAD) fishers of the Commonwealth of Dominica. FADs are human-made structures designed to float on the surface of the water and attract fish. They are also prone to common pool resource problems. To…

75 FR 55286 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Adjustment to...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-10

... require that any overage of the GB yellowtail flounder TAC specified for the common pool, individual... deduction will be divided between the annual catch limit (ACL) for common pool vessels (common pool sub-ACL... that ``any overages of the GB cod and GB haddock TACs specified for either the common pool or...

75 FR 29459 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Revisions to...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-26

... Catch Entitlements: Updated Annual Catch Limits for Sectors and the Common Pool for Fishing Year 2010... fishing year (FY) 2010 specification of annual catch limits (ACLs) for common pool vessels (common pool... fish in the common pool for FY 2010. DATES: Effective May 21, 2010 through April 30, 2011. FOR FURTHER...

75 FR 48613 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Implementation of...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-11

... under common pool regulations for the 2010 fishing year (FY). This action also corrects a previously published cod trip limit for common pool vessels fishing under a limited access Handgear A permit. This... common pool (common pool sub-ACL) and underharvesting the sub-ACL for pollock during FY 2010 (May 1, 2010...

Fall and winter habitat use and movement by Columbia River redband trout in a small stream in Montana

USGS Publications Warehouse

Muhlfeld, Clint C.; Bennett, David H.; Marotz, B.

2001-01-01

We used radiotelemetry to quantify the movements and habitat use of resident adult Columbia River redband trout Oncorhynchus mykiss gairdneri (hereafter, redband trout) from October to December 1997 in South Fork Callahan Creek, a third-order tributary to Callahan Creek in the Kootenai River drainage in northwestern Montana. All redband trout (N = 23) were consistently relocated in a stream reach with moderate gradient (2.3%) near the site of original capture. Some fish (N = 13) displayed sedentary behavior, whereas others were mobile (N = 10). The mean total distance moved during the study for all fish combined was 64 m (SD = 105 m; range, 0–362 m), and the mean home range from October through December was 67 m (SD = 99 m; range, 5–377 m). Thirteen redband trout made short upstream and downstream movements (mean total movement = 134 m; range, 8–362 m) that were related to habitat use. Mobile fish commonly migrated to complex pools that spanned the entire channel width (primary pools). Eight of 10 fish that did not change habitat location occupied primary pools, whereas the remaining 2 fish occupied lateral pools. Fish commonly overwintered in primary pools dominated by cobble and boulder substrates that contained large woody debris. As water temperatures decreased from 3.2–6.3°C in October to 0–3.8°C in November and December, we found a 29% average increase (46–75%) in the proportional use of primary pool habitats. The lack of extensive movement and small home ranges indicate that adult redband trout found suitable overwintering habitat in deep pools with extensive amounts of cover within a third-order mountain stream. Resource managers who wish to protect overwintering habitat features preferred by redband trout throughout their limited range in streams affected by land management practices could apply strategies that protect and enhance pool habitat and stream complexity.

SNP discovery in common bean by restriction-associated DNA (RAD) sequencing for genetic diversity and population structure analysis.

PubMed

Valdisser, Paula Arielle M R; Pappas, Georgios J; de Menezes, Ivandilson P P; Müller, Bárbara S F; Pereira, Wendell J; Narciso, Marcelo G; Brondani, Claudio; Souza, Thiago L P O; Borba, Tereza C O; Vianello, Rosana P

2016-06-01

Researchers have made great advances into the development and application of genomic approaches for common beans, creating opportunities to driving more real and applicable strategies for sustainable management of the genetic resource towards plant breeding. This work provides useful polymorphic single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for high-throughput common bean genotyping developed by RAD (restriction site-associated DNA) sequencing. The RAD tags were generated from DNA pooled from 12 common bean genotypes, including breeding lines of different gene pools and market classes. The aligned sequences identified 23,748 putative RAD-SNPs, of which 3357 were adequate for genotyping; 1032 RAD-SNPs with the highest ADT (assay design tool) score are presented in this article. The RAD-SNPs were structurally annotated in different coding (47.00 %) and non-coding (53.00 %) sequence components of genes. A subset of 384 RAD-SNPs with broad genome distribution was used to genotype a diverse panel of 95 common bean germplasms and revealed a successful amplification rate of 96.6 %, showing 73 % of polymorphic SNPs within the Andean group and 83 % in the Mesoamerican group. A slightly increased He (0.161, n = 21) value was estimated for the Andean gene pool, compared to the Mesoamerican group (0.156, n = 74). For the linkage disequilibrium (LD) analysis, from a group of 580 SNPs (289 RAD-SNPs and 291 BARC-SNPs) genotyped for the same set of genotypes, 70.2 % were in LD, decreasing to 0.10 %in the Andean group and 0.77 % in the Mesoamerican group. Haplotype patterns spanning 310 Mb of the genome (60 %) were characterized in samples from different origins. However, the haplotype frameworks were under-represented for the Andean (7.85 %) and Mesoamerican (5.55 %) gene pools separately. In conclusion, RAD sequencing allowed the discovery of hundreds of useful SNPs for broad genetic analysis of common bean germplasm. From now, this approach provides an excellent panel of molecular tools for whole genome analysis, allowing integrating and better exploring the common bean breeding practices.

Trajectories of impairment in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Insights from the Pooled Resource Open-Access ALS Clinical Trials cohort.

PubMed

Thakore, Nimish J; Lapin, Brittany R; Pioro, Erik P

2018-06-01

Rate of decline of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating Scale-Revised (ALSFRS-R) score is a common outcome measure and a powerful predictor of mortality in ALS. Observed rate of decline (postslope) of ALSFRS-R, its linearity, and its relationship to decline at first visit (preslope) were examined in the Pooled Resource Open-Access ALS Clinical Trials cohort by using longitudinal mixed effects models. Mean ALSFRS-R postslope in 3,367 patients was -0.99 points/month. Preslope and postslope were correlated and had powerful effects on survival. ALSFRS-R trajectories were slightly accelerated overall, but slope and direction/degree of curvature varied. Subscore decline was sequential by site of onset. Respiratory subscore decline was the least steep. Variable curvilinearity of ALSFRS-R trajectories confounds interpretation in clinical studies that assume linear decline. Subscore trajectories recapitulate phenotypic diversity and topographical progression of ALS. ALSFRS-R is better used as a multidimensional measure. Muscle Nerve 57: 937-945, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

A Common-Pool Resource Approach to Forest Health: The Case of the Southern Pine Beetle

Treesearch

John Schelhas; Joseph Molnar

2012-01-01

The southern pine beetle, Dendroctonus frontalis, is a major threat to pine forest health in the South, and is expected to play an increasingly important role in the future of the South’s pine forests (Ward and Mistretta 2002). Once a forest stand is infected with southern pine beetle (SPB), elimination and isolation of the infested and immediately...

Towards people-centred health systems: a multi-level framework for analysing primary health care governance in low- and middle-income countries.

PubMed

Abimbola, Seye; Negin, Joel; Jan, Stephen; Martiniuk, Alexandra

2014-09-01

Although there is evidence that non-government health system actors can individually or collectively develop practical strategies to address primary health care (PHC) challenges in the community, existing frameworks for analysing health system governance largely focus on the role of governments, and do not sufficiently account for the broad range of contribution to PHC governance. This is important because of the tendency for weak governments in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We present a multi-level governance framework for use as a thinking guide in analysing PHC governance in LMICs. This framework has previously been used to analyse the governance of common-pool resources such as community fisheries and irrigation systems. We apply the framework to PHC because, like common-pool resources, PHC facilities in LMICs tend to be commonly owned by the community such that individual and collective action is often required to avoid the 'tragedy of the commons'-destruction and degradation of the resource resulting from lack of concern for its continuous supply. In the multi-level framework, PHC governance is conceptualized at three levels, depending on who influences the supply and demand of PHC services in a community and how: operational governance (individuals and providers within the local health market), collective governance (community coalitions) and constitutional governance (governments at different levels and other distant but influential actors). Using the example of PHC governance in Nigeria, we illustrate how the multi-level governance framework offers a people-centred lens on the governance of PHC in LMICs, with a focus on relations among health system actors within and between levels of governance. We demonstrate the potential impact of health system actors functioning at different levels of governance on PHC delivery, and how governance failure at one level can be assuaged by governance at another level. Published by Oxford University Press in association with The London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine © The Author 2014; all rights reserved.

Monitoring Contract Enforcement within Virtual Organizations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Squicciarini, Anna; Paci, Federica

Virtual Organizations (VOs) represent a new collaboration paradigm in which the participating entities pool resources, services, and information to achieve a common goal. VOs are often created on demand and dynamically evolve over time. An organization identifies a business opportunity and creates a VO to meet it. In this paper we develop a system for monitoring the sharing of resources in VO. Sharing rules are defined by a particular, common type of contract in which virtual organization members agree to make available some amount of specified resource over a given time period. The main component of the system is a monitoring tool for policy enforcement, called Security Controller (SC). VO members’ interactions are monitored in a decentralized manner in that each member has one associated SC which intercepts all the exchanged messages. We show that having SCs in VOs prevents from serious security breaches and guarantees VOs correct functioning without degrading the execution time of members’ interactions. We base our discussion on application scenarios and illustrate the SC prototype, along with some performance evaluation.

76 FR 56322 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast (NE) Multispecies Fishery; Framework...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-09-13

... common pool vessels for FY 2011 due to overages of FY 2010 catch levels. This measure will help prevent.... SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: FY 2011 Differential DAS Counting for Common Pool Vessels Based on preliminary FY 2010 common pool catch information available in February 2011, NMFS previously estimated that common...

Economic and hydrogeologic disparities govern the vulnerability of shared groundwater to strategic overdraft

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mullen, C.; Muller, M. F.

2017-12-01

Groundwater resources are depleting globally at an alarming rate. When the resource is shared, exploitation by individual users affects groundwater levels and increases pumping costs to all users. This incentivizes individual users to strategically over-pump, an effect that is challenging to keep in check because the underground nature of the resource often precludes regulations from being effectively implemented. As a result, shared groundwater resources are prone to tragedies of the commons that exacerbate their rapid depletion. However, we showed in a recent study that the vulnerability of aquifer systems to strategic overuse is strongly affected by local economic and physical characteristics, which suggests that not all shared aquifers are subject to tragedies of the commons. Building on these findings, we develop a vulnerability index based on coupled game theoretical and groundwater flow models. We show that vulnerability to strategic overdraft is driven by four intuitively interpretable adimensional parameters that describe economic and hydrogeologic disparities between the agents exploiting the aquifer. This suggests a scale-independent relation between the vulnerability of groundwater systems to common-pool overdraft and their economic and physical characteristics. We investigate this relation for a sample of existing aquifer systems and explore implications for enforceable groundwater agreements that would effectively mitigate strategic overdraft.

Leveraging Resources to Address Transportation Needs: Transportation Pooled Fund Program

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2004-05-28

This brochure describes the Transportation Pooled Fund (TPF) Program. The objectives of the TPF Program are to leverage resources, avoid duplication of effort, undertake large-scale projects, obtain greater input on project definition, achieve broade...

Understanding the Effects of Users' Behaviors on Effectiveness of Different Exogenous Regulatory Common Pool Resource Management Institutions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Madani, K.; Dinar, A.

2013-12-01

Tragedy of the commons is generally recognized as one of the possible destinies for common pool resources (CPRs). To avoid the tragedy of the commons and prolonging the life of CPRs, users may show different behavioral characteristics and use different rationales for CPR planning and management. Furthermore, regulators may adopt different strategies for sustainable management of CPRs. The effectiveness of different regulatory exogenous management institutions cannot be evaluated through conventional CPR models since they assume that either users base their behavior on individual rationality and adopt a selfish behavior (Nash behavior), or that the users seek the system's optimal solution without giving priority to their own interests. Therefore, conventional models fail to reliably predict the outcome of CPR problems in which parties may have a range of behavioral characteristics, putting them somewhere in between the two types of behaviors traditionally considered. This work examines the effectiveness of different regulatory exogenous CPR management institutions through a user-based model (as opposed to a system-based model). The new modeling framework allows for consideration of sensitivity of the results to different behavioral characteristics of interacting CPR users. The suggested modeling approach is applied to a benchmark groundwater management problem. Results indicate that some well-known exogenous management institutions (e.g. taxing) are ineffective in sustainable management of CPRs in most cases. Bankruptcy-based management can be helpful, but determination of the fair level of cutbacks remains challenging under this type of institution. Furthermore, some bankruptcy rules such as the Constrained Equal Award (CEA) method are more beneficial to wealthier users, failing to establish social justice. Quota-based and CPR status-based management perform as the most promising and robust regulatory exogenous institutions in prolonging the CPR's life and increasing the long-term benefits to its users.

76 FR 34903 - Revisions to Framework Adjustment 45 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-15

... Management Plan and Sector Annual Catch Entitlements; Updated Annual Catch Limits for Sectors and the Common... (ACLs) for common pool vessels (common pool sub-ACLs), ACLs for sector vessels (sector sub-ACLs), and... number of participants electing to fish in either sectors or the common pool fishery in FY 2011. DATES...

You are not always what we think you eat. Selective assimilation across multiple whole-stream isotopic tracer studies

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Dodds, W. K.; Collins, S. M.; Hamilton, S. K.

Analyses of 21 15N stable isotope tracer experiments, designed to examine food web dynamics in streams around the world, indicated that the isotopic composition of food resources assimilated by primary consumers (mostly invertebrates) poorly reflected the presumed food sources. Modeling indicated that consumers assimilated only 33–50% of the N available in sampled food sources such as decomposing leaves, epilithon, and fine particulate detritus over feeding periods of weeks or more. Thus, common methods of sampling food sources consumed by animals in streams do not sufficiently reflect the pool of N they assimilate. Lastly, Isotope tracer studies, combined with modeling andmore » food separation techniques, can improve estimation of N pools in food sources that are assimilated by consumers.« less

You are not always what we think you eat. Selective assimilation across multiple whole-stream isotopic tracer studies

DOE PAGES

Dodds, W. K.; Collins, S. M.; Hamilton, S. K.; ...

2014-10-01

Analyses of 21 15N stable isotope tracer experiments, designed to examine food web dynamics in streams around the world, indicated that the isotopic composition of food resources assimilated by primary consumers (mostly invertebrates) poorly reflected the presumed food sources. Modeling indicated that consumers assimilated only 33–50% of the N available in sampled food sources such as decomposing leaves, epilithon, and fine particulate detritus over feeding periods of weeks or more. Thus, common methods of sampling food sources consumed by animals in streams do not sufficiently reflect the pool of N they assimilate. Lastly, Isotope tracer studies, combined with modeling andmore » food separation techniques, can improve estimation of N pools in food sources that are assimilated by consumers.« less

78 FR 65888 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Trip Limit...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-11-04

... economic impacts to the common pool fishery. There is additional good cause to waive the delayed effective... Fishery; Trip Limit Adjustments for the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service... hake, and pollock for Northeast multispecies common pool vessels for the remainder of the 2013 fishing...

78 FR 42478 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Trip Limit...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-16

... Fishery; Trip Limit Adjustment for the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS... (SNE/MA) winter flounder for Northeast multispecies common pool vessels for the remainder of the 2013... Area (TAC) for the remainder of Trimester 1, through August 31, 2013, because the common pool fishery...

78 FR 54194 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Trip Limit...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-09-03

... Fishery; Trip Limit Adjustments for the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service...-Atlantic winter flounder and Gulf of Maine haddock for Northeast multispecies common pool vessels for the remainder of the 2013 fishing year. NMFS is taking this action because the common pool has caught 73 percent...

78 FR 10556 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Trip Limit...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-02-14

... Fishery; Trip Limit Adjustments for the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service... Northeast multispecies common pool vessels for the remainder of the 2012 fishing year. This rule also... total catch of these stocks to approach their pertinent common pool sub-annual catch limits sub-annual...

78 FR 76759 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Trimester Closure...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-12-19

... Fishery; Trimester Closure for the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS... Trimester 3, from January 1, 2014, through April 30, 2014, to common pool vessels, because the Trimester 3... intended to prevent the overharvest of the common pool's allocation of GOM haddock. DATES: The closure of...

77 FR 14697 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Trip Limit...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-03-13

... Fishery; Trip Limit Adjustments for the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service...) multispecies common pool vessels for the remainder of the 2011 fishing year (FY), through April 30, 2012. This... catch of these stocks to approach their pertinent common pool sub-annual catch limits (sub-ACLs). DATES...

76 FR 18661 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Trip Limit...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-05

... Fishery; Trip Limit Adjustments for the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service... (NE) multispecies common pool vessels for the 2010 fishing year (FY), through April 30, 2011. This... common pool sub-annual catch limits (sub-ACLs). This action is also intended to reduce catch rates of GOM...

A new hammer to crack an old nut: interspecific competitive resource capture by plants is regulated by nutrient supply, not climate.

PubMed

Trinder, Clare J; Brooker, Rob W; Davidson, Hazel; Robinson, David

2012-01-01

Although rarely acknowledged, our understanding of how competition is modulated by environmental drivers is severely hampered by our dependence on indirect measurements of outcomes, rather than the process of competition. To overcome this, we made direct measurements of plant competition for soil nitrogen (N). Using isotope pool-dilution, we examined the interactive effects of soil resource limitation and climatic severity between two common grassland species. Pool-dilution estimates the uptake of total N over a defined time period, rather than simply the uptake of ¹⁵N label, as used in most other tracer experiments. Competitive uptake of N was determined by its available form (NO₃⁻ or NH₄⁺). Soil N availability had a greater effect than the climatic conditions (location) under which plants grew. The results did not entirely support either of the main current theories relating the role of competition to environmental conditions. We found no evidence for Tilman's theory that competition for soil nutrients is stronger at low, compared with high nutrient levels and partial support for Grime's theory that competition for soil nutrients is greater under potentially more productive conditions. These results provide novel insights by demonstrating the dynamic nature of plant resource competition.

A New Hammer to Crack an Old Nut: Interspecific Competitive Resource Capture by Plants Is Regulated by Nutrient Supply, Not Climate

PubMed Central

Trinder, Clare J.; Brooker, Rob W.; Davidson, Hazel; Robinson, David

2012-01-01

Although rarely acknowledged, our understanding of how competition is modulated by environmental drivers is severely hampered by our dependence on indirect measurements of outcomes, rather than the process of competition. To overcome this, we made direct measurements of plant competition for soil nitrogen (N). Using isotope pool-dilution, we examined the interactive effects of soil resource limitation and climatic severity between two common grassland species. Pool-dilution estimates the uptake of total N over a defined time period, rather than simply the uptake of 15N label, as used in most other tracer experiments. Competitive uptake of N was determined by its available form (NO3 − or NH4 +). Soil N availability had a greater effect than the climatic conditions (location) under which plants grew. The results did not entirely support either of the main current theories relating the role of competition to environmental conditions. We found no evidence for Tilman's theory that competition for soil nutrients is stronger at low, compared with high nutrient levels and partial support for Grime's theory that competition for soil nutrients is greater under potentially more productive conditions. These results provide novel insights by demonstrating the dynamic nature of plant resource competition. PMID:22247775

Towards people-centred health systems: a multi-level framework for analysing primary health care governance in low- and middle-income countries

PubMed Central

Abimbola, Seye; Negin, Joel; Jan, Stephen; Martiniuk, Alexandra

2014-01-01

Although there is evidence that non-government health system actors can individually or collectively develop practical strategies to address primary health care (PHC) challenges in the community, existing frameworks for analysing health system governance largely focus on the role of governments, and do not sufficiently account for the broad range of contribution to PHC governance. This is important because of the tendency for weak governments in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). We present a multi-level governance framework for use as a thinking guide in analysing PHC governance in LMICs. This framework has previously been used to analyse the governance of common-pool resources such as community fisheries and irrigation systems. We apply the framework to PHC because, like common-pool resources, PHC facilities in LMICs tend to be commonly owned by the community such that individual and collective action is often required to avoid the ‘tragedy of the commons’—destruction and degradation of the resource resulting from lack of concern for its continuous supply. In the multi-level framework, PHC governance is conceptualized at three levels, depending on who influences the supply and demand of PHC services in a community and how: operational governance (individuals and providers within the local health market), collective governance (community coalitions) and constitutional governance (governments at different levels and other distant but influential actors). Using the example of PHC governance in Nigeria, we illustrate how the multi-level governance framework offers a people-centred lens on the governance of PHC in LMICs, with a focus on relations among health system actors within and between levels of governance. We demonstrate the potential impact of health system actors functioning at different levels of governance on PHC delivery, and how governance failure at one level can be assuaged by governance at another level. PMID:25274638

50 CFR 648.86 - NE Multispecies possession restrictions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... stock allocated to common pool vessels pursuant to § 648.90(a)(4) will exceed the pertinent sub-ACL... to prevent exceeding the common pool sub-ACL in that fishing year. (2) Possession restrictions to... sub-ACL of any stock allocated to the common pool pursuant to § 648.90(a)(4) will not be caught during...

77 FR 72242 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; White Hake Trimester...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-05

... Fishery; White Hake Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area Closure for the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY... Allowable Catch (TAC) Area to all common pool groundfish vessels fishing with trawl gear, sink gillnet gear... necessary to prevent the common pool fishery from exceeding its Trimester 2 TAC or its annual catch limit...

75 FR 44924 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Trip Limit Reduction...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-30

... Northeast (NE) multispecies vessels fishing under common pool regulations for the 2010 fishing year (FY... of harvest exceeding the subcomponent of the annual catch limit (ACL) allocated to the common pool (common pool sub-ACL) for each of these stocks during FY 2010 (May 1, 2010, through April 30, 2011). This...

77 FR 48915 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; White Hake Trimester...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-15

... Fishery; White Hake Trimester Total Allowable Catch Area Closure for the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY... (TAC) Area to all common pool vessels fishing with trawl gear, sink gillnet gear, or longline/hook gear... common pool fishery from exceeding its Trimester 1 TAC or its annual catch limit for white hake. This...

77 FR 59132 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Fishing Year 2012...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-26

... Fishery; Fishing Year 2012 Days-at-Sea Adjustment for Common Pool Fishery; Announcement of Fishing Year... adjusts the differential days-at-sea (DAS) rate for common pool vessels for fishing year (FY) 2012 due to... INFORMATION: FY 2012 Differential DAS Counting for Common Pool Vessels Amendment 16 to the Northeast (NE...

76 FR 30035 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Trip Limit Increase...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-24

... Fishery; Trip Limit Increase for the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS...) multispecies common pool vessels for the 2011 fishing year (FY), through April 30, 2012. This action is... the total catch of this stock to further approach the common pool sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL...

76 FR 53832 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Trip Limit Decrease...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-30

... Fishery; Trip Limit Decrease for the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS... (GB) cod for Northeast (NE) multispecies common pool vessels for the 2011 fishing year (FY), through... reduce the harvest of GOM and GB cod to prevent the common pool sub-annual catch limit (sub-ACL) from...

75 FR 29678 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Reductions to Trip...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-27

... for Northeast (NE) multispecies vessels fishing under common pool regulations for the 2010 fishing... likelihood of harvest exceeding the subcomponent of the annual catch limit (ACL) allocated to the common pool (common pool sub-ACL) for each of these five stocks during FY 2010 (May 1, 2010, through April 30, 2011...

76 FR 61060 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Correction to Cod...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-03

... Fishery; Correction to Cod Landing Limit for Handgear B Vessels in the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY... multispecies open access Handgear B permitted vessels fishing in the common pool fishery for the remainder of... landing limits for Handgear B (HB) vessels fishing under common pool regulations at Sec. 648.88(a)(1...

75 FR 53871 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Modification of the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-09-02

...; Modification of the Common Pool Day-at-Sea Accounting and Possession Prohibition for Witch Flounder AGENCY... fishing under common pool regulations for the 2010 fishing year (FY) when fishing in the Inshore Gulf of... exceed the subcomponent of the annual catch limit (ACL) allocated to the common pool during FY 2010 (May...

48 CFR 873.114 - Best value pool.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 5 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Best value pool. 873.114... SUPPLEMENTARY REGULATIONS SIMPLIFIED ACQUISITION PROCEDURES FOR HEALTH-CARE RESOURCES 873.114 Best value pool... solicitation. These vendors constitute the best value pool. This determination is within the sole discretion of...

[Book review] Fish Gene Pools: preservation of genetic resources in relation to wild fish stocks, edited by N. Ryman

USGS Publications Warehouse

Simon, R.C.

1984-01-01

Review of: Fish Gene Pools: Preservation of Genetic Resources in Relation to Wild Fish Stocks. Edited by N. Ryman. The Editorial Service/FRN, Box 6710, S-11385, Stockholm, Sweden. 1981. 111 pages. $16.00 (paper).

Lack of cross-scale linkages reduces robustness of community-based fisheries management.

PubMed

Cudney-Bueno, Richard; Basurto, Xavier

2009-07-16

Community-based management and the establishment of marine reserves have been advocated worldwide as means to overcome overexploitation of fisheries. Yet, researchers and managers are divided regarding the effectiveness of these measures. The "tragedy of the commons" model is often accepted as a universal paradigm, which assumes that unless managed by the State or privatized, common-pool resources are inevitably overexploited due to conflicts between the self-interest of individuals and the goals of a group as a whole. Under this paradigm, the emergence and maintenance of effective community-based efforts that include cooperative risky decisions as the establishment of marine reserves could not occur. In this paper, we question these assumptions and show that outcomes of commons dilemmas can be complex and scale-dependent. We studied the evolution and effectiveness of a community-based management effort to establish, monitor, and enforce a marine reserve network in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Our findings build on social and ecological research before (1997-2001), during (2002) and after (2003-2004) the establishment of marine reserves, which included participant observation in >100 fishing trips and meetings, interviews, as well as fishery dependent and independent monitoring. We found that locally crafted and enforced harvesting rules led to a rapid increase in resource abundance. Nevertheless, news about this increase spread quickly at a regional scale, resulting in poaching from outsiders and a subsequent rapid cascading effect on fishing resources and locally-designed rule compliance. We show that cooperation for management of common-pool fisheries, in which marine reserves form a core component of the system, can emerge, evolve rapidly, and be effective at a local scale even in recently organized fisheries. Stakeholder participation in monitoring, where there is a rapid feedback of the systems response, can play a key role in reinforcing cooperation. However, without cross-scale linkages with higher levels of governance, increase of local fishery stocks may attract outsiders who, if not restricted, will overharvest and threaten local governance. Fishers and fishing communities require incentives to maintain their management efforts. Rewarding local effective management with formal cross-scale governance recognition and support can generate these incentives.

75 FR 64955 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Correction to Cod...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-21

...; Correction to Cod Landing Limit for Handgear A Vessels in the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY: National Marine... multispecies limited access Handgear A (HA) permitted vessels fishing in the common pool fishery for the... vessels fishing under common pool regulations at Sec. 648.82(b)(6) state that ``The [300 lb (136.1 kg...

Increasing Accessibility by Pooling Digital Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cushion, Steve

2004-01-01

There are now many CALL authoring packages that can create interactive websites and a large number of language teachers are writing materials for the whole range of such packages. Currently, each product stores its data in different formats thus hindering interoperability, pooling of digital resources and moving between software packages based in…

Transferring Goods or Splitting a Resource Pool

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dijkstra, Jacob; Van Assen, Marcel A. L. M.

2008-01-01

We investigated the consequences for exchange outcomes of the violation of an assumption underlying most social psychological research on exchange. This assumption is that the negotiated direct exchange of commodities between two actors (pure exchange) can be validly represented as two actors splitting a fixed pool of resources (split pool…

Managing water resources infrastructure in the face of different values

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mostert, Erik

Water resources infrastructure (WRI) plays a key role in water management. It can serve or negatively affect some seven to ten different and sometimes conflicting values. WRI management is therefore not a purely technical issue. Economic analyses can help to some extent, but only for values related to current human use. Multi-criteria analysis can cover all values, but in the end WRI management is not an analytical issue, but a governance issue. Different governance paradigms exist: markets, hierarchies and “third alternatives”, such as common pool resources management and network management. This article presents social learning as the most promising paradigm. Positive experiences with social learning have been described and guidance on putting social learning into practice exists. Nonetheless, there are no magic solutions for managing WRI in the face of different values.

Conflict in Protected Areas: Who Says Co-Management Does Not Work?

PubMed Central

Arts, Bas; Vranckx, An; Léon-Sicard, Tomas; Van Damme, Patrick

2015-01-01

Natural resource-related conflicts can be extremely destructive and undermine environmental protection. Since the 1990s co-management schemes, whereby the management of resources is shared by public and/or private sector stakeholders, have been a main strategy for reducing these conflicts worldwide. Despite initial high hopes, in recent years co-management has been perceived as falling short of expectations. However, systematic assessments of its role in conflict prevention or mitigation are non-existent. Interviews with 584 residents from ten protected areas in Colombia revealed that co-management can be successful in reducing conflict at grassroots level, as long as some critical enabling conditions, such as effective participation in the co-management process, are fulfilled not only on paper but also by praxis. We hope these findings will re-incentivize global efforts to make co-management work in protected areas and other common pool resource contexts, such as fisheries, agriculture, forestry and water management. PMID:26714036

Stability and Scalability of the CMS Global Pool: Pushing HTCondor and GlideinWMS to New Limits

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Balcas, J.; Bockelman, B.; Hufnagel, D.

The CMS Global Pool, based on HTCondor and glideinWMS, is the main computing resource provisioning system for all CMS workflows, including analysis, Monte Carlo production, and detector data reprocessing activities. The total resources at Tier-1 and Tier-2 grid sites pledged to CMS exceed 100,000 CPU cores, while another 50,000 to 100,000 CPU cores are available opportunistically, pushing the needs of the Global Pool to higher scales each year. These resources are becoming more diverse in their accessibility and configuration over time. Furthermore, the challenge of stably running at higher and higher scales while introducing new modes of operation such asmore » multi-core pilots, as well as the chaotic nature of physics analysis workflows, places huge strains on the submission infrastructure. This paper details some of the most important challenges to scalability and stability that the CMS Global Pool has faced since the beginning of the LHC Run II and how they were overcome.« less

Stability and scalability of the CMS Global Pool: Pushing HTCondor and glideinWMS to new limits

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balcas, J.; Bockelman, B.; Hufnagel, D.; Hurtado Anampa, K.; Aftab Khan, F.; Larson, K.; Letts, J.; Marra da Silva, J.; Mascheroni, M.; Mason, D.; Perez-Calero Yzquierdo, A.; Tiradani, A.

2017-10-01

The CMS Global Pool, based on HTCondor and glideinWMS, is the main computing resource provisioning system for all CMS workflows, including analysis, Monte Carlo production, and detector data reprocessing activities. The total resources at Tier-1 and Tier-2 grid sites pledged to CMS exceed 100,000 CPU cores, while another 50,000 to 100,000 CPU cores are available opportunistically, pushing the needs of the Global Pool to higher scales each year. These resources are becoming more diverse in their accessibility and configuration over time. Furthermore, the challenge of stably running at higher and higher scales while introducing new modes of operation such as multi-core pilots, as well as the chaotic nature of physics analysis workflows, places huge strains on the submission infrastructure. This paper details some of the most important challenges to scalability and stability that the CMS Global Pool has faced since the beginning of the LHC Run II and how they were overcome.

78 FR 22870 - Free Flow Power Corporation; Notice of Application Accepted for Filing and Soliciting Motions To...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-04-17

... Natural Resources and impounds a 553-acre reservoir at a normal pool elevation of 472.2 North American... the existing Williams dam owned by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources on the East Fork White... maintained at the existing normal pool elevation (crest of the dam spillway) or above. The average annual...

Reconciling Scale Mismatch in Water Governance, Hydro-climatic Processes and Infrastructure Systems of Water Supply in Las Vegas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Garcia, M. E.; Alarcon, T.; Portney, K.; Islam, S.

2013-12-01

Water resource systems are a classic example of a common pool resource due to the high cost of exclusion and the subtractability of the resource; for common pool resources, the performance of governance systems primarily depends on how well matched the institutional arrangements and rules are to the biophysical conditions and social norms. Changes in water governance, hydro-climatic processes and infrastructure systems occur on disparate temporal and spatial scales. A key challenge is the gap between current climate change model resolution, and the spatial and temporal scale of urban water supply decisions. This gap will lead to inappropriate management policies if not mediated through a carefully crafted decision making process. Traditional decision support and planning methods (DSPM) such as classical decision analysis are not equipped to deal with a non-static climate. While emerging methods such as decision scaling, robust decision making and real options are designed to deal with a changing climate, governance systems have evolved under the assumption of a static climate and it is not clear if these methods are well suited to the existing governance regime. In our study, these questions are contextualized by examining an urban water utility that has made significant changes in policy to adapt to changing conditions: the Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) which serves metropolitan Las Vegas. Like most desert cities, Las Vegas exists because of water; the artesian springs of the Las Vegas Valley once provided an ample water supply for Native Americans, ranchers and later a small railroad city. However, population growth has increased demands far beyond local supplies. The area now depends on the Colorado River for the majority of its water supply. Natural climate variability with periodic droughts has further challenged water providers; projected climate changes and further population growth will exacerbate these challenges. Las Vegas is selected as a case study due to the combined challenges of population growth and climate change, common in the arid west, and due its cooperative institutional response to these challenges, unprecedented in the arid west. To begin to disentangle this question we have analyzed the institutional arrangements and rules which govern water decision making in the Las Vegas Valley and evaluated the existing DSPM used by the SNWA and partner utilities. Presented here are the preliminary results from an ongoing project.

1993 annual status report: a summary of fish data in six reaches of the upper Mississippi River system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gutreuter, Steve; Burkhardt, Randy W.; Stopyro, Mark; Bartels, Andrew; Kramer, Eric; Bowler, Melvin C.; Cronin, Frederick A.; Soergel, Dirk W.; Petersen, Michael D.; Herzog, David P.; Raibley, Paul T.; Irons, Kevin S.; O'Hara, Timothy M.

1997-01-01

The Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) completed 1,994 collections of fishes from stratified random and permanently fixed sampling locations in six study reaches of the Upper Mississippi River System during 1993. Collection methods included day and night electrofishing, hoop netting, fyke netting (two net sizes), gill netting, seining, and trawling in select aquatic area classes. The six LTRMP study reaches are Pools 4 (excluding Lake Pepin), 8, 13, and 26 of the Upper Mississippi River, an unimpounded reach of the Mississippi River near Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and the La Grange Pool of the Illinois River. A total of 62-78 fish species were detected in each study reach. For each of the six LTRMP study reaches, this report contains summaries of: (1) sampling efforts in each combination of gear type and aquatic area class, (2) total catches of each species from each gear type, (3) mean catch-per-unit of gear effort statistics and standard errors for common species from each combination of aquatic area class and selected gear type, and (4) length distributions of common species from selected gear types.

1994 annual status report: a summary of fish data in six reaches of the upper Mississippi River system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Gutreuter, Steve; Burkhardt, Randy W.; Stopyro, Mark; Bartels, Andrew; Kramer, Eric; Bowler, Melvin C.; Cronin, Frederick A.; Soergel, Dirk W.; Petersen, Michael D.; Herzog, David P.; Raibley, Paul T.; Irons, Kevin S.; O'Hara, Timothy M.

1997-01-01

The Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) completed 2,653 collections of fishes from stratified random and permanently fixed sampling locations in six study reaches of the Upper Mississippi River System during 1994. Collection methods included day and night electrofishing, hoop netting, fyke netting (two net sizes), gill netting, seining, and trawling in select aquatic area classes. The six LTRMP study areas are Pools 4 (excluding Lake Pepin), 8, 13, and 26 of the Upper Mississippi River, and unimpounded reach of the Mississippi River near Cape Girardeau, Missouri, and the La Grange Pool of the Illinois River. A total of 61-79 fish species were detected in each study area. For each of the six LTRMP study areas, this report contains summaries of (1) sampling efforts in each combination of gear type and aquatic area class, (2) total catches of each species from each gear type, (3) mean catch-per-unit of gear effort statistics and standard errors for common species from each combination of aquatic area class and selected gear type, and (4) length distributions of common species from selected gear types.

Lack of Cross-Scale Linkages Reduces Robustness of Community-Based Fisheries Management

PubMed Central

Cudney-Bueno, Richard; Basurto, Xavier

2009-01-01

Community-based management and the establishment of marine reserves have been advocated worldwide as means to overcome overexploitation of fisheries. Yet, researchers and managers are divided regarding the effectiveness of these measures. The “tragedy of the commons” model is often accepted as a universal paradigm, which assumes that unless managed by the State or privatized, common-pool resources are inevitably overexploited due to conflicts between the self-interest of individuals and the goals of a group as a whole. Under this paradigm, the emergence and maintenance of effective community-based efforts that include cooperative risky decisions as the establishment of marine reserves could not occur. In this paper, we question these assumptions and show that outcomes of commons dilemmas can be complex and scale-dependent. We studied the evolution and effectiveness of a community-based management effort to establish, monitor, and enforce a marine reserve network in the Gulf of California, Mexico. Our findings build on social and ecological research before (1997–2001), during (2002) and after (2003–2004) the establishment of marine reserves, which included participant observation in >100 fishing trips and meetings, interviews, as well as fishery dependent and independent monitoring. We found that locally crafted and enforced harvesting rules led to a rapid increase in resource abundance. Nevertheless, news about this increase spread quickly at a regional scale, resulting in poaching from outsiders and a subsequent rapid cascading effect on fishing resources and locally-designed rule compliance. We show that cooperation for management of common-pool fisheries, in which marine reserves form a core component of the system, can emerge, evolve rapidly, and be effective at a local scale even in recently organized fisheries. Stakeholder participation in monitoring, where there is a rapid feedback of the systems response, can play a key role in reinforcing cooperation. However, without cross-scale linkages with higher levels of governance, increase of local fishery stocks may attract outsiders who, if not restricted, will overharvest and threaten local governance. Fishers and fishing communities require incentives to maintain their management efforts. Rewarding local effective management with formal cross-scale governance recognition and support can generate these incentives. PMID:19606210

Space Science Outreach in the Virtual World of Second Life

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Crider, Anthony W.; International Spaceflight Museum

2006-12-01

The on-line "game" of Second Life allows users to construct a highly detailed and customized environment. Users often pool talents and resources to construct virtual islands that focus on their common interest. One such group has built the International Spaceflight Museum, committed to constructing and displaying accurate models of rockets, spacecraft, telescopes, and planetariums. Current exhibits include a Saturn V rocket, a Viking lander on Mars, Spaceship One, the New Horizons mission to the Kuiper Belt, and a prototype of the Orion crew exploration vehicle. This museum also hosts public lectures, shuttle launch viewings, and university astronomy class projects. In this presentation, I will focus on how space science researchers and educators may take advantage of this new resource as a means to engage the public.

A resource-sharing model based on a repeated game in fog computing.

PubMed

Sun, Yan; Zhang, Nan

2017-03-01

With the rapid development of cloud computing techniques, the number of users is undergoing exponential growth. It is difficult for traditional data centers to perform many tasks in real time because of the limited bandwidth of resources. The concept of fog computing is proposed to support traditional cloud computing and to provide cloud services. In fog computing, the resource pool is composed of sporadic distributed resources that are more flexible and movable than a traditional data center. In this paper, we propose a fog computing structure and present a crowd-funding algorithm to integrate spare resources in the network. Furthermore, to encourage more resource owners to share their resources with the resource pool and to supervise the resource supporters as they actively perform their tasks, we propose an incentive mechanism in our algorithm. Simulation results show that our proposed incentive mechanism can effectively reduce the SLA violation rate and accelerate the completion of tasks.

Contribution of anthropogenic phosphorus to agricultural soil fertility and food production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ringeval, B.; Nowak, B.; Nesme, T.; Delmas, M.; Pellerin, S.

2014-07-01

Agricultural intensification over the last few decades has been accompanied by the extensive use of anthropogenic phosphorus (P) derived from mined phosphate rock. Given the increasing scarcity of P resources, accurate estimates of the reliance of agriculture on anthropogenic P are required. Here we propose a modeling approach for assessing the contribution of anthropogenic P to agricultural soil fertility and food production. We performed computations at country level, and France was chosen as a typical western European country with intensive agriculture. Four soil P pools were identified based on their bioavailability (labile versus stable) and origin (anthropogenic versus natural). Pool evolution between 1948 and 2009 was estimated by combining international databases and a simple biogeochemical model. An optimization procedure demonstrated the necessity of representing a stable P pool capable of replenishing the labile pool within 14 to 33 years in order to match country-scale observations. Mean simulated P pool sizes for 2009 (0-35 cm soil horizon) were 146, 616, 31, and 156 kgP/ha for natural stable, anthropogenic stable, natural labile, and anthropogenic labile pools, respectively. We found that, on average, 82% (min-max: 68-91%) of soil P (sum of labile and above defined stable) in that year was anthropogenic. The temporal evolution of this contribution is directly related to the integral of chemical fertilizer use over time, starting from 1948. The contribution of anthropogenic P to food production was similar at 84% (min-max: 72-91%), which is greater than budget-based estimates ( 50-60%) commonly reported in the literature. By focusing on soil fertility and food production, this study provides a quantitative estimation of human perturbations of the P cycle in agroecosystems.

Pooled nucleic acid testing to identify antiretroviral treatment failure during HIV infection.

PubMed

May, Susanne; Gamst, Anthony; Haubrich, Richard; Benson, Constance; Smith, Davey M

2010-02-01

Pooling strategies have been used to reduce the costs of polymerase chain reaction-based screening for acute HIV infection in populations in which the prevalence of acute infection is low (less than 1%). Only limited research has been done for conditions in which the prevalence of screening positivity is higher (greater than 1%). We present data on a variety of pooling strategies that incorporate the use of polymerase chain reaction-based quantitative measures to monitor for virologic failure among HIV-infected patients receiving antiretroviral therapy. For a prevalence of virologic failure between 1% and 25%, we demonstrate relative efficiency and accuracy of various strategies. These results could be used to choose the best strategy based on the requirements of individual laboratory and clinical settings such as required turnaround time of results and availability of resources. Virologic monitoring during antiretroviral therapy is not currently being performed in many resource-constrained settings largely because of costs. The presented pooling strategies may be used to significantly reduce the cost compared with individual testing, make such monitoring feasible, and limit the development and transmission of HIV drug resistance in resource-constrained settings. They may also be used to design efficient pooling strategies for other settings with quantitative screening measures.

Urate levels predict survival in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis: Analysis of the expanded Pooled Resource Open-Access ALS clinical trials database.

PubMed

Paganoni, Sabrina; Nicholson, Katharine; Chan, James; Shui, Amy; Schoenfeld, David; Sherman, Alexander; Berry, James; Cudkowicz, Merit; Atassi, Nazem

2018-03-01

Urate has been identified as a predictor of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) survival in some but not all studies. Here we leverage the recent expansion of the Pooled Resource Open-Access ALS Clinical Trials (PRO-ACT) database to study the association between urate levels and ALS survival. Pooled data of 1,736 ALS participants from the PRO-ACT database were analyzed. Cox proportional hazards regression models were used to evaluate associations between urate levels at trial entry and survival. After adjustment for potential confounders (i.e., creatinine and body mass index), there was an 11% reduction in risk of reaching a survival endpoint during the study with each 1-mg/dL increase in uric acid levels (adjusted hazard ratio 0.89, 95% confidence interval 0.82-0.97, P < 0.01). Our pooled analysis provides further support for urate as a prognostic factor for survival in ALS and confirms the utility of the PRO-ACT database as a powerful resource for ALS epidemiological research. Muscle Nerve 57: 430-434, 2018. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Pool desiccation and developmental thresholds in the common frog, Rana temporaria.

PubMed

Lind, Martin I; Persbo, Frida; Johansson, Frank

2008-05-07

The developmental threshold is the minimum size or condition that a developing organism must have reached in order for a life-history transition to occur. Although developmental thresholds have been observed for many organisms, inter-population variation among natural populations has not been examined. Since isolated populations can be subjected to strong divergent selection, population divergence in developmental thresholds can be predicted if environmental conditions favour fast or slow developmental time in different populations. Amphibian metamorphosis is a well-studied life-history transition, and using a common garden approach we compared the development time and the developmental threshold of metamorphosis in four island populations of the common frog Rana temporaria: two populations originating from islands with only temporary breeding pools and two from islands with permanent pools. As predicted, tadpoles from time-constrained temporary pools had a genetically shorter development time than those from permanent pools. Furthermore, the variation in development time among females from temporary pools was low, consistent with the action of selection on rapid development in this environment. However, there were no clear differences in the developmental thresholds between the populations, indicating that the main response to life in a temporary pool is to shorten the development time.

78 FR 45896 - Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast Multispecies Fishery; Trimester Closure...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-30

... Fishery; Trimester Closure for the Common Pool Fishery AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS... remainder of Trimester 1, through August 31, 2013. Based on our projection, the common pool fishery has... area for the remainder of the trimester. This action is intended to prevent an overage of the common...

Optimizing the use of nursing pool resources.

PubMed

Kutash, M B; Nelson, D

1993-01-01

The use of per diem staff is a popular method of meeting staffing deficiencies related to fluctuations in volume and intensity of nursing service. The authors describe the reorganization of a nursing pool. This restructuring resulted in an increase of available pool hours, a decrease in overtime and agency use, and significant savings related to orientation costs.

Variation in active and passive resource inputs to experimental pools: mechanisms and possible consequences for food webs

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kraus, Johanna M.; Pletcher, Leanna T.; Vonesh, James R.

2010-01-01

1. Cross-ecosystem movements of resources, including detritus, nutrients and living prey, can strongly influence food web dynamics in recipient habitats. Variation in resource inputs is thought to be driven by factors external to the recipient habitat (e.g. donor habitat productivity and boundary conditions). However, inputs of or by ‘active’ living resources may be strongly influenced by recipient habitat quality when organisms exhibit behavioural habitat selection when crossing ecosystem boundaries. 2. To examine whether behavioural responses to recipient habitat quality alter the relative inputs of ‘active’ living and ‘passive’ detrital resources to recipient food webs, we manipulated the presence of caged predatory fish and measured biomass, energy and organic content of inputs to outdoor experimental pools of adult aquatic insects, frog eggs, terrestrial plant matter and terrestrial arthropods. 3. Caged fish reduced the biomass, energy and organic matter donated to pools by tree frog eggs by ∼70%, but did not alter insect colonisation or passive allochthonous inputs of terrestrial arthropods and plant material. Terrestrial plant matter and adult aquatic insects provided the most energy and organic matter inputs to the pools (40–50%), while terrestrial arthropods provided the least (7%). Inputs of frog egg were relatively small but varied considerably among pools and over time (3%, range = 0–20%). Absolute and proportional amounts varied by input type. 4. Aquatic predators can strongly affect the magnitude of active, but not passive, inputs and that the effect of recipient habitat quality on active inputs is variable. Furthermore, some active inputs (i.e. aquatic insect colonists) can provide similar amounts of energy and organic matter as passive inputs of terrestrial plant matter, which are well known to be important. Because inputs differ in quality and the trophic level they subsidise, proportional changes in input type could have strong effects on recipient food webs. 5. Cross-ecosystem resource inputs have previously been characterised as donor-controlled. However, control by the recipient food web could lead to greater feedback between resource flow and consumer dynamics than has been appreciated so far.

Managing the wildlife tourism commons.

PubMed

Pirotta, Enrico; Lusseau, David

2015-04-01

The nonlethal effects of wildlife tourism can threaten the conservation status of targeted animal populations. In turn, such resource depletion can compromise the economic viability of the industry. Therefore, wildlife tourism exploits resources that can become common pool and that should be managed accordingly. We used a simulation approach to test whether different management regimes (tax, tax and subsidy, cap, cap and trade) could provide socioecologically sustainable solutions. Such schemes are sensitive to errors in estimated management targets. We determined the sensitivity of each scenario to various realistic uncertainties in management implementation and in our knowledge of the population. Scenarios where time quotas were enforced using a tax and subsidy approach, or they were traded between operators were more likely to be sustainable. Importantly, sustainability could be achieved even when operators were assumed to make simple rational economic decisions. We suggest that a combination of the two regimes might offer a robust solution, especially on a small spatial scale and under the control of a self-organized, operator-level institution. Our simulation platform could be parameterized to mimic local conditions and provide a test bed for experimenting different governance solutions in specific case studies.

Carbon's footprints: The politics of producing energy and emissions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shum, Robert

2011-12-01

This study fills a gap in the literature on climate change policy: it investigates lessons from the historical experience of energy policy in addition to the more common analogies to environmental policy experiences that are drawn in the literature. By examining energy policies from the nineteen-seventies, an additional perspective is gained into situations where the costs of cooperation---and benefits of free-riding---are high. This provides a contrast with relatively easier cases like ozone depletion, where costs are low, benefits are high, and the incentives to participate and comply are both obvious and simple to modify. Such an approach can better explain persistent puzzles concerning divergences in policies relating to global public goods and common-pool resources, as well as to energy use and prices. The results suggest the need for a renewed focus on the incentives facing actors in the formation of climate change policies, and especially on the role that dynamic change in national resource bases play in shaping the initial conditions under which business-as-usual policy positions are set.

78 FR 34928 - Revisions to Framework Adjustment 50 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-11

... Management Plan and Sector Annual Catch Entitlements; Updated Annual Catch Limits for Sectors and the Common... either sectors or the common pool fishery. DATES: Effective June 10, 2013, through April 30, 2014. FOR... to vessels not enrolled in a sector (referred to as the common pool). This allocation is also...

Educational fellowship programs: common themes and overarching issues.

PubMed

Gruppen, Larry D; Simpson, Deborah; Searle, Nancy S; Robins, Lynne; Irby, David M; Mullan, Patricia B

2006-11-01

The trend toward intensive faculty development programs has been driven by a variety of factors, including institutional needs for educational expertise and leadership, as well as individual faculty members' motivation to augment their educational expertise, teaching skills, and leadership skills. The nine programs described in this issue possess several common features that can be ascribed to shared perceptions of pervasive needs coupled with feasible educational resources and strategies to meet these needs. All programs identify a clear set of goals and objectives for their respective curricula. Curriculum domains include not only teaching skills but also educational research, curriculum development, and educational leadership. In spite of many similarities, each program reflects the unique character of its home institution, the faculty, educational resources, and the specific goals of the program. Each program has documented gains in such key outcomes as participant promotions, new leadership positions both locally and nationally, and scholarly productivity in the form of peer-reviewed papers and presentations. Evidence of institutional benefits includes the production of innovative curricula and a pool of educational leaders. The programs have also developed a community of knowledgeable scholars who interact with each other and serve as a catalyst for continuing change and educational improvement. Although each program was developed largely independently of the others, the common elements in their design provide opportunities to evaluate collaboratively the successful aspects of such programs and to share ideas and resources for program curricula between existing programs and with institutions considering implementing new programs.

The Pool Activity Level (PAL) Instrument for Occupational Profiling Jackie Pool The Pool Activity Level (PAL) Instrument for Occupational Profiling Second edition Jessica Kingsley Publishers 96pp £22.50 1843100800 1843100800.

PubMed

2002-11-01

This easy-to-access introduction and workbook to cover the use of the Pool Activity Instrument is a useful addition to the growing resources available under the umbrella of the Bradford Dementia Group. In this second edition, it has been modified to account for suggestions from the field and this shows from its clear and practice-based approach.

SFO-Project: The New Generation of Sharable, Editable and Open-Access CFD Tutorials

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Javaherchi, Teymour; Javaherchi, Ardeshir; Aliseda, Alberto

2016-11-01

One of the most common approaches to develop a Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) simulation for a new case study of interest is to search for the most similar, previously developed and validated CFD simulation among other works. A simple search would result into a pool of written/visual tutorials. However, users should spend significant amount of time and effort to find the most correct, compatible and valid tutorial in this pool and further modify it toward their simulation of interest. SFO is an open-source project with the core idea of saving the above-mentioned time and effort. This is done via documenting/sharing scientific and methodological approaches to develop CFD simulations for a wide spectrum of fundamental and industrial case studies in three different CFD solvers; STAR-CCM +, FLUENT and Open FOAM (SFO). All of the steps and required files of these tutorials are accessible and editable under the common roof of Github (a web-based Git repository hosting service). In this presentation we will present the current library of 20 + developed CFD tutorials, discuss the idea and benefit of using them, their educational values and explain how the next generation of open-access and live resource of CFD tutorials can be built further hand-in-hand within our community.

77 FR 37816 - Revisions to Framework Adjustment 47 to the Northeast Multispecies Fishery Management Plan and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-06-25

... Management Plan and Sector Annual Catch Entitlements; Updated Annual Catch Limits for Sectors and the Common... either sectors or the common pool fishery. DATES: Effective June 22, 2012, through April 30, 2013. FOR... for GOM cod on May 1, 2012 (77 FR 25623), consistent with the Council's request. The common pool and...

Enterprise Workplan for FY2002-2003

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-11-01

The ENTERPRISE Program is a pooled-fund with member agencies in the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands. Its main purpose is to use the pooled resources of its members, private sector partners and the United States federal government to develo...

A Review of Selected International Aircraft Spares Pooling Programs: Lessons Learned for F-35 Spares Pooling

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-01-01

fund its share of program costs , and how the program will manage divergence from a common configuration baseline. In the formal agreement establishing...total spare parts than if all the participants operated on a purely national basis because of differentials in demand, particularly for high- cost parts...by the House of Commons Committee of Public Accounts , whose findings were published in 2011, the international spares pooling contracts did not work

Epistasis in intra- and inter-gene pool crosses of the common bean.

PubMed

Borel, J C; Ramalho, M A P; Abreu, A F B

2016-02-26

Epistasis has been shown to have an important role in the genetic control of several quantitative traits in the common bean. This study aimed to investigate the occurrence of epistasis in intra- and inter-pool gene crosses of the common bean. Four elite lines adapted to Brazilian conditions were used as parents, two from the Andean gene pool (ESAL 686; BRS Radiante) and two from the Mesoamerican gene pool (BRSMG Majestoso; BRS Valente). Four F2 populations were obtained: "A" (ESAL 686 x BRS Radiante), "B" (BRSMG Majestoso x BRS Valente), "C" (BRS Radiante x BRSMG Majestoso), and "D" (BRS Valente x ESAL 686). A random sample of F2 plants from each population was backcrossed to parents and F1 individuals, according to the triple test cross. Three types of progenies from each population were evaluated in contiguous trials. Seed yield and 100-seed weight were evaluated. Dominance genetic variance was predominant in most cases. However, the estimates of genetic variance may be biased by the occurrence of linkage disequilibrium and epistasis. Epistasis was detected for both traits; however, the occurrence differed among the populations and between the two traits. The results of this study reinforce the hypothesis that epistasis is present in the genetic control of traits in the common bean and suggest that the phenomenon is more frequent in inter-gene pool crosses than in intra-gene pool crosses.

In-depth genome characterization of a Brazilian common bean core collection using DArTseq high-density SNP genotyping.

PubMed

Valdisser, Paula A M R; Pereira, Wendell J; Almeida Filho, Jâneo E; Müller, Bárbara S F; Coelho, Gesimária R C; de Menezes, Ivandilson P P; Vianna, João P G; Zucchi, Maria I; Lanna, Anna C; Coelho, Alexandre S G; de Oliveira, Jaison P; Moraes, Alessandra da Cunha; Brondani, Claudio; Vianello, Rosana P

2017-05-30

Common bean is a legume of social and nutritional importance as a food crop, cultivated worldwide especially in developing countries, accounting for an important source of income for small farmers. The availability of the complete sequences of the two common bean genomes has dramatically accelerated and has enabled new experimental strategies to be applied for genetic research. DArTseq has been widely used as a method of SNP genotyping allowing comprehensive genome coverage with genetic applications in common bean breeding programs. Using this technology, 6286 SNPs (1 SNP/86.5 Kbp) were genotyped in genic (43.3%) and non-genic regions (56.7%). Genetic subdivision associated to the common bean gene pools (K = 2) and related to grain types (K = 3 and K = 5) were reported. A total of 83% and 91% of all SNPs were polymorphic within the Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools, respectively, and 26% were able to differentiate the gene pools. Genetic diversity analysis revealed an average H E of 0.442 for the whole collection, 0.102 for Andean and 0.168 for Mesoamerican gene pools (F ST  = 0.747 between gene pools), 0.440 for the group of cultivars and lines, and 0.448 for the group of landrace accessions (F ST  = 0.002 between cultivar/line and landrace groups). The SNP effects were predicted with predominance of impact on non-coding regions (77.8%). SNPs under selection were identified within gene pools comparing landrace and cultivar/line germplasm groups (Andean: 18; Mesoamerican: 69) and between the gene pools (59 SNPs), predominantly on chromosomes 1 and 9. The LD extension estimate corrected for population structure and relatedness (r 2 SV ) was ~ 88 kbp, while for the Andean gene pool was ~ 395 kbp, and for the Mesoamerican was ~ 130 kbp. For common bean, DArTseq provides an efficient and cost-effective strategy of generating SNPs for large-scale genome-wide studies. The DArTseq resulted in an operational panel of 560 polymorphic SNPs in linkage equilibrium, providing high genome coverage. This SNP set could be used in genotyping platforms with many applications, such as population genetics, phylogeny relation between common bean varieties and support to molecular breeding approaches.

Using Bayesian Population Viability Analysis to Define Relevant Conservation Objectives.

PubMed

Green, Adam W; Bailey, Larissa L

2015-01-01

Adaptive management provides a useful framework for managing natural resources in the face of uncertainty. An important component of adaptive management is identifying clear, measurable conservation objectives that reflect the desired outcomes of stakeholders. A common objective is to have a sustainable population, or metapopulation, but it can be difficult to quantify a threshold above which such a population is likely to persist. We performed a Bayesian metapopulation viability analysis (BMPVA) using a dynamic occupancy model to quantify the characteristics of two wood frog (Lithobates sylvatica) metapopulations resulting in sustainable populations, and we demonstrate how the results could be used to define meaningful objectives that serve as the basis of adaptive management. We explored scenarios involving metapopulations with different numbers of patches (pools) using estimates of breeding occurrence and successful metamorphosis from two study areas to estimate the probability of quasi-extinction and calculate the proportion of vernal pools producing metamorphs. Our results suggest that ≥50 pools are required to ensure long-term persistence with approximately 16% of pools producing metamorphs in stable metapopulations. We demonstrate one way to incorporate the BMPVA results into a utility function that balances the trade-offs between ecological and financial objectives, which can be used in an adaptive management framework to make optimal, transparent decisions. Our approach provides a framework for using a standard method (i.e., PVA) and available information to inform a formal decision process to determine optimal and timely management policies.

Weather-related effects on woodland vernal pool hydrology and hydroperiod

Treesearch

Robert T. Brooks

2004-01-01

Woodland vernal pools occur commonly throughout northeastern North America. These pools provide preferred breeding habitat for mole salamanders (Ambystoma spp.) and wood frogs (Rana sylvatica) and support an abundant and diverse macroinvertebrate fauna. Vernal pool hydrology, and especially hydro-period or duration of the wet phase, affects the composition and...

Pushing HTCondor and glideinWMS to 200K+ Jobs in a Global Pool for CMS before Run 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balcas, J.; Belforte, S.; Bockelman, B.; Gutsche, O.; Khan, F.; Larson, K.; Letts, J.; Mascheroni, M.; Mason, D.; McCrea, A.; Saiz-Santos, M.; Sfiligoi, I.

2015-12-01

The CMS experiment at the LHC relies on HTCondor and glideinWMS as its primary batch and pilot-based Grid provisioning system. So far we have been running several independent resource pools, but we are working on unifying them all to reduce the operational load and more effectively share resources between various activities in CMS. The major challenge of this unification activity is scale. The combined pool size is expected to reach 200K job slots, which is significantly bigger than any other multi-user HTCondor based system currently in production. To get there we have studied scaling limitations in our existing pools, the biggest of which tops out at about 70K slots, providing valuable feedback to the development communities, who have responded by delivering improvements which have helped us reach higher and higher scales with more stability. We have also worked on improving the organization and support model for this critical service during Run 2 of the LHC. This contribution will present the results of the scale testing and experiences from the first months of running the Global Pool.

Methodology for estimating soil carbon for the forest carbon budget model of the United States, 2001

Treesearch

L. S. Heath; R. A. Birdsey; D. W. Williams

2002-01-01

The largest carbon (C) pool in United States forests is the soil C pool. We present methodology and soil C pool estimates used in the FORCARB model, which estimates and projects forest carbon budgets for the United States. The methodology balances knowledge, uncertainties, and ease of use. The estimates are calculated using the USDA Natural Resources Conservation...

Wellness

MedlinePlus

... Nurses Exercise for Polio Survivors Anesthesia Concerns Pool/Water Therapy Other Resources Reports & CD from Task Force Medical/Clinical Publications ADVOCACY Issues Organizations Resources RESEARCH About The Research Fund New Request for 2018 ...

Orthotics

MedlinePlus

... Nurses Exercise for Polio Survivors Anesthesia Concerns Pool/Water Therapy Other Resources Reports & CD from Task Force Medical/Clinical Publications ADVOCACY Issues Organizations Resources RESEARCH About The Research Fund New Request for 2018 ...

Coughing

MedlinePlus

... Nurses Exercise for Polio Survivors Anesthesia Concerns Pool/Water Therapy Other Resources Reports & CD from Task Force Medical/Clinical Publications ADVOCACY Issues Organizations Resources RESEARCH About The Research Fund New Request for 2018 ...

The influence of working memory load on response inhibition in children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder or reading disorder.

PubMed

Van De Voorde, Séverine; Roeyers, Herbert; Verté, Sylvie; Wiersema, Jan Roelf

2011-08-01

The aim of the present study was to examine the relationship between response inhibition and working memory in 8-12-year-old children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; n = 19), reading disorder (RD; n = 17), ADHD + RD (n = 21), and control children (n = 19). For the first time a within-task methodology was used to study the combined effect of both executive functions on a common measure of task performance in two often comorbid childhood disorders, ADHD and RD. We found evidence of an interaction between both domains, suggesting that they rely on a common pool of resources. In addition, we found that children with ADHD or RD were not more seriously affected by the combined load of both executive functions than children without ADHD or RD.

Collaborative Orthopaedic Research Between and Within Institutions.

PubMed

Wolf, Brian R; Verma, Nikhil N; Spindler, Kurt P; Wright, Rick W

2017-02-15

Collaborative research is common in many medical disciplines; however, the field of orthopaedics has been relatively slow to adopt this type of research approach. Collaborative research efforts can occur between multiple institutions and, in some instances, may benefit from subspecialty society sponsorship. Collaborative research efforts between several research spheres within a single institution also can be advantageous. Collaborative research has many benefits, including a larger number of patients in studies, more power in the research, and better generalizability. In addition, collaborative research efforts allow resources to be pooled within and between institutions. The challenges of collaborative research include data management, funding, and the publication of manuscripts that have many authors.

Depth-area-volume and hydroperiod relationships of ephemeral (vernal) forest pools in southern New England

Treesearch

Robert T. Brooks; Masaki Hayashi

2002-01-01

Ephemeral or "vernal" pools occur commonly throughout the forests of the northeastern United States and adjacent eastern Canada. These pools are critical breeding habitat for a number of amphibian species and support a diverse invertebrate community. The hydroperiod or duration of surface water of vernal pools affects faunal composition and reproduction. We...

Cold Intolerance

MedlinePlus

... Nurses Exercise for Polio Survivors Anesthesia Concerns Pool/Water Therapy Other Resources Reports & CD from Task Force Medical/Clinical Publications ADVOCACY Issues Organizations Resources RESEARCH About The Research Fund New Request for 2018 ...

Alternative Therapies

MedlinePlus

... Nurses Exercise for Polio Survivors Anesthesia Concerns Pool/Water Therapy Other Resources Reports & CD from Task Force Medical/Clinical Publications ADVOCACY Issues Organizations Resources RESEARCH About The Research Fund New Request for 2018 ...

Habits and Habitats of Fishes in the Upper Mississippi River

USGS Publications Warehouse

Norwick, R.; Janvrin, J.; Zigler, S.; Kratt, R.

2011-01-01

The Upper Mississippi River consists of 26 navigation pools that provide abundant habitat for a host of natural resources, such as fish, migratory waterfowl, non-game birds, deer, beaver, muskrats, snakes, reptiles, frogs, toads, salamanders, and many others. Of all the many different types of animals that depend on the river, fish are the most diverse with over 140 different species. The sport fishery is very diverse with at least 25 species commonly harvested. Fish species, such as walleyes, largemouth bass, bluegills, and crappies are favorites of sport anglers. Others such as common carp, buffalos, and channel catfish, are harvested by commercial anglers and end up on the tables of families all over the country. Still other fishes are important because they provide food for sport or commercial species. The fishery resources in these waters contribute millions of dollars to the economy annually. Overall, the estimate impact of anglers and other recreational users exceeds $1.2 billion on the Upper Mississippi River. The fisheries in the various reaches of the river of often are adversely affected by pollution, urbanization, non-native fishes, navigation, recreational boating, fishing, dredging, and siltation. However, state and federal agencies expend considerable effort and resources to manage fisheries and restore river habitats. This pamphlet was prepared to help you better understand what fishery resources exist, what the requirements of each pecies are, and how man-induced changes that are roposed or might occur could affect them.

5 CFR 9901.342 - Performance payouts.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 9901.342 Administrative Personnel DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND LABOR RELATIONS SYSTEMS (DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE-OFFICE OF PERSONNEL MANAGEMENT) DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE NATIONAL SECURITY... appropriate, management may establish one or more subsets of a pay pool population (i.e., sub pay pools) for...

Discrete Resource Allocation in Visual Working Memory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barton, Brian; Ester, Edward F.; Awh, Edward

2009-01-01

Are resources in visual working memory allocated in a continuous or a discrete fashion? On one hand, flexible resource models suggest that capacity is determined by a central resource pool that can be flexibly divided such that items of greater complexity receive a larger share of resources. On the other hand, if capacity in working memory is…

Investigating the influence of DNAPL spill characteristics on source zone architecture and mass removal in pool-dominated source zones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wallace, K. A.; Abriola, L.; Chen, M.; Ramsburg, A.; Pennell, K. D.; Christ, J.

2009-12-01

Multiphase, compositional simulators were employed to investigate the spill characteristics and subsurface properties that lead to pool-dominated, dense non-aqueous phase liquid (DNAPL) source zone architectures. DNAPL pools commonly form at textural interfaces where low permeability lenses restrict the vertical migration of DNAPL, allowing for DNAPL to accumulate, reaching high saturation. Significant pooling has been observed in bench-scale experiments and field settings. However, commonly employed numerical simulations rarely predict the pooling suspected in the field. Given the importance of pooling on the efficacy of mass recovery and the down-gradient contaminant signal, it is important to understand the predominant factors affecting the creation of pool-dominated source zones and their subsequent mass discharge. In this work, contaminant properties, spill characteristics and subsurface permeability were varied to investigate the factors contributing to the development of a pool-dominated source zone. DNAPL infiltration and entrapment simulations were conducted in two- and three-dimensional domains using the University of Texas Chemical Compositional (UTCHEM) simulator. A modified version of MT3DMS was then used to simulate DNAPL dissolution and mass discharge. Numerical mesh size was varied to investigate the importance of numerical model parameters on simulations results. The temporal evolution of commonly employed source zone architecture metrics, such as the maximum DNAPL saturation, first and second spatial moments, and fraction of DNAPL mass located in pools, was monitored to determine how the source zone architecture evolved with time. Mass discharge was monitored to identify the link between source zone architecture and down-gradient contaminant flux. Contaminant characteristics and the presence of extensive low permeability lenses appeared to have the most influence on the development of a pool-dominated source zone. The link between DNAPL mass recovery and contaminant mass discharge was significantly influenced by the fraction of mass residing in DNAPL pools. The greater the fraction of mass residing in DNAPL pools the greater the likelihood for significant reductions in contaminant mass discharge at modest levels of mass removal. These results will help guide numerical and experimental studies on the remediation of pool-dominated source zones and will likely guide future source zone characterization efforts.

Crib Information Center

MedlinePlus

... Community Outreach Resource Center Toy Recall Statistics CO Poster Contest Pool Safely Business & Manufacturing Business & Manufacturing Business ... other organizations. Featured Resources Bare is Best Free Poster Safer Spaces for Babies Safety Guide Inflatable Air ...

76 FR 45551 - Post-2014 Resource Pool; Loveland Area Projects, Proposed Power Allocation

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-29

... Proposed Power Allocation. SUMMARY: Western Area Power Administration (Western), a Federal power marketing... Pool Proposed Power Allocation developed under the requirements of the Power Marketing Initiative of Western's Energy Planning and Management Program (Program). Western notified the public of allocation...

Thermally stratified pools and their use by steelhead in northern California streams

Treesearch

Jennifer L. Nielsen; Thomas E. Lisle; Vicki Ozaki

1994-01-01

Abstract - Thermal stratification occurred in pools of three rivers in northern California when inflow of cold water was sufficiently great or currents were sufficiently weak to prevent thorough mixing of water of contrasting temperatures. Surface water temperatures in such pools were commonly 3-9°C higher than those at the bottom. Cold water entered pools from...

Utility of pooled urine specimens for detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae in men attending public sexually transmitted infection clinics in Mumbai, India, by PCR.

PubMed

Lindan, Christina; Mathur, Meenakshi; Kumta, Sameer; Jerajani, Hermangi; Gogate, Alka; Schachter, Julius; Moncada, Jeanne

2005-04-01

Pooling urogenital specimens for the detection of Chlamydia trachomatis and Neisseria gonorrhoeae by nucleic acid amplification tests is an attractive alternative to individual testing. As pooling can reduce the costs of testing as well as labor, it has been advocated for use in resource-poor settings. However, it has neither been widely adopted nor evaluated for use in developing countries. We evaluated the practical use of pooling first-catch urine (FCU) specimens for the detection of C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae from 690 men in Mumbai, India, by PCR. FCU, urethral smears, and swabs were collected from men seen at two sexually transmitted infection (STI) clinics. All laboratory testing was done at the Lokmanya Tilak General Hospital. Gram stain smears and culture isolation for N. gonorrhoeae were performed. Each FCU was tested individually and in pools using the Roche Amplicor PCR for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae with an internal control for inhibition. Specimen pools consisted of aliquots from five consecutively processed FCUs combined into an amplification tube. An optical density reading of > or =0.20 indicated a pool for which subsequent testing of individual samples was required. Prevalence by PCR on single specimens was 2.2% (15/690) for C. trachomatis and 5.4% (37/690) for N. gonorrhoeae. Compared to individual FCU results, pooling for C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae had an overall sensitivity of 96.1% (50/52). Specificity was 96.5% (83/86) in that three pools required single testing that failed to identify a positive specimen. Pooling missed two positive specimens, decreased the inhibition rate, and saved 50.3% of reagent costs. In this resource-limited setting, the use of pooling to detect C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoeae by PCR proved to be a simple, accurate, and cost-effective procedure compared to individual testing.

Pushing HTCondor and glideinWMS to 200K+ Jobs in a Global Pool for CMS before Run 2

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Balcas, J.; Belforte, S.; Bockelman, B.

2015-12-23

The CMS experiment at the LHC relies on HTCondor and glideinWMS as its primary batch and pilot-based Grid provisioning system. So far we have been running several independent resource pools, but we are working on unifying them all to reduce the operational load and more effectively share resources between various activities in CMS. The major challenge of this unification activity is scale. The combined pool size is expected to reach 200K job slots, which is significantly bigger than any other multi-user HTCondor based system currently in production. To get there we have studied scaling limitations in our existing pools, themore » biggest of which tops out at about 70K slots, providing valuable feedback to the development communities, who have responded by delivering improvements which have helped us reach higher and higher scales with more stability. We have also worked on improving the organization and support model for this critical service during Run 2 of the LHC. This contribution will present the results of the scale testing and experiences from the first months of running the Global Pool.« less

Environmental concern and cooperative-competitive behavior in a simulated commons dilemma.

PubMed

Smith, J M; Bell, P A

1992-08-01

Commons-dilemma simulation games are designed to examine behavior associated with preservation and destruction of slowly regenerating natural resources. In Experiment 1, 120 introductory psychology students in the United States were assigned to high- or low-environmental-concern conditions based on a median split of their scores from a pretest. They then played either a points game, in which they selected numerical points from a slowly regenerating pool, or a tree game, in which they harvested trees from a jointly managed forest. After the game, subjects were asked to sign a petition for an environmental cause, to participate in a litter pick-up, and to participate in a recycling drive. Neither environmental concern nor proenvironmental behaviors were related to commons dilemma performance. In Experiment 2, 57 other introductory psychology students were assessed on environmental concern and Machiavellian personality, size of other players' harvesting choices, and other players' altruistic choices, all correlated with subjects' outcomes in the game. Overall, cooperation and competition were more important than environmental concern in predicting behavior in the commons dilemma simulation game.

Quality Improvement: Creating a Float Pool Specialty Within a New Graduate Residency.

PubMed

Shinners, Jean; Alejandro, John Aldrich N; Frigillana, Vanessa; Desmond, Juliann; LaVigne, Ronda

2016-01-01

Creating new norms is essential for success as acute care leaders seek to redesign care delivery. Through the structures of the registered nurse (RN) residency and utilizing a quality improvement process, new graduate RNs demonstrated success in creating a centralized float pool resource.

Late Effects of Polio: An Overview

MedlinePlus

... Nurses Exercise for Polio Survivors Anesthesia Concerns Pool/Water Therapy Other Resources Reports & CD from Task Force Medical/Clinical Publications ADVOCACY Issues Organizations Resources RESEARCH About The Research Fund New Request for 2018 ...

Research on elastic resource management for multi-queue under cloud computing environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

CHENG, Zhenjing; LI, Haibo; HUANG, Qiulan; Cheng, Yaodong; CHEN, Gang

2017-10-01

As a new approach to manage computing resource, virtualization technology is more and more widely applied in the high-energy physics field. A virtual computing cluster based on Openstack was built at IHEP, using HTCondor as the job queue management system. In a traditional static cluster, a fixed number of virtual machines are pre-allocated to the job queue of different experiments. However this method cannot be well adapted to the volatility of computing resource requirements. To solve this problem, an elastic computing resource management system under cloud computing environment has been designed. This system performs unified management of virtual computing nodes on the basis of job queue in HTCondor based on dual resource thresholds as well as the quota service. A two-stage pool is designed to improve the efficiency of resource pool expansion. This paper will present several use cases of the elastic resource management system in IHEPCloud. The practical run shows virtual computing resource dynamically expanded or shrunk while computing requirements change. Additionally, the CPU utilization ratio of computing resource was significantly increased when compared with traditional resource management. The system also has good performance when there are multiple condor schedulers and multiple job queues.

A Survey of Enzymatic Activity in Commercially Available Pool and Spa Products

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Many pool water treatment products currently available commercially claim that they work effectively by possessing enzyme activity (specifically lipase) that degrades common oil (lipid) contaminants found in pool water. Currently, there is no standard in measuring the enzymatic activity of these enz...

The volume of fine sediment in pools: An index of sediment supply in gravel-bed streams

Treesearch

Thomas E. Lisle; Sue Hilton

1992-01-01

Abstract - During waning flood flows in gravel-bed streams, fine-grained bedload sediment (sand and fine gravel) is commonly winnowed from zones of high shear stress, such as riffles, and deposited in pools, where it mantles an underlying coarse layer. As sediment load increases, more fine sediment becomes availabe to fill pools. The volume of fine sediment in pools...

7 CFR 1466.20 - Application for contracts and selecting applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... Committee or local working group, may establish ranking pools to address a specific resource concern..., such as the location of the conservation practice, the extent of natural resource degradation, and the...

7 CFR 1466.20 - Application for contracts and selecting applications.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... Committee or local working group, may establish ranking pools to address a specific resource concern..., such as the location of the conservation practice, the extent of natural resource degradation, and the...

Information about the Late Effects of Polio

MedlinePlus

... Nurses Exercise for Polio Survivors Anesthesia Concerns Pool/Water Therapy Other Resources Reports & CD from Task Force Medical/Clinical Publications ADVOCACY Issues Organizations Resources RESEARCH About The Research Fund New Request for 2018 ...

50 CFR 648.86 - NE Multispecies possession restrictions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... § 648.90(a)(4) will exceed the pertinent sub-ACL, NMFS may implement or adjust, at any time prior to or... possession limit and/or a maximum trip limit in order to prevent exceeding the common pool sub-ACL in that.... If the Regional Administrator projects that the sub-ACL of any stock allocated to the common pool...

50 CFR 648.86 - NE Multispecies possession restrictions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

...-ACL, NMFS may implement or adjust, at any time prior to or during the fishing year, in a manner... order to prevent exceeding the common pool sub-ACL in that fishing year. (2) Possession restrictions to... sub-ACL of any stock allocated to the common pool pursuant to § 648.90(a)(4) will not be caught during...

50 CFR 648.86 - NE Multispecies possession restrictions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

...-ACL, NMFS may implement or adjust, at any time prior to or during the fishing year, in a manner... order to prevent exceeding the common pool sub-ACL in that fishing year. (2) Possession restrictions to... sub-ACL of any stock allocated to the common pool pursuant to § 648.90(a)(4) will not be caught during...

50 CFR 648.86 - NE Multispecies possession restrictions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... the pertinent sub-ACL, NMFS may implement or adjust, at any time prior to or during the fishing year... maximum trip limit in order to prevent exceeding the common pool sub-ACL in that fishing year. (2... Administrator projects that the sub-ACL of any stock allocated to the common pool pursuant to § 648.90(a)(4...

30 CFR 1220.014 - Allocation of joint costs and credits.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... INTERIOR Natural Resources Revenue ACCOUNTING PROCEDURES FOR DETERMINING NET PROFIT SHARE PAYMENT FOR OUTER... be grouped in cost pools for allocation to NPSL and non-NPSL operations in reasonable proportion to the beneficial or causal relationships which exist between a specific cost pool and the operations...

Incidence and use of resources for chickenpox and herpes zoster in Latin America and the Caribbean--a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Bardach, Ariel; Cafferata, María Luisa; Klein, Karen; Cormick, Gabriela; Gibbons, Luz; Ruvinsky, Silvina

2012-12-01

Varicella-zoster virus causes chickenpox and herpes zoster. More than 90% of varicella cases occur in childhood. The aim of this study was to gather all relevant information on epidemiology and resource use in Latin America and the Caribbean since 2000. Epidemiologic studies published since 2000 with at least 50 cases of varicella or herpes zoster, or at least 10 cases of congenital disease were included. Gray literature was also searched. Outcomes included incidence, admission rate, mortality and case-fatality ratio. Use of resources and both direct and indirect costs associated were extracted. From the 495 records identified, 23 were included in the meta-analysis to report varicella-zoster virus outcomes and 3 in the herpes zoster analysis. The global pooled varicella incidence in subjects under 15 years of age was 42.9 cases per 1000 individuals per year (95% confidence interval: 26.9-58.9); children under 5 years of age were the most affected. Pooled general admission rate was 3.5 per 100,000 population (95% confidence interval: 2.9-4.1) and median hospitalization was 5-9 days. The most common varicella complications reported in studies were skin infections (3-61%), followed by respiratory infections (0-15%) and neurologic problems (1-5%). Direct costs averaged (2011/international dollar [I$]) $2040 per admission (range, I$ 298-5369) and I$70 per clinical visit (range, 11-188 I$). Limited information was available on the outcomes studied. Improvements in the surveillance of ambulatory cases are required to obtain a better epidemiologic picture. As of 2011, only 2 countries introduced the vaccine in national immunization programs in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Post-Polio Health International including International Ventilator Users Network

MedlinePlus

... Nurses Exercise for Polio Survivors Anesthesia Concerns Pool/Water Therapy Other Resources Reports & CD from Task Force Medical/Clinical Publications ADVOCACY Issues Organizations Resources RESEARCH About The Research Fund New Request for 2018 ...

Tactical reproductive parasitism via larval cannibalism in Peruvian poison frogs

PubMed Central

Brown, Jason L.; Morales, Victor; Summers, Kyle

2008-01-01

We report an unusual example of reproductive parasitism in amphibians. Dendrobates variabilis, an Amazonian poison frog, oviposits at the surface of the water in small pools in plants and deposits tadpoles within the pools. Tadpoles are highly cannibalistic and consume young tadpoles if they are accessible. Deposition of embryos and tadpoles in the same pool is common. Genetic analyses indicate that tadpoles are frequently unrelated to embryos in the same pool. A pool choice experiment in the field demonstrated that males carrying tadpoles prefer to place them in pools with embryos, facilitating reproductive parasitism via cannibalism. PMID:19042178

77 FR 23749 - Call for Nominations for Resource Advisory Councils

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-04-20

... elected office, employees of a state agency responsible for management of natural resources..., representatives of academia who are employed in natural sciences, and the public-at-large. Individuals may..., resources, and facilities administered by the BLM. Mike Pool, Deputy Director. [FR Doc. 2012-9583 Filed 4-19...

CattleTickBase: An integrated Internet-based bioinformatics resource for Rhipicephalus (Boophilus) microplus

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Rhipicephalus microplus genome is large and complex in structure, making a genome sequence difficult to assemble and costly to resource the required bioinformatics. In light of this, a consortium of international collaborators was formed to pool resources to begin sequencing this genome. We have...

Substance Use During Imprisonment in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

PubMed Central

Mundt, Adrian P; Baranyi, Gergő; Gabrysch, Caroline; Fazel, Seena

2018-01-01

Abstract Substance use disorders are among the most common health problems of people involved with the criminal justice system. Scaling up addiction services in prisons is a global public health and human rights challenge, especially in poorly resourced countries. We systematically reviewed the prevalence of substance use in prison populations in low- and middle-income countries. We searched for studies reporting prevalence rates of nicotine, alcohol, illicit drug, and injection drug use during imprisonment in unselected samples of imprisoned people in low- and middle-income countries. Data meta-analysis was conducted and sources of heterogeneity were examined by meta-regression. Prevalence of nicotine use during imprisonment ranged from 5% to 87%, with a random-effects pooled estimate of 56% (95% confidence interval (CI): 45, 66) with significant geographical heterogeneity. Alcohol use varied from 1% to 76% (pooled prevalence, 16%, 95% CI: 9, 25). Approximately one-quarter of people (25%; 95% CI: 17, 33; range, 0–78) used illicit drugs during imprisonment. The prevalence of injection drug use varied from 0% to 26% (pooled estimate, 1.6%, 95% CI: 0.8, 3.0). Lifetime substance use was investigated in secondary analyses. The high prevalence of smoking in prison suggests that policies regarding smoking need careful review. Furthermore, the findings underscore the importance of timely, scalable, and available treatments for alcohol and illegal drug use by people involved with the criminal justice system. PMID:29584860

Relationship of weed shiner and young-of-year bluegill and largemouth bass abundance to submersed aquatic vegetation in Navigation Pools 4, 8, and 13 of the Upper Mississippi River, 1998-2012

USGS Publications Warehouse

DeLain, Steven A.; Popp, Walter A.

2014-01-01

Aquatic vegetation provides food resources and shelter for many species of fish. This study found a significant relationship between increases in submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) in four study reaches of the Upper Mississippi River (UMR) and increases in catch-per-unit-effort (CPUE) of weed shiners (Notropis texanus) and age-0 bluegills (Lepomis macrochirus) and largemouth bass (Micropterus salmoides) when all of the study reaches were treated collectively using Long Term Resource Monitoring Program (LTRMP) vegetation and fish data for 1998–2012. The selected fishes were more abundant in study reaches with higher SAV frequencies (Pool 8 and Lower Pool 4) and less abundant in reaches with lower SAV frequencies (Pool 13 and Upper Pool 4). When each study reach was examined independently, the relationship between SAV frequency and CPUE of the three species was not significant in most cases, the primary exception being weed shiners in Lower Pool 4. Results of this study indicate that the prevalence of SAV does affect relative abundance of these vegetation-associated fish species. However, the poor annual relationship between SAV frequency and age-0 relative abundance in individual study reaches indicates that several other factors also govern age-0 abundance. The data indicate that there may be a SAV frequency threshold in backwaters above which there is not a strong relationship with abundance of these fish species. This is indicated by the high annual CPUE variability of the three selected fishes in backwaters of Pool 8 and Lower Pool 4 when SAV exceeded certain frequencies.

78 FR 18187 - Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act Provisions; Fisheries of the...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-25

... natural mortality rate (M) is 0.2 (M=0.2 model). The second assessment model assumes that M has increased... AMs (e.g., state waters). Currently, only the common pool fishery has a sub-ACL for SNE/MA windowpane flounder. The stock is not allocated to sectors, and therefore, all sector and common pool catch is...

Saturation of an intra-gene pool linkage map: toward unified consensus linkage map in common bean

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Map-based cloning to find genes of interest and marker assisted selection (MAS) requires good genetic maps with high reproducible markers. In this study, we saturated the linkage map of the intra-gene pool population of common bean DOR364×BAT477 (DB) by evaluating 2,706 molecular markers in includin...

IRT Item Parameter Scaling for Developing New Item Pools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kang, Hyeon-Ah; Lu, Ying; Chang, Hua-Hua

2017-01-01

Increasing use of item pools in large-scale educational assessments calls for an appropriate scaling procedure to achieve a common metric among field-tested items. The present study examines scaling procedures for developing a new item pool under a spiraled block linking design. The three scaling procedures are considered: (a) concurrent…

Pooling Resources for Excellence and Relevance: An Evolution of Universities as Multi-Scalar Network Organisations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kitagawa, Fumi

2010-01-01

There are a number of different forms of inter-organisational collaborative arrangements between universities at international, national and sub-national levels. This paper focuses on a particular form of inter-university collaboration mechanisms, which represents one of the key recent policy developments in Scotland. Research pooling initiatives…

Cohabiting Couple, Filing Jointly? Resource Pooling and U.S. Poverty Policies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kenney, Catherine

2004-01-01

Social policy in the United States is inconsistent in its treatment of cohabiting-parent households. For example, although welfare policy generally assumes that marital status should not affect the extent to which children benefit from each adult's income, tax policy and the poverty classification assume income pooling among married but not…

A method of demand-driven and data-centric Web service configuration for flexible business process implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Boyi; Xu, Li Da; Fei, Xiang; Jiang, Lihong; Cai, Hongming; Wang, Shuai

2017-08-01

Facing the rapidly changing business environments, implementation of flexible business process is crucial, but difficult especially in data-intensive application areas. This study aims to provide scalable and easily accessible information resources to leverage business process management. In this article, with a resource-oriented approach, enterprise data resources are represented as data-centric Web services, grouped on-demand of business requirement and configured dynamically to adapt to changing business processes. First, a configurable architecture CIRPA involving information resource pool is proposed to act as a scalable and dynamic platform to virtualise enterprise information resources as data-centric Web services. By exposing data-centric resources as REST services in larger granularities, tenant-isolated information resources could be accessed in business process execution. Second, dynamic information resource pool is designed to fulfil configurable and on-demand data accessing in business process execution. CIRPA also isolates transaction data from business process while supporting diverse business processes composition. Finally, a case study of using our method in logistics application shows that CIRPA provides an enhanced performance both in static service encapsulation and dynamic service execution in cloud computing environment.

Computational Flame Characterization of New Large Aircraft Immersed in Hydrocarbon Pool Fires

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-08-01

hydrocarbon liquid pool fires, their interaction with engulfed bodies, along with a brief overview of pool fire modeling. An industry-accepted...two-dimensional (2-D) horizontal liquid , heavy hydrocarbon fuel surface. A heavy hydrocarbon is characterized by properties consistent with aviation... jet fuels representing common diesel derivatives, such as Jet A and JP-8. Pool diameters are assumed to be much greater than 1 m to coincide with

Cooperative Purchasing of Insurance and Risk Management Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maedke, Thomas F.

1988-01-01

Self Insurance (pooling) offers premium dollar savings, improved coverage, and adequate limits to school districts, governmental entities, and private-sector groups. Outlines a common and safe pool structure. (MLF)

Two endornaviruses show differential infection patterns between gene pools of Phaseolus vulgaris.

PubMed

Khankhum, Surasak; Valverde, Rodrigo A; Pastor-Corrales, Marcial A; Osorno, Juan M; Sabanadzovic, Sead

2015-04-01

We investigated the occurrence of two plant endornaviruses, Phaseolus vulgaris endornavirus 1 and Phaseolus vulgaris endornavirus 2, in breeding lines, cultivars, landraces, and wild genotypes of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) collected from the two centers of common bean domestication: Mesoamerica and the Andes. The two endornaviruses were detected in many genotypes of Mesoamerican origin but rarely in genotypes of Andean origin. The results suggest that these two endornaviruses were introduced into the Mesoamerican modern genotypes during common bean domestication and provide more evidence for the existence of two divergent gene pools of common bean.

Sensitivity and Tolerance of Riparian Arthropod Communities to Altered Water Resources along a Drying River

PubMed Central

McCluney, Kevin E.; Sabo, John L.

2014-01-01

Background Rivers around the world are drying with increasing frequency, but little is known about effects on terrestrial animal communities. Previous research along the San Pedro River in southeastern AZ, USA, suggests that changes in the availability of water resources associated with river drying lead to changes in predator abundance, community composition, diversity, and abundance of particular taxa of arthropods, but these observations have not yet been tested manipulatively. Methods and Results In this study, we constructed artificial pools in the stream bed adjacent to a drying section of the San Pedro River and maintained them as the river dried. We compared pitfall trapped arthropods near artificial pools to adjacent control sites where surface waters temporarily dried. Assemblage composition changed differentially at multiple taxonomic levels, resulting in different assemblages at pools than at control sites, with multiple taxa and richness of carabid beetle genera increasing at pools but not at controls that dried. On the other hand, predator biomass, particularly wolf spiders, and diversity of orders and families were consistently higher at control sites that dried. These results suggest an important role for colonization dynamics of pools, as well as the ability of certain taxa, particularly burrowing wolf spiders, to withstand periods of temporary drying. Conclusions Overall, we found some agreement between this manipulative study of water resources and a previous analysis of river drying that showed shifts in composition, changes in diversity, and declines in abundance of certain taxa (e.g. carabid beetles). However, colonization dynamics of pools, as well as compensatory strategies of predatory wolf spiders seem to have led to patterns that do not match previous research, with control sites maintaining high diversity, despite drying. Tolerance of river drying by some species may allow persistence of substantial diversity in the face of short-term drying. The long-term effects of drying remain to be investigated. PMID:25295874

Sensitivity and tolerance of Riparian arthropod communities to altered water resources along a drying river.

PubMed

McCluney, Kevin E; Sabo, John L

2014-01-01

Rivers around the world are drying with increasing frequency, but little is known about effects on terrestrial animal communities. Previous research along the San Pedro River in southeastern AZ, USA, suggests that changes in the availability of water resources associated with river drying lead to changes in predator abundance, community composition, diversity, and abundance of particular taxa of arthropods, but these observations have not yet been tested manipulatively. In this study, we constructed artificial pools in the stream bed adjacent to a drying section of the San Pedro River and maintained them as the river dried. We compared pitfall trapped arthropods near artificial pools to adjacent control sites where surface waters temporarily dried. Assemblage composition changed differentially at multiple taxonomic levels, resulting in different assemblages at pools than at control sites, with multiple taxa and richness of carabid beetle genera increasing at pools but not at controls that dried. On the other hand, predator biomass, particularly wolf spiders, and diversity of orders and families were consistently higher at control sites that dried. These results suggest an important role for colonization dynamics of pools, as well as the ability of certain taxa, particularly burrowing wolf spiders, to withstand periods of temporary drying. Overall, we found some agreement between this manipulative study of water resources and a previous analysis of river drying that showed shifts in composition, changes in diversity, and declines in abundance of certain taxa (e.g. carabid beetles). However, colonization dynamics of pools, as well as compensatory strategies of predatory wolf spiders seem to have led to patterns that do not match previous research, with control sites maintaining high diversity, despite drying. Tolerance of river drying by some species may allow persistence of substantial diversity in the face of short-term drying. The long-term effects of drying remain to be investigated.

Competition for Left Hemisphere Resources: Right Hemisphere Superiority at Abstract Verbal Information Processing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Polson, Martha C.; And Others

A study tested a multiple-resources model of human information processing wherein the two cerebral hemispheres are assumed to have separate, limited-capacity pools of undifferentiated resources. The subjects were five right-handed males who had demonstrated right visual field-left hemisphere (RVF-LH) superiority for processing a centrally…

Too drained to help: a resource depletion perspective on daily interpersonal citizenship behaviors.

PubMed

Trougakos, John P; Beal, Daniel J; Cheng, Bonnie Hayden; Hideg, Ivona; Zweig, David

2015-01-01

This article explores the role of within-person fluctuations in employees' daily surface acting and subsequent personal energy resources in the performance of organizational citizenship behaviors directed toward other individuals in the workplace (OCBI). Drawing on ego depletion theory (Muraven & Baumeister, 2000), we develop a resource-based model in which surface acting is negatively associated with daily OCBIs through the depletion of resources manifested in end-of-day exhaustion. Further integrating ego depletion theory, we consider the role of employees' baseline personal resource pool, as indicated by chronic exhaustion, as a critical between-person moderator of these within-person relationships. Using an experience-sampling methodology to test this model, we found that surface acting was indirectly related to coworker ratings of OCBI through the experience of exhaustion. We further found that chronic levels of exhaustion exacerbated the influence of surface acting on employees' end-of-day exhaustion. These findings demonstrate the importance of employees' regulatory resource pool for combating depletion and maintaining important work behaviors. Implications for theory and practice are discussed. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Elevated soil nitrogen pools after conversion of turfgrass to water-efficient residential landscapes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heavenrich, Hannah; Hall, Sharon J.

2016-08-01

As a result of uncertain resource availability and growing populations, city managers are implementing conservation plans that aim to provide services for people while reducing household resource use. For example, in the US, municipalities are incentivizing homeowners to replace their water-intensive turfgrass lawns with water-efficient landscapes consisting of interspersed drought-tolerant shrubs and trees with rock or mulch groundcover (e.g. xeriscapes, rain gardens, water-wise landscapes). While these strategies are likely to reduce water demand, the consequences for other ecosystem services are unclear. Previous studies in controlled, experimental landscapes have shown that conversion from turfgrass to shrubs may lead to high rates of nutrient leaching from soils. However, little is known about the long-term biogeochemical consequences of this increasingly common land cover change across diverse homeowner management practices. We explored the fate of soil nitrogen (N) across a chronosequence of land cover change from turfgrass to water-efficient landscapes in privately owned yards in metropolitan Phoenix, Arizona, in the arid US Southwest. Soil nitrate ({{{{NO}}}3}--N) pools were four times larger in water-efficient landscapes (25 ± 4 kg {{{{NO}}}3}--N/ha 0-45 cm depth) compared to turfgrass lawns (6 ± 7 kg {{{{NO}}}3}--N/ha). Soil {{{{NO}}}3}--N also varied significantly with time since landscape conversion; the largest pools occurred at 9-13 years after turfgrass removal and declined to levels comparable to turfgrass thereafter. Variation in soil {{{{NO}}}3}--N with landscape age was strongly influenced by management practices related to soil water availability, including shrub cover, sub-surface plastic sheeting, and irrigation frequency. Our findings show that transitioning from turfgrass to water-efficient residential landscaping can lead to an accumulation of {{{{NO}}}3}--N that may be lost from the plant rooting zone over time following irrigation or rainfall. These results have implications for best management practices to optimize the benefits of water-conserving landscapes while protecting water quality.

Ecological traps in shallow coastal waters-Potential effect of heat-waves in tropical and temperate organisms.

PubMed

Vinagre, Catarina; Mendonça, Vanessa; Cereja, Rui; Abreu-Afonso, Francisca; Dias, Marta; Mizrahi, Damián; Flores, Augusto A V

2018-01-01

Mortality of fish has been reported in tide pools during warm days. That means that tide pools are potential ecological traps for coastal organisms, which happen when environmental changes cause maladaptive habitat selection. Heat-waves are predicted to increase in intensity, duration and frequency, making it relevant to investigate the role of tide pools as traps for coastal organisms. However, heat waves can also lead to acclimatization. If organisms undergo acclimatization prior to being trapped in tide pools, their survival chances may increase. Common tide pool species (46 species in total) were collected at a tropical and a temperate area and their upper thermal limits estimated. They were maintained for 10 days at their mean summer sea surface temperature +3°C, mimicking a heat-wave. Their upper thermal limits were estimated again, after this acclimation period, to calculate each species' acclimation response. The upper thermal limits of the organisms were compared to the temperatures attained by tide pool waters to investigate if 1) tide pools could be considered ecological traps and 2) if the increase in upper thermal limits elicited by the acclimation period could make the organisms less vulnerable to this threat. Tropical tide pools were found to be ecological traps for an important number of common coastal species, given that they can attain temperatures higher than the upper thermal limits of most of those species. Tide pools are not ecological traps in temperate zones. Tropical species have higher thermal limits than temperate species, but lower acclimation response, that does not allow them to survive the maximum habitat temperature of tropical tide pools. This way, tropical coastal organisms seem to be, not only more vulnerable to climate warming per se, but also to an increase in the ecological trap effect of tide pools.

Making psycholinguistics musical: Self-paced reading time evidence for shared processing of linguistic and musical syntax

PubMed Central

Robert Slevc, L.; Rosenberg, Jason C.; Patel, Aniruddh D.

2009-01-01

Linguistic processing–especially syntactic processing–is often considered a hallmark of human cognition, thus the domain-specificity or domain-generality of syntactic processing has attracted considerable debate. These experiments address this issue by simultaneously manipulating syntactic processing demands in language and music. Participants performed self-paced reading of garden-path sentences in which structurally unexpected words cause temporary syntactic processing difficulty. A musical chord accompanied each sentence segment, with the resulting sequence forming a coherent chord progression. When structurally unexpected words were paired with harmonically unexpected chords, participants showed substantially enhanced garden-path effects. No such interaction was observed when the critical words violated semantic expectancy, nor when the critical chords violated timbral expectancy. These results support a prediction of the shared syntactic integration resource hypothesis (SSIRH, Patel, 2003), which suggests that music and language draw on a common pool of limited processing resources for integrating incoming elements into syntactic structures. PMID:19293110

47 CFR 52.15 - Central office code administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... assignment databases; (3) Conducting the Numbering Resource Utilization and Forecast (NRUF) data collection... telecommunications carrier that receives numbering resources from the NANPA, a Pooling Administrator or another... Administrator. (2) State commissions may investigate and determine whether service providers have activated...

47 CFR 52.15 - Central office code administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... assignment databases; (3) Conducting the Numbering Resource Utilization and Forecast (NRUF) data collection... telecommunications carrier that receives numbering resources from the NANPA, a Pooling Administrator or another... Administrator. (2) State commissions may investigate and determine whether service providers have activated...

47 CFR 52.15 - Central office code administration.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... assignment databases; (3) Conducting the Numbering Resource Utilization and Forecast (NRUF) data collection... telecommunications carrier that receives numbering resources from the NANPA, a Pooling Administrator or another... Administrator. (2) State commissions may investigate and determine whether service providers have activated...

The human motor neuron pools receive a dominant slow‐varying common synaptic input

PubMed Central

Negro, Francesco; Yavuz, Utku Şükrü

2016-01-01

Key points Motor neurons in a pool receive both common and independent synaptic inputs, although the proportion and role of their common synaptic input is debated.Classic correlation techniques between motor unit spike trains do not measure the absolute proportion of common input and have limitations as a result of the non‐linearity of motor neurons.We propose a method that for the first time allows an accurate quantification of the absolute proportion of low frequency common synaptic input (<5 Hz) to motor neurons in humans.We applied the proposed method to three human muscles and determined experimentally that they receive a similar large amount (>60%) of common input, irrespective of their different functional and control properties.These results increase our knowledge about the role of common and independent input to motor neurons in force control. Abstract Motor neurons receive both common and independent synaptic inputs. This observation is classically based on the presence of a significant correlation between pairs of motor unit spike trains. The functional significance of different relative proportions of common input across muscles, individuals and conditions is still debated. One of the limitations in our understanding of correlated input to motor neurons is that it has not been possible so far to quantify the absolute proportion of common input with respect to the total synaptic input received by the motor neurons. Indeed, correlation measures of pairs of output spike trains only allow for relative comparisons. In the present study, we report for the first time an approach for measuring the proportion of common input in the low frequency bandwidth (<5 Hz) to a motor neuron pool in humans. This estimate is based on a phenomenological model and the theoretical fitting of the experimental values of coherence between the permutations of groups of motor unit spike trains. We demonstrate the validity of this theoretical estimate with several simulations. Moreover, we applied this method to three human muscles: the abductor digiti minimi, tibialis anterior and vastus medialis. Despite these muscles having different functional roles and control properties, as confirmed by the results of the present study, we estimate that their motor pools receive a similar and large (>60%) proportion of common low frequency oscillations with respect to their total synaptic input. These results suggest that the central nervous system provides a large amount of common input to motor neuron pools, in a similar way to that for muscles with different functional and control properties. PMID:27151459

Presence of the neurotoxic amino acids beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) and 2,4-diamino-butyric acid (DAB) in shallow springs from the Gobi Desert.

PubMed

Craighead, Derek; Metcalf, James S; Banack, Sandra A; Amgalan, Luvsanjamba; Reynolds, Harry V; Batmunkh, Mijiddorj

2009-01-01

The Gobi Desert in Mongolia, home to the critically endangered Gobi bear (Ursus arctos isabellinus), has few water resources for the animals that inhabit this environment. The majority of these water resources are shallow, small bodies of water, from approximately 30 cm to 3 m in diameter. Due to the harsh nature of the Gobi Desert environment, such pools of water are crucial resources for wildlife inhabiting the area and little information is currently available on the presence of organisms, including cyanobacteria, and the toxins they produce within these waters. Drinking water sources and small pools within the Gobi Desert were sampled on two separate occasions in October 2008 and April-May 2009. Samples were assessed for the presence of cyanobacteria; subsamples were taken for the analysis of beta-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA) and 2,4-diaminobutyric acid (DAB). According to LC-MS/MS analyses, both of these neurotoxic amino acids were present in both years and BMAA was present when cyanobacteria were major components of the pools. The results indicate that assessment of cyanotoxins to organisms that live in desert environments is warranted.

The epidemiology of substance use among street children in resource-constrained settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Embleton, Lonnie; Mwangi, Ann; Vreeman, Rachel; Ayuku, David; Braitstein, Paula

2013-01-01

Aims To compile and analyze critically the literature published on street children and substance use in resource-constrained settings. Methods We searched the literature systematically and used meta-analytical procedures to synthesize literature that met the review’s inclusion criteria. Pooled-prevalence estimates and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were calculated using the random-effects model for life-time substance use by geographical region as well as by type of substance used. Results Fifty studies from 22 countries were included into the review. Meta-analysis of combined life-time substance use from 27 studies yielded an overall drug use pooled-prevalence estimate of 60% (95% CI = 51–69%). Studies from 14 countries contributed to an overall pooled prevalence for street children’s reported inhalant use of 47% (95% CI = 36–58%). This review reveals significant gaps in the literature, including a dearth of data on physical and mental health outcomes, HIV and mortality in association with street children’s substance use. Conclusions Street children from resource-constrained settings reported high life-time substance use. Inhalants are the predominant substances used, followed by tobacco, alcohol and marijuana. PMID:23844822

Desperate Prawns: Drivers of Behavioural Innovation Vary across Social Contexts in Rock Pool Crustaceans.

PubMed

Duffield, Callum; Wilson, Alastair J; Thornton, Alex

2015-01-01

Innovative behaviour may allow animals to cope with changes in their environment. Innovative propensities are known to vary widely both between and within species, and a growing body of research has begun to examine the factors that drive individuals to innovate. Evidence suggests that individuals are commonly driven to innovate by necessity; for instance by hunger or because they are physically unable to outcompete others for access to resources. However, it is not known whether the factors that drive individuals to innovate are stable across contexts. We examined contextual variation in the drivers of innovation in rock pool prawns (Palaemon spp), invertebrates that face widely fluctuating environments and may, through the actions of tides and waves, find themselves isolated or in groups. Using two novel foraging tasks, we examined the effects of body size and hunger in prawns tested in solitary and group contexts. When tested alone, small prawns were significantly more likely to succeed in a spatial task, and faster to reach the food in a manipulation task, while hunger state had no effect. In contrast, size had no effect when prawns were tested in groups, but food-deprived individuals were disproportionately likely to innovate in both tasks. We suggest that contextual variation in the drivers of innovation is likely to be common in animals living in variable environments, and may best be understood by considering variation in the perception of relative risks and rewards under different conditions.

Strategies for success among OPOs: a study of three organ procurement organizations.

PubMed

Shafer, T J; Kappel, D F; Heinrichs, D F

1997-03-01

Productivity among organ procurement organizations varies widely in the US, and the pressure to determine critical success factors increases as the organ pool shrinks and managed care expands. This study compared three successful organ procurement organizations, identified commonalities among them in cost of doing business, and examined direct and indirect expenses, staffing, specialized requestor programs, and professional and public education programs. The three organ procurement organizations were chosen because of their performance in terms of donors per million population, complexity, and size. The following key indicators were compared and analyzed: annual operating budget, size and composition of staff, funds and resources invested in professional education versus public education, tissue recovery operations, results of minority initiatives, and employee compensation programs.

An economic experiment reveals that humans prefer pool punishment to maintain the commons

PubMed Central

Traulsen, Arne; Röhl, Torsten; Milinski, Manfred

2012-01-01

Punishment can stabilize costly cooperation and ensure the success of a common project that is threatened by free-riders. Punishment mechanisms can be classified into pool punishment, where the punishment act is carried out by a paid third party, (e.g. a police system or a sheriff), and peer punishment, where the punishment act is carried out by peers. Which punishment mechanism is preferred when both are concurrently available within a society? In an economic experiment, we show that the majority of subjects choose pool punishment, despite being costly even in the absence of defectors, when second-order free-riders, cooperators that do not punish, are also punished. Pool punishers are mutually enforcing their support for the punishment organization, stably trapping each other. Our experimental results show how organized punishment could have displaced individual punishment in human societies. PMID:22764167

26 CFR 1.614-8 - Elections with respect to separate operating mineral interests for taxable years beginning after...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

...) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Natural Resources § 1.614-8 Elections with respect to... interests, participates in a unit or pool, such part shall, for the period of its participation in the unit or pool, be treated for purposes of this section as being separate from the nonparticipating portion...

26 CFR 1.614-8 - Elections with respect to separate operating mineral interests for taxable years beginning after...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

...) INCOME TAX (CONTINUED) INCOME TAXES (CONTINUED) Natural Resources § 1.614-8 Elections with respect to... interests, participates in a unit or pool, such part shall, for the period of its participation in the unit or pool, be treated for purposes of this section as being separate from the nonparticipating portion...

Lip and tooth injuries at public swimming pools in Austria.

PubMed

Lechner, Katharina; Connert, Thomas; Kühl, Sebastian; Filippi, Andreas

2017-06-01

There is an increased risk of orofacial injuries in swimming pool facilities. Nevertheless, only a few studies have addressed this issue. The aim of this study was to identify the frequency of lip and tooth injuries at public swimming pools in Austria. A further aim was to examine which gender and age groups were affected, where and why these injuries occurred, and whether pool attendants had sufficient knowledge of dental first-aid measures. A total of 764 pool attendants in Austria were contacted by telephone and 689 participated in the study (90.2%). The attendants were interviewed retrospectively about accident occurrences in 2014 by a standardized questionnaire. Responses to the provision of first aid and choice of storage medium for avulsed teeth were subsequently evaluated. The frequency of lip injuries was 19.0%, and tooth injuries were 11.3%. Male bathers (P < .05) and children under 12 years (P < .001) most frequently suffered injuries. The waterslide was the most common accident site. The most common cause of lip injuries was slipping on wet surfaces (39.0%), and for tooth injuries it was collisions with other persons or objects (each 28.1%). The pool attendants' responses were predominantly good or sufficient on first aid, with the exception of what storage medium to choose. Tooth rescue boxes were available in only 8.6% of all pool facilities. Orofacial injuries are a frequently occurring problem in swimming pool facilities. The pool attendants' knowledge on first-aid care of tooth injuries could still be improved. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Design of association studies with pooled or un-pooled next-generation sequencing data.

PubMed

Kim, Su Yeon; Li, Yingrui; Guo, Yiran; Li, Ruiqiang; Holmkvist, Johan; Hansen, Torben; Pedersen, Oluf; Wang, Jun; Nielsen, Rasmus

2010-07-01

Most common hereditary diseases in humans are complex and multifactorial. Large-scale genome-wide association studies based on SNP genotyping have only identified a small fraction of the heritable variation of these diseases. One explanation may be that many rare variants (a minor allele frequency, MAF <5%), which are not included in the common genotyping platforms, may contribute substantially to the genetic variation of these diseases. Next-generation sequencing, which would allow the analysis of rare variants, is now becoming so cheap that it provides a viable alternative to SNP genotyping. In this paper, we present cost-effective protocols for using next-generation sequencing in association mapping studies based on pooled and un-pooled samples, and identify optimal designs with respect to total number of individuals, number of individuals per pool, and the sequencing coverage. We perform a small empirical study to evaluate the pooling variance in a realistic setting where pooling is combined with exon-capturing. To test for associations, we develop a likelihood ratio statistic that accounts for the high error rate of next-generation sequencing data. We also perform extensive simulations to determine the power and accuracy of this method. Overall, our findings suggest that with a fixed cost, sequencing many individuals at a more shallow depth with larger pool size achieves higher power than sequencing a small number of individuals in higher depth with smaller pool size, even in the presence of high error rates. Our results provide guidelines for researchers who are developing association mapping studies based on next-generation sequencing. (c) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Governance Change and Institutional Adaptation: A Case Study from Harenna Forest, Ethiopia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wakjira, Dereje T.; Fischer, Anke; Pinard, Michelle A.

2013-04-01

Many common pool resources have traditionally been managed through intricate local governance arrangements. Over time, such arrangements are confronted with manifold political, social, economic and ecological changes. However, the ways in which local governance arrangements react to such changes are poorly understood. Using the theoretical concept of institutional adaptation, we analyse the history of Harenna forest, Ethiopia, to examine processes of institutional change over the last 150 years. We find that the traditional institutions that governed Harenna's resources persisted, in essence, over time. However, these institutions were modified repeatedly to address changes caused by varying formal, supra-regional governance regimes, the development of markets for forest products, increasing population pressure and changes in formal property rights. A key mechanism for adaptation was combining elements from both informal and formal institutions, which allowed traditional rules to persist in the guise of more formal arrangements. Our findings also highlight several constraints of institutional adaptation. For example, by abolishing fora for collective decision-making, regime changes limited adaptive capacity. To conclude, we argue that such insights into traditional resource governance and its adaptability and dynamics over time are essential to develop sustainable approaches to participatory forest management for the future, both in Harenna and more generally.

Physical and chemical differences between natural and artificial pools in blanket peatlands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Turner, Ed; Baird, Andy; Billett, Mike; Chapman, Pippa; Dinsmore, Kerry; Holden, Joseph

2014-05-01

Natural pools are common features of many northern peatlands. Numerous artificial pools are being created behind dams installed during drain-blocking, a common peatland restoration technique, significantly increasing the area of open water. Natural pools are known to be major sources of GHGs (e.g. Hamilton et al. 1994), but the reasons they are such 'hotspots' is poorly understood. We hypothesize that pools act as 'biochemical reactors' of particulate and dissolved organic carbon (POC and DOC) transported from surrounding peat that is processed into a range of products including CH4 and CO2. Therefore, understanding the processes operating in both natural and artificial pool systems is fundamental to elucidating this hypothesis. Water levels and temperature have been continuously monitored at six natural and six artificial pools within the 'Flow Country' blanket peatland in northern Scotland since May 2013. Bi-weekly sampling of waters from pools, peat matrix through-flow (via piezometers) and surface flow has been conducted for analysis of DOC, POC, DIC, CH4diss and CO2diss, together with GHG flux measurements from pool surfaces and adjacent peat. We show that, to date, pool water levels rapidly respond to rainfall, although artificial pools appear to respond with greater magnitude. For example, over the course of same rainfall event (20-23 June 2013), natural and artificial pool levels increased between 5.3 and 9.8 cm, and 12.5 and 22.6 cm respectively. Temperature measured at c. 5 cm from the base of each pool shows distinct diurnal fluctuations, which are of greater magnitude in all but one of the natural pools compared to the artificial pools: over the same period (20-23 July 2013), the maximum diurnal variation at the artificial pool site was 5.1 °C compared to 9.2 °C within the natural pools. Vegetation cover is generally higher in artificial pools and may have a moderating effect on variations in pool temperature. Results of pool-water DOC analysis from regular sampling at the study site and a wider regional survey indicate DOC concentrations are consistently higher in artificial pools. The implications of these preliminary results in relation to the carbon cycle and GHGs of blanket peatlands are briefly discussed. Hamilton, J. D., Kelly, C. A., Rudd, J. W. M., Hesslein, R. H. and Roulet, N. T. (1994) Flux to the atmosphere of CH4 and CO2 from wetland ponds on the Hudson Bay lowlands (HBLs). Journal of Geophysical Research 99, 1495-1510.

Diagnostic accuracy of serological diagnosis of hepatitis C and B using dried blood spot samples (DBS): two systematic reviews and meta-analyses.

PubMed

Lange, Berit; Cohn, Jennifer; Roberts, Teri; Camp, Johannes; Chauffour, Jeanne; Gummadi, Nina; Ishizaki, Azumi; Nagarathnam, Anupriya; Tuaillon, Edouard; van de Perre, Philippe; Pichler, Christine; Easterbrook, Philippa; Denkinger, Claudia M

2017-11-01

Dried blood spots (DBS) are a convenient tool to enable diagnostic testing for viral diseases due to transport, handling and logistical advantages over conventional venous blood sampling. A better understanding of the performance of serological testing for hepatitis C (HCV) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) from DBS is important to enable more widespread use of this sampling approach in resource limited settings, and to inform the 2017 World Health Organization (WHO) guidance on testing for HBV/HCV. We conducted two systematic reviews and meta-analyses on the diagnostic accuracy of HCV antibody (HCV-Ab) and HBV surface antigen (HBsAg) from DBS samples compared to venous blood samples. MEDLINE, EMBASE, Global Health and Cochrane library were searched for studies that assessed diagnostic accuracy with DBS and agreement between DBS and venous sampling. Heterogeneity of results was assessed and where possible a pooled analysis of sensitivity and specificity was performed using a bivariate analysis with maximum likelihood estimate and 95% confidence intervals (95%CI). We conducted a narrative review on the impact of varying storage conditions or limits of detection in subsets of samples. The QUADAS-2 tool was used to assess risk of bias. For the diagnostic accuracy of HBsAg from DBS compared to venous blood, 19 studies were included in a quantitative meta-analysis, and 23 in a narrative review. Pooled sensitivity and specificity were 98% (95%CI:95%-99%) and 100% (95%CI:99-100%), respectively. For the diagnostic accuracy of HCV-Ab from DBS, 19 studies were included in a pooled quantitative meta-analysis, and 23 studies were included in a narrative review. Pooled estimates of sensitivity and specificity were 98% (CI95%:95-99) and 99% (CI95%:98-100), respectively. Overall quality of studies and heterogeneity were rated as moderate in both systematic reviews. HCV-Ab and HBsAg testing using DBS compared to venous blood sampling was associated with excellent diagnostic accuracy. However, generalizability is limited as no uniform protocol was applied and most studies did not use fresh samples. Future studies on diagnostic accuracy should include an assessment of impact of environmental conditions common in low resource field settings. Manufacturers also need to formally validate their assays for DBS for use with their commercial assays.

Improving management of small natural features on private lands by negotiating the science-policy boundary for Maine vernal pools.

PubMed

Calhoun, Aram J K; Jansujwicz, Jessica S; Bell, Kathleen P; Hunter, Malcolm L

2014-07-29

Vernal pools are far more important for providing ecosystem services than one would predict based on their small size. However, prevailing resource-management strategies are not effectively conserving pools and other small natural features on private lands. Solutions are complicated by tensions between private property and societal rights, uncertainties over resource location and function, diverse stakeholders, and fragmented regulatory authority. The development and testing of new conservation approaches that link scientific knowledge, stakeholder decision-making, and conservation outcomes are important responses to this conservation dilemma. Drawing from a 15-y history of vernal pool conservation efforts in Maine, we describe the coevolution of pool conservation and research approaches, focusing on how research-based knowledge was produced and used in support of management decisions. As management shifted from reactive, top-down approaches to proactive and flexible approaches, research shifted from an ecology-focused program to an interdisciplinary program based on social-ecological systems. The most effective strategies for linking scientific knowledge with action changed as the decision-makers, knowledge needs, and context for vernal pool management advanced. Interactions among stakeholders increased the extent to which knowledge was coproduced and shifted the objective of stakeholder engagement from outreach to research collaboration and development of innovative conservation approaches. New conservation strategies were possible because of the flexible, solutions-oriented collaborations and trust between scientists and decision-makers (fostered over 15 y) and interdisciplinary, engaged research. Solutions to the dilemma of conserving small natural features on private lands, and analogous sustainability science challenges, will benefit from repeated negotiations of the science-policy boundary.

Characterizing convective cold pools: Characterizing Convective Cold Pools

DOE PAGES

Drager, Aryeh J.; van den Heever, Susan C.

2017-05-09

Cold pools produced by convective storms play an important role in Earth's climate system. However, a common framework does not exist for objectively identifying convective cold pools in observations and models. The present study investigates convective cold pools within a simulation of tropical continental convection that uses a cloud-resolving model with a coupled land-surface model. Multiple variables are assessed for their potential in identifying convective cold pool boundaries, and a novel technique is developed and tested for identifying and tracking cold pools in numerical model simulations. This algorithm is based on surface rainfall rates and radial gradients in the densitymore » potential temperature field. The algorithm successfully identifies near-surface cold pool boundaries and is able to distinguish between connected cold pools. Once cold pools have been identified and tracked, composites of cold pool evolution are then constructed, and average cold pool properties are investigated. Wet patches are found to develop within the centers of cold pools where the ground has been soaked with rainwater. These wet patches help to maintain cool surface temperatures and reduce cold pool dissipation, which has implications for the development of subsequent convection.« less

Characterizing convective cold pools: Characterizing Convective Cold Pools

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Drager, Aryeh J.; van den Heever, Susan C.

Cold pools produced by convective storms play an important role in Earth's climate system. However, a common framework does not exist for objectively identifying convective cold pools in observations and models. The present study investigates convective cold pools within a simulation of tropical continental convection that uses a cloud-resolving model with a coupled land-surface model. Multiple variables are assessed for their potential in identifying convective cold pool boundaries, and a novel technique is developed and tested for identifying and tracking cold pools in numerical model simulations. This algorithm is based on surface rainfall rates and radial gradients in the densitymore » potential temperature field. The algorithm successfully identifies near-surface cold pool boundaries and is able to distinguish between connected cold pools. Once cold pools have been identified and tracked, composites of cold pool evolution are then constructed, and average cold pool properties are investigated. Wet patches are found to develop within the centers of cold pools where the ground has been soaked with rainwater. These wet patches help to maintain cool surface temperatures and reduce cold pool dissipation, which has implications for the development of subsequent convection.« less

Making It Work.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brotherton, Phaedra

2000-01-01

The Racine Workforce Development Center pools resources and personnel to create a successful one-stop shop for job seekers and employers alike. Self-directed services for job seekers include a resource room, an academic improvement center, information about job openings, and free resume and cover letter preparation. (Author/JOW)

Environmental glasnost: protecting a resource you do not own

Treesearch

Malcomb Ross, Jr.

1992-01-01

The Upper Delaware River management plan offers an alternative to outright purchase and subsequent management of natural recreation areas. Advantages include providing for appropriate growth, pooling agency manpower and funding, and making the private sector more responsive to finding solutions to resource issues.

A review of basin morphology and pool hydrology of isolated ponded wetlands: implications for seasonal forest pools of the northeastern United States

Treesearch

Robert T. Brooks; Robert T. Brooks

2005-01-01

Seasonal forest pools (SFPs) are geographically- and hydrologically- isolated ponded wetlands, in that they are topographically isolated from other surface waters. SFPs occur commonly throughout the temperate forests of the eastern United States and adjacent Canada. SFPs are ephemeral in occurrence, typically drying annually. The regular drying of SFPs excludes fish...

Pseudomonas aeruginosa Dose-Response and Bathing Water Infection

EPA Science Inventory

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the most commonly identified opportunistic pathogen associated with pool acquired bather disease. To better understand why this microorganism poses this protracted problem we recently appraised P. aeruginosa pool risk management. Much is known about the ...

WATER INGESTION DURING SWIMMING ACTIVITIES IN A POOL: A PILOT STUDY

EPA Science Inventory

Chloroisocyanurates are commonly added to outdoor swimming pools to stabilize chlorine disinfectants. The chloroisocyanurates decompose slowly to release chlorine and cyanuric acid. Studies conducted to determine if the chloroisocyanurates might be toxic to swimmers showed that...

"Hot tub" Folliculitis from a nonchlorinated children's pool.

PubMed

Segna, Kara G; Koch, Laine H; Williams, Judith V

2011-01-01

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is common cause of folliculitis following contact with contaminated water. We report a case of pseudomonal folliculitis that occurred after swimming in a children's pool filled with water from a well. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Water-resources reconnaissance of Isle de la Gonave, Haiti

USGS Publications Warehouse

Troester, J.W.; Turvey, M.D.

2004-01-01

Isle de la Gonave is a 750-km2 island off the coast of Haiti. The depth to the water table ranges from less than 30 m in the Eocene and Upper Miocene limestones to over 60 m in the 300-m-thick Quaternary limestone. Annual precipitation ranges from 800-1,400 mm. Most precipitation is lost through evapotranspiration and there is virtually no surface water. Roughly estimated from chloride mass balance, about 4% of the precipitation recharges the karst aquifer. Cave pools and springs are a common source for water. Hand-dug wells provide water in coastal areas. Few productive wells have been drilled deeper than 60 m. Reconnaissance field analyses indicate that groundwater in the interior is a calcium-bicarbonate type, whereas water at the coast is a sodium-chloride type that exceeds World Health Organization recommended values for sodium and chloride. Tests for the presence of hydrogen sulfide-producing bacteria were negative in most drilled wells, but positive in cave pools, hand-dug wells, and most springs, indicating bacterial contamination of most water sources. Because of the difficulties in obtaining freshwater, the 110,000 inhabitants use an average of only 7 L per person per day.

Hospital hydrotherapy pools treated with ultra violet light: bad bacteriological quality and presence of thermophilic Naegleria.

PubMed Central

De Jonckheere, J. F.

1982-01-01

The microbiological quality of eight halogenated and two u.v.-treated hydrotherapy pools in hospitals was investigated. The microbiological quality of halogenated hydrotherapy pools was comparable to halogenated public swimming pools, although in some Pseudomonas aeruginosa and faecal pollution indicators were more frequent due to bad management. On the other hand u.v.-treated hydrotherapy pools had very bad microbiological quality. Apart from faecal pollution indicators, P. aeruginosa was present in very high numbers. Halogenated hydrotherapy pools were not highly contaminated with amoebae, and Naegleria spp. were never detected. On the other hand u.v.-treated pools contained very high numbers of thermophilic Naegleria. The Naegleria isolated were identified as N. lovaniensis, a species commonly found in association with N. fowleri. Isoenzyme analysis showed a different type of N. lovaniensis was present in each of two u.v.-treated pools. Images Plate 1 PMID:7061835

Individual-based versus aggregate meta-analysis in multi-database studies of pregnancy outcomes: the Nordic example of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors and venlafaxine in pregnancy.

PubMed

Selmer, Randi; Haglund, Bengt; Furu, Kari; Andersen, Morten; Nørgaard, Mette; Zoëga, Helga; Kieler, Helle

2016-10-01

Compare analyses of a pooled data set on the individual level with aggregate meta-analysis in a multi-database study. We reanalysed data on 2.3 million births in a Nordic register based cohort study. We compared estimated odds ratios (OR) for the effect of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) and venlafaxine use in pregnancy on any cardiovascular birth defect and the rare outcome right ventricular outflow tract obstructions (RVOTO). Common covariates included maternal age, calendar year, birth order, maternal diabetes, and co-medication. Additional covariates were added in analyses with country-optimized adjustment. Country adjusted OR (95%CI) for any cardiovascular birth defect in the individual-based pooled analysis was 1.27 (1.17-1.39), 1.17 (1.07-1.27) adjusted for common covariates and 1.15 (1.05-1.26) adjusted for all covariates. In fixed effects meta-analyses pooled OR was 1.29 (1.19-1.41) based on crude country specific ORs, 1.19 (1.09-1.29) adjusted for common covariates, and 1.16 (1.06-1.27) for country-optimized adjustment. In a random effects model the adjusted OR was 1.07 (0.87-1.32). For RVOTO, OR was 1.48 (1.15-1.89) adjusted for all covariates in the pooled data set, and 1.53 (1.19-1.96) after country-optimized adjustment. Country-specific adjusted analyses at the substance level were not possible for RVOTO. Results of fixed effects meta-analysis and individual-based analyses of a pooled dataset were similar in this study on the association of SSRI/venlafaxine and cardiovascular birth defects. Country-optimized adjustment attenuated the estimates more than adjustment for common covariates only. When data are sparse pooled data on the individual level are needed for adjusted analyses. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The energetic consequences of habitat structure for forest stream salmonids.

PubMed

Naman, Sean M; Rosenfeld, Jordan S; Kiffney, Peter M; Richardson, John S

2018-05-08

1.Increasing habitat availability (i.e. habitat suitable for occupancy) is often assumed to elevate the abundance or production of mobile consumers; however, this relationship is often nonlinear (threshold or unimodal). Identifying the mechanisms underlying these nonlinearities is essential for predicting the ecological impacts of habitat change, yet the functional forms and ultimate causation of consumer-habitat relationships are often poorly understood. 2.Nonlinear effects of habitat on animal abundance may manifest through physical constraints on foraging that restrict consumers from accessing their resources. Subsequent spatial incongruence between consumers and resources should lead to unimodal or saturating effects of habitat availability on consumer production if increasing the area of habitat suitable for consumer occupancy comes at the expense of habitats that generate resources. However, the shape of this relationship could be sensitive to cross-ecosystem prey subsidies, which may be unrelated to recipient habitat structure and result in more linear habitat effects on consumer production. 3.We investigated habitat-productivity relationships for juveniles of stream-rearing Pacific salmon and trout (Oncorhynchus spp.), which typically forage in low-velocity pool habitats, while their prey (drifting benthic invertebrates) are produced upstream in high-velocity riffles. However, juvenile salmonids also consume subsidies of terrestrial invertebrates that may be independent of pool-riffle structure. 4.We measured salmonid biomass production in 13 experimental enclosures each containing a downstream pool and upstream riffle, spanning a gradient of relative pool area (14-80% pool). Increasing pool relative to riffle habitat area decreased prey abundance, leading to a nonlinear saturating effect on fish production. We then used bioenergetics model simulations to examine how the relationship between pool area and salmonid biomass is affected by varying levels of terrestrial subsidy. Simulations indicated that increasing terrestrial prey inputs linearized the effect of habitat availability on salmonid biomass, while decreasing terrestrial inputs exaggerated a 'hump-shaped' effect. 5.Our results imply that nonlinear effects of habitat availability on consumer production can arise from trade-offs between habitat suitable for consumer occupancy and habitat that generates prey. However, cross-ecosystem prey subsidies can effectively decouple this trade-off and modify consumer-habitat relationships in recipient systems. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

36 CFR 28.10 - Permitted and prohibited uses.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... natural resources of the Seashore, on any lands, whether publicly or privately-held, which lie below mean... a building, bulkhead, pile, septic system, revetment, deck, swimming pool, or other structure or man... education, and natural resource protection uses and facilities consistent with the uses and facilities...

Determining paths by which farmers can adapt effectively to scarce freshwater resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Watson, R.; Hornberger, G.; Carrico, A. R.

2012-12-01

Stress on freshwater resources is a significant risk associated with climatic change. The risk is even greater given the expected changes in overall resource use as the developing world develops, as the world's population continues to grow, and as land use changes dramatically. Effective water management has implications for food security, health, and political stability worldwide. This is particularly true in developing regions heavily dependent on agriculture, and where agriculture depends on irrigation. Adaptation to water stress requires both managing water allocation among competing users and ensuring that each user is efficient in his or her use of a limited allotment: the problem is a quintessential common-pool resource (CPR) dilemma. In the future even more so than in the past, adaptation will be essential as the world evolves. The problem that we identify—determining paths by which farmers can adapt effectively to increasingly scarce freshwater resources—is one of great scientific and societal importance. The issue lies at the intersection of water-cycle processes and social-psychological processes that influence and are influenced by water availability and use. This intersection harbors intriguing unresolved scientific questions; advances in natural and social sciences will stem from attacks on the overall problem. The issue is societally compelling because the ability of the world to supply adequate food for a population expected to grow to over 9 billion by 2050 may well be determined by how farmers, consumers, and government institutions adapt to changing conditions of water availability. Major strides have been made in recent decades in understanding why Hardin's envisioned "tragedy of the commons" is avoided under certain circumstances, in some cases through self-organization rather than government intervention originally considered a necessity. Furthermore, we now know that the impacts of decisions about allocation and use of water can be amplified by human system-natural system feedbacks. Thus, although there are hard problems in many individual disciplines to be tackled, it is also clear that CPR problems cannot be understood, much less managed, without truly interdisciplinary approaches that recognize that human and natural systems are strongly coupled and that include this coupling in the research design and implementation. The problem of farmer adaptation is a specific instance of the challenge articulated by Ostrom in her Nobel Prize lecture: "We thus face the tough task of further developing our theories to help understand and predict when those involved in a common-pool resource dilemma will be able to self-organize and how various aspects of the broad context they face affect their strategies, the short-term success of their efforts, and the long-term robustness of their initial achievements." In this paper we discuss advances in recent understanding of irrigation water as a CPR and the linkages with individual behavior. Using our ongoing work in Sri Lanka to provide context, we also discuss gaps in this research as well as emerging problems warranting attention. We pay special attention to the role and necessity of integrated, interdisciplinary research and identify a framework for making further progress toward addressing the key problem of determining paths by which farmers can adapt effectively.

Science communication and vernal pool conservation: a study of local decision maker attitudes in a knowledge-action system.

PubMed

McGreavy, Bridie; Webler, Thomas; Calhoun, Aram J K

2012-03-01

In this study, we describe local decision maker attitudes towards vernal pools to inform science communication and enhance vernal pool conservation efforts. We conducted interviews with town planning board and conservation commission members (n = 9) from two towns in the State of Maine in the northeastern United States. We then mailed a questionnaire to a stratified random sample of planning board members in August and September 2007 with a response rate of 48.4% (n = 320). The majority of survey respondents favored the protection and conservation of vernal pools in their towns. Decision makers were familiar with the term "vernal pool" and demonstrated positive attitudes to vernal pools in general. General appreciation and willingness to conserve vernal pools predicted support for the 2006 revisions to the Natural Resource Protection Act regulating Significant Vernal Pools. However, 48% of respondents were unaware of this law and neither prior knowledge of the law nor workshop attendance predicted support for the vernal pool law. Further, concerns about private property rights and development restrictions predicted disagreement with the vernal pool law. We conclude that science communication must rely on specific frames of reference, be sensitive to cultural values, and occur in an iterative system to link knowledge and action in support of vernal pool conservation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recycling pool provides innovative financing for an integrated system.

PubMed

Ciolek, R J; Fahy, P A

1997-12-01

Not-for-profit integrated delivery systems require innovative financing mechanisms to compete effectively with expanding for-profit systems. The Massachusetts Health and Educational Facilities Authority (Mass HEFA), in collaboration with Partners HealthCare Systems, Inc., Boston, Massachusetts, developed such a mechanism--a capital asset recycling pool funded through a $150 million bond issue. The recycling pool gives Partners flexible access to tax-exempt capital to fund routine capital expenses across the system and has enabled the system to centralize control of capital resources. Over the pool's 30-year life-span, Partners will be able to issue tax-exempt loans from the pool to any of its affiliates or, with Mass HEFA and insurer approval, transfer the funds to outside organizations. When the loans are repaid, the funds remain available and can be recycled at no additional cost to fund further capital projects. Creation of the pool was made possible by Partners' outstanding credit, strong market position, expanding primary care network, and substantial unrestricted net assets.

Glycomic Analysis of Prostate Cancer

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-07-01

allowed measurements of N-glycans and the Clinical Molecular Epidemiology Shared Resources which provided services for biological sample storage and...select N-glycans for the detection of prostate cancer. Aim3. Perform an exploratory study of N-glycans in urine of the participants and correlation of...cases. We have designed a pooled-unpooled study where initial discovery is conducted in smaller number of pooled samples followed by analysis of

Development and evaluation of a reservoir model for the Chain of Lakes in Illinois

USGS Publications Warehouse

Domanski, Marian M.

2017-01-27

Forecasts of flows entering and leaving the Chain of Lakes reservoir on the Fox River in northeastern Illinois are critical information to water-resource managers who determine the optimal operation of the dam at McHenry, Illinois, to help minimize damages to property and loss of life because of flooding on the Fox River. In 2014, the U.S. Geological Survey; the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Office of Water Resources; and National Weather Service, North Central River Forecast Center began a cooperative study to develop a system to enable engineers and planners to simulate and communicate flows and to prepare proactively for precipitation events in near real time in the upper Fox River watershed. The purpose of this report is to document the development and evaluation of the Chain of Lakes reservoir model developed in this study.The reservoir model for the Chain of Lakes was developed using the Hydrologic Engineering Center–Reservoir System Simulation program. Because of the complex relation between the dam headwater and reservoir pool elevations, the reservoir model uses a linear regression model that relates dam headwater elevation to reservoir pool elevation. The linear regression model was developed using 17 U.S. Geological Survey streamflow measurements, along with the gage height in the reservoir pool and the gage height at the dam headwater. The Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency coefficients for all three linear regression model variables ranged from 0.90 to 0.98.The reservoir model performance was evaluated by graphically comparing simulated and observed reservoir pool elevation time series during nine periods of high pool elevation. In addition, the peak elevations during these time periods were graphically compared to the closest-in-time observed pool elevation peak. The mean difference in the simulated and observed peak elevations was -0.03 feet, with a standard deviation of 0.19 feet. The Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient for peak prediction was calculated as 0.94. Evaluation of the model based on accuracy of peak prediction and the ability to simulate an elevation time series showed the performance of the model was satisfactory.

Synthetic Constraint of Ecosystem C Models Using Radiocarbon and Net Primary Production (NPP) in New Zealand Grazing Land

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Baisden, W. T.

2011-12-01

Time-series radiocarbon measurements have substantial ability to constrain the size and residence time of the soil C pools commonly represented in ecosystem models. Radiocarbon remains unique in the ability to constrain the large stabilized C pool with decadal residence times. Radiocarbon also contributes usefully to constraining the size and turnover rate of the passive pool, but typically struggles to constrain pools with residence times less than a few years. Overall, the number of pools and associated turnover rates that can be constrained depends upon the number of time-series samples available, the appropriateness of chemical or physical fractions to isolate unequivocal pools, and the utility of additional C flux data to provide additional constraints. In New Zealand pasture soils, we demonstrate the ability to constrain decadal turnover times with in a few years for the stabilized pool and reasonably constrain the passive fraction. Good constraint is obtained with two time-series samples spaced 10 or more years apart after 1970. Three or more time-series samples further improve the level of constraint. Work within this context shows that a two-pool model does explain soil radiocarbon data for the most detailed profiles available (11 time-series samples), and identifies clear and consistent differences in rates of C turnover and passive fraction in Andisols vs Non-Andisols. Furthermore, samples from multiple horizons can commonly be combined, yielding consistent residence times and passive fraction estimates that are stable with, or increase with, depth in different sites. Radiocarbon generally fails to quantify rapid C turnover, however. Given that the strength of radiocarbon is estimating the size and turnover of the stabilized (decadal) and passive (millennial) pools, the magnitude of fast cycling pool(s) can be estimated by subtracting the radiocarbon-based estimates of turnover within stabilized and passive pools from total estimates of NPP. In grazing land, these estimates can be derived primarily from measured aboveground NPP and calculated belowground NPP. Results suggest that only 19-36% of heterotrophic soil respiration is derived from the soil C with rapid turnover times. A final logical step in synthesis is the analysis of temporal variation in NPP, primarily due to climate, as driver of changes in plant inputs and resulting in dynamic changes in rapid and decadal soil C pools. In sites with good time series samples from 1959-1975, we examine the apparent impacts of measured or modelled (Biome-BGC) NPP on soil Δ14C. Ultimately, these approaches have the ability to empirically constrain, and provide limited verification, of the soil C cycle as commonly depicted ecosystem biogeochemistry models.

Ecological traps in shallow coastal waters—Potential effect of heat-waves in tropical and temperate organisms

PubMed Central

Mendonça, Vanessa; Cereja, Rui; Abreu-Afonso, Francisca; Dias, Marta; Mizrahi, Damián; Flores, Augusto A. V.

2018-01-01

Mortality of fish has been reported in tide pools during warm days. That means that tide pools are potential ecological traps for coastal organisms, which happen when environmental changes cause maladaptive habitat selection. Heat-waves are predicted to increase in intensity, duration and frequency, making it relevant to investigate the role of tide pools as traps for coastal organisms. However, heat waves can also lead to acclimatization. If organisms undergo acclimatization prior to being trapped in tide pools, their survival chances may increase. Common tide pool species (46 species in total) were collected at a tropical and a temperate area and their upper thermal limits estimated. They were maintained for 10 days at their mean summer sea surface temperature +3°C, mimicking a heat-wave. Their upper thermal limits were estimated again, after this acclimation period, to calculate each species’ acclimation response. The upper thermal limits of the organisms were compared to the temperatures attained by tide pool waters to investigate if 1) tide pools could be considered ecological traps and 2) if the increase in upper thermal limits elicited by the acclimation period could make the organisms less vulnerable to this threat. Tropical tide pools were found to be ecological traps for an important number of common coastal species, given that they can attain temperatures higher than the upper thermal limits of most of those species. Tide pools are not ecological traps in temperate zones. Tropical species have higher thermal limits than temperate species, but lower acclimation response, that does not allow them to survive the maximum habitat temperature of tropical tide pools. This way, tropical coastal organisms seem to be, not only more vulnerable to climate warming per se, but also to an increase in the ecological trap effect of tide pools. PMID:29420657

Physical mapping of complex genomes

DOEpatents

Evans, G.A.

1993-06-15

A method for the simultaneous identification of overlapping cosmid clones among multiple cosmid clones and the use of the method for mapping complex genomes are provided. A library of cosmid clones that contains the DNA to be mapped is constructed and arranged in a manner such that individual clones can be identified and replicas of the arranged clones prepared. In preferred embodiments, the clones are arranged in a two dimensional matrix. In such embodiments, the cosmid clones in a row are pooled, mixed probes complementary to the ends of the DNA inserts in the pooled clones are synthesized, hybridized to a first replica of the library. Hybridizing clones, which include the pooled row, are identified. A second portion of clones is prepared by pooling cosmid clones that correspond to a column in the matrix. The second pool thereby includes one clone from the first portion pooled clones. This common clone is located on the replica at the intersection of the column and row. Mixed probes complementary to the ends of the DNA inserts in the second pooled portion of clones are prepared and hybridized to a second replica of the library. The hybridization pattern on the first and second replicas of the library are compared and cross-hybridizing clones, other than the clones in the pooled column and row, that hybridize to identical clones in the first and second replicas are identified. These clones necessarily include DNA inserts that overlap with the DNA insert in the common clone located at the intersection of the pooled row and pooled column. The DNA in the entire library may be mapped by pooling the clones in each of the rows and columns of the matrix, preparing mixed end-specific probes and hybridizing the probes from each row or column to a replica of the library. Since all clones in the library are located at the intersection of a column and a row, the overlapping clones for all clones in the library may be identified and a physical map constructed.

The global prevalence of common mental disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis 1980–2013

PubMed Central

Steel, Zachary; Marnane, Claire; Iranpour, Changiz; Chey, Tien; Jackson, John W; Patel, Vikram; Silove, Derrick

2014-01-01

Background: Since the introduction of specified diagnostic criteria for mental disorders in the 1970s, there has been a rapid expansion in the number of large-scale mental health surveys providing population estimates of the combined prevalence of common mental disorders (most commonly involving mood, anxiety and substance use disorders). In this study we undertake a systematic review and meta-analysis of this literature. Methods: We applied an optimized search strategy across the Medline, PsycINFO, EMBASE and PubMed databases, supplemented by hand searching to identify relevant surveys. We identified 174 surveys across 63 countries providing period prevalence estimates (155 surveys) and lifetime prevalence estimates (85 surveys). Random effects meta-analysis was undertaken on logit-transformed prevalence rates to calculate pooled prevalence estimates, stratified according to methodological and substantive groupings. Results: Pooling across all studies, approximately 1 in 5 respondents (17.6%, 95% confidence interval:16.3–18.9%) were identified as meeting criteria for a common mental disorder during the 12-months preceding assessment; 29.2% (25.9–32.6%) of respondents were identified as having experienced a common mental disorder at some time during their lifetimes. A consistent gender effect in the prevalence of common mental disorder was evident; women having higher rates of mood (7.3%:4.0%) and anxiety (8.7%:4.3%) disorders during the previous 12 months and men having higher rates of substance use disorders (2.0%:7.5%), with a similar pattern for lifetime prevalence. There was also evidence of consistent regional variation in the prevalence of common mental disorder. Countries within North and South East Asia in particular displayed consistently lower one-year and lifetime prevalence estimates than other regions. One-year prevalence rates were also low among Sub-Saharan-Africa, whereas English speaking counties returned the highest lifetime prevalence estimates. Conclusions: Despite a substantial degree of inter-survey heterogeneity in the meta-analysis, the findings confirm that common mental disorders are highly prevalent globally, affecting people across all regions of the world. This research provides an important resource for modelling population needs based on global regional estimates of mental disorder. The reasons for regional variation in mental disorder require further investigation. PMID:24648481

Development of water level regulation strategy for fish and wildlife, upper Mississippi River system

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lubinski, Kenneth S.; Carmody, G.; Wilcox, D.; Drazkowski, B.

1991-01-01

Water level regulation has been proposed as a tool for maintaining or enhancing fish and wildlife resources in navigation pools and associated flood plains of the Upper Mississippi River System. Research related to the development of water level management plans is being conducted under the Long Term Resource Monitoring Program. Research strategies include investigations of cause and effect relationships, spatial and temporal patterns of resource components, and alternative problem solutions. The principal hypothesis being tested states that water level fluctuations resulting from navigation dam operation create less than optimal conditions for the reproduction and growth of target aquatic macrophyte and fish species. Representative navigation pools have been selected to describe hydrologic, engineering, and legal constraints within which fish and wildlife objectives can be established. Spatial analyses are underway to predict the magnitude and location of habitat changes that will result from controlled changes in water elevation.

A regional approach to the Co-Production of climate information for water utilities- Managing Messages, Approaches, Benefits, and Lessons learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yates, D. N.; Kaatz, L.

2016-12-01

Over the past decade, water utility managers across Colorado have joined together to advance their understanding of the role of climate information in their planning process. In an unprecedented step, managers from 5 different organizations and agencies pooled their resources and worked collaboratively to better understand the ever evolving role of science in helping understand risks, uncertainties, and opportunities that climate uncertainty and change might bring to this semi-arid region. The group developed an ongoing educational process to better understand climate projections (Scale); cohesively communicate with customers and the media (Communication); provided institutional coverage to an often contentious topic (Safety); and helped coordinate with other investigations and participants to facilitate education and training (Collaboration); and pooled finances, staff, and expert resources (Resources). We will share this experience and give examples of concrete outcomes.

The Gene Pool Concept Applied to Crop Wild Relatives: An Evolutionary Perspective

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Crop wild relatives (CWR) can provide important resources for the genetic improvement of cultivated species. Because crops are often closely related to many wild species, and because exploration of CWR for useful traits can take many years and substantial resources, the categorization of CWR based o...

Promoting Health Literacy through the Health Education Assessment Project

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Marx, Eva; Hudson, Nancy; Deal, Tami B.; Pateman, Beth; Middleton, Kathleen

2007-01-01

Background: The Council of Chief State School Officers' State Collaborative on Assessment and Student Standards Health Education Assessment Project (SCASS-HEAP) allows states to pool financial and human resources to develop effective ready-to-use health education assessment resources through a collaborative process. The purpose of this article is…

Life cycle environmental implications of residential swimming pools.

PubMed

Forrest, Nigel; Williams, Eric

2010-07-15

Ownership of private swimming pools in the U.S. grew 2 to 4% per annum from 1997 to 2007. The environmental implications of pool ownership are analyzed by hybrid life cycle assessment (LCA) for nine U.S. cities. An operational model is constructed estimating consumption of chemicals, water, and energy for a typical residential pool. The model incorporates geographical climatic variations and upstream water and energy use from electricity and water supply networks. Results vary considerably by city: a factor of 5-6 for both water and energy use. Water use is driven by aridness and length of the swimming season, while energy use is mainly driven by length of the swimming season. Water and energy impacts of pools are significant, particularly in arid climates. In Phoenix for example pools account for 22% and 13% of a household's electricity and water use, respectively. Measures to reduce water and energy use in pools such as optimizing the pump schedule and covering the pool in winter can realize greater savings than many common household efficiency improvements. Private versus community pools are also compared. Community pools in Phoenix use 60% less swimming pool water and energy per household than subdivisions without community pools.

47 CFR 90.415 - Prohibited uses.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES PRIVATE LAND...) Render a communications common carrier service, except for stations in the Public Safety Pool providing..., private carrier paging, Industrial/Business Pool, or 220-222 MHz services. [43 FR 54791, Nov. 22, 1978, as...

47 CFR 90.415 - Prohibited uses.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES PRIVATE LAND...) Render a communications common carrier service, except for stations in the Public Safety Pool providing..., private carrier paging, Industrial/Business Pool, or 220-222 MHz services. [43 FR 54791, Nov. 22, 1978, as...

47 CFR 90.415 - Prohibited uses.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES PRIVATE LAND...) Render a communications common carrier service, except for stations in the Public Safety Pool providing..., private carrier paging, Industrial/Business Pool, or 220-222 MHz services. [43 FR 54791, Nov. 22, 1978, as...

47 CFR 90.415 - Prohibited uses.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-10-01

... Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES PRIVATE LAND...) Render a communications common carrier service, except for stations in the Public Safety Pool providing..., private carrier paging, Industrial/Business Pool, or 220-222 MHz services. [43 FR 54791, Nov. 22, 1978, as...

The marginalization of "small is beautiful": Micro-hydroelectricity, common property, and the politics of rural electricity provision in Thailand

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Greacen, Christopher Edmund

This study analyzes forces that constrain sustainable deployment of cost-effective renewable energy in a developing country. By many economic and social measures, community micro-hydro is a superior electrification option for remote mountainous communities in Thailand. Yet despite a 20 year government program, only 59 projects were built and of these less than half remain operating. By comparison, the national grid has extended to over 69,000 villages. Based on microeconomic, engineering, social barriers, common pool resource, and political economic theories, this study investigates first, why so few micro-hydro projects were built, and second, why so few remain operating. Drawing on historical information, site visits, interviews, surveys, and data logging, this study shows that the marginal status of micro-hydro arises from multiple linked factors spanning from village experiences to geopolitical concerns. The dominance of the parastatal rural electrification utility, the PEA, and its singular focus on grid extension are crucial in explaining why so few projects were built. Buffered from financial consequences by domestic and international subsidies, grid expansion proceeded without consideration of alternatives. High costs borne by villagers for micro-hydro discouraged village choice. PEA remains catalytic in explaining why few systems remain operating: grid expansion plans favor villages with existing loads and most villages abandon micro-hydro generators when the grid arrives. Village experiences are fundamental: most projects suffer blackouts, brownouts, and equipment failures due to poor equipment and collective over-consumption. Over-consumption is linked to mismatch between tariffs and generator technical characteristics. Opportunities to resolve problems languished as limited state support focused on building projects and immediate repairs rather than fundamentals. Despite frustrations, many remain proud of "their power plant". Interconnecting and selling electricity to PEA offers a mutually beneficial opportunity for the Thai public and for villagers, but one thus far thwarted by bureaucratic challenges. Explanations of renewable energy dissemination in countries with strong state involvement in rural electrification should borrow approaches from political economy concerning the ways in which politics and constellations of other factors eclipse rational economic behavior. At the village level, common pool resource theory reveals causal linkages between appliance use, equipment limitations, power quality, and equipment failures.

Impact of e-alert for detection of acute kidney injury on processes of care and outcomes: protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Lachance, Philippe; Villeneuve, Pierre-Marc; Wilson, Francis P; Selby, Nicholas M; Featherstone, Robin; Rewa, Oleksa; Bagshaw, Sean M

2016-05-05

Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication in hospitalised patients. It imposes significant risk for major morbidity and mortality. Moreover, patients suffering an episode of AKI consume considerable health resources. Recently, a number of studies have evaluated the implementation of automated electronic alerts (e-alerts) configured from electronic medical records (EMR) and clinical information systems (CIS) to warn healthcare providers of early or impending AKI in hospitalised patients. The impact of e-alerts on care processes, patient outcomes and health resource use, however, remains uncertain. We will perform a systematic review to describe and appraise e-alerts for AKI, and evaluate their impact on processes of care, clinical outcomes and health services use. In consultation with a research librarian, a search strategy will be developed and electronic databases (ie, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library and Inspec via Engineering Village) searched. Selected grey literature sources will also be searched. Search themes will focus on e-alerts and AKI. Citation screening, selection, quality assessment and data abstraction will be performed in duplicate. The primary analysis will be narrative; however, where feasible, pooled analysis will be performed. Each e-alert will be described according to trigger, type of alert, target recipient and degree of intrusiveness. Pooled effect estimates will be described, where applicable. Our systematic review will synthesise the literature on the value of e-alerts to detect AKI, and their impact on processes, patient-centred outcomes and resource use, and also identify key knowledge gaps and barriers to implementation. This is a fundamental step in a broader research programme aimed to understand the ideal structure of e-alerts, target population and methods for implementation, to derive benefit. Research ethics approval is not required for this review. CRD42016033033. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/

Improving management of small natural features on private lands by negotiating the science–policy boundary for Maine vernal pools

PubMed Central

Calhoun, Aram J. K.; Jansujwicz, Jessica S.; Bell, Kathleen P.; Hunter, Malcolm L.

2014-01-01

Vernal pools are far more important for providing ecosystem services than one would predict based on their small size. However, prevailing resource-management strategies are not effectively conserving pools and other small natural features on private lands. Solutions are complicated by tensions between private property and societal rights, uncertainties over resource location and function, diverse stakeholders, and fragmented regulatory authority. The development and testing of new conservation approaches that link scientific knowledge, stakeholder decision-making, and conservation outcomes are important responses to this conservation dilemma. Drawing from a 15-y history of vernal pool conservation efforts in Maine, we describe the coevolution of pool conservation and research approaches, focusing on how research-based knowledge was produced and used in support of management decisions. As management shifted from reactive, top-down approaches to proactive and flexible approaches, research shifted from an ecology-focused program to an interdisciplinary program based on social–ecological systems. The most effective strategies for linking scientific knowledge with action changed as the decision-makers, knowledge needs, and context for vernal pool management advanced. Interactions among stakeholders increased the extent to which knowledge was coproduced and shifted the objective of stakeholder engagement from outreach to research collaboration and development of innovative conservation approaches. New conservation strategies were possible because of the flexible, solutions-oriented collaborations and trust between scientists and decision-makers (fostered over 15 y) and interdisciplinary, engaged research. Solutions to the dilemma of conserving small natural features on private lands, and analogous sustainability science challenges, will benefit from repeated negotiations of the science–policy boundary. PMID:25002496

Biological inventory of anchialine pools in the Pu'uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park and Pu'ukoholā Heiau National Historical Site, Hawaii Island

USGS Publications Warehouse

Tango, Lori K.; Foote, David; Magnacca, Karl N.; Foltz, Sarah J.; Cutler, Kerry

2012-01-01

Inventories for major groups of invertebrates were completed at anchialine pool complexes in Pu‘uhonua o Hōnaunau National Historical Park (PUHO) and Pu‘ukoholā Heiau National Historic Site (PUHE) on the island of Hawai‘i. Nine pools within two pool complexes were surveyed at PUHO, along with one extensive pool at the terminus of Makeāhua Gulch at PUHE. At both parks, inventories documented previously unreported diversity, with pool complexes at PUHO exhibiting greater species richness for most taxa than the pool at PUHE. Inventories at PUHO recorded five species of molluscs, four species of crustaceans (including the candidate endangered shrimp Metabetaeus lohena), two species of Orthoptera, four species of Odonata (including the candidate endangered damselfly Megalagrion xanthomelas), fourteen species of Diptera, nine taxa of plankton, and thirteen species of ants; inventories at the PUHE pool produced only one species of mollusc, two species of crustacean, at least one species of Orthoptera, four species of Odonata, thirty species of Diptera, five taxa of plankton, and four species of ants. Further survey work may be necessary to document the full diversity of pool fauna, especially in species-rich groups like the Diptera. Inventory data will be used to generate a network wide database of species presence and distribution, and will aid in developing management plans for anchialine pool resources.

IDENTIFICATION OF DISINFECTION BY-PRODUCTS IN SWIMMING POOL WATER

EPA Science Inventory

In order to kill harmful pathogens, swimming pool water is treated with a disinfectant, such as chlorine or ozone. One of the most commonly used disinfectants is stabilized chlorine (typically trichloro-S-triazinetrione). Trichloro-S-triazinetrione reacts in water to form one m...

Integrating simultaneous prosocial and antisocial behavior into theories of collective action.

PubMed

Basurto, Xavier; Blanco, Esther; Nenadovic, Mateja; Vollan, Björn

2016-03-01

Trust and cooperation constitute cornerstones of common-pool resource theory, showing that "prosocial" strategies among resource users can overcome collective action problems and lead to sustainable resource governance. Yet, antisocial behavior and especially the coexistence of prosocial and antisocial behaviors have received less attention. We broaden the analysis to include the effects of both "prosocial" and "antisocial" interactions. We do so in the context of marine protected areas (MPAs), the most prominent form of biodiversity conservation intervention worldwide. Our multimethod approach relied on lab-in-the-field economic experiments (n = 127) in two MPA and two non-MPA communities in Baja California, Mexico. In addition, we deployed a standardized fishers' survey (n = 544) to verify the external validity of our findings and expert informant interviews (n = 77) to develop potential explanatory mechanisms. In MPA sites, prosocial and antisocial behavior is significantly higher, and the presence of antisocial behavior does not seem to have a negative effect on prosocial behavior. We suggest that market integration, economic diversification, and strengthened group identity in MPAs are the main potential mechanisms for the simultaneity of prosocial and antisocial behavior we observed. This study constitutes a first step in better understanding the interaction between prosociality and antisociality as related to natural resources governance and conservation science, integrating literatures from social psychology, evolutionary anthropology, behavioral economics, and ecology.

Integrating simultaneous prosocial and antisocial behavior into theories of collective action

PubMed Central

Basurto, Xavier; Blanco, Esther; Nenadovic, Mateja; Vollan, Björn

2016-01-01

Trust and cooperation constitute cornerstones of common-pool resource theory, showing that “prosocial” strategies among resource users can overcome collective action problems and lead to sustainable resource governance. Yet, antisocial behavior and especially the coexistence of prosocial and antisocial behaviors have received less attention. We broaden the analysis to include the effects of both “prosocial” and “antisocial” interactions. We do so in the context of marine protected areas (MPAs), the most prominent form of biodiversity conservation intervention worldwide. Our multimethod approach relied on lab-in-the-field economic experiments (n = 127) in two MPA and two non-MPA communities in Baja California, Mexico. In addition, we deployed a standardized fishers’ survey (n = 544) to verify the external validity of our findings and expert informant interviews (n = 77) to develop potential explanatory mechanisms. In MPA sites, prosocial and antisocial behavior is significantly higher, and the presence of antisocial behavior does not seem to have a negative effect on prosocial behavior. We suggest that market integration, economic diversification, and strengthened group identity in MPAs are the main potential mechanisms for the simultaneity of prosocial and antisocial behavior we observed. This study constitutes a first step in better understanding the interaction between prosociality and antisociality as related to natural resources governance and conservation science, integrating literatures from social psychology, evolutionary anthropology, behavioral economics, and ecology. PMID:26973871

Establishing the Bases for Introducing the Unexplored Portuguese Common Bean Germplasm into the Breeding World.

PubMed

Leitão, Susana T; Dinis, Marco; Veloso, Maria M; Šatović, Zlatko; Vaz Patto, Maria C

2017-01-01

Common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is among the most important grain legumes for human consumption worldwide. Portugal has a potentially promising common bean germplasm, resulting from more than five centuries of natural adaptation and farmers' selection. Nevertheless, limited characterization of this resource hampers its exploitation by breeding programs. To support a more efficient conservation of the national bean germplasm and promote its use in crop improvement, we performed, for the first time, a simultaneous molecular marker (21 microsatellites and a DNA marker for phaseolin-type diversity analysis) and seed and plant morphological characterization (14 traits) of 175 accessions from Portuguese mainland and islands traditional bean-growing regions. A total of 188 different alleles were identified and an average pairwise Cavalli-Sforza and Edwards' chord genetic distance of 0.193 was estimated among accessions. To relate the Portuguese germplasm with the global common bean diversity, 17 wild relatives and representative accessions from the Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools were evaluated at the molecular level. No correlation was detected between the variability found and the geographic origin of accessions. Structure analysis divided the collection into three main clusters. Most of the Portuguese accessions grouped with the race representatives and wild relatives from the Andean region. One third of the national germplasm had admixed genetic origin and might represent putative hybrids among gene pools from the two original centers of domestication in the Andes and Mesoamerica. The molecular marker-based classification was largely congruent with the three most frequent phaseolin haplotype patterns observed in the accessions analyzed. Seed and plant morphological characterization of 150 Portuguese common bean accessions revealed a clear separation among genetic structure and phaseolin haplotype groups of accessions, with seed size and shape and the number of locules per pod the most discriminant traits. Additionally, we used molecular and morphological data to develop a series of smaller core collections that, by maximizing the genetic and morphological diversity of the original collection, represents the Portuguese common bean germplasm with minimum repetitiveness. A core collection with 37 accessions contained 100% of the genetic variation found in the entire collection. This core collection is appropriate for a more detailed characterization and should be explored, as a priority, in national and international common bean breeding efforts. Furthermore, the identified intermediate accessions (with admixed genetic origin) may have novel genetic combinations useful in future bean breeding.

Identification of susceptibility genes and genetic modifiers of human diseases

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abel, Kenneth; Kammerer, Stefan; Hoyal, Carolyn; Reneland, Rikard; Marnellos, George; Nelson, Matthew R.; Braun, Andreas

2005-03-01

The completion of the human genome sequence enables the discovery of genes involved in common human disorders. The successful identification of these genes is dependent on the availability of informative sample sets, validated marker panels, a high-throughput scoring technology, and a strategy for combining these resources. We have developed a universal platform technology based on mass spectrometry (MassARRAY) for analyzing nucleic acids with high precision and accuracy. To fuel this technology, we generated more than 100,000 validated assays for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) covering virtually all known and predicted human genes. We also established a large DNA sample bank comprised of more than 50,000 consented healthy and diseased individuals. This combination of reagents and technology allows the execution of large-scale genome-wide association studies. Taking advantage of MassARRAY"s capability for quantitative analysis of nucleic acids, allele frequencies are estimated in sample pools containing large numbers of individual DNAs. To compare pools as a first-pass "filtering" step is a tremendous advantage in throughput and cost over individual genotyping. We employed this approach in numerous genome-wide, hypothesis-free searches to identify genes associated with common complex diseases, such as breast cancer, osteoporosis, and osteoarthritis, and genes involved in quantitative traits like high density lipoproteins cholesterol (HDL-c) levels and central fat. Access to additional well-characterized patient samples through collaborations allows us to conduct replication studies that validate true disease genes. These discoveries will expand our understanding of genetic disease predisposition, and our ability for early diagnosis and determination of specific disease subtype or progression stage.

Morphoagronomic characterization and genetic diversity of a common bean RIL mapping population derived from the cross Rudá x AND 277.

PubMed

Silva, L C; Batista, R O; Anjos, R S R; Souza, M H; Carneiro, P C S; Souza, T L P O; Barros, E G; Carneiro, J E S

2016-07-29

Recombinant inbred lines (RILs) are a valuable resource for building genetic linkage maps. The presence of genetic variability in the RILs is essential for detecting associations between molecular markers and loci controlling agronomic traits of interest. The main goal of this study was to quantify the genetic diversity of a common bean RIL population derived from a cross between Rudá (Mesoamerican gene pool) and AND 277 (Andean gene pool). This population was developed by the single seed descent method from 500 F2 plants until the F10 generation. Seven quantitative traits were evaluated in the field in 393 RILs, the parental lines, and five control cultivars. The plants were grown using a randomized block design with additional controls and three replicates. Significant differences were observed among the RILs for all evaluated traits (P < 0.01). A comparison of the RILs and parental lines showed significant differences (P < 0.01) for the number of days to flowering (DFL) and to harvest (DH), productivity (PROD) and mass of 100 beans (M100); however, there were no significant differences for plant architecture, degree of seed flatness, or seed shape. These results indicate the occurrence of additive x additive epistatic interactions for DFL, DH, PROD, and M100. The 393 RILs were shown to fall into 10 clusters using Tocher's method. This RIL population clearly contained genetic variability for the evaluated traits, and this variability will be crucial for future studies involving genetic mapping and quantitative trait locus identification and analysis.

17 CFR 140.735-2 - Prohibited transactions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... natural resource operations. The prohibitions in paragraphs (b)(1)(i) and (ii) of this section shall not... natural resource operation in which the member or employee has a financial interest, if he or she is not...) other than one operated by a person who is a commodity pool operator with respect to such entity if the...

40 CFR Appendix A to Subpart F of... - List of Qualified Energy Conservation Measures, Qualified Renewable Generation, and Measures...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... replacements • Customer located power generation based on photovoltaic, solar thermal, biomass, wind or geothermal resources • Swimming pool pump replacements • Gasket replacements • Maintenance/coil cleaning 1... photovoltaic, solar thermal, biomass, wind, and geothermal resources • Energy efficient office equipment...

40 CFR Appendix A to Subpart F of... - List of Qualified Energy Conservation Measures, Qualified Renewable Generation, and Measures...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... replacements • Customer located power generation based on photovoltaic, solar thermal, biomass, wind or geothermal resources • Swimming pool pump replacements • Gasket replacements • Maintenance/coil cleaning 1... photovoltaic, solar thermal, biomass, wind, and geothermal resources • Energy efficient office equipment...

40 CFR Appendix A to Subpart F of... - List of Qualified Energy Conservation Measures, Qualified Renewable Generation, and Measures...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... replacements • Customer located power generation based on photovoltaic, solar thermal, biomass, wind or geothermal resources • Swimming pool pump replacements • Gasket replacements • Maintenance/coil cleaning 1... photovoltaic, solar thermal, biomass, wind, and geothermal resources • Energy efficient office equipment...

40 CFR Appendix A to Subpart F of... - List of Qualified Energy Conservation Measures, Qualified Renewable Generation, and Measures...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... replacements • Customer located power generation based on photovoltaic, solar thermal, biomass, wind or geothermal resources • Swimming pool pump replacements • Gasket replacements • Maintenance/coil cleaning 1... photovoltaic, solar thermal, biomass, wind, and geothermal resources • Energy efficient office equipment...

40 CFR Appendix A to Subpart F of... - List of Qualified Energy Conservation Measures, Qualified Renewable Generation, and Measures...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... replacements • Customer located power generation based on photovoltaic, solar thermal, biomass, wind or geothermal resources • Swimming pool pump replacements • Gasket replacements • Maintenance/coil cleaning 1... photovoltaic, solar thermal, biomass, wind, and geothermal resources • Energy efficient office equipment...

THE COMMUNITY RESOURCES POOL SEMINAR DESCRIPTIONS.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

SATURDAY MORNING SEMINARS FOR ELEMENTARY AND SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS WERE CONDUCTED WITH PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE PERSONS AS TEACHERS. THE PROGRAM WAS VOLUNTARY. THREE 9-WEEK SEMINARS WERE CONDUCTED IN THE FALL. SUBJECTS STUDIED WERE MICROBIOLOGY AND ZOOLOGY (6TH GRADE), COMPUTER MATH (7TH AND 8TH GRADE), AND CHEMISTRY (GRADES 9-12). DURING THE…

COMMUNITY RESOURCES POOL, SOUTH ORANGETOWN CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT 1.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

FRIEDAN, BETTY

IN OCTOBER, 1962, 250 STUDENTS IN 14 SEMINAR GROUPS, FIFTH GRADERS THROUGH HIGH SCHOOL SENIORS, BECAME SATURDAY "APPRENTICES" TO PROFESSIONAL RESOURCE PERSONS FROM THE COMMUNITY. STUDENTS WITH HIGH INTEREST AND POTENTIAL ATTENDED THE SEMINARS FOR 8 WEEKS IN THE FALL SEMESTER. A SECOND 8-WEEK SERIES WAS PRESENTED IN THE SPRING. THE…

Hemispheres as Independent Resource Systems: Limited-Capacity Processing and Cerebral Specialization.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Friedman, Alinda; Polson, Martha Campbell

1981-01-01

A framework for understanding how cerebral specialization of function contributes to the flexibility of human information processing is presented. The left and right hemispheres together form a system of two mutually inaccessible and finite pools of resources which cannot be made available in different amounts at any given time. (Author/RD)

Bone-eating Osedax females and their 'harems' of dwarf males are recruited from a common larval pool.

PubMed

Vrijenhoek, R C; Johnson, S B; Rouse, G W

2008-10-01

Extreme male dwarfism occurs in Osedax (Annelida: Siboglinidae), marine worms with sessile females that bore into submerged bones. Osedax are hypothesized to use environmental sex determination, in which undifferentiated larvae that settle on bones develop as females, and subsequent larvae that settle on females transform into dwarf males. This study addresses several hypotheses regarding possible recruitment sources for the males: (i) common larval pool--males and females are sampled from a common pool of larvae; (ii) neighbourhood--males are supplied by a limited number of neighbouring females; and (iii) arrhenotoky--males are primarily the sons of host females. Osedax rubiplumus were sampled from submerged whalebones located at 1820-m and 2893-m depths in Monterey Bay, California. Immature females typically did not host males, but mature females maintained male 'harems' that grew exponentially in the number of males as female size increased. Allozyme analysis of the females revealed binomial proportions of nuclear genotypes, an indication of random sexual mating. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA sequences from the male harems and their host females allowed us to reject the arrhenotoky and neighbourhood hypotheses for male recruitment. No significant partitioning of mitochondrial diversity existed between the male and female sexes, or between subsamples of worms collected at different depths or during different years (2002-2007). Mitochondrial sequence diversity was very high in these worms, suggesting that as many as 10(6) females contributed to a common larval pool from which the two sexes were randomly drawn.

A common agenda of global challenges. Japan and U.S. pool resources to tackle global issues including population and HIV / AIDS.

PubMed

1998-05-01

The Common Agenda for Cooperation in Global Perspective is a bilateral partnership established in 1993 between the US and Japan to address important global challenges of the 21st century such as global health and human development, including population and HIV/AIDS, global stability, protection of the global environment, and the advancement of science and technology. On the fifth anniversary of the agenda, representatives of the Japan and the US governments, international organizations, and private sectors discussed ways to further promote US-Japan cooperation under the agenda at a meeting held in Tokyo during March 12-13. Participants of the Common Agenda Open Forum also reviewed efforts made by Japan and the US under the agenda to address population and the environment. Forum participants focused upon developing new ideas for future cooperation between the governments, the private sector, and other nations, especially in the areas of health and the environment. The meeting was jointly organized by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the US Department of State. Attention was also given during talks to diminishing international assistance budgets worldwide.

[Nitrogen bio-cycle in the alpine tundra ecosystem of Changbai Mountain and its comparison with arctic tundra].

PubMed

Wei, Jing; Zhao, Jing-zhu; Deng, Hong-bing; Wu, Gang; Hao, Ying-jie; Shang, Wen-yan

2005-03-01

The nitrogen bio-cycle was discussed in the alpine tundra ecosystem of Changbai Mountain through compartment model. The alpine tundra of Changbai Mountain was compared with Arctic tundra by the common ratio of genus and species in this paper. It was found that the 89.3% of genus and 58.6% of species was the common between Changbai alpine tundra and Arctic tundra while 95.5% of lichen genus and 58.7% lichen species, 82.1% of moss genus and 76.3% of moss species, 93.1% of vascular bundle genus and 40.5% of vascular bundle species were the common, respectively, which made vegetation type or community to be similar between Changbai alpine tundra and Arctic tundra. The total storage of nitrogen was 65220.6 t in the vegetation-plant system of Changbai Mountain, of which soil pool amounted to 99.3%. The nitrogen storage of each compartment was as follows: the vegetation pool, litterfall pool and soil pool were 237.4 t, 145.3 t and 64837.9 t respectively. The transferable amounts of nitrogen were 131.7 t x a(-1), 58 t/a and 73.7 t x a(-1) in the aboveground plant, belowground root system and litterfall of alpine tundra ecosystem of Changbai Mountain.

Trends in future health financing and coverage: future health spending and universal health coverage in 188 countries, 2016-40.

PubMed

2018-05-05

Achieving universal health coverage (UHC) requires health financing systems that provide prepaid pooled resources for key health services without placing undue financial stress on households. Understanding current and future trajectories of health financing is vital for progress towards UHC. We used historical health financing data for 188 countries from 1995 to 2015 to estimate future scenarios of health spending and pooled health spending through to 2040. We extracted historical data on gross domestic product (GDP) and health spending for 188 countries from 1995 to 2015, and projected annual GDP, development assistance for health, and government, out-of-pocket, and prepaid private health spending from 2015 through to 2040 as a reference scenario. These estimates were generated using an ensemble of models that varied key demographic and socioeconomic determinants. We generated better and worse alternative future scenarios based on the global distribution of historic health spending growth rates. Last, we used stochastic frontier analysis to investigate the association between pooled health resources and UHC index, a measure of a country's UHC service coverage. Finally, we estimated future UHC performance and the number of people covered under the three future scenarios. In the reference scenario, global health spending was projected to increase from US$10 trillion (95% uncertainty interval 10 trillion to 10 trillion) in 2015 to $20 trillion (18 trillion to 22 trillion) in 2040. Per capita health spending was projected to increase fastest in upper-middle-income countries, at 4·2% (3·4-5·1) per year, followed by lower-middle-income countries (4·0%, 3·6-4·5) and low-income countries (2·2%, 1·7-2·8). Despite global growth, per capita health spending was projected to range from only $40 (24-65) to $413 (263-668) in 2040 in low-income countries, and from $140 (90-200) to $1699 (711-3423) in lower-middle-income countries. Globally, the share of health spending covered by pooled resources would range widely, from 19·8% (10·3-38·6) in Nigeria to 97·9% (96·4-98·5) in Seychelles. Historical performance on the UHC index was significantly associated with pooled resources per capita. Across the alternative scenarios, we estimate UHC reaching between 5·1 billion (4·9 billion to 5·3 billion) and 5·6 billion (5·3 billion to 5·8 billion) lives in 2030. We chart future scenarios for health spending and its relationship with UHC. Ensuring that all countries have sustainable pooled health resources is crucial to the achievement of UHC. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Copyright © 2018 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Towards dropout training for convolutional neural networks.

PubMed

Wu, Haibing; Gu, Xiaodong

2015-11-01

Recently, dropout has seen increasing use in deep learning. For deep convolutional neural networks, dropout is known to work well in fully-connected layers. However, its effect in convolutional and pooling layers is still not clear. This paper demonstrates that max-pooling dropout is equivalent to randomly picking activation based on a multinomial distribution at training time. In light of this insight, we advocate employing our proposed probabilistic weighted pooling, instead of commonly used max-pooling, to act as model averaging at test time. Empirical evidence validates the superiority of probabilistic weighted pooling. We also empirically show that the effect of convolutional dropout is not trivial, despite the dramatically reduced possibility of over-fitting due to the convolutional architecture. Elaborately designing dropout training simultaneously in max-pooling and fully-connected layers, we achieve state-of-the-art performance on MNIST, and very competitive results on CIFAR-10 and CIFAR-100, relative to other approaches without data augmentation. Finally, we compare max-pooling dropout and stochastic pooling, both of which introduce stochasticity based on multinomial distributions at pooling stage. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Making psycholinguistics musical: self-paced reading time evidence for shared processing of linguistic and musical syntax.

PubMed

Slevc, L Robert; Rosenberg, Jason C; Patel, Aniruddh D

2009-04-01

Linguistic processing, especially syntactic processing, is often considered a hallmark of human cognition; thus, the domain specificity or domain generality of syntactic processing has attracted considerable debate. The present experiments address this issue by simultaneously manipulating syntactic processing demands in language and music. Participants performed self-paced reading of garden path sentences, in which structurally unexpected words cause temporary syntactic processing difficulty. A musical chord accompanied each sentence segment, with the resulting sequence forming a coherent chord progression. When structurally unexpected words were paired with harmonically unexpected chords, participants showed substantially enhanced garden path effects. No such interaction was observed when the critical words violated semantic expectancy or when the critical chords violated timbral expectancy. These results support a prediction of the shared syntactic integration resource hypothesis (Patel, 2003), which suggests that music and language draw on a common pool of limited processing resources for integrating incoming elements into syntactic structures. Notations of the stimuli from this study may be downloaded from pbr.psychonomic-journals.org/content/supplemental.

Tier 3 batch system data locality via managed caches

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fischer, Max; Giffels, Manuel; Jung, Christopher; Kühn, Eileen; Quast, Günter

2015-05-01

Modern data processing increasingly relies on data locality for performance and scalability, whereas the common HEP approaches aim for uniform resource pools with minimal locality, recently even across site boundaries. To combine advantages of both, the High- Performance Data Analysis (HPDA) Tier 3 concept opportunistically establishes data locality via coordinated caches. In accordance with HEP Tier 3 activities, the design incorporates two major assumptions: First, only a fraction of data is accessed regularly and thus the deciding factor for overall throughput. Second, data access may fallback to non-local, making permanent local data availability an inefficient resource usage strategy. Based on this, the HPDA design generically extends available storage hierarchies into the batch system. Using the batch system itself for scheduling file locality, an array of independent caches on the worker nodes is dynamically populated with high-profile data. Cache state information is exposed to the batch system both for managing caches and scheduling jobs. As a result, users directly work with a regular, adequately sized storage system. However, their automated batch processes are presented with local replications of data whenever possible.

Climate change, pink salmon, and the nexus between bottom-up and top-down forcing in the subarctic Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea.

PubMed

Springer, Alan M; van Vliet, Gus B

2014-05-06

Climate change in the last century was associated with spectacular growth of many wild Pacific salmon stocks in the North Pacific Ocean and Bering Sea, apparently through bottom-up forcing linking meteorology to ocean physics, water temperature, and plankton production. One species in particular, pink salmon, became so numerous by the 1990s that they began to dominate other species of salmon for prey resources and to exert top-down control in the open ocean ecosystem. Information from long-term monitoring of seabirds in the Aleutian Islands and Bering Sea reveals that the sphere of influence of pink salmon is much larger than previously known. Seabirds, pink salmon, other species of salmon, and by extension other higher-order predators, are tightly linked ecologically and must be included in international management and conservation policies for sustaining all species that compete for common, finite resource pools. These data further emphasize that the unique 2-y cycle in abundance of pink salmon drives interannual shifts between two alternate states of a complex marine ecosystem.

Environmental controls of C, N and P biogeochemistry in peatland pools.

PubMed

Arsenault, Julien; Talbot, Julie; Moore, Tim R

2018-08-01

Pools are common in northern peatlands but studies have seldom focused on their nutrient biogeochemistry, especially in relation to their morphological characteristics and through seasons. We determined the environmental characteristics controlling carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) biogeochemistry in pools and assessed their evolution over the course of the 2016 growing season in a subboreal ombrotrophic peatland of eastern Canada. We showed that water chemistry variations in 62 pools were significantly explained by depth (81.9%) and the surrounding vegetation type (14.8%), but not by pool area or shape. Shallow pools had larger dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and total nitrogen (TN) concentrations and lower pH than deep pools, while pools surrounded by coniferous trees had more recalcitrant DOC than pools where vegetation was dominated by mosses. The influence of depth on pool biogeochemistry was confirmed by the seasonal survey of pools of different sizes with 47.1% of the variation in pool water chemistry over time significantly explained. Of this, 67.3% was explained by the interaction between time and pool size and 32.7% by pool size alone. P concentrations were small in all pools all summer long and combined with high N:P ratios, are indicative of P-limitation. Our results show that pool biogeochemistry is influenced by internal processes and highlight the spatial and temporal heterogeneity of nutrient biogeochemistry in ombrotrophic peatlands. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

NordicDB: a Nordic pool and portal for genome-wide control data.

PubMed

Leu, Monica; Humphreys, Keith; Surakka, Ida; Rehnberg, Emil; Muilu, Juha; Rosenström, Päivi; Almgren, Peter; Jääskeläinen, Juha; Lifton, Richard P; Kyvik, Kirsten Ohm; Kaprio, Jaakko; Pedersen, Nancy L; Palotie, Aarno; Hall, Per; Grönberg, Henrik; Groop, Leif; Peltonen, Leena; Palmgren, Juni; Ripatti, Samuli

2010-12-01

A cost-efficient way to increase power in a genetic association study is to pool controls from different sources. The genotyping effort can then be directed to large case series. The Nordic Control database, NordicDB, has been set up as a unique resource in the Nordic area and the data are available for authorized users through the web portal (http://www.nordicdb.org). The current version of NordicDB pools together high-density genome-wide SNP information from ∼5000 controls originating from Finnish, Swedish and Danish studies and shows country-specific allele frequencies for SNP markers. The genetic homogeneity of the samples was investigated using multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis and pairwise allele frequency differences between the studies. The plot of the first two MDS components showed excellent resemblance to the geographical placement of the samples, with a clear NW-SE gradient. We advise researchers to assess the impact of population structure when incorporating NordicDB controls in association studies. This harmonized Nordic database presents a unique genome-wide resource for future genetic association studies in the Nordic countries.

NordicDB: a Nordic pool and portal for genome-wide control data

PubMed Central

Leu, Monica; Humphreys, Keith; Surakka, Ida; Rehnberg, Emil; Muilu, Juha; Rosenström, Päivi; Almgren, Peter; Jääskeläinen, Juha; Lifton, Richard P; Kyvik, Kirsten Ohm; Kaprio, Jaakko; Pedersen, Nancy L; Palotie, Aarno; Hall, Per; Grönberg, Henrik; Groop, Leif; Peltonen, Leena; Palmgren, Juni; Ripatti, Samuli

2010-01-01

A cost-efficient way to increase power in a genetic association study is to pool controls from different sources. The genotyping effort can then be directed to large case series. The Nordic Control database, NordicDB, has been set up as a unique resource in the Nordic area and the data are available for authorized users through the web portal (http://www.nordicdb.org). The current version of NordicDB pools together high-density genome-wide SNP information from ∼5000 controls originating from Finnish, Swedish and Danish studies and shows country-specific allele frequencies for SNP markers. The genetic homogeneity of the samples was investigated using multidimensional scaling (MDS) analysis and pairwise allele frequency differences between the studies. The plot of the first two MDS components showed excellent resemblance to the geographical placement of the samples, with a clear NW–SE gradient. We advise researchers to assess the impact of population structure when incorporating NordicDB controls in association studies. This harmonized Nordic database presents a unique genome-wide resource for future genetic association studies in the Nordic countries. PMID:20664631

Cross stratum resources protection in fog-computing-based radio over fiber networks for 5G services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Guo, Shaoyong; Shao, Sujie; Wang, Yao; Yang, Hui

2017-09-01

In order to meet the requirement of internet of things (IoT) and 5G, the cloud radio access network is a paradigm which converges all base stations computational resources into a cloud baseband unit (BBU) pool, while the distributed radio frequency signals are collected by remote radio head (RRH). A precondition for centralized processing in the BBU pool is an interconnection fronthaul network with high capacity and low delay. However, it has become more complex and frequent in the interaction between RRH and BBU and resource scheduling among BBUs in cloud. Cloud radio over fiber network has been proposed in our previous work already. In order to overcome the complexity and latency, in this paper, we first present a novel cross stratum resources protection (CSRP) architecture in fog-computing-based radio over fiber networks (F-RoFN) for 5G services. Additionally, a cross stratum protection (CSP) scheme considering the network survivability is introduced in the proposed architecture. The CSRP with CSP scheme can effectively pull the remote processing resource locally to implement the cooperative radio resource management, enhance the responsiveness and resilience to the dynamic end-to-end 5G service demands, and globally optimize optical network, wireless and fog resources. The feasibility and efficiency of the proposed architecture with CSP scheme are verified on our software defined networking testbed in terms of service latency, transmission success rate, resource occupation rate and blocking probability.

Patient characteristics associated with venous thromboembolic events: a cohort study using pooled electronic health record data

PubMed Central

Foster, Wendy; Gilder, Jason; Love, Thomas E; Jain, Anil K

2012-01-01

Objective To demonstrate the potential of de-identified clinical data from multiple healthcare systems using different electronic health records (EHR) to be efficiently used for very large retrospective cohort studies. Materials and methods Data of 959 030 patients, pooled from multiple different healthcare systems with distinct EHR, were obtained. Data were standardized and normalized using common ontologies, searchable through a HIPAA-compliant, patient de-identified web application (Explore; Explorys Inc). Patients were 26 years or older seen in multiple healthcare systems from 1999 to 2011 with data from EHR. Results Comparing obese, tall subjects with normal body mass index, short subjects, the venous thromboembolic events (VTE) OR was 1.83 (95% CI 1.76 to 1.91) for women and 1.21 (1.10 to 1.32) for men. Weight had more effect then height on VTE. Compared with Caucasian, Hispanic/Latino subjects had a much lower risk of VTE (female OR 0.47, 0.41 to 0.55; male OR 0.24, 0.20 to 0.28) and African-Americans a substantially higher risk (female OR 1.83, 1.76 to 1.91; male OR 1.58, 1.50 to 1.66). This 13-year retrospective study of almost one million patients was performed over approximately 125 h in 11 weeks, part time by the five authors. Discussion As research informatics tools develop and more clinical data become available in EHR, it is important to study and understand unique opportunities for clinical research informatics to transform the scale and resources needed to perform certain types of clinical research. Conclusions With the right clinical research informatics tools and EHR data, some types of very large cohort studies can be completed with minimal resources. PMID:22759621

Violations identified from routine swimming pool inspections--selected states and counties, United States, 2008.

PubMed

2010-05-21

Swimming is the third most popular U.S. sport or exercise activity, with approximately 314 million visits to recreational water venues, including treated venues (e.g., pools), each year. The most frequently reported type of recreational water illness (RWI) outbreak is gastroenteritis, the incidence of which is increasing. During 1997--2006, chlorine- and bromine-susceptible pathogens (e.g., Shigella and norovirus) caused 24 (23%) of 104 treated venue--associated RWI outbreaks of gastroenteritis, indicating lapses in proper operation of pools. Pool inspectors help minimize the risk for RWIs and injuries by enforcing regulations that govern public treated recreational water venues. To assess pool code compliance, CDC analyzed 2008 data from 121,020 routine pool inspections conducted by a convenience sample of 15 state and local agencies. Because pool codes and, therefore, inspection items differed across jurisdictions, reported denominators varied. Of 111,487 inspections, 13,532 (12.1%) resulted in immediate closure because of serious violations (e.g., lack of disinfectant in the water). Of 120,975 inspections, 12,917 (10.7%) identified disinfectant level violations. Although these results likely are not representative of all pools in the United States, they suggest the need for increased public health scrutiny and improved pool operation. The results also demonstrate that pool inspection data can be used as a potential source for surveillance to guide resource allocation and regulatory decision-making. Collecting pool inspection data in a standardized, electronic format can facilitate routine analysis to support efforts to reduce health and safety risks for swimmers.

Penobscot Experimental Forest: resources, administration, and mission

Treesearch

Alan J. Kimball

2014-01-01

The Penobscot Experimental Forest (PEF) was established more than 60 years ago as a result of private forest landowners' interest in supporting forest research in Maine. In 1950, nine pulp and paper and land-holding companies pooled resources and purchased almost 4,000 acres of land in east-central Maine. The property was named the Penobscot Experimental Forest...

Understanding the Greenhouse Effect by Embodiment--Analysing and Using Students' and Scientists' Conceptual Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Niebert, Kai; Gropengießer, Harald

2014-01-01

Over the last 20 years, science education studies have reported that there are very different understandings among students of science regarding the key aspects of climate change. We used the cognitive linguistic framework of experientialism to shed new light on this valuable pool of studies to identify the conceptual resources of understanding…

Department of Land and Natural Resources

Science.gov Websites

with trees and view of the ocean Read More Aquatic Resources image of waves breaking over a tide pool State Parks 05/23/18 - Innovative Wood Products for Affordable Housing and Wildfire Prevention; First Forestry & Wildlife Closes Malama KÄ« Forest Reserve; Two State Parks Remain Closed 05/19/18 - DLNR

7 CFR 1470.4 - Allocation and management.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... needs associated with agricultural production in each State based on natural resource factors that... program participation. (b) The State Conservationist will allocate acres to ranking pools, to the extent...

26 CFR 1.263A-10 - Unit of property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... road and clears the land for one house. Under the principles of paragraph (b)(1) of this section, each... project consisting of a condominium building and a common swimming pool that is not held for the..., and each story is occupied by a single condominium. Production of the swimming pool begins in January...

26 CFR 1.263A-10 - Unit of property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... road and clears the land for one house. Under the principles of paragraph (b)(1) of this section, each... project consisting of a condominium building and a common swimming pool that is not held for the..., and each story is occupied by a single condominium. Production of the swimming pool begins in January...

26 CFR 1.263A-10 - Unit of property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-04-01

... road and clears the land for one house. Under the principles of paragraph (b)(1) of this section, each... project consisting of a condominium building and a common swimming pool that is not held for the..., and each story is occupied by a single condominium. Production of the swimming pool begins in January...

26 CFR 1.263A-10 - Unit of property.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-04-01

... road and clears the land for one house. Under the principles of paragraph (b)(1) of this section, each... project consisting of a condominium building and a common swimming pool that is not held for the..., and each story is occupied by a single condominium. Production of the swimming pool begins in January...

Pooled HIV-1 viral load testing using dried blood spots to reduce the cost of monitoring antiretroviral treatment in a resource-limited setting.

PubMed

Pannus, Pieter; Fajardo, Emmanuel; Metcalf, Carol; Coulborn, Rebecca M; Durán, Laura T; Bygrave, Helen; Ellman, Tom; Garone, Daniela; Murowa, Michael; Mwenda, Reuben; Reid, Tony; Preiser, Wolfgang

2013-10-01

Rollout of routine HIV-1 viral load monitoring is hampered by high costs and logistical difficulties associated with sample collection and transport. New strategies are needed to overcome these constraints. Dried blood spots from finger pricks have been shown to be more practical than the use of plasma specimens, and pooling strategies using plasma specimens have been demonstrated to be an efficient method to reduce costs. This study found that combination of finger-prick dried blood spots and a pooling strategy is a feasible and efficient option to reduce costs, while maintaining accuracy in the context of a district hospital in Malawi.

Physical mapping of complex genomes

DOEpatents

Evans, Glen A.

1993-01-01

Method for simultaneous identification of overlapping cosmid clones among multiple cosmid clones and the use of the method for mapping complex genomes are provided. A library of cosmid clones that contains the DNA to be mapped is constructed and arranged in a manner such that individual clones can be identified and replicas of the arranged clones prepared. In preferred embodiments, the clones are arranged in a two dimensional matrix. In such embodiments, the cosmid clones in a row are pooled, mixed probes complementary to the ends of the DNA inserts int he pooled clones are synthesized, hybridized to a first replica of the library. Hybridizing clones, which include the pooled row, are identified. A second portion of clones is prepared by pooling cosmid clones that correspond to a column in the matrix. The second pool thereby includes one clone from the first portion pooled clones. This common clone is located on the replica at the intersection of the column and row. Mixed probes complementary to the ends of the DNA inserts in the second pooled portion of clones are prepared and hybridized to a second replica of the library. The hybridization pattern on the first and second replicas of the library are compared and cross-hybridizing clones, other than the clones in the pooled column and row, that hybridize to identical clones in the first and second replicas are identified. These clones necessarily include DNA inserts that overlap with the DNA insert int he common clone located at the intersection of the pooled row and pooled column. The DNA in the entire library may be mapped by pooling the clones in each of the rows and columns of the matrix, preparing mixed end-specific probes and hybridizing the probes from each row or column to a replica of the library. Since all clones in the library are located at the intersection of a column and a row, the overlapping clones for all clones in the library may be identified and a physical map constructed. In other preferred embodiments, the cosmid clones are arranged in a three dimensional matrix, pooled and compared in threes according to intersecting planes of the three dimensional matrix. Arrangements corresponding to geometries of higher dimensions may also be prepared and used to simultaneously identify overlapping clones in highly complex libraries with relatively few hybridization reactions.

Development of marine biotechnology as a resource for novel proteases and their role in modern biotechnology.

PubMed

Homaei, Ahmad; Lavajoo, Fatemeh; Sariri, Reyhaneh

2016-07-01

Marine environment consists of the largest sources diversified genetic pool of material with an enormous potential for a wide variety of enzymes including proteases. A protease hydrolyzes the peptide bond and most of proteases possess many industrial applications. Marine proteases differ considerably from those found in internal or external organs of invertebrates and vertebrates. In common with all enzymes, external factors such as temperature, pH and type of media are important for the activity, catalytic efficiency, stability and proper functioning of proteases. In this review valuable characteristics of proteases in marine organisms and their applications are gathered from a wide literature survey. Considering their biochemical significance and their increasing importance in biotechnology, a thorough understanding of marine proteases functioning could be of prime importance. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Urban water sustainability: an integrative framework for regional water management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzales, P.; Ajami, N. K.

2015-11-01

Traditional urban water supply portfolios have proven to be unsustainable under the uncertainties associated with growth and long-term climate variability. Introducing alternative water supplies such as recycled water, captured runoff, desalination, as well as demand management strategies such as conservation and efficiency measures, has been widely proposed to address the long-term sustainability of urban water resources. Collaborative efforts have the potential to achieve this goal through more efficient use of common pool resources and access to funding opportunities for supply diversification projects. However, this requires a paradigm shift towards holistic solutions that address the complexity of hydrologic, socio-economic and governance dynamics surrounding water management issues. The objective of this work is to develop a regional integrative framework for the assessment of water resource sustainability under current management practices, as well as to identify opportunities for sustainability improvement in coupled socio-hydrologic systems. We define the sustainability of a water utility as the ability to access reliable supplies to consistently satisfy current needs, make responsible use of supplies, and have the capacity to adapt to future scenarios. To compute a quantitative measure of sustainability, we develop a numerical index comprised of supply, demand, and adaptive capacity indicators, including an innovative way to account for the importance of having diverse supply sources. We demonstrate the application of this framework to the Hetch Hetchy Regional Water System in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. Our analyses demonstrate that water agencies that share common water supplies are in a good position to establish integrative regional management partnerships in order to achieve individual and collective short-term and long-term benefits.

How Can Social Media Lead to Co-Production (Co-Delivery) of New Services for the Elderly Population? A Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Daneshvar, Hadi; Anderson, Stuart; Williams, Robin; Mozaffar, Hajar

2018-02-12

The future of health care services in the European Union faces the triple challenges of aging, fiscal restriction, and inclusion. Co-production offers ways to manage informal care resources to help them cater for the growing needs of elderly people. Social media (SM) is seen as a critical enabler for co-production. The objective of this study was to investigate how SM-private Facebook groups, forums, Twitter, and blogging-acts as an enabler of co-production in health and care by facilitating its four underlying principles: equality, diversity, accessibility, and reciprocity. We used normalization process theory as our theoretical framework to design this study. We conducted a qualitative study and collected data through 20 semistructured interviews and observation of the activities of 10 online groups and individuals. We then used thematic analysis and drew on principles of co-production (equality, diversity, accessibility, and reciprocity) as a deductive coding framework to analyze our findings. Our findings point to distinct patterns of feature use by different people involved in care of elderly people. This diversity makes possible the principles of co-production by offering equality among users, enabling diversity of use, making experiences accessible, and encouraging reciprocity in the sharing of knowledge and mutual support. We also identified that explication of common resources may lead to new forms of competition and conflicts. These conflicts require better management to enhance the coordination of the common pool of resources. SM uses afford new forms of organizing and collective engagement between patients, carers, and professionals, which leads to change in health and care communication and coordination. ©Hadi Daneshvar, Stuart Anderson, Robin Williams, Hajar Mozaffar. Originally published in JMIR Human Factors (http://humanfactors.jmir.org), 12.02.2018.

How Can Social Media Lead to Co-Production (Co-Delivery) of New Services for the Elderly Population? A Qualitative Study

PubMed Central

Anderson, Stuart; Williams, Robin; Mozaffar, Hajar

2018-01-01

Background The future of health care services in the European Union faces the triple challenges of aging, fiscal restriction, and inclusion. Co-production offers ways to manage informal care resources to help them cater for the growing needs of elderly people. Social media (SM) is seen as a critical enabler for co-production. Objective The objective of this study was to investigate how SM—private Facebook groups, forums, Twitter, and blogging—acts as an enabler of co-production in health and care by facilitating its four underlying principles: equality, diversity, accessibility, and reciprocity. Methods We used normalization process theory as our theoretical framework to design this study. We conducted a qualitative study and collected data through 20 semistructured interviews and observation of the activities of 10 online groups and individuals. We then used thematic analysis and drew on principles of co-production (equality, diversity, accessibility, and reciprocity) as a deductive coding framework to analyze our findings. Results Our findings point to distinct patterns of feature use by different people involved in care of elderly people. This diversity makes possible the principles of co-production by offering equality among users, enabling diversity of use, making experiences accessible, and encouraging reciprocity in the sharing of knowledge and mutual support. We also identified that explication of common resources may lead to new forms of competition and conflicts. These conflicts require better management to enhance the coordination of the common pool of resources. Conclusions SM uses afford new forms of organizing and collective engagement between patients, carers, and professionals, which leads to change in health and care communication and coordination. PMID:29434014

Principles and Practices Fostering Inclusive Excellence: Lessons from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Capstone Institutions

PubMed Central

DiBartolo, Patricia Marten; Gregg-Jolly, Leslie; Gross, Deborah; Manduca, Cathryn A.; Iverson, Ellen; Cooke, David B.; Davis, Gregory K.; Davidson, Cameron; Hertz, Paul E.; Hibbard, Lisa; Ireland, Shubha K.; Mader, Catherine; Pai, Aditi; Raps, Shirley; Siwicki, Kathleen; Swartz, Jim E.

2016-01-01

Best-practices pedagogy in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) aims for inclusive excellence that fosters student persistence. This paper describes principles of inclusivity across 11 primarily undergraduate institutions designated as Capstone Awardees in Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s (HHMI) 2012 competition. The Capstones represent a range of institutional missions, student profiles, and geographical locations. Each successfully directed activities toward persistence of STEM students, especially those from traditionally underrepresented groups, through a set of common elements: mentoring programs to build community; research experiences to strengthen scientific skill/identity; attention to quantitative skills; and outreach/bridge programs to broaden the student pool. This paper grounds these program elements in learning theory, emphasizing their essential principles with examples of how they were implemented within institutional contexts. We also describe common assessment approaches that in many cases informed programming and created traction for stakeholder buy-in. The lessons learned from our shared experiences in pursuit of inclusive excellence, including the resources housed on our companion website, can inform others’ efforts to increase access to and persistence in STEM in higher education. PMID:27562960

ECS DAAC Data Pools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kiebuzinski, A. B.; Bories, C. M.; Kalluri, S.

2002-12-01

As part of its Earth Observing System (EOS), NASA supports operations for several satellites including Landsat 7, Terra, and Aqua. ECS (EOSDIS Core System) is a vast archival and distribution system and includes several Distributed Active Archive Centers (DAACs) located around the United States. EOSDIS reached a milestone in February when its data holdings exceeded one petabyte (1,000 terabytes) in size. It has been operational since 1999 and originally was intended to serve a large community of Earth Science researchers studying global climate change. The Synergy Program was initiated in 2000 with the purpose of exploring and expanding the use of remote sensing data beyond the traditional research community to the applications community including natural resource managers, disaster/emergency managers, urban planners and others. This included facilitating data access at the DAACs to enable non-researchers to exploit the data for their specific applications. The combined volume of data archived daily across the DAACs is of the order of three terabytes. These archived data are made available to the research community and to general users of ECS data. Currently, the average data volume distributed daily is two terabytes, which combined with an ever-increasing need for timely access to these data, taxes the ECS processing and archival resources for more real-time use than was previously intended for research purposes. As a result, the delivery of data sets to users was being delayed in many cases, to unacceptable limits. Raytheon, under the auspices of the Synergy Program, investigated methods at making data more accessible at a lower cost of resources (processing and archival) at the DAACs. Large on-line caches (as big as 70 Terabytes) of data were determined to be a solution that would allow users who require contemporary data to access them without having to pull it from the archive. These on-line caches are referred to as "Data Pools." In the Data Pool concept, data is inserted via subscriptions based on ECS events, for example, arrival of data matching a specific spatial context. Upon acquisition, these data are written to the Data Pools as well as to the permanent archive. The data is then accessed via a public Web interface, which provides a drilldown search, using data group, spatial, temporal and other flags. The result set is displayed as a list of ftp links to the data, which the user can click and directly download. Data Pool holdings are continuously renewed as the data is allowed to expire and is replaced by more current insertions. In addition, the Data Pool may also house data sets that though not contemporary, receive significant user attention, i.e. a Chernobyl-type of incident, a flood, or a forest fire. The benefits are that users who require contemporary data can access the data immediately (within 24 hours of acquisition) under a much improved access technique. Users not requiring contemporary data, benefit from the Data Pools by having greater archival and processing resources (and a shorter processing queue) made available to them. All users benefit now from the capability to have standing data orders for data matching a geographic context (spatial subscription), a capability also developed under the Synergy program. The Data Pools are currently being installed and checked at each of the DAACs. Additionally, several improvements to the search capabilities, data manipulation tools and overall storage capacity are being developed and will be installed in the First Quarter of 2003.

A web-oriented software for the optimization of pooled experiments in NGS for detection of rare mutations.

PubMed

Evangelista, Daniela; Zuccaro, Antonio; Lančinskas, Algirdas; Žilinskas, Julius; Guarracino, Mario R

2016-02-17

The cost per patient of next generation sequencing for detection of rare mutations may be significantly reduced using pooled experiments. Recently, some techniques have been proposed for the planning of pooled experiments and for the optimal allocation of patients into pools. However, the lack of a user friendly resource for planning the design of pooled experiments forces the scientists to do frequent, complex and long computations. OPENDoRM is a powerful collection of novel mathematical algorithms usable via an intuitive graphical user interface. It enables researchers to speed up the planning of their routine experiments, as well as, to support scientists without specific bioinformatics expertises. Users can automatically carry out analysis in terms of costs associated with the optimal allocation of patients in pools. They are also able to choose between three distinct pooling mathematical methods, each of which also suggests the optimal configuration for the submitted experiment. Importantly, in order to keep track of the performed experiments, users can save and export the results of their experiments in standard tabular and charts contents. OPENDoRM is a freely available web-oriented application for the planning of pooled NGS experiments, available at: http://www-labgtp.na.icar.cnr.it/OPENDoRM. Its easy and intuitive graphical user interface enables researchers to plan theirs experiments using novel algorithms, and to interactively visualize the results.

The implications of reduced metabolic rate in resource-limited corals.

PubMed

Jacobson, Lianne M; Edmunds, Peter J; Muller, Erik B; Nisbet, Roger M

2016-03-01

Many organisms exhibit depressed metabolism when resources are limited, a change that makes it possible to balance an energy budget. For symbiotic reef corals, daily cycles of light and periods of intense cloud cover can be chronic causes of food limitation through reduced photosynthesis. Furthermore, coral bleaching is common in present-day reefs, creating a context in which metabolic depression could have beneficial value to corals. In the present study, corals (massive Porites spp.) were exposed to an extreme case of resource limitation by starving them of food and light for 20 days. When resources were limited, the corals depressed area-normalized respiration to 37% of initial rates, and coral biomass declined to 64% of initial amounts, yet the corals continued to produce skeletal mass. However, the declines in biomass cannot account for the declines in area-normalized respiration, as mass-specific respiration declined to 30% of the first recorded time point. Thus, these corals appear to be capable of metabolic depression. It is possible that some coral species are better able to depress metabolic rates than others; such variation could explain differential survival during conditions that limit resources (e.g. shading). Furthermore, we found that maintenance of existing biomass, in part, supports the production of skeletal mass. This association could be explained if maintenance supplies needed energy (e.g. ATP) or inorganic carbon (i.e. CO2) that otherwise limits the production of skeletal mass. Finally, the observed metabolic depression can be explained as a change in pool sizes, and does not require a change in metabolic rules. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

Evolution of the pilot infrastructure of CMS: towards a single glideinWMS pool

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Belforte, S.; Gutsche, O.; Letts, J.

2014-01-01

CMS production and analysis job submission is based largely on glideinWMS and pilot submissions. The transition from multiple different submission solutions like gLite WMS and HTCondor-based implementations was carried out over years and is coming now to a conclusion. The historically explained separate glideinWMS pools for different types of production jobs and analysis jobs are being unified into a single global pool. This enables CMS to benefit from global prioritization and scheduling possibilities. It also presents the sites with only one kind of pilots and eliminates the need of having to make scheduling decisions on the CE level. This papermore » provides an analysis of the benefits of a unified resource pool, as well as a description of the resulting global policy. It will explain the technical challenges moving forward and present solutions to some of them.« less

The perceived diversity heuristic: the case of pseudodiversity.

PubMed

Ayal, Shahar; Zakay, Dan

2009-03-01

One of the normative ways to decrease the risk of a pool with uncertainty prospects is to diversify its resources. Thus, decision makers are advised not to put all their eggs in one basket. The authors suggest that decision makers use a perceived diversity heuristic (PDH) to evaluate the risk of a pool by intuitively assessing the diversity of its sources. This heuristic yields biased judgments in cases of pseudodiversity, in which the perceived diversity of a pool is enhanced, although this fact does not change the pool's normative values. The first 3 studies introduce 2 independent sources of pseudodiversity-distinctiveness and multiplicity-showing that these two sources can lead to overdiversification under conditions of gain. In another set of 3 studies, the authors examine the effect of framing on diversification level. The results support the PDH predictions, according to which diversity seeking is obtained under conditions of gain, whereas diversity aversion is obtained under conditions of loss.

Enabling multiplexed testing of pooled donor cells through whole-genome sequencing.

PubMed

Chan, Yingleong; Chan, Ying Kai; Goodman, Daniel B; Guo, Xiaoge; Chavez, Alejandro; Lim, Elaine T; Church, George M

2018-04-19

We describe a method that enables the multiplex screening of a pool of many different donor cell lines. Our method accurately predicts each donor proportion from the pool without requiring the use of unique DNA barcodes as markers of donor identity. Instead, we take advantage of common single nucleotide polymorphisms, whole-genome sequencing, and an algorithm to calculate the proportions from the sequencing data. By testing using simulated and real data, we showed that our method robustly predicts the individual proportions from a mixed-pool of numerous donors, thus enabling the multiplexed testing of diverse donor cells en masse.More information is available at https://pgpresearch.med.harvard.edu/poolseq/.

Fireworks Information Center

MedlinePlus

... Community Outreach Resource Center Toy Recall Statistics CO Poster Contest Pool Safely Business & Manufacturing Business & Manufacturing Business ... This Fourth of July Season View the Fireworks Poster Broadcast Quality Video from CPSC's #CelebrateSafely Fireworks Safety ...

Umweltverschmutzung. German Ecology Packet: Resource Units and Materials for German Classes at All Levels.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Archer, Julie; And Others

Supplementary resource materials for use in upper level secondary school German classes are presented in this text. Teachers who are seeking new content and are willing to adapt these instructional materials on ecology in Germany will find three self-contained units on: The Plight of the Polar Bear, Polluted Swimming Pools in Germany, and Dead…

78 FR 41389 - Free Flow Power Corporation; Notice of Application Ready for Environmental Analysis and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-10

... of Natural Resources on the East Fork White River in Lawrence County, Indiana. No federal lands are... Williams dam is currently owned by the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and impounds a 553-acre reservoir at a normal pool elevation of 472.2 North American Vertical Datum of 1988 (NAVD 88). In addition...

76 FR 76704 - Western Technical College; Notice of Application Tendered for Filing With the Commission and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-12-08

... River, in Mahoning County, Ohio at an existing dam owned by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources... located at the existing Lake Milton Dam, currently owned by the Ohio Department of Natural Resources. Lake...-long reservoir has a surface area of 1,685 acres at a normal pool elevation of 948 feet above mean sea...

Working Memory and Mental Arithmetic: A Case for Dual Central Executive Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ketelsen, Kirk; Welsh, Marilyn

2010-01-01

The current study was designed to examine the possible existence of two limited-capacity pools of central executive resources: one each for verbal and visuospatial processing. Ninety-one college students (M age = 19.0, SD = 2.2) were administered a verbal working memory task that involved updating numbers in 2-, 3-, and 4-load conditions. The task…

Assistive Technology as an Evolving Resource for a Successful Employment Experience

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Murphy, Patricia M.

2005-01-01

Strategic pooling of assistive technology, human resources and funding options has made meaningful employment possible for the 25-year-old man with cerebral palsy who is the subject of this paper. Since graduating from high school four years ago, he has held a part-time job at the warehouse of a bookseller. To perform his job, which involves…

Dynamic provisioning of local and remote compute resources with OpenStack

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Giffels, M.; Hauth, T.; Polgart, F.; Quast, G.

2015-12-01

Modern high-energy physics experiments rely on the extensive usage of computing resources, both for the reconstruction of measured events as well as for Monte-Carlo simulation. The Institut fur Experimentelle Kernphysik (EKP) at KIT is participating in both the CMS and Belle experiments with computing and storage resources. In the upcoming years, these requirements are expected to increase due to growing amount of recorded data and the rise in complexity of the simulated events. It is therefore essential to increase the available computing capabilities by tapping into all resource pools. At the EKP institute, powerful desktop machines are available to users. Due to the multi-core nature of modern CPUs, vast amounts of CPU time are not utilized by common desktop usage patterns. Other important providers of compute capabilities are classical HPC data centers at universities or national research centers. Due to the shared nature of these installations, the standardized software stack required by HEP applications cannot be installed. A viable way to overcome this constraint and offer a standardized software environment in a transparent manner is the usage of virtualization technologies. The OpenStack project has become a widely adopted solution to virtualize hardware and offer additional services like storage and virtual machine management. This contribution will report on the incorporation of the institute's desktop machines into a private OpenStack Cloud. The additional compute resources provisioned via the virtual machines have been used for Monte-Carlo simulation and data analysis. Furthermore, a concept to integrate shared, remote HPC centers into regular HEP job workflows will be presented. In this approach, local and remote resources are merged to form a uniform, virtual compute cluster with a single point-of-entry for the user. Evaluations of the performance and stability of this setup and operational experiences will be discussed.

Preliminary Cultural Resource Survey and Geomorphological Assessment of Selected Areas in Navigation Pool 16, Mississippi River.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-06-01

Dated Sites in Pool 16 .............. 28 OR 2. Stream Gauge Data for Historical - Floods, Illinois and Mississippi Canal Lock 32 (U. S. Corps of...the ridge was 30 TABLE 2 STREAM GAUGE DATA FOR HISTORICAL FLOODS, ILLINOIS AND MISSISSIPPI CANAL LOCK 32 (U. S. CORPS OF ENGINEERS 1981) Rank Order of...result of back- water activity rather than active throughflow similar to that experienced in the 1890s. Judging from river gauge records dating from

Occult HBV infection in HIV-infected adults and evaluation of pooled NAT for HBV.

PubMed

Dinesha, T R; Boobalan, J; Sivamalar, S; Subashini, D; Solomon, S S; Murugavel, K G; Balakrishnan, P; Smith, D M; Saravanan, S

2018-06-01

The study aimed to determine the prevalence of occult hepatitis B virus infection among HIV-infected persons and to evaluate the use of a pooling strategy to detect occult HBV infection in the setting of HIV infection. Five hundred and two HIV-positive individuals were tested for HBV, occult HBV and hepatitis C and D with serologic and nucleic acid testing (NAT). We also evaluated a pooled NAT strategy for screening occult HBV infection among the HIV-positive individuals. The prevalence of HBV infection among HIV-positive individuals was 32 (6.4%), and occult HBV prevalence was 10%. The pooling HBV NAT had a sensitivity of 66.7% and specificity of 100%, compared to HBV DNA NAT of individual samples. In conclusion, this study found a high prevalence of occult HBV infection among our HIV-infected population. We also demonstrated that pooled HBV NAT is highly specific, moderately sensitive and cost-effective. As conventional HBV viral load assays are expensive in resource-limited settings such as India, pooled HBV DNA NAT might be a good way for detecting occult HBV infection and will reduce HBV-associated complications. © 2018 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Experimental study on the stability and failure of individual step-pool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Chendi; Xu, Mengzhen; Hassan, Marwan A.; Chartrand, Shawn M.; Wang, Zhaoyin

2018-06-01

Step-pools are one of the most common bedforms in mountain streams, the stability and failure of which play a significant role for riverbed stability and fluvial processes. Given this importance, flume experiments were performed with a manually constructed step-pool model. The experiments were carried out with a constant flow rate to study features of step-pool stability as well as failure mechanisms. The results demonstrate that motion of the keystone grain (KS) caused 90% of the total failure events. The pool reached its maximum depth and either exhibited relative stability for a period before step failure, which was called the stable phase, or the pool collapsed before its full development. The critical scour depth for the pool increased linearly with discharge until the trend was interrupted by step failure. Variability of the stable phase duration ranged by one order of magnitude, whereas variability of pool scour depth was constrained within 50%. Step adjustment was detected in almost all of the runs with step-pool failure and was one or two orders smaller than the diameter of the step stones. Two discharge regimes for step-pool failure were revealed: one regime captures threshold conditions and frames possible step-pool failure, whereas the second regime captures step-pool failure conditions and is the discharge of an exceptional event. In the transitional stage between the two discharge regimes, pool and step adjustment magnitude displayed relatively large variabilities, which resulted in feedbacks that extended the duration of step-pool stability. Step adjustment, which was a type of structural deformation, increased significantly before step failure. As a result, we consider step deformation as the direct explanation to step-pool failure rather than pool scour, which displayed relative stability during step deformations in our experiments.

Metastatic involvement of the pituitary gland: a systematic review with pooled individual patient data analysis.

PubMed

He, Wenzhuan; Chen, Fangxiang; Dalm, Brian; Kirby, Patricia A; Greenlee, Jeremy D W

2015-02-01

To report a rare case of pituitary metastasis (PM) from hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and help better understand the incidence of PM and its most common presenting symptoms through a pooled individual patient data analysis. Literature regarding PM was systematically reviewed with a pooled individual patient data analysis conducted. Pooled individual data analysis result is also compared with the result in a most recent systematic review. Our results demonstrate that the incidence of PM among all intracranial metastases is 0.87% (95% CI 0.56, 1.18); it is 1.9% (95% CI 1.46, 2.34) among all autopsied cancer cases; it is 11.56% (95% CI 7.08, 16.04) among all breast cancer patients who had hypophysectomies and 12.83% (95% CI 10.5, 15.16) among all autopsied breast cancer patients. The fixed effect model showed that the incidence of PM in breast cancer patients group is significantly higher (p < 0.001) with an odds ratio of 6.71 (95% CI 4.24, 10.61). Breast and lung cancer are the most common primary cancer of PM with a percentage of 37.2 and 24.2 respectively. The next most common primary sites are prostate and kidney respectively, although the percentages for each are only about 5. Diabetes insipidus (DI) remains the most common symptom among all reported PM cases with a pooled incidence of 42.34% (95% CI 36.15, 48.53). Although not significant (χ(2) = 2.846, df = 1, p = 0.061), it is less common in the most recent reported cases which has a pooled incidence of 32.76% (95% CI 20.31, 45.21). DI is extremely rare in the reported PM cases from HCC (none of the eight cases presented with DI). The symptoms of anterior hypopituitarism (23.68 vs 39.66%, p = 0.015), visual deterioration (27.89 vs 41.38%, p = 0.039), cranial nerve palsies (21.58 vs 41.38%, p = 0.003) and headaches (15.79 vs 32.76%, p = 0.005) were reported significantly higher than previously described in the literature. Pituitary metastasis is rare in patients with cancer, and the pituitary gland is an uncommonly involved location in patients with intracranial metastases. With advanced diagnostic imaging techniques and increased awareness about the manifestation of sellar lesions, the incidence of cranial nerve palsies and anterior pituitarism are higher than reported. This information may allow earlier diagnosis of PM.

Preliminary assessment of mercury accumulation in Massachusetts and Minnesota seasonal forest pools

Treesearch

Robert T. Brooks; Susan L. Eggert; Keith H. Nislow; Randall K. Kolka; Celia Y. Chen; Darren M. Ward

2012-01-01

Seasonal forest pools (SFPs) are common, widespread, and provide critical habitat for amphibians and invertebrates. The ephemeral hydrology of SFPs has been identified as an important factor in the production of biologically active methylmercury (MeHg). To investigate mercury (Hg) in SFPs, we collected water, fine benthic organic matter (FBOM), detrital materials, and...

schwimmbad: A uniform interface to parallel processing pools in Python

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Price-Whelan, Adrian M.; Foreman-Mackey, Daniel

2017-09-01

Many scientific and computing problems require doing some calculation on all elements of some data set. If the calculations can be executed in parallel (i.e. without any communication between calculations), these problems are said to be perfectly parallel. On computers with multiple processing cores, these tasks can be distributed and executed in parallel to greatly improve performance. A common paradigm for handling these distributed computing problems is to use a processing "pool": the "tasks" (the data) are passed in bulk to the pool, and the pool handles distributing the tasks to a number of worker processes when available. schwimmbad provides a uniform interface to parallel processing pools and enables switching easily between local development (e.g., serial processing or with multiprocessing) and deployment on a cluster or supercomputer (via, e.g., MPI or JobLib).

Tunable, self-powered integrated arc plasma-melter vitrification system for waste treatment and resource recovery

DOEpatents

Titus, Charles H.; Cohn, Daniel R.; Surma, Jeffrey E.

1998-01-01

The present invention provides a relatively compact self-powered, tunable waste conversion system and apparatus which has the advantage of highly robust operation which provides complete or substantially complete conversion of a wide range of waste streams into useful gas and a stable, nonleachable solid product at a single location with greatly reduced air pollution to meet air quality standards. The system provides the capability for highly efficient conversion of waste into high quality combustible gas and for high efficiency conversion of the gas into electricity by utilizing a high efficiency gas turbine or by an internal combustion engine. The solid product can be suitable for various commercial applications. Alternatively, the solid product stream, which is a safe, stable material, may be disposed of without special considerations as hazardous material. In the preferred embodiment of the invention, the arc plasma furnace and joule heated melter are formed as a fully integrated unit with a common melt pool having circuit arrangements for the simultaneous independently controllable operation of both the arc plasma and the joule heated portions of the unit without interference with one another. The preferred configuration of this embodiment of the invention utilizes two arc plasma electrodes with an elongated chamber for the molten pool such that the molten pool is capable of providing conducting paths between electrodes. The apparatus may additionally be employed with reduced or without further use of the gases generated by the conversion process. The apparatus may be employed as a self-powered or net electricity producing unit where use of an auxiliary fuel provides the required level of electricity production.

Trade-offs between larval survival and adult ornament development depend on predator regime in a territorial dragonfly.

PubMed

Moore, Michael P; Martin, Ryan A

2018-05-28

Trade-offs between juvenile survival and the development of sexually selected traits can cause ontogenetic conflict between life stages that constrains adaptive evolution. However, the potential for ecological interactions to alter the presence or strength of these trade-offs remains largely unexplored. Antagonistic selection over the accumulation and storage of resources could be one common cause of environment-specific trade-offs between life stages: higher condition may simultaneously enhance adult ornament development and increase juvenile vulnerability to predators. We tested this hypothesis in an ornamented dragonfly (Pachydiplax longipennis). Higher larval body condition indeed enhanced the initial development of its intrasexually selected wing coloration, but was opposed by viability selection in the presence of large aeshnid predators. In contrast, viability selection did not oppose larval body condition in pools when aeshnids were absent, and was not affected when we manipulated cannibalism risk. Trade-offs between larval survival and ornament development, mediated through the conflicting effects of body condition, therefore occurred only under high predation risk. We additionally characterized how body condition influences several traits associated with predator avoidance. Although body condition did not affect burst distance, it did increase larval abdomen size, potentially making larvae easier targets for aeshnid predators. As high body condition similarly increases vulnerability to predators in many other animals, predator-mediated costs of juvenile resource accumulation could be a common, environment-specific limitation on the elaboration of sexually selected traits.

The UNITAID Patent Pool Initiative: Bringing Patents Together for the Common Good.

PubMed

Bermudez, Jorge; 't Hoen, Ellen

2010-01-19

Developing and delivering appropriate, affordable, well-adapted medicines for HIV/AIDS remains an urgent challenge: as first-line therapies fail, increasing numbers of people require costly second-line therapy; one-third of ARVs are not available in pediatric formulations; and certain key first- and second-line triple fixed-dose combinations do not exist or sufficient suppliers are lacking. UNITAID aims to help solve these problems through an innovative initiative for the collective management of intellectual property (IP) rights - a patent pool for HIV medicines. The idea behind a patent pool is that patent holders - companies, governments, researchers or universities - voluntarily offer, under certain conditions, the IP related to their inventions to the patent pool. Any company that wants to use the IP to produce or develop medicines can seek a license from the pool against the payment of royalties, and may then produce the medicines for use in developing countries (conditional upon meeting agreed quality standards). The patent pool will be a voluntary mechanism, meaning its success will largely depend on the willingness of pharmaceutical companies to participate and commit their IP to the pool. Generic producers must also be willing to cooperate. The pool has the potential to provide benefits to all.

Designing ARVs Patent Pool Up to Trade & Policy Evolutionary Dynamics

PubMed Central

Dionisio, Daniele; Racalbuto, Vincenzo; Messeri, Daniela

2010-01-01

Patent pools for second and third-line Fixed Dose Combination (FDC) antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) should not be delayed as they are instrumental to urgent public health needs in the under-served markets. Nonetheless, multinational originator companies still seem to perceive patent pooling for ARVs as a minefield that would offer the generic competitors lots of deeply exploitable opportunities, to the detriment of patent owner’s rights. This paper analyses the brand industry concerns, while looking for a strategy up to a really equitable and free world market, without any discrimination between end-users in wealthy and resource-limited countries. This strategy would urge partnerships between originator companies first to make newer FDC ARVs quickly available and allow patent pool agreements with generic counterparts to be negotiated straight afterwards. The patent pool strategy highlighted in this paper would assert the primacy of health over for-profit policies, while aligning with the 61st WHO’s Assembly recommendations and G7, G8 and World Trade Organisation’s warnings and pledges against trade protectionism. PMID:20200604

Challenge Pools of Hepatitis C Virus Genotypes 1–6 Prototype Strains: Replication Fitness and Pathogenicity in Chimpanzees and Human Liver–Chimeric Mouse Models

PubMed Central

Bukh, Jens; Meuleman, Philip; Tellier, Raymond; Engle, Ronald E.; Feinstone, Stephen M.; Eder, Gerald; Satterfield, William C.; Govindarajan, Sugantha; Krawczynski, Krzysztof; Miller, Roger H.; Leroux-Roels, Geert; Purcell, Robert H.

2010-01-01

Chimpanzees represent the only animal model for studies of the natural history of hepatitis C virus (HCV). To generate virus stocks of important HCV variants, we infected chimpanzees with HCV strains of genotypes 1–6 and determined the infectivity titer of acute-phase plasma pools in additional animals. The courses of first- and second-passage infections were similar, with early appearance of viremia, HCV RNA titers of >104.7 IU/mL, and development of acute hepatitis; the chronicity rate was 56%. The challenge pools had titers of 103–105 chimpanzee infectious doses/mL. Human liver–chimeric mice developed high-titer infections after inoculation with the challenge viruses of genotypes 1–6. Inoculation studies with different doses of the genotype 1b pool suggested that a relatively high virus dose is required to consistently infect chimeric mice. The challenge pools represent a unique resource for studies of HCV molecular virology and for studies of pathogenesis, protective immunity, and vaccine efficacy in vivo. PMID:20353362

Cambrian-Ordovician Knox production in Ohio: Three case studies of structural-stratigraphic traps

USGS Publications Warehouse

Riley, R.A.; Wicks, J.; Thomas, Joan

2002-01-01

The Knox Dolomite (Cambrian-Ordovician) in Ohio consists of a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic sequence deposited in a tidal-flat to shallow-marine environment along a broad continental shelf. Knox hydrocarbon production occurs in porous sandstone and dolomite reservoirs in the Copper Ridge dolomite, Rose Run sandstone, and Beekmantown dolomite. In Ohio, historical Knox exploration and development have been focused on paleogeomorphic traps within the prolific Morrow Consolidated field, and more recently, within and adjacent to the Rose Run subcrop. Although these paleogeomorphic traps have yielded significant Knox production, structural and stratigraphic traps are being largely ignored. Three Knox-producing pools demonstrate structural and stratigraphic traps: the Birmingham-Erie pool in southern Erie and southwestern Lorain counties, the South Canaan pool in northern Wayne County, and the East Randolph pool in south-central Portage County. Enhanced porosity and permeability from fractures, as evident in the East Randolph pool, are also an underexplored mechanism for Knox hydrocarbon accumulation. An estimated 800 bcf of gas from undiscovered Knox resources makes the Knox one of the most attractive plays in the Appalachian basin.

Nosocomial outbreak of Pseudomonas aeruginosa folliculitis associated with a physiotherapy pool.

PubMed Central

Schlech, W F; Simonsen, N; Sumarah, R; Martin, R S

1986-01-01

Outbreaks of community-acquired Pseudomonas aeruginosa folliculitis have recently been described in association with health spa whirlpools. In February 1984 we detected an outbreak of Pseudomonas folliculitis among hospital staff and patients using a swimming pool in a newly constructed physiotherapy unit. A rash developed in 5 (45%) of the 11 physiotherapists who had used the pool, as compared with 0 of the 17 who had not (p less than 0 005). Pseudomonas folliculitis also developed in 6 (21%) of 29 outpatients and 4 (33%) of 12 inpatients who had used the facility; Pseudomonas infection of a surgical wound also developed in 1 of the 4 inpatients. The epidemic curve was consistent with a continuing common-source outbreak. P. aeruginosa, serotype O:10, was isolated from three physiotherapists, the patient with an infected surgical wound and the pool. A case-control study of pool users did not identify risk factors for infection, although the physiotherapists had spent longer in the pool than had the patients. After hyperchlorination and structural repairs to the pool, no further cases were identified among pool users. This outbreak is the first reported nosocomial outbreak of Pseudomonas folliculitis. Further investigation is needed to determine the risk of serious Pseudomonas infections in hospitalized patients using physiotherapy pools. Images Fig. 1 PMID:3955486

Spontaneous diffusion of an effective skin cancer prevention program through Web-based access to program materials.

PubMed

Hall, Dawn M; Escoffery, Cam; Nehl, Eric; Glanz, Karen

2010-11-01

Little information exists about the diffusion of evidence-based interventions, a process that can occur naturally in organized networks with established communication channels. This article describes the diffusion of an effective skin cancer prevention program called Pool Cool through available Web-based program materials. We used self-administered surveys to collect information from program users about access to and use of Web-based program materials. We analyzed the content of e-mails sent to the official Pool Cool Web site to obtain qualitative information about spontaneous diffusion. Program users were dispersed throughout the United States, most often learning about the program through a Web site (32%), publication (26%), or colleague (19%). Most respondents (86%) reported that their pool provided educational activities at swimming lessons. The Leader's Guide (59%) and lesson cards (50%) were the most commonly downloaded materials, and most respondents reported using these core items sometimes, often, or always. Aluminum sun-safety signs were the least frequently used materials. A limited budget was the most commonly noted obstacle to sun-safety efforts at the pool (85%). Factors supporting sun safety at the pool centered around risk management (85%) and health of the pool staff (78%). Diffusion promotes the use of evidence-based health programs and can occur with and without systematic efforts. Strategies such as providing well-packaged, user-friendly program materials at low or no cost and strategic advertisement of the availability of program materials may increase program use and exposure. Furthermore, highlighting the benefits of the program can motivate potential program users.

Shell carbon isotope indicators of metabolic activity in the deep-sea mussel Bathymodiolus childressi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Riekenberg, P. M.; Carney, R. S.; Fry, B.

2018-04-01

The incorporation of metabolic carbon (Cm) into shells of mollusks has been used as an indicator of animal condition and availability of food resources in estuarine and freshwater settings. This study examines Cm in Bathymodiolus childressi, a marine cold seep mussel dependent on methanotrophic symbionts. As seeps develop, mature, and go quiescent, methane supply will vary and affect the amount of metabolic carbon deposited into the growing shell. B. childressi (n = 136) were live-collected from two seep sites over a 17 year period in the Northern Gulf of Mexico to investigate whether changes in Cm were detectable between sites and across years. Significant differences in Cm were observed between mussel populations at Brine Pool (15.4 ± 0.4%) and Bush Hill (10.3 ± 0.3%). Cm also changed significantly within each site across year (Bush Hill 1991: 12.2 ± 0.5%, 1992: 17.3 ± 0.8%) and decadal time scales (Brine Pool 1989: 15.5 ± 0.7%, 2006: 19.5 ± 0.7%). These findings agree with previous studies that found mussel condition was higher at Brine Pool and correlate well with a trophic mixing model that indicated significantly higher methane source utilization at the Brine Pool (65 ± 1.1%) than at Bush Hill (49 ± 1.6%). Further development of this method should allow for assessment of Cm in shell assemblages as an indicator of historical resource availability at both active and former cold seep sites.

Establishing the Bases for Introducing the Unexplored Portuguese Common Bean Germplasm into the Breeding World

PubMed Central

Leitão, Susana T.; Dinis, Marco; Veloso, Maria M.; Šatović, Zlatko; Vaz Patto, Maria C.

2017-01-01

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is among the most important grain legumes for human consumption worldwide. Portugal has a potentially promising common bean germplasm, resulting from more than five centuries of natural adaptation and farmers' selection. Nevertheless, limited characterization of this resource hampers its exploitation by breeding programs. To support a more efficient conservation of the national bean germplasm and promote its use in crop improvement, we performed, for the first time, a simultaneous molecular marker (21 microsatellites and a DNA marker for phaseolin-type diversity analysis) and seed and plant morphological characterization (14 traits) of 175 accessions from Portuguese mainland and islands traditional bean-growing regions. A total of 188 different alleles were identified and an average pairwise Cavalli-Sforza and Edwards' chord genetic distance of 0.193 was estimated among accessions. To relate the Portuguese germplasm with the global common bean diversity, 17 wild relatives and representative accessions from the Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools were evaluated at the molecular level. No correlation was detected between the variability found and the geographic origin of accessions. Structure analysis divided the collection into three main clusters. Most of the Portuguese accessions grouped with the race representatives and wild relatives from the Andean region. One third of the national germplasm had admixed genetic origin and might represent putative hybrids among gene pools from the two original centers of domestication in the Andes and Mesoamerica. The molecular marker-based classification was largely congruent with the three most frequent phaseolin haplotype patterns observed in the accessions analyzed. Seed and plant morphological characterization of 150 Portuguese common bean accessions revealed a clear separation among genetic structure and phaseolin haplotype groups of accessions, with seed size and shape and the number of locules per pod the most discriminant traits. Additionally, we used molecular and morphological data to develop a series of smaller core collections that, by maximizing the genetic and morphological diversity of the original collection, represents the Portuguese common bean germplasm with minimum repetitiveness. A core collection with 37 accessions contained 100% of the genetic variation found in the entire collection. This core collection is appropriate for a more detailed characterization and should be explored, as a priority, in national and international common bean breeding efforts. Furthermore, the identified intermediate accessions (with admixed genetic origin) may have novel genetic combinations useful in future bean breeding. PMID:28798757

Process, policy, and implementation of pool-wide drawdowns on the Upper Mississippi River: a promising approach for ecological restoration of large impounded rivers

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kenow, Kevin P.; Gretchen Benjamin,; Tim Schlagenhaft,; Ruth Nissen,; Mary Stefanski,; Gary Wege,; Scott A. Jutila,; Newton, Teresa J.

2016-01-01

The Upper Mississippi River (UMR) has been developed and subsequently managed for commercial navigation by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The navigation pools created by a series of lock and dams initially provided a complex of aquatic habitats that supported a variety of fish and wildlife. However, biological productivity declined as the pools aged. The River Resources Forum, an advisory body to the St. Paul District of the USACE, established a multiagency Water Level Management Task Force (WLMTF) to evaluate the potential of water level management to improve ecological function and restore the distribution and abundance of fish and wildlife habitat. The WLMTF identified several water level management options and concluded that summer growing season drawdowns at the pool scale offered the greatest potential to provide habitat benefits over a large area. Here we summarize the process followed to plan and implement pool-wide drawdowns on the UMR, including involvement of stakeholders in decision making, addressing requirements to modify reservoir operating plans, development and evaluation of drawdown alternatives, pool selection, establishment of a monitoring plan, interagency coordination, and a public information campaign. Three pool-wide drawdowns were implemented within the St. Paul District and deemed successful in providing ecological benefits without adversely affecting commercial navigation and recreational use of the pools. Insights are provided based on more than 17 years of experience in planning and implementing drawdowns on the UMR. 

Fine bed material in pools of natural gravel bed channels

Treesearch

Thomas E. Lisle; Sue Hilton

1999-01-01

Abstract - Natural gravel bed channels commonly contain a fine mode of sand and fine gravel that fills voids of the bed framework of coarser gravel. If the supply of fine bed material exceeds the storage capacity of framework voids, excess fine material forms surficial patches, which can be voluminous in pools during low flow. Data collected in 34 natural channels in...

Political and economic aspects of the transition to universal health coverage.

PubMed

Savedoff, William D; de Ferranti, David; Smith, Amy L; Fan, Victoria

2012-09-08

Countries have reached universal health coverage by different paths and with varying health systems. Nonetheless, the trajectory toward universal health coverage regularly has three common features. The first is a political process driven by a variety of social forces to create public programmes or regulations that expand access to care, improve equity, and pool financial risks. The second is a growth in incomes and a concomitant rise in health spending, which buys more health services for more people. The third is an increase in the share of health spending that is pooled rather than paid out-of-pocket by households. This pooled share is sometimes mobilised as taxes and channelled through governments that provide or subsidise care--in other cases it is mobilised in the form of contributions to mandatory insurance schemes. The predominance of pooled spending is a necessary condition (but not sufficient) for achieving universal health coverage. This paper describes common patterns in countries that have successfully provided universal access to health care and considers how economic growth, demographics, technology, politics, and health spending have intersected to bring about this major development in public health. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Resource-assessment perspectives for unconventional gas systems

USGS Publications Warehouse

Schmoker, J.W.

2002-01-01

Concepts are described for assessing those unconventional gas systems that can also be defined as continous accumulations. Continuous gas accumulations exist more or less independently of the water column and do not owe their existence directly to the bouyancy of gas in water. They cannot be represented in terms of individual, countable fields or pools delineated by downdip water contacts. For these reasons, traditional resource-assessment methods based on estimating the sizes and numbers of undiscovered discrete fields cannot not be applied to continuous accumulations. Specialized assessment methods are required. Unconventional gas systems that are also continous accumulations include coalbed methane, basin-centered gas, so-called tight gas, fractured shale (and chalk) gas, and gas hydrates. Deep-basin and bacterial gas systems may or may not be continuous accumulations, depending on their geologic setting. Two basic resource-assessment approaches have been employed for continous accumulations. The first approach is based on estimates of gas in place. A volumetric estimate of total gas in place is commonly coupled with an overall recovery factor to narrow the assessment scope from a treatment of gas volumes residing in sedimentary strata to a prediction of potential additions to reserves. The second approach is based on the production performance of continous gas reservoirs, as shown empirically by wells and reservoir-simulation models. In these methods, production characteristics (as opposed to gas in place) are the foundation for forecasts of potential additions to reserves.

Monitoring of Noxious Protozoa for Management of Natural Water Resources.

PubMed

Bahk, Young Yil; Cho, Pyo Yun; Ahn, Sung Kyu; Park, Sangjung; Jheong, Won Hwa; Park, Yun-Kyu; Shin, Ho-Joon; Lee, Sang-Seob; Rhee, Okjae; Kim, Tong-Soo

2018-04-01

Waterborne parasitic protozoa, particularly Giardia lamblia and Cryptosporidium spp., are common causes of diarrhea and gastroenteritis worldwide. The most frequently identified source of infestation is water, and exposure involves either drinking water or recreation in swimming pools or natural bodies of water. In practice, studies on Cryptosporidium oocysts and Giardia cysts in surface water are challenging owing to the low concentrations of these microorganisms because of dilution. In this study, a 3-year monitoring of Cryptosporidium parvum, Giardia lamblia , and Naegleria fowleri was conducted from August 2014 to June 2016 at 5 surface water sites including 2 lakes, 1 river, and 2 water intake plants. A total of 50 water samples of 40 L were examined. Cryptosporidium oocysts were detected in 22% of samples and Giardia cysts in 32%. Water at the 5 sampling sites was all contaminated with Cryptosporidium oocysts (0-36/L), Giardia cysts (0-39/L), or both. The geometric mean concentrations of Cryptosporidium and Giardia were 1.14 oocysts/L and 4.62 cysts/L, respectively. Thus, effective monitoring plans must take into account the spatial and temporal parameters of contamination because they affect the prevalence and distribution of these protozoan cysts in local water resources.

Development of a shared vision for groundwater management to protect and sustain baseflows of the Upper San Pedro River, Arizona, USA

USGS Publications Warehouse

Richter, Holly E.; Gungle, Bruce; Lacher, Laurel J.; Turner, Dale S.; Bushman, Brooke M.

2014-01-01

Groundwater pumping along portions of the binational San Pedro River has depleted aquifer storage that supports baseflow in the San Pedro River. A consortium of 23 agencies, business interests, and non-governmental organizations pooled their collective resources to develop the scientific understanding and technical tools required to optimize the management of this complex, interconnected groundwater-surface water system. A paradigm shift occurred as stakeholders first collaboratively developed, and then later applied, several key hydrologic simulation and monitoring tools. Water resources planning and management transitioned from a traditional water budget-based approach to a more strategic and spatially-explicit optimization process. After groundwater modeling results suggested that strategic near-stream recharge could reasonably sustain baseflows at or above 2003 levels until the year 2100, even in the presence of continued groundwater development, a group of collaborators worked for four years to acquire 2250 hectares of land in key locations along 34 kilometers of the river specifically for this purpose. These actions reflect an evolved common vision that considers the multiple water demands of both humans and the riparian ecosystem associated with the San Pedro River.

Cots Correlator Platform

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schaaf, Kjeld; Overeem, Ruud

2004-06-01

Moore’s law is best exploited by using consumer market hardware. In particular, the gaming industry pushes the limit of processor performance thus reducing the cost per raw flop even faster than Moore’s law predicts. Next to the cost benefits of Common-Of-The-Shelf (COTS) processing resources, there is a rapidly growing experience pool in cluster based processing. The typical Beowulf cluster of PC’s supercomputers are well known. Multiple examples exists of specialised cluster computers based on more advanced server nodes or even gaming stations. All these cluster machines build upon the same knowledge about cluster software management, scheduling, middleware libraries and mathematical libraries. In this study, we have integrated COTS processing resources and cluster nodes into a very high performance processing platform suitable for streaming data applications, in particular to implement a correlator. The required processing power for the correlator in modern radio telescopes is in the range of the larger supercomputers, which motivates the usage of supercomputer technology. Raw processing power is provided by graphical processors and is combined with an Infiniband host bus adapter with integrated data stream handling logic. With this processing platform a scalable correlator can be built with continuously growing processing power at consumer market prices.

A Qualitative Stakeholder Analysis of Avian Influenza Policy in Bangladesh.

PubMed

Chattopadhyay, Kaushik; Fournié, Guillaume; Abul Kalam, Md; Biswas, Paritosh K; Hoque, Ahasanul; Debnath, Nitish C; Rahman, Mahmudur; Pfeiffer, Dirk U; Harper, David; Heymann, David L

2017-11-13

Avian influenza is a major animal and public health concern in Bangladesh. A decade after development and implementation of the first national avian influenza and human pandemic influenza preparedness and response plan in Bangladesh, a two-stage qualitative stakeholder analysis was performed in relation to the policy development process and the actual policy. This study specifically aimed to identify the future policy options to prevent and control avian influenza and other poultry-related zoonotic diseases in Bangladesh. It was recommended that the policy should be based on the One Health concept, be evidence-based, sustainable, reviewed and updated as necessary. The future policy environment that is suitable for developing and implementing these policies should take into account the following points: the need to formally engage multiple sectors, the need for clear and acceptable leadership, roles and responsibilities and the need for a common pool of resources and provision for transferring resources. Most of these recommendations are directed towards the Government of Bangladesh. However, other sectors, including research and poultry production stakeholders, also have a major role to play to inform policy making and actively participate in the multi-sectoral approach.

The value of a polar bear: evaluating the role of a multiple-use resource in the Nunavut mixed economy.

PubMed

Dowsley, Martha

2010-01-01

The polar bear (Ursus maritimus) is a common pool resource that contributes to both the subsistence and monetary aspects of the Nunavut mixed economy through its use as food, the sale of hides in the fur trade, and sport hunt outfitting. Sport hunting is more financially profitable than subsistence hunting; however, the proportion of the polar bear quota devoted to the sport hunt has become relatively stable at approximately 20% across Nunavut. This ratio suggests local Inuit organizations are not using a neoclassical economic model based on profit maximization. This paper examines local-level hunting organizations and their institutions (as sets of rules) governing the sport and Inuit subsistence hunts from both formalist and substantivist economic perspectives. It concludes that profit maximization is used within the sport hunting sphere, which fits a neoclassical model of economic rationality. A second and parallel system, better viewed through the substantivist perspective, demonstrates that the communities focus on longer-term goals to maintain and reproduce the socio-economic system of the subsistence economy, which is predicated on maintaining social, human-environment, and human-polar bear relations.

Multiplexed resequencing analysis to identify rare variants in pooled DNA with barcode indexing using next-generation sequencer.

PubMed

Mitsui, Jun; Fukuda, Yoko; Azuma, Kyo; Tozaki, Hirokazu; Ishiura, Hiroyuki; Takahashi, Yuji; Goto, Jun; Tsuji, Shoji

2010-07-01

We have recently found that multiple rare variants of the glucocerebrosidase gene (GBA) confer a robust risk for Parkinson disease, supporting the 'common disease-multiple rare variants' hypothesis. To develop an efficient method of identifying rare variants in a large number of samples, we applied multiplexed resequencing using a next-generation sequencer to identification of rare variants of GBA. Sixteen sets of pooled DNAs from six pooled DNA samples were prepared. Each set of pooled DNAs was subjected to polymerase chain reaction to amplify the target gene (GBA) covering 6.5 kb, pooled into one tube with barcode indexing, and then subjected to extensive sequence analysis using the SOLiD System. Individual samples were also subjected to direct nucleotide sequence analysis. With the optimization of data processing, we were able to extract all the variants from 96 samples with acceptable rates of false-positive single-nucleotide variants.

Identification of the Streptococcus pyogenes surface antigens recognised by pooled human immunoglobulin

PubMed Central

Reglinski, Mark; Gierula, Magdalena; Lynskey, Nicola N.; Edwards, Robert J.; Sriskandan, Shiranee

2015-01-01

Immunity to common bacteria requires the generation of antibodies that promote opsonophagocytosis and neutralise toxins. Pooled human immunoglobulin is widely advocated as an adjunctive treatment for clinical Streptococcus pyogenes infection however, the protein targets of the reagent remain ill defined. Affinity purification of the anti-streptococcal antibodies present within pooled immunoglobulin resulted in the generation of an IgG preparation that promoted opsonophagocytic killing of S. pyogenes in vitro and provided passive immunity in vivo. Isolation of the streptococcal surface proteins recognised by pooled human immunoglobulin permitted identification and ranking of 94 protein antigens, ten of which were reproducibly identified across four contemporary invasive S. pyogenes serotypes (M1, M3, M12 and M89). The data provide novel insight into the action of pooled human immunoglobulin during invasive S. pyogenes infection, and demonstrate a potential route to enhance the efficacy of antibody based therapies. PMID:26508447

Spectral determination of concentrations of functionally diverse pigments in increasingly complex arctic tundra canopies.

PubMed

Boelman, Natalie T; Magney, Troy S; Logan, Barry A; Griffin, Kevin L; Eitel, Jan U H; Greaves, Heather; Prager, Case M; Vierling, Lee A

2016-09-01

As the Arctic warms, tundra vegetation is becoming taller and more structurally complex, as tall deciduous shrubs become increasingly dominant. Emerging studies reveal that shrubs exhibit photosynthetic resource partitioning, akin to forests, that may need accounting for in the "big leaf" net ecosystem exchange models. We conducted a lab experiment on sun and shade leaves from S. pulchra shrubs to determine the influence of both constitutive (slowly changing bulk carotenoid and chlorophyll pools) and facultative (rapidly changing xanthophyll cycle) pigment pools on a suite of spectral vegetation indices, to devise a rapid means of estimating within canopy resource partitioning. We found that: (1) the PRI of dark-adapted shade leaves (PRIo) was double that of sun leaves, and that PRIo was sensitive to variation among sun and shade leaves in both xanthophyll cycle pool size (V + A + Z) (r (2) = 0.59) and Chla/b (r (2) = 0.64); (2) A corrected PRI (difference between dark and illuminated leaves, ΔPRI) was more sensitive to variation among sun and shade leaves in changes to the epoxidation state of their xanthophyll cycle pigments (dEPS) (r (2) = 0.78, RMSE = 0.007) compared to the uncorrected PRI of illuminated leaves (PRI) (r (2) = 0.34, RMSE = 0.02); and (3) the SR680 index was correlated with each of (V + A + Z), lutein, bulk carotenoids, (V + A + Z)/(Chla + b), and Chla/b (r (2) range = 0.52-0.69). We suggest that ΔPRI be employed as a proxy for facultative pigment dynamics, and the SR680 for the estimation of constitutive pigment pools. We contribute the first Arctic-specific information on disentangling PRI-pigment relationships, and offer insight into how spectral indices can assess resource partitioning within shrub tundra canopies.

Microsatellite diversity and genetic structure among common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) landraces in Brazil, a secondary center of diversity

PubMed Central

Burle, Marília Lobo; Fonseca, Jaime Roberto; Kami, James A.

2010-01-01

Brazil is the largest producer and consumer of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), which is the most important source of human dietary protein in that country. This study assessed the genetic diversity and the structure of a sample of 279 geo-referenced common bean landraces from Brazil, using molecular markers. Sixty-seven microsatellite markers spread over the 11 linkage groups of the common bean genome, as well as Phaseolin, PvTFL1y, APA and four SCAR markers were used. As expected, the sample showed lower genetic diversity compared to the diversity in the primary center of diversification. Andean and Mesoamerican gene pools were both present but the latter gene pool was four times more frequent than the former. The two gene pools could be clearly distinguished; limited admixture was observed between these groups. The Mesoamerican group consisted of two sub-populations, with a high level of admixture between them leading to a large proportion of stabilized hybrids not observed in the centers of domestication. Thus, Brazil can be considered a secondary center of diversification of common bean. A high degree of genome-wide multilocus associations even among unlinked loci was observed, confirming the high level of structure in the sample and suggesting that association mapping should be conducted in separate Andean and Mesoamerican Brazilian samples. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00122-010-1350-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users. PMID:20502861

CMS Connect

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balcas, J.; Bockelman, B.; Gardner, R., Jr.; Hurtado Anampa, K.; Jayatilaka, B.; Aftab Khan, F.; Lannon, K.; Larson, K.; Letts, J.; Marra Da Silva, J.; Mascheroni, M.; Mason, D.; Perez-Calero Yzquierdo, A.; Tiradani, A.

2017-10-01

The CMS experiment collects and analyzes large amounts of data coming from high energy particle collisions produced by the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN. This involves a huge amount of real and simulated data processing that needs to be handled in batch-oriented platforms. The CMS Global Pool of computing resources provide +100K dedicated CPU cores and another 50K to 100K CPU cores from opportunistic resources for these kind of tasks and even though production and event processing analysis workflows are already managed by existing tools, there is still a lack of support to submit final stage condor-like analysis jobs familiar to Tier-3 or local Computing Facilities users into these distributed resources in an integrated (with other CMS services) and friendly way. CMS Connect is a set of computing tools and services designed to augment existing services in the CMS Physics community focusing on these kind of condor analysis jobs. It is based on the CI-Connect platform developed by the Open Science Grid and uses the CMS GlideInWMS infrastructure to transparently plug CMS global grid resources into a virtual pool accessed via a single submission machine. This paper describes the specific developments and deployment of CMS Connect beyond the CI-Connect platform in order to integrate the service with CMS specific needs, including specific Site submission, accounting of jobs and automated reporting to standard CMS monitoring resources in an effortless way to their users.

Regional variation in the biogeochemical and physical characteristics of natural peatland pools.

PubMed

Turner, T Edward; Billett, Michael F; Baird, Andy J; Chapman, Pippa J; Dinsmore, Kerry J; Holden, Joseph

2016-03-01

Natural open-water pools are a common feature of northern peatlands and are known to be an important source of atmospheric methane (CH4). Pool environmental variables, particularly water chemistry, vegetation community and physical characteristics, have the potential to exert strong controls on carbon cycling in pools. A total of 66 peatland pools were studied across three regions of the UK (northern Scotland, south-west Scotland, and Northern Ireland). We found that within-region variability of pool water chemistry was low; however, for many pool variables measured there were significant differences between regions. PCA analysis showed that pools in SW Scotland were strongly associated with greater vegetative cover and shallower water depth which is likely to increase dissolved organic carbon (DOC) mineralisation rates, whereas pools in N Scotland were more open and deeper. Pool water DOC, particulate organic carbon and dissolved CH4 concentrations were significantly different between regions. Pools in Northern Ireland had the highest concentrations of DOC (mean=14.5 mg L(-1)) and CH4 (mean=20.6 μg C L(-1)). Chloride and sulphate concentrations were significantly higher in the pools in N Scotland (mean values 26.3 and 2.40 mg L(-1), respectively) than elsewhere, due to a stronger marine influence. The ratio of UV absorbance at 465 nm to absorbance at 665 nm for pools in Northern Ireland indicated that DOC was sourced from poorly humified peat, potentially increasing the bioavailability and mineralisation of organic carbon in pools compared to the pools elsewhere. This study, which specifically aims to address a lack of basic biogeochemical knowledge about pool water chemistry, clearly shows that peatland pools are highly regionally variable. This is likely to be a reflection of significant regional-scale differences in peatland C cycling. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Genetics of resistance to the geminivirus, Bean dwarf mosaic virus, and the role of the hypersensitive response in common bean.

PubMed

Seo, Y-S; Gepts, P; Gilbertson, R L

2004-03-01

Bean dwarf mosaic virus (BDMV) is a single-stranded DNA virus (genus: Begomovirus, family: Geminiviridae) that infects common bean ( Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and causes stunted plant growth, and mosaic and mottle symptoms in leaves. BDMV shows differential pathogenicity in common bean, infecting germplasm of the Andean gene pool (e.g., the snap bean cultivar Topcrop), but not that of the Middle American gene pool (e.g., the pinto bean cultivar Othello). Resistance to BDMV in Othello is associated with development of a hypersensitive response (HR) in vascular (phloem) tissues. In this study, Middle American germplasm representing the four recognized races (i.e., Durango, Guatemala, Jalisco, and Mesoamerica) and the parents of Othello were inoculated with BDMV and a BDMV-green fluorescent protein (GFP) reporter. All genotypes showed partial or complete resistance to BDMV and BDMV-GFP, indicating the widespread distribution of resistance in the Middle American gene pool. A number of BDMV-resistant germplasm did not show the HR, indicating it is not correlated with resistance. In the F(1), F(2), and F(3) of reciprocal crosses between Othello and Topcrop, a single dominant allele, Bdm, conferred BDMV resistance.

First United States Outbreak of Mycobacterium abscessus Hand and Foot Disease Among Children Associated With a Wading Pool.

PubMed

Carter, Kris K; Lundgren, Ingrid; Correll, Sarah; Schmalz, Tom; McCarter, Tammie; Stroud, Joshua; Bruesch, Amanda; Hahn, Christine G

2018-05-29

Mycobacterium abscessus, an emerging pathogen in healthcare settings, has rarely been associated with community outbreaks. During February-May 2013, Idaho public health officials and pediatric infectious disease physicians investigated an outbreak of M abscessus skin infections in children whose only common exposure was an indoor wading pool. Healthcare providers and parents reported possible M abscessus cases. We used a standardized questionnaire to interview parents of affected children. Clinical specimens were submitted for mycobacterial examination. We conducted an environmental investigation of the pool. Microbial isolates from clinical and environmental samples were identified by sequencing polymerase chain reaction amplicons and underwent pulsed-field gel electrophoresis. Twelve cases were identified. Specimens from 4 of 7 children grew M abscessus or Mycobacterium abscessus/Mycobacterium chelonae . Ten (83%) of 12 children were female; median age was 3 years (range, 2 to 6 years); and all were immunocompetent. Pool maintenance did not fully comply with Idaho state rules governing pool operation. Mycobacterium abscessus/chelonae was isolated from pool equipment. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis composite patterns were 87% similar between isolates from the pool ladder and 1 patient, and they were 90% similar between isolates from 2 patients. Environmental remediation included hyperchlorination, scrubbing and disinfection of pool surfaces, draining the pool, and replacement of worn pool materials. Immunocompetent children acquired M abscessus cutaneous infection involving hands and feet after exposure to a wading pool. Environmental remediation and proper pool maintenance likely halted transmission. Medical and public health professionals' collaboration effectively detected and controlled an outbreak caused by an emerging recreational waterborne pathogen.

Enabling opportunistic resources for CMS Computing Operations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hufnagel, Dirk

With the increased pressure on computing brought by the higher energy and luminosity from the LHC in Run 2, CMS Computing Operations expects to require the ability to utilize opportunistic resources resources not owned by, or a priori configured for CMS to meet peak demands. In addition to our dedicated resources we look to add computing resources from non CMS grids, cloud resources, and national supercomputing centers. CMS uses the HTCondor/glideinWMS job submission infrastructure for all its batch processing, so such resources will need to be transparently integrated into its glideinWMS pool. Bosco and parrot wrappers are used to enablemore » access and bring the CMS environment into these non CMS resources. Finally, we describe our strategy to supplement our native capabilities with opportunistic resources and our experience so far using them.« less

Enabling opportunistic resources for CMS Computing Operations

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hufnagel, Dick

With the increased pressure on computing brought by the higher energy and luminosity from the LHC in Run 2, CMS Computing Operations expects to require the ability to utilize “opportunistic” resources — resources not owned by, or a priori configured for CMS — to meet peak demands. In addition to our dedicated resources we look to add computing resources from non CMS grids, cloud resources, and national supercomputing centers. CMS uses the HTCondor/glideinWMS job submission infrastructure for all its batch processing, so such resources will need to be transparently integrated into its glideinWMS pool. Bosco and parrot wrappers are usedmore » to enable access and bring the CMS environment into these non CMS resources. Here we describe our strategy to supplement our native capabilities with opportunistic resources and our experience so far using them.« less

Enabling opportunistic resources for CMS Computing Operations

DOE PAGES

Hufnagel, Dirk

2015-12-23

With the increased pressure on computing brought by the higher energy and luminosity from the LHC in Run 2, CMS Computing Operations expects to require the ability to utilize opportunistic resources resources not owned by, or a priori configured for CMS to meet peak demands. In addition to our dedicated resources we look to add computing resources from non CMS grids, cloud resources, and national supercomputing centers. CMS uses the HTCondor/glideinWMS job submission infrastructure for all its batch processing, so such resources will need to be transparently integrated into its glideinWMS pool. Bosco and parrot wrappers are used to enablemore » access and bring the CMS environment into these non CMS resources. Finally, we describe our strategy to supplement our native capabilities with opportunistic resources and our experience so far using them.« less

Factors Influencing Hematopoietic Stem Cell Donation Intention in Hong Kong: A Web-Based Survey.

PubMed

Kwok, Janette; Leung, Eva; Wong, William; Leung, Kate; Lee, Cheuk Kwong; Lam, Wendy; Ip, Patrick

2015-10-08

Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) has become increasingly common for treatment of severe hematological disorders. However, the number of compatible hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) donors is usually limited. Expanding donor pool size would enhance matching success by increasing donor frequency and introducing allelic diversity within the registry. Identifying factors that affect public willingness towards HSC donation allows better strategic recruitment planning to facilitate donor pool expansion. Previous studies in white populations showed knowledge, family attitude, trust towards the healthcare system, fear, self-identity, and social identity are important factors related to HSC donation intention. However, given the differences in cultural and society values that exist across different regions, in particular between the East and West, whether these factors influence HSC donation willingness in Hong Kong remained to be determined. The objective of this study was to identify factors associated with HSC donation motivation in Hong Kong. A large-scale, cross-sectional, observational study involving 3479 local participants. There is a positive correlation of HSC donation intention with younger age (18-32, OR: 1.80, p≤0·001) and higher education (OR: 1·47, p≤0.001). Better HSCT knowledge is also related to greater HSC donation intention (OR: 2.55, p£0.001). Our data suggests HSCT education could help to improve donor recruitment and that more resources should be allocated for public education.

Social stratification and science education: A longitudinal analysis, 1981-1986, of minorities' integration into the scientific talent pool

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mulkey, Lynn M.; Ellis, Ronald S.

It is common knowledge that scientists are those persons who have the unique attributes required to perform in the role, but contrary to what is widely believed, scientists might also be those who have had access to resources of which other members of the population have been deprived. This study investigates the effectiveness of interventions designed to mediate the negative influence of ascription (race and ethnicity) on the scientific talent pool (students having interest and ability in science). Minorities refers to participants representing the major ethnic and racial groups in the New York City school system: Blacks and Hispanics. Cross-tabulations showed that urban underachieving public high school students take significantly more mathematics and science classes, more frequently graduate from high school and more often enroll in college as compared with students of the same population, who were not exposed to the program. These findings on the effectiveness of tutoring, career counseling, exposure to industrial and academic research sites and to scientist role models, and after-school and weekend classes in mathematics and science, reinforce the observations of Thomas (1986) of the importance of prerequisites for increasing participation of minorities in the natural and technical sciences and mathematics. They extend knowledge of factors which lessen the effects of ascription on educational attainment, and which promote meritocratic conditions for achieving a scientific occupation.

A Summary of Aquatic Vegetation Monitoring at Selected Locations in Pools 4, 8, 13, and 26 and La Grange Pool of the Upper Mississippi River System. 1993 Annual Status Report,

DTIC Science & Technology

1998-07-01

responsibility. The mode of operation and respective roles of the agencies are outlined in a 1988 Memorandum of Agreement. The UMRS encompasses the...University of Wisconsin Press, Madison. 405 pp. Gleason, H. A ., and A . Cronquist . 1991. A manual of vascular plants of northeastern United States...Long Term Resource Monitoring Program Program Report 98-P007 1993 Annual Status Report A Summary of Aquatic Vegetation Monitoring at Selected

ANNUAL REPORT For Calendar Year 2007 : NEW ENGLAND TRANSPORTATION CONSORTIUM

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2008-02-02

The New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) is a cooperative effort of the transportation agencies of the six New England States. Through the Consortium, the states pool professional, academic and financial resources for transportation research ...

ANNUAL REPORT For Calendar Year 2006 : NEW ENGLAND TRANSPORTATION CONSORTIUM

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2007-04-01

The New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) is a cooperative effort of the transportation agencies of the six New England States. Through the Consortium, the states pool professional, academic and financial resources for transportation research ...

ANNUAL REPORT For Calendar Year 2009 : NEW ENGLAND TRANSPORTATION CONSORTIUM

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2010-03-01

The New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) is a cooperative effort of the transportation agencies of the six New England States. Through the Consortium, the states pool professional, academic and financial resources for transportation research ...

ANNUAL REPORT For Calendar Year 1996 : NEW ENGLAND TRANSPORTATION CONSORTIUM

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

1997-01-01

The New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) is a cooperative effort of the transportation agencies of the six New England States. Through the Consortium, the states pool professional, academic and financial resources for transportation research ...

ANNUAL REPORT For Calendar Year 2008 : NEW ENGLAND TRANSPORTATION CONSORTIUM

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2009-04-01

The New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) is a cooperative effort of the transportation agencies of the six New England States. Through the Consortium, the states pool professional, academic and financial resources for transportation research ...

ANNUAL REPORT For Calendar Year 2002 : NEW ENGLAND TRANSPORTATION CONSORTIUM

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-11-01

The New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) is a cooperative effort of the transportation agencies of the six New England States. Through the Consortium, the states pool professional, academic and financial resources for transportation research ...

ANNUAL REPORT For Calendar Year 2003 : NEW ENGLAND TRANSPORTATION CONSORTIUM

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-09-22

The New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) is a cooperative effort of the transportation agencies of the six New England States. Through the Consortium, the states pool professional, academic and financial resources for transportation research ...

ANNUAL REPORT For Calendar Year 2004 : NEW ENGLAND TRANSPORTATION CONSORTIUM

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2005-12-01

The New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) is a cooperative effort of the transportation agencies of the six New England States. Through the Consortium, the states pool professional, academic and financial resources for transportation research ...

ANNUAL REPORT For Calendar Year 2001 : NEW ENGLAND TRANSPORTATION CONSORTIUM

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2002-12-01

The New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) is a cooperative effort of the transportation agencies of the six New England States. Through the Consortium, the states pool professional, academic and financial resources for transportation research ...

ANNUAL REPORT For Calendar Year 2005 : NEW ENGLAND TRANSPORTATION CONSORTIUM

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2006-08-01

The New England Transportation Consortium (NETC) is a cooperative effort of the transportation agencies of the six New England States. Through the Consortium, the states pool professional, academic and financial resources for transportation research ...

Redesigning the exploitation of wheat genetic resources.

PubMed

Longin, C Friedrich H; Reif, Jochen C

2014-10-01

More than half a million wheat genetic resources are resting in gene banks worldwide. Unlocking their hidden favorable genetic diversity for breeding is pivotal for enhancing grain yield potential, and averting future food shortages. Here, we propose exploiting recent advances in hybrid wheat technology to uncover the masked breeding values of wheat genetic resources. The gathered phenotypic information will enable a targeted choice of accessions with high value for pre-breeding among this plethora of genetic resources. We intend to provoke a paradigm shift in pre-breeding strategies for grain yield, moving away from allele mining toward genome-wide selection to bridge the yield gap between genetic resources and elite breeding pools. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Battle Management/Command and Control, and Communications (BM/C3), Environmental Assessment

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-08-01

Highway 94 outside the base (39). This addition can be mitigated through the use of van pools and other conservation measures. 3-4 Water Quality All...Facility Description Miller, Jim MS Earth Resources Reviewer Milliken, Larry BS Earth Resources Project Description Morelan, Edward A. MS Earth...1987. Telephone conversation with Edward A. Morelan. 11. Dennary, Andy, Civil Engineering Department, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. 21 May 1987

Marine Corps Private Cloud Computing Environment Strategy

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-05-15

leveraging economies of scale through the MCEITS PCCE, the Marine Corps will measure consumed IT resources more effectively, increase or decrease...flexible broad network access, resource pooling, elastic provisioning and measured services. By leveraging economies of scale the Marine Corps will be able...IaaS SaaS / IaaS 1 1 LCE I ACE Dets I I I I ------------------~ GIG / CJ Internet Security Boundary MCEN I DISN r :------------------ MCEN

Dissemination of Health-Related Research among Scientists in Three Countries: Access to Resources and Current Practices

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

Objectives. In public health and clinical settings insufficient dissemination of evidence-based practices limits the reach of new discoveries to broad populations. This study aimed to describe characteristics of the dissemination process by researchers across three countries (Brazil, United Kingdom, and United States), explore how designing for dissemination practices has been used, and analyze factors associated with dissemination. Methods. A similar online survey was used to query researchers across the three countries; data were pooled to draw cross-country conclusions. Findings. This study identified similarities and differences between countries. Importance of dissemination to nonresearcher audiences was widely recognized as important; however, traditional academic venues were the main dissemination method. Several factors were associated with self-rated dissemination effort in the pooled sample, but these predictive factors (e.g., support and resources for dissemination) had low prevalence. Less than one-third of researchers rated their level of effort for dissemination as excellent. Respondents reported limited support and resources to make it easier for researchers who might want to disseminate their findings. Conclusion. Though intentions show the importance of dissemination, researchers across countries lack supports to increase dissemination efforts. Additional resources and training in designing for dissemination along with improved partnerships could help bridge the research-practice gap. PMID:26495287

Dissemination of health-related research among scientists in three countries: access to resources and current practices.

PubMed

Tabak, Rachel G; Reis, Rodrigo S; Wilson, Paul; Brownson, Ross C

2015-01-01

In public health and clinical settings insufficient dissemination of evidence-based practices limits the reach of new discoveries to broad populations. This study aimed to describe characteristics of the dissemination process by researchers across three countries (Brazil, United Kingdom, and United States), explore how designing for dissemination practices has been used, and analyze factors associated with dissemination. A similar online survey was used to query researchers across the three countries; data were pooled to draw cross-country conclusions. This study identified similarities and differences between countries. Importance of dissemination to nonresearcher audiences was widely recognized as important; however, traditional academic venues were the main dissemination method. Several factors were associated with self-rated dissemination effort in the pooled sample, but these predictive factors (e.g., support and resources for dissemination) had low prevalence. Less than one-third of researchers rated their level of effort for dissemination as excellent. Respondents reported limited support and resources to make it easier for researchers who might want to disseminate their findings. Though intentions show the importance of dissemination, researchers across countries lack supports to increase dissemination efforts. Additional resources and training in designing for dissemination along with improved partnerships could help bridge the research-practice gap.

The Social Cognition of Social Foraging: Partner Selection by Underlying Valuation

PubMed Central

DELTON, ANDREW W.; ROBERTSON, THERESA E.

2012-01-01

Humans and other animals have a variety of psychological abilities tailored to the demands of asocial foraging, that is, foraging without coordination or competition with other conspecifics. Human foraging, however, also includes a unique element, the creation of resource pooling systems. In this type of social foraging, individuals contribute when they have excess resources and receive provisioning when in need. Is this behavior produced by the same psychology as asocial foraging? If so, foraging partners should be judged by the same criteria used to judge asocial patches of resources: the net energetic benefits they provide. The logic of resource pooling speaks against this. Maintaining such a system requires the ability to judge others not on their short-term returns, but on the psychological variables that guide their behavior over the long-term. We test this idea in a series of five studies using an implicit measure of categorization. Results showed that (1) others are judged by the costs they incur (a variable not relevant to asocial foraging) whereas (2) others are not judged by the benefits they provide when benefits provided are unrevealing of underlying psychological variables (despite this variable being relevant to asocial foraging). These results are suggestive of a complex psychology designed for both social and asocial foraging. PMID:23162372

Heterogeneous Concurrent Modeling and Design in Java (Volume 3: Ptolemy II Domains)

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-04-15

Starting the model 88 6.5.3. Atomic Communication in Concurrent Execution 90 6.5.4. Detecting Deadlocks: 90 6.6. Application to Resource Management 90 6.6.1...Resource Management Demo 90 6.6.2. ResourcePool 91 6.7. Threads in an Actor 91 6.7.1. Creating Extra Threads in an Actor 91 6.7.2. Manually Blocking...Local Time Management 117 8.4.2. Detecting Deadlock 118 8.4.3. Ending Execution 118 8.5. Example DDE Applications 119 9. PN Domain 121 9.1

Pooling job physical exposure data from multiple independent studies in a consortium study of carpal tunnel syndrome

PubMed Central

Kapellusch, Jay M.; Garg, Arun; Bao, Stephen S.; Silverstein, Barbara A.; Burt, Susan E.; Dale, Ann Marie; Evanoff, Bradley A.; Gerr, Frederic E.; Harris-Adamson, Carisa; Hegmann, Kurt T.; Merlino, Linda A.; Rempel, David M.

2015-01-01

Pooling data from different epidemiological studies of musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) is necessary to improve statistical power and to more precisely quantify exposure–response relationships for MSDs. The pooling process is difficult and time-consuming, and small methodological differences could lead to different exposure–response relationships. A subcommittee of a six-study research consortium studying carpal tunnel syndrome: (i) visited each study site, (ii) documented methods used to collect physical exposure data and (iii) determined compatibility of exposure variables across studies. Certain measures of force, frequency of exertion and duty cycle were collected by all studies and were largely compatible. A portion of studies had detailed data to investigate simultaneous combinations of force, frequency and duration of exertions. Limited compatibility was found for hand/wrist posture. Only two studies could calculate compatible Strain Index scores, but Threshold Limit Value for Hand Activity Level could be determined for all studies. Challenges of pooling data, resources required and recommendations for future researchers are discussed. PMID:23697792

Degradation Products of Benzophenone-3 in Chlorinated Seawater Swimming Pools.

PubMed

Manasfi, Tarek; Storck, Veronika; Ravier, Sylvain; Demelas, Carine; Coulomb, Bruno; Boudenne, Jean-Luc

2015-08-04

Oxybenzone (2-hydroxy-4-methoxyphenone, benzophenone-3) is one of the UV filters commonly found in sunscreens. Its presence in swimming pools and its reactivity with chlorine has already been demonstrated but never in seawater swimming pools. In these pools, chlorine added for disinfection results in the formation of bromine, due to the high levels of bromide in seawater, and leads to the formation of brominated disinfection byproducts, known to be more toxic than chlorinated ones. Therefore, it seems important to determine the transformation products of oxybenzone in chlorinated seawater swimming pools; especially that users of seawater swimming pools may apply sunscreens and other personal-care products containing oxybenzone before going to pools. This leads to the introduction of oxybenzone to pools, where it reacts with bromine. For this purpose, the reactivity of oxybenzone has been examined as a function of chlorine dose and temperature in artificial seawater to assess its potential to produce trihalomethanes and to determine the byproducts generated following chlorination. Increasing doses of chlorine and increasing temperatures enhanced the formation of bromoform. Experiments carried out with excess doses of chlorine resulted in the degradation of oxybenzone and allowed the determination of the degradation mechanisms leading to the formation of bromoform. In total, ten transformation products were identified, based on which the transformation pathway was proposed.

The UNITAID Patent Pool Initiative: Bringing Patents Together for the Common Good

PubMed Central

Bermudez, Jorge; 't Hoen, Ellen

2010-01-01

Developing and delivering appropriate, affordable, well-adapted medicines for HIV/AIDS remains an urgent challenge: as first-line therapies fail, increasing numbers of people require costly second-line therapy; one-third of ARVs are not available in pediatric formulations; and certain key first- and second-line triple fixed-dose combinations do not exist or sufficient suppliers are lacking. UNITAID aims to help solve these problems through an innovative initiative for the collective management of intellectual property (IP) rights – a patent pool for HIV medicines. The idea behind a patent pool is that patent holders - companies, governments, researchers or universities - voluntarily offer, under certain conditions, the IP related to their inventions to the patent pool. Any company that wants to use the IP to produce or develop medicines can seek a license from the pool against the payment of royalties, and may then produce the medicines for use in developing countries (conditional upon meeting agreed quality standards). The patent pool will be a voluntary mechanism, meaning its success will largely depend on the willingness of pharmaceutical companies to participate and commit their IP to the pool. Generic producers must also be willing to cooperate. The pool has the potential to provide benefits to all. PMID:20309404

Assessing the general safety and tolerability of vildagliptin: value of pooled analyses from a large safety database versus evaluation of individual studies

PubMed Central

Schweizer, Anja; Dejager, Sylvie; Foley, James E; Kothny, Wolfgang

2011-01-01

Aim: Analyzing safety aspects of a drug from individual studies can lead to difficult-to-interpret results. The aim of this paper is therefore to assess the general safety and tolerability, including incidences of the most common adverse events (AEs), of vildagliptin based on a large pooled database of Phase II and III clinical trials. Methods: Safety data were pooled from 38 studies of ≥12 to ≥104 weeks’ duration. AE profiles of vildagliptin (50 mg bid; N = 6116) were evaluated relative to a pool of comparators (placebo and active comparators; N = 6210). Absolute incidence rates were calculated for all AEs, serious AEs (SAEs), discontinuations due to AEs, and deaths. Results: Overall AEs, SAEs, discontinuations due to AEs, and deaths were all reported with a similar frequency in patients receiving vildagliptin (69.1%, 8.9%, 5.7%, and 0.4%, respectively) and patients receiving comparators (69.0%, 9.0%, 6.4%, and 0.4%, respectively), whereas drug-related AEs were seen with a lower frequency in vildagliptin-treated patients (15.7% vs 21.7% with comparators). The incidences of the most commonly reported specific AEs were also similar between vildagliptin and comparators, except for increased incidences of hypoglycemia, tremor, and hyperhidrosis in the comparator group related to the use of sulfonylureas. Conclusions: The present pooled analysis shows that vildagliptin was overall well tolerated in clinical trials of up to >2 years in duration. The data further emphasize the value of a pooled analysis from a large safety database versus assessing safety and tolerability from individual studies. PMID:21415917

Winter habitat use by cutthroat trout in the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming

USGS Publications Warehouse

Harper, D.D.; Farag, A.M.

2004-01-01

Winter habitat use by Yellowstone cutthroat trout Oncorhynchus clarki bouvieri was monitored with radiotelemetry during November-March 1998-2001 in channelized and unaltered sections of the Snake River near Jackson, Wyoming. The use of run and off-channel pool habitat was significantly correlated to water temperature; run use was most frequent when mean water temperature exceeded 1.0°C, and off-channel pool use was greatest when mean water temperature was below 1.0°C. Available habitat was surveyed during winter 1999-2000 and was compared with actual habitat use. This comparison indicated that cutthroat trout avoided riffle habitat, selected deep runs, and strongly selected off-channel pool habitat. Large, deep, off-channel pools with groundwater influence were uncommon in the study area but were frequently selected as over-wintering habitat in the channelized section during all three study years. During 2000-2001, mainstem water temperatures were significantly colder than in 1998-1999 or 1999-2000, and anchor ice was observed more frequently in 2000-2001 than in 1998-1999 or 1999-2000 (on 18 d versus 5 d and 3 d, respectively). Mean water temperatures in off-channel pools were not significantly different among years. Depth and shelf ice were most frequently identified as cover elements in the channelized section. Run habitat was more common and used more frequently upstream of the channelized section. Large woody debris was more common and selected more frequently as cover in the unaltered section than in the channelized section.

Utility of the urine reagent strip leucocyte esterase assay for the diagnosis of meningitis in resource-limited settings: meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Bortcosh, William; Siedner, Mark; Carroll, Ryan W.

2018-01-01

OBJECTIVE Diagnosis of bacterial meningitis often requires cytometry, chemistry and/or microbiologic culture capabilities. Unfortunately, laboratory resources in low-resource settings (LRS) often lack the capacity to perform these studies. We sought to determine whether the presence of white blood cells in CSF detected by commercially available urine reagent strips could aid in the diagnosis of bacterial meningitis. METHODS We searched PubMed for studies published between 1980 and 2016 that investigated the use of urine reagent strips to identify cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) pleocytosis. We assessed studies in any language that enrolled subjects who underwent lumbar puncture and had cerebrospinal fluid testing by both standard laboratory assays and urine reagent strips. We abstracted true-positive, false-negative, false-positive and true-negative counts for each study using a diagnostic threshold of ≥10 white blood cells per microlitre for suspected bacterial meningitis and performed mixed regression modelling with random effects to estimate pooled diagnostic accuracy across studies. RESULTS Our search returned 13 studies including 2235 participants. Urine reagent strips detected CSF pleocytosis with a pooled sensitivity of 92% (95% CI: 84–96), a pooled specificity of 98% (95% CI: 94–99) and a negative predictive value of 99% when the bacterial meningitis prevalence is 10%. CONCLUSIONS Urine reagent strips could provide a rapid and accurate tool to detect CSF pleocytosis, which, if negative, can be used to exclude diagnosis of bacterial meningitis in settings without laboratory infrastructure. Further investigation of the diagnostic value of using protein, glucose and bacteria components of these strips is warranted. PMID:28627004

Working memory resources are shared across sensory modalities.

PubMed

Salmela, V R; Moisala, M; Alho, K

2014-10-01

A common assumption in the working memory literature is that the visual and auditory modalities have separate and independent memory stores. Recent evidence on visual working memory has suggested that resources are shared between representations, and that the precision of representations sets the limit for memory performance. We tested whether memory resources are also shared across sensory modalities. Memory precision for two visual (spatial frequency and orientation) and two auditory (pitch and tone duration) features was measured separately for each feature and for all possible feature combinations. Thus, only the memory load was varied, from one to four features, while keeping the stimuli similar. In Experiment 1, two gratings and two tones-both containing two varying features-were presented simultaneously. In Experiment 2, two gratings and two tones-each containing only one varying feature-were presented sequentially. The memory precision (delayed discrimination threshold) for a single feature was close to the perceptual threshold. However, as the number of features to be remembered was increased, the discrimination thresholds increased more than twofold. Importantly, the decrease in memory precision did not depend on the modality of the other feature(s), or on whether the features were in the same or in separate objects. Hence, simultaneously storing one visual and one auditory feature had an effect on memory precision equal to those of simultaneously storing two visual or two auditory features. The results show that working memory is limited by the precision of the stored representations, and that working memory can be described as a resource pool that is shared across modalities.

Occurrence and formation of disinfection by-products in the swimming pool environment: A critical review.

PubMed

Carter, Rhys A A; Joll, Cynthia A

2017-08-01

Disinfection of water for human use is essential to protect against microbial disease; however, disinfection also leads to formation of disinfection by-products (DBPs), some of which are of health concern. From a chemical perspective, swimming pools are a complex matrix, with continual addition of a wide range of natural and anthropogenic chemicals via filling waters, disinfectant addition, pharmaceuticals and personal care products and human body excretions. Natural organic matter, trace amounts of DBPs and chlorine or chloramines may be introduced by the filling water, which is commonly disinfected distributed drinking water. Chlorine and/or bromine is continually introduced via the addition of chemical disinfectants to the pool. Human body excretions (sweat, urine and saliva) and pharmaceuticals and personal care products (sunscreens, cosmetics, hair products and lotions) are introduced by swimmers. High addition of disinfectant leads to a high formation of DBPs from reaction of some of the chemicals with the disinfectant. Swimming pool air is also of concern as volatile DBPs partition into the air above the pool. The presence of bromine leads to the formation of a wide range of bromo- and bromo/chloro-DBPs, and Br-DBPs are more toxic than their chlorinated analogues. This is particularly important for seawater-filled pools or pools using a bromine-based disinfectant. This review summarises chemical contaminants and DBPs in swimming pool waters, as well as in the air above pools. Factors that have been found to affect DBP formation in pools are discussed. The impact of the swimming pool environment on human health is reviewed. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Site fidelity, size, and morphology may differ by tidal position for an intertidal fish, Bathygobius cocosensis (Perciformes-Gobiidae), in Eastern Australia

PubMed Central

Malard, Lucie A.; McGuigan, Katrina

2016-01-01

The intertidal zone is a transitional environment that undergoes daily environmental fluctuations as tides rise and fall. Relatively few fish species are adapted to endure the physiological pressures of this environment. This study focused on Bathygobius cocosensis (Gobiidae), a common intertidal fish in New South Wales, Australia. We investigated whether shore height impacted site fidelity, survival probability, fish size, and morphological traits with respect to tidal height. Mark-recapture methods were used over a five month period to determine if individuals in high shore pools had greater site fidelity; fish in high tide pools were more than twice as likely to be recaptured in their original pool than fish from low tide pools. High pool individuals were, on average, smaller with larger eyes and longer snouts relative to their size as compared to low pool individuals. We discuss several mechanisms that could cause the observed pattern in morphological variation. Ultimately, this study suggests that within species behaviour and morphology differ by tidal position for an intertidal fish. PMID:27547568

Site fidelity, size, and morphology may differ by tidal position for an intertidal fish, Bathygobius cocosensis (Perciformes-Gobiidae), in Eastern Australia.

PubMed

Malard, Lucie A; McGuigan, Katrina; Riginos, Cynthia

2016-01-01

The intertidal zone is a transitional environment that undergoes daily environmental fluctuations as tides rise and fall. Relatively few fish species are adapted to endure the physiological pressures of this environment. This study focused on Bathygobius cocosensis (Gobiidae), a common intertidal fish in New South Wales, Australia. We investigated whether shore height impacted site fidelity, survival probability, fish size, and morphological traits with respect to tidal height. Mark-recapture methods were used over a five month period to determine if individuals in high shore pools had greater site fidelity; fish in high tide pools were more than twice as likely to be recaptured in their original pool than fish from low tide pools. High pool individuals were, on average, smaller with larger eyes and longer snouts relative to their size as compared to low pool individuals. We discuss several mechanisms that could cause the observed pattern in morphological variation. Ultimately, this study suggests that within species behaviour and morphology differ by tidal position for an intertidal fish.

Size differences in migrant sandpiper flocks: ghosts in ephemeral guilds

USGS Publications Warehouse

Eldridge, J.L.; Johnson, D.H.

1988-01-01

Scolopacid sandpipers were studied from 1980 until 1984 during spring migration in North Dakota. Common species foraging together in mixed-species flocks differed in bill length most often by 20 to 30 percent (ratios from 1.2:1 to 1.3:1). Observed flocks were compared to computer generated flocks drawn from three source pools of Arctic-nesting sandpipers. The source pools included 51 migrant species from a global pool, 33 migrant species from a Western Hemisphere pool, and 13 species that migrated through North Dakota. The observed flocks formed randomly from the available species that used the North Dakota migration corridor but the North Dakota species were not a random selection from the Western Hemisphere and global pools of Arctic-nesting scolopacid sandpipers. In short, the ephemeral, mixed-species foraging flocks that we observed in North Dakota were random mixes from a non-random pool. The size-ratio distributions were consistent with the interpretation that use of this migration corridor by sandpipers has been influenced by some form of size-related selection such as competition.

Sparse feature learning for instrument identification: Effects of sampling and pooling methods.

PubMed

Han, Yoonchang; Lee, Subin; Nam, Juhan; Lee, Kyogu

2016-05-01

Feature learning for music applications has recently received considerable attention from many researchers. This paper reports on the sparse feature learning algorithm for musical instrument identification, and in particular, focuses on the effects of the frame sampling techniques for dictionary learning and the pooling methods for feature aggregation. To this end, two frame sampling techniques are examined that are fixed and proportional random sampling. Furthermore, the effect of using onset frame was analyzed for both of proposed sampling methods. Regarding summarization of the feature activation, a standard deviation pooling method is used and compared with the commonly used max- and average-pooling techniques. Using more than 47 000 recordings of 24 instruments from various performers, playing styles, and dynamics, a number of tuning parameters are experimented including the analysis frame size, the dictionary size, and the type of frequency scaling as well as the different sampling and pooling methods. The results show that the combination of proportional sampling and standard deviation pooling achieve the best overall performance of 95.62% while the optimal parameter set varies among the instrument classes.

The blue man: burn from muriatic acid combined with chlorinated paint in an adult pool construction worker.

PubMed

O'Cleireachain, Marc R; Macias, Luis H; Richey, Karen J; Pressman, Melissa A; Shirah, Gina R; Caruso, Daniel M; Foster, Kevin N; Matthews, Marc R

2014-01-01

Muriatic acid (hydrochloric acid), a common cleaning and resurfacing agent for concrete pools, can cause significant burn injuries. When coating a pool with chlorinated rubber-based paint, the pool surface is initially cleansed using 31.45% muriatic acid. Here we report a 50-year-old Hispanic male pool worker who, during the process of a pool resurfacing, experienced significant contact exposure to a combination of muriatic acid and blue chlorinated rubber-based paint. Confounding the clinical situation was the inability to efficiently remove the chemical secondary to the rubber-based nature of the paint. Additionally, vigorous attempts were made to remove the rubber paint using a variety of agents, including bacitracin, chlorhexidine soap, GOOP adhesive, and Johnson's baby oil. Resultant injuries were devastating fourth-degree burns requiring an immediate operative excision and amputation. Despite aggressive operative intervention and resuscitation, he continued to have severe metabolic derangements and ultimately succumbed to his injuries. We present our attempts at debridement and the system in place to manage patients with complex chemical burns.

Rapid qualification of CSP assemblies by increase of ramp rates and cycling temperature ranges

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ghaffarian, R.; Kim, N.; Rose, D.; Hunter, B.; Devitt, K.; Long, T.

2001-01-01

Team members representing government agencies and private companies have joined together to pool in-kind resources for developing the quality and reliability of chip scale packages (CSPs) for a variety of projects.

Environmental versus genetic influences on growth rates of the corals Pocillopora eydouxi and Porites lobata (Anthozoa: Scleractinia)

USGS Publications Warehouse

Smith, L.W.; Wirshing, H.H.; Baker, A.C.; Birkeland, C.

2008-01-01

Reciprocal transplant experiments of the corals Pocillopora eydouxi Milne Edwards & Haime and Porites lobata Dana were carried out for an 18-month period from September 2004 to March 2006 between two back reef pools on Ofu Island, American Samoa, to test environmental versus genetic effects on skeletal growth rates. Skeletal growth of P. eydouxi showed environmental but not genetic effects, resulting in doubling of growth in Pool 300 compared with Pool 400. There were no environmental or genetic effects on skeletal growth of P. lobata. Pool 300 had more frequent and longer durations of elevated seawater temperatures than Pool 400, characteristics likely to decrease rather than increase skeletal growth. Pool 300 also had higher nutrient levels and flow velocities than Pool 400, characteristics that may increase skeletal growth. However, higher nutrient levels would be expected to increase skeletal growth in both species, but there was no difference between the pools in P. lobata growth. P. eydouxi is much more common in high-energy environments than P. lobata; thus the higher flow velocities in Pool 300 than in Pool 400 may have positively affected skeletal growth of P. eydouxi while not having a detectable effect on P. lobata. The greater skeletal growth of P. eydouxi in Pool 300 occurred despite the presence of clade D zooxanthellae in several source colonies in Pool 300, a genotype known to result in greater heat resistance but slower skeletal growth. Increased skeletal growth rates in higher water motion may provide P. eydouxi a competitive advantage in shallow, high-energy enviromnents where competition for space is intense. ?? 2008 by University of Hawai'i Press. All rights reserved.

Ontologies as integrative tools for plant science

PubMed Central

Walls, Ramona L.; Athreya, Balaji; Cooper, Laurel; Elser, Justin; Gandolfo, Maria A.; Jaiswal, Pankaj; Mungall, Christopher J.; Preece, Justin; Rensing, Stefan; Smith, Barry; Stevenson, Dennis W.

2012-01-01

Premise of the study Bio-ontologies are essential tools for accessing and analyzing the rapidly growing pool of plant genomic and phenomic data. Ontologies provide structured vocabularies to support consistent aggregation of data and a semantic framework for automated analyses and reasoning. They are a key component of the semantic web. Methods This paper provides background on what bio-ontologies are, why they are relevant to botany, and the principles of ontology development. It includes an overview of ontologies and related resources that are relevant to plant science, with a detailed description of the Plant Ontology (PO). We discuss the challenges of building an ontology that covers all green plants (Viridiplantae). Key results Ontologies can advance plant science in four keys areas: (1) comparative genetics, genomics, phenomics, and development; (2) taxonomy and systematics; (3) semantic applications; and (4) education. Conclusions Bio-ontologies offer a flexible framework for comparative plant biology, based on common botanical understanding. As genomic and phenomic data become available for more species, we anticipate that the annotation of data with ontology terms will become less centralized, while at the same time, the need for cross-species queries will become more common, causing more researchers in plant science to turn to ontologies. PMID:22847540

Estimating carbon and nitrogen pools in a forest soil: Influence of soil bulk density methods and rock content

Treesearch

Martin F. Jurgensen; Deborah S. Page-Dumroese; Robert E. Brown; Joanne M. Tirocke; Chris A. Miller; James B. Pickens; Min Wang

2017-01-01

Soils with high rock content are common in many US forests, and contain large amounts of stored C. Accurate measurements of soil bulk density and rock content are critical for calculating and assessing changes in both C and nutrient pool size, but bulk density sampling methods have limitations and sources of variability. Therefore, we evaluated the use of small-...

Stakeholders and public involvement for flood protection: traditional river management organisations for a better consideration of local knowledge?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Utz, Stephan; Lane, Stuart; Reynard, Emmanuel

2016-04-01

This research explores participatory processes in the domain of river management in Switzerland. The main objective is to understand how traditional, highly participatory, local organisations for flood protection have been institutionalised into current river management policy, and to what extent this has impacted on wider participatory processes of producing knowledge. Traditionally, flood protection strategies have been based upon scientific knowledge but have often ignored the capacities of local actors to contribute to the development of the policy. Thus, there may be a gap between scientists, stakeholders and the public that favours controversies and leads to opposition to flood protection projects. In order to reduce this gap and to increase incorporation of local knowledge, participatory processes are set up. They are considered as allowing the integration of all the actors concerned by flood risks to discuss their positions and to develop alternative solutions. This is a particularly important goal in the Swiss political system where direct democracy (the possibility of calling the decision of any level of government into question through a popular vote) means that a reasonable level of project acceptance is a necessary element of project. In order to support implementation of participatory processes, federal funding includes a special grant to cover the additional costs due to these actions. It is considered that, since its introduction in 2008, this grant certainly furthered participatory processes for flood protection projects and fostered water management policy implementation. However, the implication of stakeholders and public in decision-making processes is much well-established than modern river management often assumes. In some regions, flood protection tasks have been traditionally assumed by local organisations such as dyke corporations (DCs). These comprise land and property owners who are DC members and have to participate in flood protection tasks. All members have to pay an annual contribution and can vote about decisions taken by the corporation. In that sense, DCs may be considered as common-pool resource institutions according to Ostrom's (1990) definition (see also Thomi, 2010). Initially, they were local and non-governmental institutions, fully responsible for flood protection in their catchment. But, progressively DCs have been institutionalised and replaced or weakened, bound to apply governmental requirements for flood protection to secure funding of their projects. The increasing complexity of water management through proliferation of norms like river restoration, but also socio-political changes make DCs struggle in delivering flood protection tasks nowadays. Finally, this study demonstrates the effectiveness of DCs for participative decision-making and integration of local flood risk knowledge, reinforcing the conclusions by Gerber et al. (2008) that noticed the usefulness of such self-governing institutions for the implementation of environmental policies in Switzerland. The aim is to show in which way those assets have been modified by the progressive institutionalisation of DCs, and how this has led to the hybridisation of these organisations. Through this case study the factors affecting water management knowledge inclusion and co-production will be discussed, and more generally the importance of such processes for effective flood protection. References Gerber J.D., Nahrath S., Reynard E., Thomi L. (2008). The role of common pool resource institutions in the implementation of Swiss natural resource management policy, Int. Journal of the Commons, 2/2, 222-247. Ostrom E. (1990). Governing the Commons. The evolution of institutions for collective action. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. Thomi L. (2010) Rôle des paramètres sociopolitiques et des connaissances dans la gestion des risques hydrologiques. PhD Thesis, University of Lausanne.

Phase diagrams for the spatial public goods game with pool punishment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szolnoki, Attila; Szabó, György; Perc, Matjaž

2011-03-01

The efficiency of institutionalized punishment is studied by evaluating the stationary states in the spatial public goods game comprising unconditional defectors, cooperators, and cooperating pool punishers as the three competing strategies. Fines and costs of pool punishment are considered as the two main parameters determining the stationary distributions of strategies on the square lattice. Each player collects a payoff from five five-person public goods games, and the evolution of strategies is subsequently governed by imitation based on pairwise comparisons at a low level of noise. The impact of pool punishment on the evolution of cooperation in structured populations is significantly different from that reported previously for peer punishment. Representative phase diagrams reveal remarkably rich behavior, depending also on the value of the synergy factor that characterizes the efficiency of investments payed into the common pool. Besides traditional single- and two-strategy stationary states, a rock-paper-scissors type of cyclic dominance can emerge in strikingly different ways.

Comparison of soil microbial respiration and carbon turnover under perennial and annual biofuel crops in two agricultural soils

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Szymanski, L. M.; Marin-Spiotta, E.; Sanford, G. R.; Jackson, R. D.; Heckman, K. A.

2015-12-01

Bioenergy crops have the potential to provide a low carbon-intensive alternative to fossil fuels. More than a century of agricultural research has shown that conventional cropping systems can reduce soil organic matter (SOM) reservoirs, which cause long-term soil nutrient loss and C release to the atmosphere. In the face of climate change and other human disruptions to biogeochemical cycles, identifying biofuel crops that can maintain or enhance soil resources is desirable for the sustainable production of bioenergy. The objective of our study was to compare the effects of four biofuel crop treatments on SOM dynamics in two agricultural soils: Mollisols at Arlington Agricultural Research Station in Wisconsin and Alfisols at Kellogg Biological Station in Michigan, USA. We used fresh soils collected in 2013 and archived soils from 2008 to measure the effects of five years of crop management. Using a one-year long laboratory soil incubation coupled with a regression model and radiocarbon measurements, we separated soils into three SOM pools and their corresponding C turnover times. We found that the active pool, or biologically available C, was more sensitive to management and is an earlier indicator of changes to soil C dynamics than bulk soil C measurements. There was no effect of treatment on the active pool size at either site; however, the percent C in the active pool decreased, regardless of crop type, in surface soils with high clay content. At depth, the response of the slow pool differed between annual and perennial cropping systems. The distribution of C among SOM fractions varied between the two soil types, with greater C content associated with the active fraction in the coarser textured-soil and greater C content associated with the slow-cycling fraction in the soils with high clay content. These results suggest that the effects of bioenergy crops on soil resources will vary geographically, with implications for the carbon-cost of biocrop production.

Magnitude and Uncertainty of Carbon Pools and Fluxes in the US Forests

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Harris, N.; Saatchi, S. S.; Fore, A.; Yu, Y.; Woodall, C. W.; Ganguly, S.; Nemani, R. R.; Hagen, S.; Birdsey, R.; Brown, S.; Salas, W.; Johnson, K. D.

2015-12-01

Sassan Saatchi1,2, Stephan Hagen3, Christopher Woodall4 , Sangram Ganguly,5 Nancy Harris6, Sandra Brown7, Timothy Pearson7, Alexander Fore1, Yifan Yu1, Rama Nemani5, Gong Zhang5, William Salas4, Roger Cooke81 NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA 91109, USA2 Institute of Environment and Sustainability, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, 90095, USA3 Applied Geosolutions, 55 Main Street Suit 125, Newmarket, NH 03857, USA4 USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Saint Paul, MN 55108, USA5 NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA 94035, USA6 Forests Program, World Resources Institute, Washington, DC, 20002, USA7 Winrock International, Ecosystem Services Unit, Arlington, VA 22202, USA8 Risk Analysis Resources for the Future, Washington DC 20036-1400Assessment of the carbon sinks and sources associated with greenhouse gas (GHG) fluxes across the US forestlands is a priority of the national climate mitigation policy. However, estimates of fluxes from the land sector are less precise compared to other sectors because of the large sources of uncertainty in quantifying the carbon pools, emissions, and removals associated with anthropogenic (land use) and natural changes in the US forestlands. As part of the NASA's Carbon Monitoring System, we developed a methodology based on a combination of ground inventory and space observations to develop spatially refined carbon pools and fluxes including the gross emissions and sequestration of carbon at each 1-ha land unit across the forestlands in the continental United States (CONUS) for the period of 2006-2010. Here, we provide the magnitude and uncertainty of multiple pools and fluxes of the US forestlands and outline the observational requirements to reduce the uncertainties for developing national climate mitigation policies based on the carbon sequestration capacity of the US forest lands. Keywords: forests, carbon pools, greenhouse gas, land use, attribution

New insights into phosphorus management in agriculture--A crop rotation approach.

PubMed

Łukowiak, Remigiusz; Grzebisz, Witold; Sassenrath, Gretchen F

2016-01-15

This manuscript presents research results examining phosphorus (P) management in a soil–plant system for three variables: i) internal resources of soil available phosphorus, ii) cropping sequence, and iii) external input of phosphorus (manure, fertilizers). The research was conducted in long-term cropping sequences with oilseed rape (10 rotations) and maize (six rotations) over three consecutive growing seasons (2004/2005, 2005/2006, and 2006/2007) in a production farm on soils originated from Albic Luvisols in Poland. The soil available phosphorus pool, measured as calcium chloride extractable P (CCE-P), constituted 28% to 67% of the total phosphorus input (PTI) to the soil–plant system in the spring. Oilseed rape and maize dominant cropping sequences showed a significant potential to utilize the CCE-P pool within the soil profile. Cropping sequences containing oilseed rape significantly affected the CCE-P pool, and in turn contributed to the P(TI). The P(TI) uptake use efficiency was 50% on average. Therefore, the CCE-P pool should be taken into account as an important component of a sound and reliable phosphorus balance. The instability of the yield prediction, based on the P(TI), was mainly due to an imbalanced management of both farmyard manure and phosphorus fertilizer. Oilseed rape plants provide a significant positive impact on the CCE-P pool after harvest, improving the productive stability of the entire cropping sequence. This phenomenon was documented by the P(TI) increase during wheat cultivation following oilseed rape. The Unit Phosphorus Uptake index also showed a higher stability in oilseed rape cropping systems compared to rotations based on maize. Cropping sequences are a primary factor impacting phosphorus management. Judicious implementation of crop rotations can improve soil P resources, efficiency of crop P use, and crop yield and yield stability. Use of cropping sequences can reduce the need for external P sources such as farmyard manure and chemical fertilizers.

An analysis of the number of parking bays and checkout counters for a supermarket using SAS simulation studio

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kar, Leow Soo

2014-07-01

Two important factors that influence customer satisfaction in large supermarkets or hypermarkets are adequate parking facilities and short waiting times at the checkout counters. This paper describes the simulation analysis of a large supermarket to determine the optimal levels of these two factors. SAS Simulation Studio is used to model a large supermarket in a shopping mall with car park facility. In order to make the simulation model more realistic, a number of complexities are introduced into the model. For example, arrival patterns of customers vary with the time of the day (morning, afternoon and evening) and with the day of the week (weekdays or weekends), the transport mode of arriving customers (by car or other means), the mode of payment (cash or credit card), customer shopping pattern (leisurely, normal, exact) or choice of checkout counters (normal or express). In this study, we focus on 2 important components of the simulation model, namely the parking area, the normal and express checkout counters. The parking area is modeled using a Resource Pool block where one resource unit represents one parking bay. A customer arriving by car seizes a unit of the resource from the Pool block (parks car) and only releases it when he exits the system. Cars arriving when the Resource Pool is empty (no more parking bays) leave without entering the system. The normal and express checkouts are represented by Server blocks with appropriate service time distributions. As a case study, a supermarket in a shopping mall with a limited number of parking bays in Bangsar was chosen for this research. Empirical data on arrival patterns, arrival modes, payment modes, shopping patterns, service times of the checkout counters were collected and analyzed to validate the model. Sensitivity analysis was also performed with different simulation scenarios to identify the parameters for the optimal number the parking spaces and checkout counters.

Gas Resource Potential of Volcanic Reservoir in Yingtai Fault Depression of Southern Songliao Basin,China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zheng, M.

2016-12-01

There are 2 kinds of volcanic reservoir of gas resource in the Yingtai fault depression, southern Songliao basin,China: volcanic lava reservoir in the Yingcheng-1formation and sedimentary pryoclastics rock of the Yingcheng-2 formation. Based on analysis of the 2 kinds of gas pool features and controlling factors, distribution of each kind has been studied. The resources of these gas reservoirs have been estimated by Delphi method and volumetric method, respectively. The results of resources assessment show the total volcanic gas resources of the Yingtai depression is rich, and the resource proving rate is low, with the remaining gas resource in volcanic reservoir accounting for more than 70%. Thus there will be great exploration potential in the volcanic reservoir in the future gas exploration of this area.

Validation of Pooled Whole-Genome Re-Sequencing in Arabidopsis lyrata.

PubMed

Fracassetti, Marco; Griffin, Philippa C; Willi, Yvonne

2015-01-01

Sequencing pooled DNA of multiple individuals from a population instead of sequencing individuals separately has become popular due to its cost-effectiveness and simple wet-lab protocol, although some criticism of this approach remains. Here we validated a protocol for pooled whole-genome re-sequencing (Pool-seq) of Arabidopsis lyrata libraries prepared with low amounts of DNA (1.6 ng per individual). The validation was based on comparing single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) frequencies obtained by pooling with those obtained by individual-based Genotyping By Sequencing (GBS). Furthermore, we investigated the effect of sample number, sequencing depth per individual and variant caller on population SNP frequency estimates. For Pool-seq data, we compared frequency estimates from two SNP callers, VarScan and Snape; the former employs a frequentist SNP calling approach while the latter uses a Bayesian approach. Results revealed concordance correlation coefficients well above 0.8, confirming that Pool-seq is a valid method for acquiring population-level SNP frequency data. Higher accuracy was achieved by pooling more samples (25 compared to 14) and working with higher sequencing depth (4.1× per individual compared to 1.4× per individual), which increased the concordance correlation coefficient to 0.955. The Bayesian-based SNP caller produced somewhat higher concordance correlation coefficients, particularly at low sequencing depth. We recommend pooling at least 25 individuals combined with sequencing at a depth of 100× to produce satisfactory frequency estimates for common SNPs (minor allele frequency above 0.05).

Evaluating the adequacy of a reference site pool for ecological assessments in environmentally complex regions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Ode, Peter R.; Rehn, Andrew C.; Mazor, Raphael D.; Schiff, Kenneth C.; Stein, Eric D.; May, Jason; Brown, Larry R.; Herbst, David B.; Gillette, D.D.; Lunde, Kevin; Hawkins, Charles P.

2016-01-01

Many advances in the field of bioassessment have focused on approaches for objectively selecting the pool of reference sites used to establish expectations for healthy waterbodies, but little emphasis has been placed on ways to evaluate the suitability of the reference-site pool for its intended applications (e.g., compliance assessment vs ambient monitoring). These evaluations are critical because an inadequately evaluated reference pool may bias assessments in some settings. We present an approach for evaluating the adequacy of a reference-site pool for supporting biotic-index development in environmentally heterogeneous and pervasively altered regions. We followed common approaches for selecting sites with low levels of anthropogenic stress to screen 1985 candidate stream reaches to create a pool of 590 reference sites for assessing the biological integrity of streams in California, USA. We assessed the resulting pool of reference sites against 2 performance criteria. First, we evaluated how well the reference-site pool represented the range of natural gradients present in the entire population of streams as estimated by sites sampled through probabilistic surveys. Second, we evaluated the degree to which we were successful in rejecting sites influenced by anthropogenic stress by comparing biological metric scores at reference sites with the most vs fewest potential sources of stress. Using this approach, we established a reference-site pool with low levels of human-associated stress and broad coverage of environmental heterogeneity. This approach should be widely applicable and customizable to particular regional or programmatic needs.

Managing the CMS Data and Monte Carlo Processing during LHC Run 2

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wissing, C.; CMS Collaboration

2017-10-01

In order to cope with the challenges expected during the LHC Run 2 CMS put in a number of enhancements into the main software packages and the tools used for centrally managed processing. In the presentation we will highlight these improvements that allow CMS to deal with the increased trigger output rate, the increased pileup and the evolution in computing technology. The overall system aims at high flexibility, improved operational flexibility and largely automated procedures. The tight coupling of workflow classes to types of sites has been drastically relaxed. Reliable and high-performing networking between most of the computing sites and the successful deployment of a data-federation allow the execution of workflows using remote data access. That required the development of a largely automatized system to assign workflows and to handle necessary pre-staging of data. Another step towards flexibility has been the introduction of one large global HTCondor Pool for all types of processing workflows and analysis jobs. Besides classical Grid resources also some opportunistic resources as well as Cloud resources have been integrated into that Pool, which gives reach to more than 200k CPU cores.

Identification of presumed ancestral DNA sequences of phaseolin in Phaseolus vulgaris.

PubMed Central

Kami, J; Velásquez, V B; Debouck, D G; Gepts, P

1995-01-01

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) consists of two major geographic gene pools, one distributed in Mexico, Central America, and Colombia and the other in the southern Andes (southern Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina). Amplification and sequencing of members of the multigene family coding for phaseolin, the major seed storage protein of the common bean, provide evidence for accumulation of tandem direct repeats in both introns and exons during evolution of the multigene family in this species. The presumed ancestral phaseolin sequences, without tandem repeats, were found in recently discovered but nearly extinct wild common bean populations of Ecuador and northern Peru that are intermediate between the two major gene pools of the species based on geographical and molecular arguments. Our results illustrate the usefulness of tandem direct repeats in establishing the polarity of DNA sequence divergence and therefore in proposing phylogenies. Images Fig. 1 Fig. 3 PMID:7862642

Pathogenic seedborne viruses are rare but Phaseolus vulgaris endornaviruses are common in bean varieties grown in Nicaragua and Tanzania.

PubMed

Nordenstedt, Noora; Marcenaro, Delfia; Chilagane, Daudi; Mwaipopo, Beatrice; Rajamäki, Minna-Liisa; Nchimbi-Msolla, Susan; Njau, Paul J R; Mbanzibwa, Deusdedith R; Valkonen, Jari P T

2017-01-01

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is an annual grain legume that was domesticated in Mesoamerica (Central America) and the Andes. It is currently grown widely also on other continents including Africa. We surveyed seedborne viruses in new common bean varieties introduced to Nicaragua (Central America) and in landraces and improved varieties grown in Tanzania (eastern Africa). Bean seeds, harvested from Nicaragua and Tanzania, were grown in insect-controlled greenhouse or screenhouse, respectively, to obtain leaf material for virus testing. Equal amounts of total RNA from different samples were pooled (30-36 samples per pool), and small RNAs were deep-sequenced (Illumina). Assembly of the reads (21-24 nt) to contiguous sequences and searches for homologous viral sequences in databases revealed Phaseolus vulgaris endornavirus 1 (PvEV-1) and PvEV-2 in the bean varieties in Nicaragua and Tanzania. These viruses are not known to cause symptoms in common bean and are considered non-pathogenic. The small-RNA reads from each pool of samples were mapped to the previously characterized complete PvEV-1 and PvEV-2 sequences (genome lengths ca. 14 kb and 15 kb, respectively). Coverage of the viral genomes was 87.9-99.9%, depending on the pool. Coverage per nucleotide ranged from 5 to 471, confirming virus identification. PvEV-1 and PvEV-2 are known to occur in Phaseolus spp. in Central America, but there is little previous information about their occurrence in Nicaragua, and no information about occurrence in Africa. Aside from Cowpea mild mosaic virus detected in bean plants grown from been seeds harvested from one region in Tanzania, no other pathogenic seedborne viruses were detected. The low incidence of infections caused by pathogenic viruses transmitted via bean seeds may be attributable to new, virus-resistant CB varieties released by breeding programs in Nicaragua and Tanzania.

7 CFR 2.91 - Director, Office of Operations.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

..., excess property pool, resource recovery, shipping and receiving, forms, labor services, issuing of... maintaining the security of physical facilities, self-protection, and warden services, in the Washington, DC..., Office of Operations: (1) Provide services for Department headquarters in the Washington, DC metropolitan...

Thermal cycling test results of CSP and RF assemblies

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ghaffarian, R.; Nelson, G.; Cooper, M.; Lam, D.; Strudler, S.; Umdekar, A.; Selk, K.; Bjorndahl, B.; Duprey, R.

2000-01-01

A JPL-led chip scale package (CSP) Consortium of enterprises, composed of representing agencies and private companies, recently joined together to pool in-kind resources for developing the quality and reliability of chip scale packages (CSPs) for a variety of projects.

Strategies toward Cooperation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Donald A.

1979-01-01

The Quad-Cities Graduate Study Center in Rock Island, Illinois, a voluntary, publicly funded, academic consortium, is described. It was incorporated as an experimental project to determine if pooling institutional resources were academically, financially, and administratively possible. It is now a model of inter-institutional cooperation providing…

Genetic diversity in Gossypium genus

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The overall objectives of this paper are to report on cotton germplasm resources, morphobiological and agronomic diversity of Gossypium genus and review efforts on molecular genetic diversity of cotton gene pools as well as on the challenges and perspectives of exploiting genetic diversity in cotton...

5 CFR 9901.515 - Competitive examining procedures.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Competitive examining procedures. 9901.515 Section 9901.515 Administrative Personnel DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT AND... equal protection considerations in mind, such as whether the sources will reach a diverse applicant pool...

These Small Schools Pooled Resources to Beef Up Bare-Bones Curriculums.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ditzler, Lolita

1984-01-01

In the Midwest, three types of cooperation among rural school districts have supplemented rural schools' limited curricula and facilities: (1) shared classes, with cooperative transportation between schools; (2) shared classes via cable television; and (3) shared extracurricular activities. (JW)

Competition between a nonallelopathic phytoplankton and an allelopathic phytoplankton species under predation.

PubMed

Kengwoung-Keumo, Jean-Jacques

2016-08-01

We propose a model of two-species competition in the chemostat for a single growth-limiting, nonreproducing resource that extends that of Roy [38]. The response functions are specified to be Michaelis-Menten, and there is no predation in Roy's work. Our model generalizes Roy's model to general uptake functions. The competition is exploitative so that species compete by decreasing the common pool of resources. The model also allows allelopathic effects of one toxin-producing species, both on itself (autotoxicity) and on its nontoxic competitor (phytotoxicity). We show that a stable coexistence equilibrium exists as long as (a) there are allelopathic effects and (b) the input nutrient concentration is above a critical value. The model is reconsidered under instantaneous nutrient recycling. We further extend this work to include a zooplankton species as a fourth interacting component to study the impact of predation on the ecosystem. The zooplankton species is allowed to feed only on the two phytoplankton species which are its perfectly substitutable resources. Each of the models is analyzed for boundedness, equilibria, stability, and uniform persistence (or permanence). Each model structure fits very well with some harmful algal bloom observations where the phytoplankton assemblage can be envisioned in two compartments, toxin producing and non-toxic. The Prymnesium parvum literature, where the suppressing effects of allelochemicals are quite pronounced, is a classic example. This work advances knowledge in an area of research becoming ever more important, which is understanding the functioning of allelopathy in food webs.

A multiagency and multijurisdictional approach to mapping the glacial deposits of the Great Lakes region in three dimensions

USGS Publications Warehouse

Berg, Richard C.; Brown, Steven E.; Thomason, Jason F.; Hasenmueller, Nancy R.; Letsinger, Sally L.; Kincare, Kevin A.; Esch, John M.; Kehew, Alan E.; Thorleifson, L. Harvey; Kozlowski, Andrew L.; Bird, Brian C.; Pavey, Richard R.; Bajc, Andy F.; Burt, Abigail K.; Fleeger, Gary M.; Carson, Eric C.

2016-01-01

The Great Lakes Geologic Mapping Coalition (GLGMC), consisting of state geological surveys from all eight Great Lakes states, the Ontario Geological Survey, and the U.S. Geological Survey, was conceived out of a societal need for unbiased and scientifically defensible geologic information on the shallow subsurface, particularly the delineation, interpretation, and viability of groundwater resources. Only a small percentage (<10%) of the region had been mapped in the subsurface, and there was recognition that no single agency had the financial, intellectual, or physical resources to conduct such a massive geologic mapping effort at a detailed scale over a wide jurisdiction. The GLGMC provides a strategy for generating financial and stakeholder support for three-dimensional (3-D) geologic mapping, pooling of physical and personnel resources, and sharing of mapping and technological expertise to characterize the thick cover of glacial sediments. Since its inception in 1997, the GLGMC partners have conducted detailed surficial and 3-D geologic mapping within all jurisdictions, and concurrent significant scientific advancements have been made to increase understanding of the history and framework of geologic processes. More importantly, scientific information has been provided to public policymakers in understandable formats, emphasis has been placed on training early-career scientists in new mapping techniques and emerging technologies, and a successful model has been developed of state/provincial and federal collaboration focused on geologic mapping, as evidenced by this program's unprecedented and long-term successful experiment of 10 geological surveys working together to address common issues.

Distribution of larval fishes related to potential navigation impacts on the upper Mississippi River, pool 7

USGS Publications Warehouse

Holland, L.E.; Sylvester, J.R.

1983-01-01

Ichthyoplankton samples were collected twice monthly during spring and summer 1981 from a variety of habitats in Navigation Pool 7 of the upper Mississippi River. Larval-fish distributions in the pool and variations in those distributions were analyzed relative to potential impacts of increased commercial navigation. Although as many as 66 species of adults have been found in the area (33 considered common), only 17 taxa were identified from our collections. In April and May, most larvae were collected in main-channel and main-channel-border areas next to major expanses of shallow backwaters. White bass Morone chrysops, yellow perch Perca flavescens, and crappies Pomoxis spp. were predominant. Numerous catostomids also were taken. In June and July, most larvae were taken in the lower pool. Freshwater drum Aplodinotus grunniens and gizzard shad Dorosoma cepedianum predominated in these samples, which also included many cyprinids and centrarchids. Diel patterns of abundance varied with species and sampling location. Freshwater drums were more abundant near the surface at midnight than during the day. Common carp Cyprinus carpio were most abundant in collections at dusk, whereas all other cyprinids were most abundant at dusk and dawn. Numbers of gizzard shad also increased slightly at dusk. Total numbers of larvae collected were greatest at dusk in main-channel and main-channel-border samples; backwater areas produced the greatest catches at midnight and dawn. Seasonal, spatial, diel, and species-specific variations in larval fish abundances significantly influenced the proportion of the community potentially vulnerable to increased boat traffic through Pool 7.

Operating Room Fires and Surgical Skin Preparation.

PubMed

Jones, Edward L; Overbey, Douglas M; Chapman, Brandon C; Jones, Teresa S; Hilton, Sarah A; Moore, John T; Robinson, Thomas N

2017-07-01

Operating room fires are "never events" that remain an under-reported source of devastating complications. One common set-up that promotes fires is the use of surgical skin preparations combined with electrosurgery and oxygen. Limited data exist examining the incidence of fires and surgical skin preparations. A standardized, ex vivo model was created with a 15 × 15 cm section of clipped porcine skin. An electrosurgical "Bovie" pencil was activated for 2 seconds on 30 Watts coagulation mode in 21% oxygen (room air), both immediately and 3 minutes after skin preparation application. Skin preparations with and without alcohol were tested, and were applied with and without pooling. Alcohol-based skin preparations included 70% isopropyl alcohol (IPA) with 2% chlorhexidine gluconate, 74% IPA with 0.7% iodine povacrylex, and plain 70% IPA. No fires occurred with nonalcohol-based preparations (p < 0.001 vs alcohol-based preparations). Alcohol-based preparations caused flash flames at 0 minutes in 22% (13 of 60) and at 3 minutes in 10% (6 of 60) of tests. When examining pooling of alcohol-based preparations, fires occurred in 38% (23 of 60) at 0 minutes and 27% (16 of 60) at 3 minutes. Alcohol-based skin preparations fuel operating room fires in common clinical scenarios. Following manufacturer guidelines and allowing 3 minutes for drying, surgical fires were still created in 1 in 10 cases without pooling and more than one-quarter of cases with pooling. Surgeons can decrease the risk of an operating room fire by using nonalcohol-based skin preparations or avoiding pooling of the preparation solution. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Associations between Depression and Health Behaviour Change: Findings from 8 Cycles of the Canadian Community Health Survey.

PubMed

Clayborne, Zahra M; Colman, Ian

2018-01-01

The primary objective of this study was to examine associations between depression and several measures of health behaviour change across 8 cycles of a population-based, cross-sectional survey of Canadians. The secondary objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of the types of health behaviour changes undergone/sought and types of barriers to change reported, comparing those with and without depression. The sample comprised 65,801 respondents to the Canadian Community Health Survey between 2007 and 2014. Past-year depression was assessed via structured interview (CIDI-SF). Measures of health behaviour change included recent changes made, desire to make changes, and barriers towards making changes. Analyses involved logistic regression, with estimates across cycles pooled using fixed-effects meta-analyses. Pooled prevalences of types of health behaviour changes undergone/sought and types of barriers to change experienced were reported, and associations with depression were examined. Depression was associated with higher odds of reporting a recent health behaviour change (pooled odds ratio [OR] = 1.39; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.30 to 1.48), desire to make health behaviour changes (pooled OR = 1.61; 95% CI, 1.49 to 1.74), and barriers towards change (pooled OR = 1.54; 95% CI, 1.44 to 1.65). The most common change undergone and sought was increased exercise; the most common barrier reported was a lack of willpower. Individuals dealing with depression are more likely to report recent health behaviour changes and the desire to make changes but are also more likely to report barriers towards change.

Coniform stromatolites from geothermal systems, North Island, New Zealand

USGS Publications Warehouse

Jones, Brian; Renaut, Robin W.; Rosen, Michael R.; Ansdell, Kevin M.

2002-01-01

Coniform stromatolites are found in several sites in the Tokaanu and Whakarewarewa geothermal areas of North Island, New Zealand. At Tokaanu, silicification of these stromatolites is taking place in Kirihoro, a shallow hot springfed pool. At Whakarewarewa, subfossil silicified coniform stromatolites are found on the floor of "Waikite Pool" on the discharge apron below Waikite Geyser, and in an old sinter succession at Te Anarata. The microbes in the coniform stromatolites from Tokaanu, Waikite Pool, and Te Anarata have been well preserved through rapid silicification. Nevertheless, subtle differences in the silicification style induced morphological variations that commonly mask or alter morphological features needed for identification of the microbes in terms of extant taxa. The coniform stromatolites in the New Zealand hotspring pools are distinctive because (1) they are formed of upward tapering (i.e., conical) columns, (2) neighboring columns commonly are linked by vertical sheets or bridges, (3) internally, they are formed of alternating high- and low-porosity laminae that have a conical vertical profile, and (4) Phormidium form more than 90% of the biota. As such, they are comparable to modern coniform mats and stromatolites found in the geothermal systems of Yellowstone National Park and ice-covered lakes in Antarctica. Formation of the coniform stromatolites is restricted to pools that are characterized by low current energy and a microflora that is dominated by Phormidium. These delicate and intricate stromatolites could not form in areas characterized by fast flowing water or a diverse microflora. Thus, it appears that the distribution of these distinctive stromatolites is controlled by biological constraints that are superimposed on environmental needs.

Cooperative fault-tolerant distributed computing U.S. Department of Energy Grant DE-FG02-02ER25537 Final Report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Sunderam, Vaidy S.

2007-01-09

The Harness project has developed novel software frameworks for the execution of high-end simulations in a fault-tolerant manner on distributed resources. The H2O subsystem comprises the kernel of the Harness framework, and controls the key functions of resource management across multiple administrative domains, especially issues of access and allocation. It is based on a “pluggable” architecture that enables the aggregated use of distributed heterogeneous resources for high performance computing. The major contributions of the Harness II project result in significantly enhancing the overall computational productivity of high-end scientific applications by enabling robust, failure-resilient computations on cooperatively pooled resource collections.

Spatial scales of carbon flow in a river food web

USGS Publications Warehouse

Finlay, J.C.; Khandwala, S.; Power, M.E.

2002-01-01

Spatial extents of food webs that support stream and river consumers are largely unknown, but such information is essential for basic understanding and management of lotic ecosystems. We used predictable variation in algal ??13C with water velocity, and measurements of consumer ??13C and ??15N to examine carbon flow and trophic structure in food webs of the South Fork Eel River in Northern California. Analyses of ??13C showed that the most abundant macroinvertebrate groups (collector-gatherers and scrapers) relied on algae from local sources within their riffle or shallow pool habitats. In contrast, filter-feeding invertebrates in riffles relied in part on algal production derived from upstream shallow pools. Riffle invertebrate predators also relied in part on consumers of pool-derived algal carbon. One abundant taxon drifting from shallow pools and riffles (baetid mayflies) relied on algal production derived from the habitats from which they dispersed. The trophic linkage from pool algae to riffle invertebrate predators was thus mediated through either predation on pool herbivores dispersing into riffles, or on filter feeders. Algal production in shallow pool habitats dominated the resource base of vertebrate predators in all habitats at the end of the summer. We could not distinguish between the trophic roles of riffle algae and terrestrial detritus, but both carbon sources appeared to play minor roles for vertebrate consumers. In shallow pools, small vertebrates, including three-spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus), roach (Hesperoleucas symmetricus), and rough-skinned newts (Taricha granulosa), relied on invertebrate prey derived from local pool habitats. During the most productive summer period, growth of all size classes of steelhead and resident rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) in all habitats (shallow pools, riffles, and deep unproductive pools) was largely derived from algal production in shallow pools. Preliminary data suggest that the strong role of shallow pool algae in riffle steelhead growth during summer periods was due to drift of pool invertebrates to riffles, rather than movement of riffle trout. Data for ??15N showed that resident rainbow trout (25-33 cm standard length) in deep pools preyed upon small size classes of juvenile steelhead that were most often found in riffles or shallow pools. While many invertebrate consumers relied primarily on algal production derived from local habitats, our study shows that growth of top predators in the river is strongly linked to food webs in adjacent habitats. These results suggest a key role for emigration of aquatic prey in determining carbon flow to top predators.

A rapid and cost effective method for soil carbon mineralization under static incubations

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil incubations with subsequent determination of carbon dioxide (CO2) are common soil assays used to estimate C mineralization rates and active organic C pools. Two common methods used to detect CO2 in laboratory incubations are gas chromatography (GC) and alkali absorption followed by titration (...

Voluntary rewards mediate the evolution of pool punishment for maintaining public goods in large populations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sasaki, Tatsuya; Uchida, Satoshi; Chen, Xiaojie

2015-03-01

Punishment is a popular tool when governing commons in situations where free riders would otherwise take over. It is well known that sanctioning systems, such as the police and courts, are costly and thus can suffer from those who free ride on other's efforts to maintain the sanctioning systems (second-order free riders). Previous game-theory studies showed that if populations are very large, pool punishment rarely emerges in public good games, even when participation is optional, because of second-order free riders. Here we show that a matching fund for rewarding cooperation leads to the emergence of pool punishment, despite the presence of second-order free riders. We demonstrate that reward funds can pave the way for a transition from a population of free riders to a population of pool punishers. A key factor in promoting the transition is also to reward those who contribute to pool punishment, yet not abstaining from participation. Reward funds eventually vanish in raising pool punishment, which is sustainable by punishing the second-order free riders. This suggests that considering the interdependence of reward and punishment may help to better understand the origins and transitions of social norms and institutions.

Voluntary rewards mediate the evolution of pool punishment for maintaining public goods in large populations.

PubMed

Sasaki, Tatsuya; Uchida, Satoshi; Chen, Xiaojie

2015-03-10

Punishment is a popular tool when governing commons in situations where free riders would otherwise take over. It is well known that sanctioning systems, such as the police and courts, are costly and thus can suffer from those who free ride on other's efforts to maintain the sanctioning systems (second-order free riders). Previous game-theory studies showed that if populations are very large, pool punishment rarely emerges in public good games, even when participation is optional, because of second-order free riders. Here we show that a matching fund for rewarding cooperation leads to the emergence of pool punishment, despite the presence of second-order free riders. We demonstrate that reward funds can pave the way for a transition from a population of free riders to a population of pool punishers. A key factor in promoting the transition is also to reward those who contribute to pool punishment, yet not abstaining from participation. Reward funds eventually vanish in raising pool punishment, which is sustainable by punishing the second-order free riders. This suggests that considering the interdependence of reward and punishment may help to better understand the origins and transitions of social norms and institutions.

The quest for rare variants: pooled multiplexed next generation sequencing in plants.

PubMed

Marroni, Fabio; Pinosio, Sara; Morgante, Michele

2012-01-01

Next generation sequencing (NGS) instruments produce an unprecedented amount of sequence data at contained costs. This gives researchers the possibility of designing studies with adequate power to identify rare variants at a fraction of the economic and labor resources required by individual Sanger sequencing. As of today, few research groups working in plant sciences have exploited this potentiality, showing that pooled NGS provides results in excellent agreement with those obtained by individual Sanger sequencing. The aim of this review is to convey to the reader the general ideas underlying the use of pooled NGS for the identification of rare variants. To facilitate a thorough understanding of the possibilities of the method, we will explain in detail the possible experimental and analytical approaches and discuss their advantages and disadvantages. We will show that information on allele frequency obtained by pooled NGS can be used to accurately compute basic population genetics indexes such as allele frequency, nucleotide diversity, and Tajima's D. Finally, we will discuss applications and future perspectives of the multiplexed NGS approach.

Further evidence of an Amerindian contribution to the Polynesian gene pool on Easter Island.

PubMed

Thorsby, E; Flåm, S T; Woldseth, B; Dupuy, B M; Sanchez-Mazas, A; Fernandez-Vina, M A

2009-06-01

Available evidence suggests a Polynesian origin of the Easter Island population. We recently found that some native Easter Islanders also carried some common American Indian (Amerindian) human leukocyte antigen (HLA) alleles, which probably were introduced before Europeans discovered the island in 1722. In this study, we report molecular genetic investigations of 21 other selected native Easter Islanders. Analysis of mitochondrial DNA and Y chromosome markers showed no traces of an Amerindian contribution. However, high-resolution genomic HLA typing showed that two individuals carried some other common Amerindian HLA alleles, different from those found in our previous investigations. The new data support our previous evidence of an Amerindian contribution to the gene pool on Easter Island.

Health-financing reforms in southeast Asia: challenges in achieving universal coverage.

PubMed

Tangcharoensathien, Viroj; Patcharanarumol, Walaiporn; Ir, Por; Aljunid, Syed Mohamed; Mukti, Ali Ghufron; Akkhavong, Kongsap; Banzon, Eduardo; Huong, Dang Boi; Thabrany, Hasbullah; Mills, Anne

2011-03-05

In this sixth paper of the Series, we review health-financing reforms in seven countries in southeast Asia that have sought to reduce dependence on out-of-pocket payments, increase pooled health finance, and expand service use as steps towards universal coverage. Laos and Cambodia, both resource-poor countries, have mostly relied on donor-supported health equity funds to reach the poor, and reliable funding and appropriate identification of the eligible poor are two major challenges for nationwide expansion. For Thailand, the Philippines, Indonesia, and Vietnam, social health insurance financed by payroll tax is commonly used for formal sector employees (excluding Malaysia), with varying outcomes in terms of financial protection. Alternative payment methods have different implications for provider behaviour and financial protection. Two alternative approaches for financial protection of the non-poor outside the formal sector have emerged-contributory arrangements and tax-financed schemes-with different abilities to achieve high population coverage rapidly. Fiscal space and mobilisation of payroll contributions are both important in accelerating financial protection. Expanding coverage of good-quality services and ensuring adequate human resources are also important to achieve universal coverage. As health-financing reform is complex, institutional capacity to generate evidence and inform policy is essential and should be strengthened. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Analysis of Issues for Project Scheduling by Multiple, Dispersed Schedulers (distributed Scheduling) and Requirements for Manual Protocols and Computer-based Support

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Richards, Stephen F.

1991-01-01

Although computerized operations have significant gains realized in many areas, one area, scheduling, has enjoyed few benefits from automation. The traditional methods of industrial engineering and operations research have not proven robust enough to handle the complexities associated with the scheduling of realistic problems. To address this need, NASA has developed the computer-aided scheduling system (COMPASS), a sophisticated, interactive scheduling tool that is in wide-spread use within NASA and the contractor community. Therefore, COMPASS provides no explicit support for the large class of problems in which several people, perhaps at various locations, build separate schedules that share a common pool of resources. This research examines the issue of distributing scheduling, as applied to application domains characterized by the partial ordering of tasks, limited resources, and time restrictions. The focus of this research is on identifying issues related to distributed scheduling, locating applicable problem domains within NASA, and suggesting areas for ongoing research. The issues that this research identifies are goals, rescheduling requirements, database support, the need for communication and coordination among individual schedulers, the potential for expert system support for scheduling, and the possibility of integrating artificially intelligent schedulers into a network of human schedulers.

Livelihood analysis of floating net cages fish farmers at Sendang Village Sub-district of Gajah Mungkur Reservoir of Wonogiri Regency

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nissa, Z. N. A.; Suadi; Sukardi

2018-03-01

Floating net cages farming (KJA) is one of the main livelihood resources in Sendang Village, Gajah Mungkur Reservoir. The purposes of this study were to determine the livelihood asset of fish farmers, the problems of livelihood asset management and the utilization strategy to support aquaculture businesses also farmers livelihood. The study showed that the natural capital, provides easiest way to farmer in fish cultivation. The fish farmers also have good technical capabilities in fish cultivation and the product has high demand and value which is essential for farmers livelihood. The main problems faced by small-scale farmers and all large-scale farmers were transition period, and the rise of cost price which sometime cause the failure in the business. The strategies to deal the problems include technological adjustment, managing the pattern of stocking of tilapia seeds and income source diversification. There were differences in dealing the rise of cost. The small-scale farmers borrow from the bank, while medium-scale farmers use their savings. Another difference of livelihood strategy was the management of financial capital. However, various strategies were still required to increase the livelihood of fish farmers and could address the vulnerabilities in the cultivation of KJA as a common pool resources.

Social Cooperation and Disharmony in Communities Mediated through Common Pool Resource Exploitation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sugiarto, H. S.; Lansing, J. S.; Chung, N. N.; Lai, C. H.; Cheong, S. A.; Chew, L. Y.

2017-05-01

It was theorized that when a society exploits a shared resource, the system can undergo extreme phase transition from full cooperation in abiding by a social agreement, to full defection from it. This was shown to happen in an integrated society with complex social relationships. However, real-world agents tend to segregate into communities whose interactions contain features of the associated community structure. We found that such social segregation softens the abrupt extreme transition through the emergence of multiple intermediate phases composed of communities of cooperators and defectors. Phase transitions thus now occur through these intermediate phases which avert the instantaneous collapse of social cooperation within a society. While this is beneficial to society, it nonetheless costs society in two ways. First, the return to full cooperation from full defection at the phase transition is no longer immediate. Community linkages have rendered greater societal inertia such that the switch back is now typically stepwise rather than a single change. Second, there is a drastic increase in social disharmony within the society due to the greater tension in the relationship between segregated communities of defectors and cooperators. Intriguingly, these results on multiple phases with its associated phenomenon of social disharmony are found to characterize the level of cooperation within a society of Balinese farmers who exploit water for rice production.

Extreme-phenotype genome-wide association study (XP-GWAS): a method for identifying trait-associated variants by sequencing pools of individuals selected from a diversity panel.

PubMed

Yang, Jinliang; Jiang, Haiying; Yeh, Cheng-Ting; Yu, Jianming; Jeddeloh, Jeffrey A; Nettleton, Dan; Schnable, Patrick S

2015-11-01

Although approaches for performing genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are well developed, conventional GWAS requires high-density genotyping of large numbers of individuals from a diversity panel. Here we report a method for performing GWAS that does not require genotyping of large numbers of individuals. Instead XP-GWAS (extreme-phenotype GWAS) relies on genotyping pools of individuals from a diversity panel that have extreme phenotypes. This analysis measures allele frequencies in the extreme pools, enabling discovery of associations between genetic variants and traits of interest. This method was evaluated in maize (Zea mays) using the well-characterized kernel row number trait, which was selected to enable comparisons between the results of XP-GWAS and conventional GWAS. An exome-sequencing strategy was used to focus sequencing resources on genes and their flanking regions. A total of 0.94 million variants were identified and served as evaluation markers; comparisons among pools showed that 145 of these variants were statistically associated with the kernel row number phenotype. These trait-associated variants were significantly enriched in regions identified by conventional GWAS. XP-GWAS was able to resolve several linked QTL and detect trait-associated variants within a single gene under a QTL peak. XP-GWAS is expected to be particularly valuable for detecting genes or alleles responsible for quantitative variation in species for which extensive genotyping resources are not available, such as wild progenitors of crops, orphan crops, and other poorly characterized species such as those of ecological interest. © 2015 The Authors The Plant Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effects of common seagrass restoration methods on ecosystem structure in subtropical seagrass meadows.

PubMed

Bourque, Amanda S; Fourqurean, James W

2014-06-01

Seagrass meadows near population centers are subject to frequent disturbance from vessel groundings. Common seagrass restoration methods include filling excavations and applying fertilizer to encourage seagrass recruitment. We sampled macrophytes, soil structure, and macroinvertebrate infauna at unrestored and recently restored vessel grounding disturbances to evaluate the effects of these restoration methods on seagrass ecosystem structure. After a year of observations comparing filled sites to both undisturbed reference and unrestored disturbed sites, filled sites had low organic matter content, nutrient pools, and primary producer abundance. Adding a nutrient source increased porewater nutrient pools at disturbed sites and in undisturbed meadows, but not at filled sites. Environmental predictors of infaunal community structure across treatments included soil texture and nutrient pools. At the one year time scale, the restoration methods studied did not result in convergence between restored and unrestored sites. Particularly in filled sites, soil conditions may combine to constrain rapid development of the seagrass community and associated infauna. Our study is important for understanding early recovery trajectories following restoration using these methods. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Use of common analgesic medications and ovarian cancer survival: results from a pooled analysis in the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium.

PubMed

Dixon, Suzanne C; Nagle, Christina M; Wentzensen, Nicolas; Trabert, Britton; Beeghly-Fadiel, Alicia; Schildkraut, Joellen M; Moysich, Kirsten B; deFazio, Anna; Risch, Harvey A; Rossing, Mary Anne; Doherty, Jennifer A; Wicklund, Kristine G; Goodman, Marc T; Modugno, Francesmary; Ness, Roberta B; Edwards, Robert P; Jensen, Allan; Kjær, Susanne K; Høgdall, Estrid; Berchuck, Andrew; Cramer, Daniel W; Terry, Kathryn L; Poole, Elizabeth M; Bandera, Elisa V; Paddock, Lisa E; Anton-Culver, Hoda; Ziogas, Argyrios; Menon, Usha; Gayther, Simon A; Ramus, Susan J; Gentry-Maharaj, Aleksandra; Pearce, Celeste Leigh; Wu, Anna H; Pike, Malcolm C; Webb, Penelope M

2017-04-25

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been associated with improved survival in some cancers, but evidence for ovarian cancer is limited. Pooling individual-level data from 12 Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium studies, we evaluated the association between self-reported, pre-diagnosis use of common analgesics and overall/progression-free/disease-specific survival among 7694 women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (4273 deaths). Regular analgesic use (at least once per week) was not associated with overall survival (pooled hazard ratios, pHRs (95% confidence intervals): aspirin 0.96 (0.88-1.04); non-aspirin NSAIDs 0.97 (0.89-1.05); acetaminophen 1.01 (0.93-1.10)), nor with progression-free/disease-specific survival. There was however a survival advantage for users of any NSAIDs in studies clearly defining non-use as less than once per week (pHR=0.89 (0.82-0.98)). Although this study did not show a clear association between analgesic use and ovarian cancer survival, further investigation with clearer definitions of use and information about post-diagnosis use is warranted.

OVERVIEW OF US NATIONAL LAND-COVER MAPPING PROGRAM

EPA Science Inventory

Because of escalating costs amid growing needs for large-scale, satellite-based landscape information, a group of US federal agencies agreed to pool resources and operate as a consortium to acquire the necessary data land-cover mapping of the nation . The consortium was initiated...

5 CFR 9701.342 - Performance pay increases.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... pools and may adjust those amounts based on overall levels of organizational performance or contribution... 5 Administrative Personnel 3 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Performance pay increases. 9701.342... HUMAN RESOURCES MANAGEMENT SYSTEM Pay and Pay Administration Performance-Based Pay § 9701.342...

An Experimental Model for Market Penetration.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caren, William L.

1987-01-01

A plan for college market penetration that has been successful in increasing the applicant pool for one institution is outlined and discussed. It includes development of performance objectives, a schedule, a promotional plan, market survey, and promotional activities including alumni, media, and other community resources. (MSE)

Can We Communicate with Other Generations?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mellert, Robert B.

Communicating with future generations is not merely a question of "how" to communicate, but also of "what." Our major moral responsibilities to future generations concern the size of future populations, conservation of nonrenewable resources, diversity of the gene pool, and quality of the environment. To determine our…

Human resources in science and engineering: Policy implications

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Leggon, C.B.

1995-12-31

Recently, there has been much debate concerning the adequacy of the United States` (U.S.) human resources base to meet its future needs for science and engineering (S/E) talent. Science policy analysts - and scientists and engineers themselves - disagree about whether there will be any shortages of scientists and engineers, and if so, what they will mean for the U.S. Whether or not these shortages materialize, it is necessary for the U.S. to expand the pool from which it recruits its S/E talent. This paper addresses the question of how to increases the diversity of the S/E talent pool tomore » include those who are projected by the year 2000 to be the majority of entry-level workers in the U.S. workforce: women and racial/ethnic minorities. Market forces alone cannot increase the size and diversity of the U.S. S/E workforce. Policy intervention will continue to be required to increase the diversity of the S/E workforce.« less

Dedicated heterogeneous node scheduling including backfill scheduling

DOEpatents

Wood, Robert R [Livermore, CA; Eckert, Philip D [Livermore, CA; Hommes, Gregg [Pleasanton, CA

2006-07-25

A method and system for job backfill scheduling dedicated heterogeneous nodes in a multi-node computing environment. Heterogeneous nodes are grouped into homogeneous node sub-pools. For each sub-pool, a free node schedule (FNS) is created so that the number of to chart the free nodes over time. For each prioritized job, using the FNS of sub-pools having nodes useable by a particular job, to determine the earliest time range (ETR) capable of running the job. Once determined for a particular job, scheduling the job to run in that ETR. If the ETR determined for a lower priority job (LPJ) has a start time earlier than a higher priority job (HPJ), then the LPJ is scheduled in that ETR if it would not disturb the anticipated start times of any HPJ previously scheduled for a future time. Thus, efficient utilization and throughput of such computing environments may be increased by utilizing resources otherwise remaining idle.

Sustainable institutionalized punishment requires elimination of second-order free-riders

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Perc, Matjaž

2012-03-01

Although empirical and theoretical studies affirm that punishment can elevate collaborative efforts, its emergence and stability remain elusive. By peer-punishment the sanctioning is something an individual elects to do depending on the strategies in its neighborhood. The consequences of unsustainable efforts are therefore local. By pool-punishment, on the other hand, where resources for sanctioning are committed in advance and at large, the notion of sustainability has greater significance. In a population with free-riders, punishers must be strong in numbers to keep the ``punishment pool'' from emptying. Failure to do so renders the concept of institutionalized sanctioning futile. We show that pool-punishment in structured populations is sustainable, but only if second-order free-riders are sanctioned as well, and to a such degree that they cannot prevail. A discontinuous phase transition leads to an outbreak of sustainability when punishers subvert second-order free-riders in the competition against defectors.

Seasonal dynamics in community structure, abundance, body size and sex ratio in two species of Neotropical annual fishes.

PubMed

Lanés, L E K; Godoy, R S; Maltchik, L; Polačik, M; Blažek, R; Vrtílek, M; Reichard, M

2016-11-01

Seven ephemeral pools on the coastal plain of southern Brazil were found to be inhabited by three annual and 22 non-annual fish species. Two common annual species (Austrolebias minuano and Cynopoecilus fulgens) exhibited clear seasonal dynamics, with the appearance of young fishes in the austral autumn (May to June) and a decline in abundance over the seasonal cycle. The third annual species, Austrolebias wolterstorffii, was rare. No seasonal dynamics were observed in non-annual fishes. The relative abundance of non-annual fishes compared with annual fishes increased over the seasonal cycle, but they coexisted widely. The size structure of annual fishes suggested the presence of a single age cohort in most pools though a second age cohort was registered in one pool in August, coinciding with a large flooding. Strong sexual dimorphism in body size was found in C. fulgens throughout the seasonal cycle, while no sexual dimorphism in body size was found in A. minuano. Female-biased sex ratios were recorded in both common annual fish species in the last three sampling dates (in spring), but not during the first two sampling dates (in winter). The natural lifespan of annual fishes was <8 months. Annual fishes disappeared before habitat desiccation in half of the pools, while non-annual fishes were still present. © 2016 The Fisheries Society of the British Isles.

A statistical method for the detection of variants from next-generation resequencing of DNA pools.

PubMed

Bansal, Vikas

2010-06-15

Next-generation sequencing technologies have enabled the sequencing of several human genomes in their entirety. However, the routine resequencing of complete genomes remains infeasible. The massive capacity of next-generation sequencers can be harnessed for sequencing specific genomic regions in hundreds to thousands of individuals. Sequencing-based association studies are currently limited by the low level of multiplexing offered by sequencing platforms. Pooled sequencing represents a cost-effective approach for studying rare variants in large populations. To utilize the power of DNA pooling, it is important to accurately identify sequence variants from pooled sequencing data. Detection of rare variants from pooled sequencing represents a different challenge than detection of variants from individual sequencing. We describe a novel statistical approach, CRISP [Comprehensive Read analysis for Identification of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) from Pooled sequencing] that is able to identify both rare and common variants by using two approaches: (i) comparing the distribution of allele counts across multiple pools using contingency tables and (ii) evaluating the probability of observing multiple non-reference base calls due to sequencing errors alone. Information about the distribution of reads between the forward and reverse strands and the size of the pools is also incorporated within this framework to filter out false variants. Validation of CRISP on two separate pooled sequencing datasets generated using the Illumina Genome Analyzer demonstrates that it can detect 80-85% of SNPs identified using individual sequencing while achieving a low false discovery rate (3-5%). Comparison with previous methods for pooled SNP detection demonstrates the significantly lower false positive and false negative rates for CRISP. Implementation of this method is available at http://polymorphism.scripps.edu/~vbansal/software/CRISP/.

The Importance of the Regional Species Pool, Ecological Species Traits and Local Habitat Conditions for the Colonization of Restored River Reaches by Fish

PubMed Central

Stoll, Stefan; Kail, Jochem; Lorenz, Armin W.; Sundermann, Andrea; Haase, Peter

2014-01-01

It is commonly assumed that the colonization of restored river reaches by fish depends on the regional species pools; however, quantifications of the relationship between the composition of the regional species pool and restoration outcome are lacking. We analyzed data from 18 German river restoration projects and adjacent river reaches constituting the regional species pools of the restored reaches. We found that the ability of statistical models to describe the fish assemblages established in the restored reaches was greater when these models were based on ‘biotic’ variables relating to the regional species pool and the ecological traits of species rather than on ‘abiotic’ variables relating to the hydromorphological habitat structure of the restored habitats and descriptors of the restoration projects. For species presence in restored reaches, ‘biotic’ variables explained 34% of variability, with the occurrence rate of a species in the regional species pool being the most important variable, while ’abiotic’ variables explained only the negligible amount of 2% of variability. For fish density in restored reaches, about twice the amount of variability was explained by ‘biotic’ (38%) compared to ‘abiotic’ (21%) variables, with species density in the regional species pool being most important. These results indicate that the colonization of restored river reaches by fish is largely determined by the assemblages in the surrounding species pool. Knowledge of species presence and abundance in the regional species pool can be used to estimate the likelihood of fish species becoming established in restored reaches. PMID:24404187

Association studies of 23 positional/functional candidate genes on chromosome 10 in late-onset Alzheimer's disease.

PubMed

Morgan, A R; Turic, D; Jehu, L; Hamilton, G; Hollingworth, P; Moskvina, V; Jones, L; Lovestone, S; Brayne, C; Rubinsztein, D C; Lawlor, B; Gill, M; O'Donovan, M C; Owen, M J; Williams, J

2007-09-05

Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (LOAD) is a common neurodegenerative disorder, with a complex etiology. APOE is the only confirmed susceptibility gene for LOAD. Others remain yet to be found. Evidence from linkage studies suggests that a gene (or genes) conferring susceptibility for LOAD resides on chromosome 10. We studied 23 positional/functional candidate genes from our linkage region on chromosome 10 (APBB1IP, ALOX5, AD037, SLC18A3, DKK1, ZWINT, ANK3, UBE2D1, CDC2, SIRT1, JDP1, NET7, SUPV3L1, NEN3, SAR1, SGPL1, SEC24C, CAMK2G, PP3CB, SNCG, CH25H, PLCE1, ANXV111) in the MRC genetic resource for LOAD. These candidates were screened for sequence polymorphisms in a sample of 14 LOAD subjects and detected polymorphisms tested for association with LOAD in a three-stage design involving two stages of genotyping pooled DNA samples followed by a third stage in which markers showing evidence for association in the first stages were subjected to individual genotyping. One hundred and twenty polymorphisms were identified and tested in stage 1 (4 case + 4 control pools totaling 366 case and 366 control individuals). Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) showing evidence of association with LOAD were then studied in stage 2 (8 case + 4 control pools totaling 1,001 case and 1,001 control individuals). Five SNPs, in four genes, showed evidence for association (P < 0.1) at stage 2 and were individually genotyped in the complete dataset, comprising 1,160 LOAD cases and 1,389 normal controls. Two SNPs in SGPL1 demonstrated marginal evidence of association, with uncorrected P values of 0.042 and 0.056, suggesting that variation in SGPL1 may confer susceptibility to LOAD. Copyright 2007 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Respiratory symptoms in people living with HIV and the effect of antiretroviral therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Brown, James; Roy, Anjana; Harris, Ross; Filson, Sarah; Johnson, Margaret; Abubakar, Ibrahim; Lipman, Marc

2017-01-01

Background Antiretroviral therapy (ART) has significantly altered the pattern of acute and chronic HIV-related disease. However, it is not clear what this means in terms of respiratory symptoms. We sought to investigate the association between HIV status and respiratory symptoms and how these have changed with the availability of ART. Methods We searched Cochrane, Medline and Embase databases for studies published between 1946 and August 2015 comparing the prevalence of respiratory symptoms in populations with and without HIV infection. We undertook random effects meta-analysis of the main symptoms reported. We studied heterogeneity and completed sensitivity analyses and funnel plots. Results From 5788 unique references identified, 24 papers provided relevant data: 18 documented the prevalence of cough and 11 examined the prevalence of breathlessness among other symptoms reported. Compared with the HIV negative, people living with HIV (PLWH) were more likely to have respiratory symptoms with pooled ORs for the prevalence of cough of 3.05 (95% CI 2.24 to 4.16) in resource-limited populations without access to ART; 2.18 (1.56 to 3.18) in resource-rich populations without access to ART and 1.11 (0.99 to 1.24) in resource-rich populations with access to ART. In resource-rich settings, although the availability of ART was associated with a reduction in the difference between HIV-positive and HIV-negative individuals, PLWH were more likely to report breathlessness, OR 1.39 (95% CI 1.11 to 1.73). Conclusions Respiratory symptoms are more common in PLWH than controls. This association persists although at a reduced level in populations with access to ART. PMID:27965402

The influence of soil resources and plant traits on invasion and restoration in a subtropical woodland

USGS Publications Warehouse

Yelenik, Stephanie G.; D'Antonio, Carla M.; August-Schmidt, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

It has been shown in some cases that nitrogen (N) addition to soil will increase abundance of plant invaders because many invaders have traits that promote rapid growth in response to high resource supply. Similarly, it has been suggested, and sometimes shown, that decreasing soil N via carbon (C) additions can facilitate native species recovery. Yet all species are unlikely to respond to resource supply in the same way. We asked how soil nutrients and competition affect native and exotic woody species in a restoration experiment where we added N or C, and crossed soil manipulation with the manipulation of dominant exotic grass abundance in a Hawaiian subtropical woodland. We related changes in survival and growth of outplanted individuals to native/exotic status and plant traits. As a group, N-fixers showed reduced survival compared to non-fixers in response to added N, with Morella faya (exotic) and Acacia koa (native) having dramatic negative responses. Among non-fixers, species with greater foliar %N had more positive survival responses to increasing soil N. Specific leaf area was not predictive of responses to nutrients or competition. In general, responses to carbon addition were weak, although reducing competition from existing exotic grasses was beneficial for all outplanted species, with N-fixers showing the most positive response. We conclude that commonly used restoration strategies to clear exotic species or lower soil resources with C addition will most greatly benefit N-fixing species, which themselves may be unwanted invaders. Thus statements about the influence of increased soil N on invasions should be carefully dissected by considering the traits (such as N-fixation status) of the regional species pool.

Analysis of Pooled FIA and Remote Sensing Data for Fiber Supply Assessment at the Warnell School of Forest Resources at the University of Georgia - Other Studies and Effective Information Dissemination

Treesearch

Chris J. Cieszewski; Michael Zasada; Tripp Lowe; Bruce Borders; Mike Clutter; Richard F. Daniels; Robert I. Elle; Robert Izlar; Jarek Zawadzki

2005-01-01

We provide here a short description of the origin, current work, and future outlook of the Fiber Supply Assessment program at the D.B. Warnell School of Forest Resources, University of Georgia, whose work includes various analyses of FIA data. Since 1997, the program has intended to assist the implementation of the new Southern Annual Forest Inventory System through...

Emergency Plan for Sandy Lake Dam and Reservoir

DTIC Science & Technology

1987-06-01

UTFLOW 0I J" I - " -I I 0 5 I0 15 20 25 30 TIME IN DAYS p CT WITHOUT FAILURE ELEVATION HYDROGRAPHS -1235 -!230 -1225 >z DESIGN POOL ELEVATION iui LiL...harrowing, fertilizing , digging sprigs, hauling sprigs, scattering sprigs, disking, seeding and watering. Typical crew: Riprap - 1 crew leader and 6 to...LEVEL Name of Resource Type of Resource Address Phone Number Brisson Pump Company Pump Distributor 2359 E. Cowern Place (612) 777-3317 N. St. Paul, MN

Foundations of medical librarianship.

PubMed Central

Meyerhoff, E

1977-01-01

The development of medical librarianship during the last forty years is examined as reflected in the changes of its resources, technology, education, and knowledge base. A shift from historical to scientific inquiry constitutes the direction of medical librarianship. Its nexus is the gathering of information and the transfer of knowledge. The social and human resources for this ongoing change and the basis for a quest for excellence is seen in the pool of talent represented by hospital librarians and the aspirations of the women's movement for equality. PMID:332265

A resource-dependence model of hospital contract management.

PubMed Central

Alexander, J A; Morrisey, M A

1989-01-01

This study empirically examines the determinants of hospital entry into management contracts with multihospital systems. Using a resource-dependence framework, the study tests whether market conditions, regulatory climate, management effectiveness, and certain enabling factors affect the probability of hospital entry into a contract management arrangement. The study used a pooled sample of 312 contract-managed and 936 traditionally managed hospitals. Results suggest the importance of management effectiveness, regulatory climate, and hospital ownership (investor owned or nonprofit) as predisposing conditions of contract management. PMID:2732059

Supplemental Environmental Assessment (EA) for the Vernal Pool Restoration Project in Wing Infrastructure Development Outlook (WINDO) Implementation Plan EA, Volume 2 Beale Air Force Base, California

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-09-01

Mineral resources include metals, industrial minerals (e.g., aggregate, sand and gravel), oil and gas, and geothermal resources that would be of value...the elderberry shrub ( Sambucus sp.), is not present within the project action area. The proposed project is not likely to adversely affect the bald...impairing essential behavioral patterns, including breeding, feeding, or sheltering. Harass is defined by the Service as an action that creates the

Just like the lottery? Player behaviour and anomalies in the market for football pools.

PubMed

Forrest, David; Pérez, Levi

2015-06-01

Football pools were an antecedent to lotto in providing a long-odds, high-prize gambling opportunity for a mass market in Europe. Even after lotto has become well established, pools games continue to occupy a significant niche in the gaming market in several jurisdictions, most notably Spain. This paper employs 23 years of sales data from the national pools game in Spain to investigate similarities between the behaviour of lotto players and pools players. It observes similar phenomena as have been noted in lotto sales studies, including strong sensitivity of sales to the size of jackpot on offer, significant habit effects, a halo effect whereby there is some short-term persistence in increased sales whenever a high jackpot is offered (even after jackpot size has returned to normal), and a tendency to jackpot fatigue (over time, the size of the jackpot has to be increased to more than before to stimulate the same increase in sales). Notwithstanding that the football pools are marketed as based on knowledge and understanding of sport whereas lotto is a pure numbers game, modelling sales of the pools therefore yields findings very similar to those reported in the literature on lotto. This suggests that both sets of players share common psychological and cognitive traits and economic motivation. Those responsible for promoting pools should therefore be able to draw on findings from the much more extensive literature on lotto when formulating strategy in terms of game design and marketing.

Efficacy and complication of endoscopic submucosal dissection for superficial esophageal carcinoma: a systematic review and meta-analysis

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Aim For patients with superficial esophageal carcinoma, ESD was one of treatment modalities to remove the lesion safely and effectively. We perform this meta-analysis to determine the efficacy and incidence of complication of ESD for patients with superficial esophageal carcinoma. Method Articles were searched in MEDLINE (PubMed and Ovid), Cochrane Database of Systemic Reviews, Google scholar, and Web of Science. Two reviewers independently searched and extracted data. Meta-analysis of the efficacy of ESD was analyzed by calculating pooled en bloc and R0 resection rate. Incidence of complications such as perforation, stenosis and mediastinal emphysema was also calculated. Pooling was conducted using either fixed-effects model or random-effects model depending on the heterogeneity across studies. Results 21 studies (1152 patients and 1240 lesions) were included in this analysis. The pooled en bloc resection rate was 99% (95% CI 99%-100%). Stratified by tumor size, en bloc resection rates did not show any significant difference. The pooled R0 resection rate was 90% (95% CI 87%-93%). The pooled R0 resection rate was 85% (95% CI, 80%-90%) for large tumor and 92% (95% CI, 87%-93%) for small tumor (p < 0.001). Stenosis served as the most common reported complication with pooled incidence of 5% (95% CI 3-8%), followed by perforation (1%, 95% CI 0-1%) and mediastinal emphysema (0% CI 0-1%). The incidence of postoperative stenosis decreased significantly after 2011 (2%, 95% CI 0-3%) compared with that before 2011 (9%, 95% CI 3-8%) (p < 0.001). Conclusion ESD was an efficient modality for treating superficial esophageal carcinoma, with perfect en bloc and R0 resection rate and low complication rate. The most common complication of ESD was stenosis. Although recurrence rate was low, patients should be maintained in a scheduled surveillance program. PMID:24885614

Tools for Analyzing Computing Resource Management Strategies and Algorithms for SDR Clouds

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marojevic, Vuk; Gomez-Miguelez, Ismael; Gelonch, Antoni

2012-09-01

Software defined radio (SDR) clouds centralize the computing resources of base stations. The computing resource pool is shared between radio operators and dynamically loads and unloads digital signal processing chains for providing wireless communications services on demand. Each new user session request particularly requires the allocation of computing resources for executing the corresponding SDR transceivers. The huge amount of computing resources of SDR cloud data centers and the numerous session requests at certain hours of a day require an efficient computing resource management. We propose a hierarchical approach, where the data center is divided in clusters that are managed in a distributed way. This paper presents a set of computing resource management tools for analyzing computing resource management strategies and algorithms for SDR clouds. We use the tools for evaluating a different strategies and algorithms. The results show that more sophisticated algorithms can achieve higher resource occupations and that a tradeoff exists between cluster size and algorithm complexity.

The Maine Vernal Pool Mapping and Assessment Program: Engaging Municipal Officials and Private Landowners in Community-Based Citizen Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jansujwicz, Jessica S.; Calhoun, Aram J. K.; Lilieholm, Robert J.

2013-12-01

The Vernal Pool Mapping and Assessment Program (VPMAP) was initiated in 2007 to create a vernal pool database as a planning tool to foster local compliance with new state vernal pool regulations. In the northeastern United States, vernal pools are seasonal wetlands that provide critical breeding habitat for a number of amphibians and invertebrates and provide important resting and foraging habitat for some rare and endangered state-listed species. Using participant observation, interviews, and focus groups, we examined the engagement of municipal officials and private landowners in VPMAP. Important outcomes of municipal and landowner engagement included mobilization of town support for proactive planning, improved awareness and understanding of vernal pools, and increased interactions between program coordinators, municipal officials, and private landowners. Challenges to municipal and landowner engagement included an inconsistency in expectations between coordinators and municipal officials and a lack of time and sufficient information for follow-up with landowners participating in VPMAP. Our study highlights the importance of developing relationships among coordinators, municipal officials, and private landowners in facilitating positive outcomes for all stakeholders and for effective resource management. We suggest an expanded citizen science model that focuses on improving two-way communication among project coordinators, municipal officials, and local citizens and places communication with private landowners on par with volunteer citizen scientist recruitment and field training. Lessons learned from this research can inform the design and implementation of citizen science projects on private land.

Pooled protein immunization for identification of cell surface antigens in Streptococcus sanguinis.

PubMed

Ge, Xiuchun; Kitten, Todd; Munro, Cindy L; Conrad, Daniel H; Xu, Ping

2010-07-26

Available bacterial genomes provide opportunities for screening vaccines by reverse vaccinology. Efficient identification of surface antigens is required to reduce time and animal cost in this technology. We developed an approach to identify surface antigens rapidly in Streptococcus sanguinis, a common infective endocarditis causative species. We applied bioinformatics for antigen prediction and pooled antigens for immunization. Forty-seven surface-exposed proteins including 28 lipoproteins and 19 cell wall-anchored proteins were chosen based on computer algorithms and comparative genomic analyses. Eight proteins among these candidates and 2 other proteins were pooled together to immunize rabbits. The antiserum reacted strongly with each protein and with S. sanguinis whole cells. Affinity chromatography was used to purify the antibodies to 9 of the antigen pool components. Competitive ELISA and FACS results indicated that these 9 proteins were exposed on S. sanguinis cell surfaces. The purified antibodies had demonstrable opsonic activity. The results indicate that immunization with pooled proteins, in combination with affinity purification, and comprehensive immunological assays may facilitate cell surface antigen identification to combat infectious diseases.

Pooled Protein Immunization for Identification of Cell Surface Antigens in Streptococcus sanguinis

PubMed Central

Ge, Xiuchun; Kitten, Todd; Munro, Cindy L.; Conrad, Daniel H.; Xu, Ping

2010-01-01

Background Available bacterial genomes provide opportunities for screening vaccines by reverse vaccinology. Efficient identification of surface antigens is required to reduce time and animal cost in this technology. We developed an approach to identify surface antigens rapidly in Streptococcus sanguinis, a common infective endocarditis causative species. Methods and Findings We applied bioinformatics for antigen prediction and pooled antigens for immunization. Forty-seven surface-exposed proteins including 28 lipoproteins and 19 cell wall-anchored proteins were chosen based on computer algorithms and comparative genomic analyses. Eight proteins among these candidates and 2 other proteins were pooled together to immunize rabbits. The antiserum reacted strongly with each protein and with S. sanguinis whole cells. Affinity chromatography was used to purify the antibodies to 9 of the antigen pool components. Competitive ELISA and FACS results indicated that these 9 proteins were exposed on S. sanguinis cell surfaces. The purified antibodies had demonstrable opsonic activity. Conclusions The results indicate that immunization with pooled proteins, in combination with affinity purification, and comprehensive immunological assays may facilitate cell surface antigen identification to combat infectious diseases. PMID:20668678

Graduate Recruiting: New Wine in Old Bottles.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bryant, Paul T.

Perspectives concerning the recruitment of graduate students are offered, with attention to the size and resources of the department and the school, faculty involvement in recruitment efforts, pools of eligible prospects, and obligations to students. Factors affecting upper and lower limits to graduate enrollment are identified, including the…

IPPF Co-operative Information Service (ICIS). August 1977.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Planned Parenthood Federation, London (England).

The pooling of documentation service resources has resulted in the creation of an International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) integrated bibliographic information system. The former Library Bulletin has become IPPF Cooperative Information Service (ICIS). Entries in ICIS are classified according to the following nine categories: (0) General…

IPPF Co-operative Information Service (ICIS). May 1977.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

International Planned Parenthood Federation, London (England).

The pooling of documentation service resources has resulted in the creation of an International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) integrated bibliographic information system. Thus, the former Library Bulletin has become IPPF Cooperative Information Service (ICIS). This is the first such publication. Entries in ICIS are classified according to…

Talent Management for Universities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradley, Andrew P.

2016-01-01

This paper explores human resource management practices in the university sector with a specific focus on talent pools and talent management more generally. The paper defines talent management in the context of the university sector and then explores its interdependence with organisational strategy, the metrics used to measure academic performance…

A general framework for the regression analysis of pooled biomarker assessments.

PubMed

Liu, Yan; McMahan, Christopher; Gallagher, Colin

2017-07-10

As a cost-efficient data collection mechanism, the process of assaying pooled biospecimens is becoming increasingly common in epidemiological research; for example, pooling has been proposed for the purpose of evaluating the diagnostic efficacy of biological markers (biomarkers). To this end, several authors have proposed techniques that allow for the analysis of continuous pooled biomarker assessments. Regretfully, most of these techniques proceed under restrictive assumptions, are unable to account for the effects of measurement error, and fail to control for confounding variables. These limitations are understandably attributable to the complex structure that is inherent to measurements taken on pooled specimens. Consequently, in order to provide practitioners with the tools necessary to accurately and efficiently analyze pooled biomarker assessments, herein, a general Monte Carlo maximum likelihood-based procedure is presented. The proposed approach allows for the regression analysis of pooled data under practically all parametric models and can be used to directly account for the effects of measurement error. Through simulation, it is shown that the proposed approach can accurately and efficiently estimate all unknown parameters and is more computational efficient than existing techniques. This new methodology is further illustrated using monocyte chemotactic protein-1 data collected by the Collaborative Perinatal Project in an effort to assess the relationship between this chemokine and the risk of miscarriage. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Penetration in GTA welding

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Heiple, C.R.; Burgardt, P.

1990-01-01

The size and shape of the weld bead produced in GTA welding depends on the magnitude and distribution of the energy incident on the workpiece surfaces as well as the dissipation of that energy in the workpiece. The input energy is largely controllable through the welding parameters selected, however the dissipation of that energy in the workpiece is less subject to control. Changes in energy dissipation can produce large changes in weld shape or penetration. Heat transport away from the weld pool is almost entirely by conduction, but heat transport in the weld pool is more complicated. Heat conduction throughmore » the liquid is an important component, but heat transport by convection (mass transport) is often the dominant mechanism. Convective heat transport is directional and changes the weld pool shape from that produced by conduction alone. Surface tension gradients are often the dominant forces driving fluid flow in GTA weld pools. These gradients are sensitive functions of weld pool chemistry and the energy input distribution to the weld. Experimental and theoretical work conducted primarily in the past decade has greatly enhanced our understanding of weld pool fluid flow, the forces which drive it, and its effects on weld pool shape. This work is reviewed here. While less common, changes in energy dissipation through the unmelted portion of the workpiece can also affect fusion zone shape or penetration. These effects are also described. 41 refs., 9 figs.« less

Seasonal Patterns of the Insect Community Structure in Urban Rain Pools of Temperate Argentina

PubMed Central

Fontanarrosa, M. Soledad; Collantes, Marta B.; Bachmann, Axel O.

2009-01-01

Temporary aquatic environments are widespread in the world, and although there are considerable regional differences in their type and method of formation they have many physical, chemical and biological properties in common. With the aim to increase knowledge of urban temporary pool fauna, the objectives of this work were to assess the seasonal patterns of species composition, richness, and diversity of the aquatic insect community inhabiting rain pools in urban temperate Argentina, and to identify the environmental variables associated to these patterns. Four temporary pools of an urban green space in Buenos Aires City were studied throughout a 1-year period. Eleven flood cycles with very varied hydroperiods and dry periods, mainly associated with rainfall, were identified. Insect species richness in these temporary urban pools, 86 taxa were documented, was found to be within the range reported for wild temporary water bodies of other regions of the world. The present results provide evidence for the existence of a clear link between habitat and community variability. Hydroperiod and seasonality were the main environmental factors involved in structuring the insect communities of the studied water bodies. Urban pools in green spaces have the potential to act to its dwellers like corridors through the urban matrix. Taking into account these characteristics and their accessibility, urban temporary pools can be considered as promising habitats for the study of ecological processes involving the insect community. PMID:19611261

Statistical model specification and power: recommendations on the use of test-qualified pooling in analysis of experimental data

PubMed Central

Colegrave, Nick

2017-01-01

A common approach to the analysis of experimental data across much of the biological sciences is test-qualified pooling. Here non-significant terms are dropped from a statistical model, effectively pooling the variation associated with each removed term with the error term used to test hypotheses (or estimate effect sizes). This pooling is only carried out if statistical testing on the basis of applying that data to a previous more complicated model provides motivation for this model simplification; hence the pooling is test-qualified. In pooling, the researcher increases the degrees of freedom of the error term with the aim of increasing statistical power to test their hypotheses of interest. Despite this approach being widely adopted and explicitly recommended by some of the most widely cited statistical textbooks aimed at biologists, here we argue that (except in highly specialized circumstances that we can identify) the hoped-for improvement in statistical power will be small or non-existent, and there is likely to be much reduced reliability of the statistical procedures through deviation of type I error rates from nominal levels. We thus call for greatly reduced use of test-qualified pooling across experimental biology, more careful justification of any use that continues, and a different philosophy for initial selection of statistical models in the light of this change in procedure. PMID:28330912

A Simulation of Cooperation and Competition in Insurgent Networks

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gabbay, Michael

2014-03-01

Insurgencies are often characterized by multiple groups who share a common foe in the national government but have independent organizations which may differ with respect to social identities, ideologies, strategies, and their use of violence. These groups may cooperate in various ways such as conducting joint attacks, pooling resources, and establishing formal alliances or mergers. However, they may also compete with each other over popular support, recruitment of fighters, funding, allies, and ultimately military dominance. A network coevolution model of insurgent factional dynamics is presented which accounts for factors driving cooperation and competition. The model is formulated as a system of coupled ODEs which evolves network ties between insurgent groups along with group policies concerning the targets of violence. Simulation results are presented showing sharp transitions in network structure as model parameters are varied. Connections are drawn between the model results and empirical data from the Iraqi insurgency. This work was supported by the Office of Naval Research under grant N00014-13-1-0381.

The Lazarillo’s game: Sharing resources with asymmetric conditions

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

The Lazarillo of Tormes’ picaresque novel introduces a story where two subjects sequentially extract (one, two or three) tokens from a common pool in an asymmetric information framework (the first player cannot observe her partners’ actions). By introducing a reward for both subjects in case that in every period at least one subject had taken one single token, we define an interesting coordination game. We conduct an experiment with 120 undergraduate students to study their behavior in this framework. We find that if the second player is allowed to take more tokens than her partner, then the frequency of cooperators does not seem to be affected by the informational asymmetry. Nevertheless, this asymmetry (i) incentives the second player to use her ‘power of extraction’ while the social externality is still available, (ii) yields to more asymmetric profit distributions when subjects win the social externality and (iii) delays the breach period in case of coordination failure. Furthermore, the first choice of the first player is determinant for getting the reward. PMID:28704408

Science as a Web of Trails: Redesigning Science Education with the Tools of the Present to Meet the Needs of the Future

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karno, Donna; Glassman, Michael

2013-12-01

Science education has experienced significant changes since the mid-20th century, most recently with the creation of STEM curricula (DeBoer 1991; Yager 2000). The emergence of the World Wide Web as a tool in research and discovery offers Pre-K-12 science education an opportunity to share information and perspectives which engage students with the scientific community (Zoller 2011). Students are able to access open, transparent sites creating common resources pools and autonomous working groups which can be used for shared problem solving. Science teachers should carefully build web 2.0 technology into their practice based on a changing pedagogy. Instead of focusing on teaching rule-based concepts and processes in which the teacher's role is that of expert, education should be focusing on possibilities of the web both in scientific research and understanding. In addition, web-focused education can also help remake scientific product as a public good in the lives of both science researchers and science consumers.

Wind Energy Finance in the United States: Current Practice and Opportunities

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Schwabe, Paul D.; Feldman, David J.; Settle, Donald E.

In the United States, investment in wind energy has averaged nearly $13.6 billion annually since 2006 with more than $140 billion invested cumulatively over that period (BNEF 2017). This sizable investment activity demonstrates the persistent appeal of wind energy and its increasing role in the U.S electricity generation portfolio. Despite its steady investment levels over the last decade, some investors still consider wind energy as a specialized asset class. Limited familiarity with the asset class both limit the pool of potential investors and drive up costs for investors. This publication provides an overview of the wind project development process, capitalmore » sources and financing structures commonly used, and traditional and emerging procurement methods. It also provides a high-level demonstration of how financing rates impact a project's all-in cost of energy. The goal of the publication is to provide a representative and wide-ranging resource for the wind development and financing processes.« less

Foliar nitrogen metabolism of adult Douglas-fir trees is affected by soil water availability and varies little among provenances.

PubMed

Du, Baoguo; Kreuzwieser, Jürgen; Dannenmann, Michael; Junker, Laura Verena; Kleiber, Anita; Hess, Moritz; Jansen, Kirstin; Eiblmeier, Monika; Gessler, Arthur; Kohnle, Ulrich; Ensminger, Ingo; Rennenberg, Heinz; Wildhagen, Henning

2018-01-01

The coniferous forest tree Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is native to the pacific North America, and is increasingly planted in temperate regions worldwide. Nitrogen (N) metabolism is of great importance for growth, resistance and resilience of trees. In the present study, foliar N metabolism of adult trees of three coastal and one interior provenance of Douglas-fir grown at two common gardens in southwestern Germany (Wiesloch, W; Schluchsee, S) were characterized in two subsequent years. Both the native North American habitats of the seed sources and the common garden sites in Germany differ in climate conditions. Total and mineral soil N as well as soil water content were higher in S compared to W. We hypothesized that i) provenances differ constitutively in N pool sizes and composition, ii) N pools are affected by environmental conditions, and iii) that effects of environmental factors on N pools differ among interior and coastal provenances. Soil water content strongly affected the concentrations of total N, soluble protein, total amino acids (TAA), arginine and glutamate. Foliar concentrations of total N, soluble protein, structural N and TAA of trees grown at W were much higher than in trees at S. Provenance effects were small but significant for total N and soluble protein content (interior provenance showed lowest concentrations), as well as arginine, asparagine and glutamate. Our data suggest that needle N status of adult Douglas-fir is independent from soil N availability and that low soil water availability induces a re-allocation of N from structural N to metabolic N pools. Small provenance effects on N pools suggest that local adaptation of Douglas-fir is not dominated by N conditions at the native habitats.

Foliar nitrogen metabolism of adult Douglas-fir trees is affected by soil water availability and varies little among provenances

PubMed Central

Du, Baoguo; Kreuzwieser, Jürgen; Dannenmann, Michael; Junker, Laura Verena; Kleiber, Anita; Hess, Moritz; Jansen, Kirstin; Eiblmeier, Monika; Gessler, Arthur; Kohnle, Ulrich; Ensminger, Ingo; Rennenberg, Heinz

2018-01-01

The coniferous forest tree Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii) is native to the pacific North America, and is increasingly planted in temperate regions worldwide. Nitrogen (N) metabolism is of great importance for growth, resistance and resilience of trees. In the present study, foliar N metabolism of adult trees of three coastal and one interior provenance of Douglas-fir grown at two common gardens in southwestern Germany (Wiesloch, W; Schluchsee, S) were characterized in two subsequent years. Both the native North American habitats of the seed sources and the common garden sites in Germany differ in climate conditions. Total and mineral soil N as well as soil water content were higher in S compared to W. We hypothesized that i) provenances differ constitutively in N pool sizes and composition, ii) N pools are affected by environmental conditions, and iii) that effects of environmental factors on N pools differ among interior and coastal provenances. Soil water content strongly affected the concentrations of total N, soluble protein, total amino acids (TAA), arginine and glutamate. Foliar concentrations of total N, soluble protein, structural N and TAA of trees grown at W were much higher than in trees at S. Provenance effects were small but significant for total N and soluble protein content (interior provenance showed lowest concentrations), as well as arginine, asparagine and glutamate. Our data suggest that needle N status of adult Douglas-fir is independent from soil N availability and that low soil water availability induces a re-allocation of N from structural N to metabolic N pools. Small provenance effects on N pools suggest that local adaptation of Douglas-fir is not dominated by N conditions at the native habitats. PMID:29566035

76 FR 37272 - Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Illinois; Royal Fiberglass Pools...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-27

...EPA is approving into the Illinois State Implementation Plan (SIP) an adjusted standard for Royal Fiberglass Pools (``Royal'') at its Dix, Illinois facility. On November 8, 2010, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) submitted to EPA for approval an adjustment to the general rule, Use of Organic Material Rule, commonly known as the eight pound per hour (8 lb/hr) rule, as it applies to emissions of volatile organic matter (VOM) from Royal's pool manufacturing facility. The adjusted standard relieves Royal from being subject to the general rule for VOM emissions from its Dix facility. EPA is approving this SIP revision because it will not interfere with attainment or maintenance of the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS).

Cooperativeness and competitiveness as two distinct constructs: validating the Cooperative and Competitive Personality Scale in a social dilemma context.

PubMed

Lu, Su; Au, Wing-Tung; Jiang, Feng; Xie, Xiaofei; Yam, Paton

2013-01-01

The present research validated the construct and criterion validities of the Cooperative and Competitive Personality Scale (CCPS) in a social dilemma context. The results from three studies supported the notion that cooperativeness and competitiveness are two independent dimensions, challenging the traditional view that they are two ends of a single continuum. First, confirmatory factor analyses revealed that a two-factor structure fit the data significantly better than a one-factor structure. Moreover, cooperativeness and competitiveness were either not significantly correlated (Studies 1 and 3) or only moderately positively correlated (Study 2). Second, cooperativeness and competitiveness were differentially associated with Schwartz's Personal Values. These results further supported the idea that cooperativeness and competitiveness are two distinct constructs. Specifically, the individuals who were highly cooperative emphasized self-transcendent values (i.e., universalism and benevolence) more, whereas the individuals who were highly competitive emphasized self-enhancement values (i.e., power and achievement) more. Finally, the CCPS, which adheres to the trait perspective of personality, was found to be a useful supplement to more prevalent social motive measures (i.e., social value orientation) in predicting cooperative behaviors. Specifically, in Study 2, when social value orientation was controlled for, the CCPS significantly predicted cooperative behaviors in a public goods dilemma (individuals who score higher on cooperativeness scale contributed more to the public goods). In Study 3, when social value orientation was controlled for, the CCPS significantly predicted cooperative behaviors in commons dilemmas (individuals who score higher on cooperativeness scale requested fewer resources from the common resource pool). The practical implications of the CCPS in conflict resolution, as well as in recruitment and selection settings, are discussed.

Preference for cannibalism and ontogenetic constraints in competitive ability of piscivorous top predators.

PubMed

Byström, Pär; Ask, Per; Andersson, Jens; Persson, Lennart

2013-01-01

Occurrence of cannibalism and inferior competitive ability of predators compared to their prey have been suggested to promote coexistence in size-structured intraguild predation (IGP) systems. The intrinsic size-structure of fish provides the necessary prerequisites to test whether the above mechanisms are general features of species interactions in fish communities where IGP is common. We first experimentally tested whether Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) were more efficient as a cannibal than as an interspecific predator on the prey fish ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) and whether ninespine stickleback were a more efficient competitor on the shared zooplankton prey than its predator, Arctic char. Secondly, we performed a literature survey to evaluate if piscivores in general are more efficient as cannibals than as interspecific predators and whether piscivores are inferior competitors on shared resources compared to their prey fish species. Both controlled pool experiments and outdoor pond experiments showed that char imposed a higher mortality on YOY char than on ninespine sticklebacks, suggesting that piscivorous char is a more efficient cannibal than interspecific predator. Estimates of size dependent attack rates on zooplankton further showed a consistently higher attack rate of ninespine sticklebacks compared to similar sized char on zooplankton, suggesting that ninespine stickleback is a more efficient competitor than char on zooplankton resources. The literature survey showed that piscivorous top consumers generally selected conspecifics over interspecific prey, and that prey species are competitively superior compared to juvenile piscivorous species in the zooplankton niche. We suggest that the observed selectivity for cannibal prey over interspecific prey and the competitive advantage of prey species over juvenile piscivores are common features in fish communities and that the observed selectivity for cannibalism over interspecific prey has the potential to mediate coexistence in size structured intraguild predation systems.

Preference for Cannibalism and Ontogenetic Constraints in Competitive Ability of Piscivorous Top Predators

PubMed Central

Byström, Pär; Ask, Per; Andersson, Jens; Persson, Lennart

2013-01-01

Occurrence of cannibalism and inferior competitive ability of predators compared to their prey have been suggested to promote coexistence in size-structured intraguild predation (IGP) systems. The intrinsic size-structure of fish provides the necessary prerequisites to test whether the above mechanisms are general features of species interactions in fish communities where IGP is common. We first experimentally tested whether Arctic char (Salvelinus alpinus) were more efficient as a cannibal than as an interspecific predator on the prey fish ninespine stickleback (Pungitius pungitius) and whether ninespine stickleback were a more efficient competitor on the shared zooplankton prey than its predator, Arctic char. Secondly, we performed a literature survey to evaluate if piscivores in general are more efficient as cannibals than as interspecific predators and whether piscivores are inferior competitors on shared resources compared to their prey fish species. Both controlled pool experiments and outdoor pond experiments showed that char imposed a higher mortality on YOY char than on ninespine sticklebacks, suggesting that piscivorous char is a more efficient cannibal than interspecific predator. Estimates of size dependent attack rates on zooplankton further showed a consistently higher attack rate of ninespine sticklebacks compared to similar sized char on zooplankton, suggesting that ninespine stickleback is a more efficient competitor than char on zooplankton resources. The literature survey showed that piscivorous top consumers generally selected conspecifics over interspecific prey, and that prey species are competitively superior compared to juvenile piscivorous species in the zooplankton niche. We suggest that the observed selectivity for cannibal prey over interspecific prey and the competitive advantage of prey species over juvenile piscivores are common features in fish communities and that the observed selectivity for cannibalism over interspecific prey has the potential to mediate coexistence in size structured intraguild predation systems. PMID:23894650

Physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of Sturgeon Lake, Goodhue County, Minnesota, 2003-04

USGS Publications Warehouse

Lee, Kathy E.; Sanocki, Christopher A.; Montz, Gary R.

2005-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Prairie Island Indian Community and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, conducted a study of Sturgeon Lake (a backwater lake in Navigation Pool 3 of the Mississippi River) during 2003-04 to describe the physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of the lake. Riparian and shoreline areas surrounding Sturgeon Lake consist primarily of deciduous tree and shrub cover with minimal amounts of commercial or residential land use. Woody debris and aquatic vegetation are the major types of physical habitat suitable for fish and invertebrates. Among 10 bottom-sediment sampling sites, 24 organic wastewater compounds, 1 organochlorine pesticide metabolite (p,p’DDE), and total polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) were detected in the bottom sediments of Sturgeon Lake. The most prevalent class of compounds detected were polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Other classes of compounds detected include sterols, disinfectants, plastic components, alkylphenols, and fragrances. Three compounds detected (bisphenol A, benzo[a]pyrene, and triclosan) are considered endocrine disrupting compounds. Twenty-one and 49 invertebrate taxa were identified from 10 bottom-sediment and 6 woody-debris/vegetation samples, respectively. Most of the taxa were Diptera in the family Chironomidae. The most common invertebrate in terms of density in bottom-sediment samples was the burrowing mayfly (Hexagenia sp.). Trichoptera in the families Hydropsychidae or Polycentropodidae were common in most of the woody-debris samples. The presence of the Hexagenia larvae in samples indicates that the bottom sediments are stable and that dissolved oxygen concentrations in the lake do not drop to acute or sub-lethal anoxic conditions. Backwater lakes such as Sturgeon Lake are important areas of habitat for aquatic organisms along the Mississippi River, and this report provides baseline physical, chemical, and biological information that resource managers can compare with future investigations.

77 FR 65681 - Boulder Canyon Project-Post-2017 Resource Pool

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-10-30

... marketing criteria must submit written comments to Western's Desert Southwest Customer Service Regional... defined as ``Schedule D'' to be allocated to new allottees. In accordance with the HPAA, Western allocated... allottee may purchase power only upon the execution of an electric service contract and satisfaction of all...

Assembly reliability of CSPs with various chiip sizes by accelerated thermal and mechanical cycling test

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Ghaffarian, R.

2000-01-01

A JPL-led chip scale package (CSP) Consortium, composed of team members representing government agencies and private companies, recently joined together to pool in-kind resources for developing the quality and reliability of chip scale packages (CSPs) for a variety of projects.

Net News--Old Wine in a New Bottle?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bredon, George

1999-01-01

Observes that instructors may not use news items extensively as a source of assigned materials because of the cost incurred in their procurement. Argues that the Internet provides a much less expensive and wider pool of current resources for instructors. Reviews traditional paper and new electronic newsclip production methods. (DSK)

Computer Assisted Testing at the Education Resource Center.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uffelman, Robert L.

The development of the Computer Assisted Testing (CAT) System at the University of Delaware is described. The introduction presents the background leading up to interactive terminal testing in 1973. Documentation for the system includes CAT System programs, format of questions for constructing test item pools, format for entering class lists,…

Applying Equity Theory to Students' Perceptions of Research Participation Requirements

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miles, Shannon R.; Cromer, Lisa DeMarni; Narayan, Anupama

2015-01-01

Human subject pools have been a valuable resource to universities conducting research with student participants. However, the costs and benefits to student participants must be carefully weighed by students, researchers, and institutional review board administrators in order to avoid coercion. Participant perceptions are pivotal in deciding…

Air Structures. Educational Facilities Review Series Number 23.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Finne, Mary Lou

Air structures can be erected quickly, cover large areas, cost substantially less than conventional buildings, and use less natural resources. Air structures are economically utilized for many facilities, such as athletic fields, swimming pools, high schools, day care centers, and college campuses. The literature on air structures covered in this…

Advantages of Integrative Data Analysis for Developmental Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bainter, Sierra A.; Curran, Patrick J.

2015-01-01

Amid recent progress in cognitive development research, high-quality data resources are accumulating, and data sharing and secondary data analysis are becoming increasingly valuable tools. Integrative data analysis (IDA) is an exciting analytical framework that can enhance secondary data analysis in powerful ways. IDA pools item-level data across…

African Universities Tackle the Continent's Agricultural Crisis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lindow, Megan

2009-01-01

Pests, population growth, and depleted soil have wreaked havoc on agriculture in Africa, so universities across the continent are rethinking how they teach the topic. Some African universities have been building their own networks and pooling their limited resources to train more agricultural scientists and improve their responsiveness to the…

Industry's Expectations in Relationship to College and Institute Resources.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Justesen, Henry E.

Industry and education must share responsibility for broadening and deepening the talent pool within Canada's population in order to ensure a productive economy. First, the educational enterprise should: (1) review its present program to focus more attention on the career and employment probabilities ahead; (2) revise learning materials with…

Acid Rain: The Scientific Challenge.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Godfrey, Paul J.

1991-01-01

Documents the workings and findings of the Massachusetts Acid Rain Monitoring Project, which has pooled the volunteer efforts of more than 1,000 amateur and professional scientists since 1983. Reports on the origins of air pollution, the prediction of acid rain, and its effects on both water life and land resources. (JJK)

76 FR 64085 - Post-2014 Resource Pool-Loveland Area Projects, Final Power Allocation

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-17

... power allocation. SUMMARY: The Western Area Power Administration (Western), a Federal power marketing..., Final Power Allocation developed under the requirements of subpart C-Power Marketing Initiative of the Energy Planning and Management Program (Program) Final Rule, 10 CFR part 905. These final power...

Individualized Marriage and the Integration of Resources

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lauer, Sean R.; Yodanis, Carrie

2011-01-01

In individualized marriages, spouses maintain independence in their relationship. In individualized marriages, do married couples manage their money in pooled accounts or do they keep separate accounts? We answer this question with the 2002 International Social Survey Programme (N = 18,587;31 country contexts) and examine how variation in the…

Another Brick in the Wall? Increased Challenges Face the Physical Campus

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kadamus, James A.

2014-01-01

Presidents, trustees, and senior administrators at New England colleges and universities all feel the pressures: keep tuition down, be competitive academically, and make sure the physical campus draws talent from a shrinking pool of traditional high school graduates and new nontraditional students. Given resource limitations, something's got to…

Determinants of Successful Internationalisation Processes in Business Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bradford, Henry; Guzmán, Alexander; Trujillo, María-Andrea

2017-01-01

We analyse the internationalisation process in business schools as a response to the globalisation phenomena and argue that environmental pressures, isomorphic forces, the pool of internal resources and the alignment of the process with the institution's general strategic plan are the main determinants of a successful internationalisation process.…

Applied Remote Sensing Program (ARSP) to state and local government

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Johnson, J. D.; Foster, K. E.; Mouat, D. A.; Clark, R.

1975-01-01

Environmental surveys of arid land areas (Arizona) in the United States are presented. Maps of soils, vegetation, drainage patterns, and land use are shown. The distribution of uranium deposits, oil and gas pools, is also shown. Legislation pertaining to the preservation of natural resources is discussed.

Technical and Vocational Education in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and a Way Forward

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Okoye, Reko; Arimonu, Maxwell Onyenwe

2016-01-01

Technical education, as enshrined in the Nigerian national policy on education, is concerned with qualitative technological human resources development directed towards a national pool of skilled and self reliant craftsmen, technicians and technologists in technical and vocational education fields. In Nigeria, the training of technical personnel…

Using multilevel models for assessing the variability of multinational resource use and cost data.

PubMed

Grieve, Richard; Nixon, Richard; Thompson, Simon G; Normand, Charles

2005-02-01

Multinational economic evaluations often calculate a single measure of cost-effectiveness using cost data pooled across several countries. To assess the validity of pooling international cost data the reasons for cost variation across countries need to be assessed. Previously, ordinary least-squares (OLS) regression models have been used to identify factors associated with variability in resource use and total costs. However, multilevel models (MLMs), which accommodate the hierarchical structure of the data, may be more appropriate. This paper compares these different techniques using a multinational dataset comprising case-mix, resource use and cost data on 1300 stroke admissions from 13 centres in 11 European countries. OLS and MLMs were used to estimate the effect of patient and centre-level covariates on the total length of hospital stay (LOS) and total cost. MLMs with normal and gamma distributions for the data within centres were compared. The results from the OLS model showed that both patient and centre-level covariates were associated with LOS and total cost. The estimates from the MLMs showed that none of the centre-level characteristics were associated with LOS, and the level of spending on health was the centre-level variable most highly associated with total cost. We conclude that using OLS models for assessing international variation can lead to incorrect inferences, and that MLMs are more appropriate for assessing why resource use and costs vary across centres. Copyright (c) 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Evaluating two-dimensional electrophoresis profiles of the protein phaseolin as markers of genetic differentiation and seed protein quality in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.).

PubMed

López-Pedrouso, María; Bernal, Javier; Franco, Daniel; Zapata, Carlos

2014-07-23

High-resolution two-dimensional electrophoresis (2-DE) profiles of the protein phaseolin, the major seed storage protein of common bean, display great number of spots with differentially glycosylated and phosphorylated α- and β-type polypeptides. This work aims to test whether these complex profiles can be useful markers of genetic differentiation and seed protein quality in bean populations. The 2-DE phaseolin profile and the amino acid composition were examined in bean seeds from 18 domesticated and wild accessions belonging to the Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools. We found that proteomic distances based on 2-DE profiles were successful in identifying the accessions belonging to each gene pool and outliers distantly related. In addition, accessions identified as outliers from proteomic distances showed the highest levels of methionine content, an essential amino acid deficient in bean seeds. These findings suggest that 2-DE phaseolin profiles provide valuable information with potential of being used in common bean genetic improvement.

An Adaptive Multilevel Security Framework for the Data Stored in Cloud Environment

PubMed Central

Dorairaj, Sudha Devi; Kaliannan, Thilagavathy

2015-01-01

Cloud computing is renowned for delivering information technology services based on internet. Nowadays, organizations are interested in moving their massive data and computations into cloud to reap their significant benefits of on demand service, resource pooling, and rapid elasticity that helps to satisfy the dynamically changing infrastructure demand without the burden of owning, managing, and maintaining it. Since the data needs to be secured throughout its life cycle, security of the data in cloud is a major challenge to be concentrated on because the data is in third party's premises. Any uniform simple or high level security method for all the data either compromises the sensitive data or proves to be too costly with increased overhead. Any common multiple method for all data becomes vulnerable when the common security pattern is identified at the event of successful attack on any information and also encourages more attacks on all other data. This paper suggests an adaptive multilevel security framework based on cryptography techniques that provide adequate security for the classified data stored in cloud. The proposed security system acclimates well for cloud environment and is also customizable and more reliant to meet the required level of security of data with different sensitivity that changes with business needs and commercial conditions. PMID:26258165

Survey of cases of paracetamol overdose in the UK referred to National Poisons Information Service (NPIS) consultants.

PubMed

Thanacoody, H K R; Good, A M; Waring, W S; Bateman, D N

2008-03-01

Paracetamol is the most common means of drug overdose in the UK. Guidance on management is available to junior doctors through TOXBASE, the online resource managed by the UK National Poisons Information Service (NPIS) and in poster form. TOXBASE is supported by NPIS units and further by a UK national rota of clinical toxicologists. A study was undertaken to examine reasons why calls about paracetamol are referred to consultants to better understand issues in managing this common poisoning. Calls relating to paracetamol overdose referred by a poisons information specialist to the duty NPIS consultant between 1 May 2005 and 30 April 2006 were identified from the database and the number of TOXBASE accesses during the same time period was determined. Enquiries that resulted in consultant referral were classified into six categories. Calls referred to NPIS consultants pertain mainly to patients who present late, staggered overdoses, adverse reactions to N-acetylcysteine, and interpretation of blood results. This information has been used to inform the development of TOXBASE so that comprehensive advice is readily available to end users. The operation of a national consultant rota enables information on difficult or unusual cases of poisoning to be pooled so that treatment guidelines can be developed to optimise treatment throughout the UK.

An Adaptive Multilevel Security Framework for the Data Stored in Cloud Environment.

PubMed

Dorairaj, Sudha Devi; Kaliannan, Thilagavathy

2015-01-01

Cloud computing is renowned for delivering information technology services based on internet. Nowadays, organizations are interested in moving their massive data and computations into cloud to reap their significant benefits of on demand service, resource pooling, and rapid elasticity that helps to satisfy the dynamically changing infrastructure demand without the burden of owning, managing, and maintaining it. Since the data needs to be secured throughout its life cycle, security of the data in cloud is a major challenge to be concentrated on because the data is in third party's premises. Any uniform simple or high level security method for all the data either compromises the sensitive data or proves to be too costly with increased overhead. Any common multiple method for all data becomes vulnerable when the common security pattern is identified at the event of successful attack on any information and also encourages more attacks on all other data. This paper suggests an adaptive multilevel security framework based on cryptography techniques that provide adequate security for the classified data stored in cloud. The proposed security system acclimates well for cloud environment and is also customizable and more reliant to meet the required level of security of data with different sensitivity that changes with business needs and commercial conditions.

Phaseolus vulgaris endornavirus 1 and Phaseolus vulgaris endornavirus 2 infecting common bean Phaseolus vulgaris genotypes show differential infection patterns between gene pools

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

We investigated the occurrence of two plant endornaviruses, Phaseolus vulgaris endornavirus 1 (PvEV-1) and Phaseolus vulgaris endornavirus 2 (PvEV-2), in breeding-lines, cultivars, landraces, and wild genotypes of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) as well as other Phaseolus species collected from two...

Longevity of Wood-Forced Pools in an Old-Growth Forest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buffington, J. M.; Woodsmith, R. D.; Johnson, A. C.

2009-12-01

Wood debris plays an important role in scouring pools in forest channels and providing resultant habitat for aquatic organisms. We investigated the longevity of such pools in a gravel-bed river flowing through old-growth forest in southeastern Alaska by aging trees and “bear’s bread” fungi (Ganoderma applanatum, Fomitopsis pinicola) growing on pool-forming wood debris. Ages were determined by counting annual growth rings from cores and cross sections of trees and fungi growing on the wood debris. These ages are minimum values because they do not account for lag time between debris recruitment and seedling/spore establishment on the debris, nor do they account for flood scour that may periodically reset tree and fungi growth on the debris. The study stream has a gradient of about 1%, bankfull width and depth of 13.3 and 0.78 m, respectively, median grain size of 18 mm, a high wood loading (0.8 pieces/m), and a correspondingly low pool spacing (0.3 bankfull widths/pool), with 81% of the pools forced by wood debris. The size of wood debris in the study stream is large relative to the channel (average log length of 7.6 m and diameter of 0.35 m), rendering most debris immobile. Eighty-one pool-forming pieces of wood were dated over 1.2 km of stream length, with 28% of these pieces causing scour of more than one pool. In all, 122 wood-forced pools were dated, accounting for 38% of all pools at the site and 47% of the wood-forced pools. Fifty-three percent of the wood-forced pools lacked datable wood because these pieces either: were newly recruited; had been scoured by floods; or were contained below the active channel elevation, prohibiting vegetation establishment on the wood debris (the most common cause). The debris age distribution declined exponentially from 2 to 113 yrs., with a median value of 18 yrs. Similar exponential residence time distributions have been reported in other studies, but our analysis focused specifically on the ages of pool-forming wood as opposed to all in-channel wood. Most pool scour was relatively recent (60% ≤ 25 yrs. old), but 16% of the pools were old features (50-100+ yrs.), indicating long-term availability of pool habitats at the study site. Future studies will use these results to develop a wood budget model that accounts for pool scour and availability of pool habitats. For such modeling, our data suggest that stand-replacing disturbances (e.g. wildfire, riparian clear cutting) will cause a sharp drop in the numbers of wood-forced pools, as most of those are ≤ 25 yrs. old.

Exact Length Distribution of Filamentous Structures Assembled from a Finite Pool of Subunits.

PubMed

Harbage, David; Kondev, Jané

2016-07-07

Self-assembling filamentous structures made of protein subunits are ubiquitous in cell biology. These structures are often highly dynamic, with subunits in a continuous state of flux, binding to and falling off of filaments. In spite of this constant turnover of their molecular parts, many cellular structures seem to maintain a well-defined size over time, which is often required for their proper functioning. One widely discussed mechanism of size regulation involves the cell maintaining a finite pool of protein subunits available for assembly. This finite pool mechanism can control the length of a single filament by having assembly proceed until the pool of free subunits is depleted to the point when assembly and disassembly are balanced. Still, this leaves open the question of whether the same mechanism can provide size control for multiple filamentous structures that are assembled from a common pool of protein subunits, as is often the case in cells. We address this question by solving the steady-state master equation governing the stochastic assembly and disassembly of multifilament structures made from a shared finite pool of subunits. We find that, while the total number of subunits within a multifilament structure is well-defined, individual filaments within the structure have a wide, power-law distribution of lengths. We also compute the phase diagram for two multifilament structures competing for the same pool of subunits and identify conditions for coexistence when both have a well-defined size. These predictions can be tested in cell experiments in which the size of the subunit pool or the number of filament nucleators is tuned.

Empirical Bayes Gaussian likelihood estimation of exposure distributions from pooled samples in human biomonitoring.

PubMed

Li, Xiang; Kuk, Anthony Y C; Xu, Jinfeng

2014-12-10

Human biomonitoring of exposure to environmental chemicals is important. Individual monitoring is not viable because of low individual exposure level or insufficient volume of materials and the prohibitive cost of taking measurements from many subjects. Pooling of samples is an efficient and cost-effective way to collect data. Estimation is, however, complicated as individual values within each pool are not observed but are only known up to their average or weighted average. The distribution of such averages is intractable when the individual measurements are lognormally distributed, which is a common assumption. We propose to replace the intractable distribution of the pool averages by a Gaussian likelihood to obtain parameter estimates. If the pool size is large, this method produces statistically efficient estimates, but regardless of pool size, the method yields consistent estimates as the number of pools increases. An empirical Bayes (EB) Gaussian likelihood approach, as well as its Bayesian analog, is developed to pool information from various demographic groups by using a mixed-effect formulation. We also discuss methods to estimate the underlying mean-variance relationship and to select a good model for the means, which can be incorporated into the proposed EB or Bayes framework. By borrowing strength across groups, the EB estimator is more efficient than the individual group-specific estimator. Simulation results show that the EB Gaussian likelihood estimates outperform a previous method proposed for the National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys with much smaller bias and better coverage in interval estimation, especially after correction of bias. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Dynamics of land use and common-resource pressures in terrestrial-aquatic environments

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lazarus, E.; Bell, K. P.

2010-12-01

Common-pool resource problems can arise in aquatic systems such as lakes, rivers, and open coastlines where individual land-use decisions produce collective, emergent effects at the watershed scale. A body of highly generalized modeling experiments has illustrated ways in which simple, opposing tendencies among individuals—imitative versus self-initiated actions, for example—can result in richly complex behaviors. If the dynamics of those opposing tendencies are translated into different land uses (development, extraction, working land, conservation), each entailing a different environmental consequence, then feedbacks between land-use decisions and resulting changes to the physical environment (which in turn influence subsequent land-use decisions) cause the environmental and social systems of the watershed to become coupled. We present the early results of an exploratory, spatially-extended model that couples a simplified riparian system to a hypothetical group of landowners, each of whom can choose between property development, placing property under a conservation easement, or taking no action and effectively maintaining the property's status quo. As in the generalized experiments, landowner behavior depends on two sets of opposing tendencies, one of which is imitation versus self-initiation. The other is a preference for property consolidation or subdivision; large property holdings can be subdivided into smaller parcels, and small parcels can be bought up by an owner to amass a larger property. Land-use decisions taken by landowners in the model affect the riparian system in process-based ways (sedimentation, eutrophication, water quality) that then inform subsequent social interactions and decisions. Isolating the basic dynamics of this kind of socio-environmental system allows us to pursue a number of questions relevant to resource management. What social and environmental circumstances in this framework result in continuous conservation corridors as opposed to patchworks of easements? How do different kinds of easements, such as those that permit private development and subdivision, affect the integrity of the commons? More broadly, how do changing, heterogeneous patterns of mixed land uses (with different inherent time scales) affect environmental resilience? Dynamical insights from the idealized model dovetail with empirical economic analyses of aquatic-system conservation currently underway in the State of Maine, where opportunities for case studies of specific coupled human/aquatic systems and cross-case comparisons are abundant. This investigation is part of an interdisciplinary project under the auspices of the Sustainability Solutions Initiative at the University of Maine.

Mapping Ecosystem Services in the Jordan Valley, Jordan

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luz, Ana; Marques, Ana; Ribeiro, Inês; Alho, Maria; Catarina Afonso, Ana; Almeida, Erika; Branquinho, Cristina; Talozi, Samer; Pinho, Pedro

2016-04-01

In the last decade researchers started using ecosystem services as a new framework to understand the relationships between environment and society. Habitat quality and water quality are related with ecosystem services regulation and maintenance, or even provision. According to the Common International Classification of Ecosystem Services (CICES) both habitat quality and water quality are associated with lifecycle maintenance, habitat and gene pool protection, and water conditions, among others. As there is increased pressure on habitats and rivers especially for agricultural development, mapping and evaluating habitat and water quality has important implications for resource management and conservation, as well as for rural development. Here, we model and map habitat and water quality in the Jordan Valley, Jordan. In this study, we aim to identify and analyse ecosystem services both through 1) habitat quality and 2) water quality modelling using InVest, an integrated valuation of ecosystem services and tradeoffs. The data used in this study mainly includes the LULC, Jordan River watershed and main threats and pollutants in the study area, such as agriculture, industry, fish farms and urbanization. Results suggest a higher pressure on natural habitats in the Northern region of the Jordan Valley, where industry is dominant. Agriculture is present along the Jordan Valley and limits the few natural forested areas. Further, water pollution is mainly concentrated in disposal sites due to the low flow of the Jordan River. Our results can help to identify areas where natural resources and water resource management is most needed in the Jordan Valley. Acknowledgements: Transbasin FP7 project

Biophysical Interactions within Step-Pool Mountain Streams Following Wildfire

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parker, A.; Chin, A.; O'Dowd, A. P.

2014-12-01

Recovery of riverine ecosystems following disturbance is driven by a variety of interacting processes. Wildfires pose increasing disturbances to riverine landscapes, with rising frequencies and magnitudes owing to warming climates and increased fuel loads. The effects of wildfire include loss of vegetation, elevated runoff and flash floods, erosion and deposition, and changing biological habitats and communities. Understanding process interactions in post-fire landscapes is increasingly urgent for successful management and restoration of affected ecosystems. In steep channels, steps and pools provide prominent habitats for organisms and structural integrity in high energy environments. Step-pools are typically stable, responding to extreme events with recurrence intervals often exceeding 50 years. Once wildfire occurs, however, intensification of post-fire flood events can potentially overpower the inherent stability of these systems, with significant consequences for aquatic life and human well-being downstream. This study examined the short-term response of step-pool streams following the 2012 Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado. We explored interacting feedbacks among geomorphology, hydrology, and ecology in the post-fire environment. At selected sites with varying burn severity, we established baseline conditions immediately after the fire with channel surveys, biological assessment using benthic macroinvertebrates, sediment analysis including pebble counts, and precipitation gauging. Repeat measurements after major storm events over several years enabled analysis of the interacting feedbacks among post-fire processes. We found that channels able to retain the step-pool structure changed less and facilitated recovery more readily. Step habitats maintained higher percentages of sensitive macroinvertebrate taxa compared to pools through post-fire floods. Sites burned with high severity experienced greater reduction in the percentage of sensitive taxa. The decimation of macroinvertebrates closely coincides with the physical destruction of the step-pool morphology. The role that step-pools play in enhancing the ecological quality of fluvial systems, therefore, provides a key focus for effective management and restoration of aquatic resources following wildfires.

Parental Monitoring and Its Associations With Adolescent Sexual Risk Behavior: A Meta-analysis

PubMed Central

Dittus, Patricia J.; Michael, Shannon L.; Becasen, Jeffrey S.; Gloppen, Kari M.; McCarthy, Katharine; Guilamo-Ramos, Vincent

2017-01-01

CONTEXT Increasingly, health care providers are using approaches targeting parents in an effort to improve adolescent sexual and reproductive health. Research is needed to elucidate areas in which providers can target adolescents and parents effectively. Parental monitoring offers one such opportunity, given consistent protective associations with adolescent sexual risk behavior. However, less is known about which components of monitoring are most effective and most suitable for provider-initiated family-based interventions. OBJECTIVE We performed a meta-analysis to assess the magnitude of association between parental monitoring and adolescent sexual intercourse, condom use, and contraceptive use. DATA SOURCES We conducted searches of Medline, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature, PsycInfo, Cochrane, the Education Resources Information Center, Social Services Abstracts, Sociological Abstracts, Proquest, and Google Scholar. STUDY SELECTION We selected studies published from 1984 to 2014 that were written in English, included adolescents, and examined relationships between parental monitoring and sexual behavior. DATA EXTRACTION We extracted effect size data to calculate pooled odds ratios (ORs) by using a mixed-effects model. RESULTS Higher overall monitoring (pooled OR, 0.74; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.69–0.80), monitoring knowledge (pooled OR, 0.81; 95% CI, 0.73–0.90), and rule enforcement (pooled OR, 0.67; 95% CI, 0.59–0.75) were associated with delayed sexual intercourse. Higher overall monitoring (pooled OR, 1.12; 95% CI, 1.01–1.24) and monitoring knowledge (pooled OR, 1.14; 95% CI, 1.01–1.31) were associated with greater condom use. Finally, higher overall monitoring was associated with increased contraceptive use (pooled OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.09–1.86), as was monitoring knowledge (pooled OR, 2.27; 95% CI, 1.42–3.63). LIMITATIONS Effect sizes were not uniform across studies, and most studies were cross-sectional. CONCLUSIONS Provider-initiated family-based interventions focused on parental monitoring represent a novel mechanism for enhancing adolescent sexual and reproductive health. PMID:26620067

Drivers of spatial heterogeneity in nitrogen processing among three alpine plant communities in the Rocky Mountains

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Churchill, A. C.; Beers, A.; Grinath, J.; Bowman, W. D.

2017-12-01

Nitrogen cycling across the globe has been fundamentally altered due to regional elevated N deposition and there is a cascade of ecosystem consequences including shifts in species composition, eutrophication, and soil acidification. Making predictions that encompass the factors that drive these ecosystem changes has frequently been limited to single ecosystem types, or areas with fairly homogenous abiotic conditions. The alpine is an ecosystem type that exhibits changes under relatively low levels of N depositions due to short growing seasons and shallow soils limiting N storage. While recent work provided estimates for the magnitude of N associated with ecosystem changes, less is known about the within-site factors that may interact to stabilize or amplify the differential response of N pools under future conditions of resource deposition. To examine numerous potential within-site and regional factors (both biotic and abiotic) affecting ecosystem N pools we examined the relationship between those factors and a suite of ecosystem pools of N followed by model selection procedures and structural equation modelling. Measurements were conducted at Niwot Ridge Long Term Ecological Research site and in Rocky Mountain National Park in three distinct alpine meadow ecosystems (dry, moist, and wet meadows). These meadows span a moisture gradient as well as plant community composition, thereby providing high variability of potential biotic and abiotic drivers across small spatial scales in the alpine. In general, regional scale abiotic factors such as site levels of annual average N deposition or precipitation were poor predictors of seasonal pools of N, while spring soil water pools of N were negatively correlated with elevation. Models containing multiple abiotic and biotic drivers, however, were best at predicting soil and plant pools of N across the two sites. Future analysis will include highlight interactions among with-site factors affecting N pools in the alpine using structural equation modelling to statistically examine the bidirectional relationship between plant communities and soil pools of N.

Use of common analgesic medications and ovarian cancer survival: results from a pooled analysis in the Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium

PubMed Central

Dixon, Suzanne C; Nagle, Christina M; Wentzensen, Nicolas; Trabert, Britton; Beeghly-Fadiel, Alicia; Schildkraut, Joellen M; Moysich, Kirsten B; deFazio, Anna; Risch, Harvey A; Rossing, Mary Anne; Doherty, Jennifer A; Wicklund, Kristine G; Goodman, Marc T; Modugno, Francesmary; Ness, Roberta B; Edwards, Robert P; Jensen, Allan; Kjær, Susanne K; Høgdall, Estrid; Berchuck, Andrew; Cramer, Daniel W; Terry, Kathryn L; Poole, Elizabeth M; Bandera, Elisa V; Paddock, Lisa E; Anton-Culver, Hoda; Ziogas, Argyrios; Menon, Usha; Gayther, Simon A; Ramus, Susan J; Gentry-Maharaj, Aleksandra; Pearce, Celeste Leigh; Wu, Anna H; Pike, Malcolm C; Webb, Penelope M

2017-01-01

Background: Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) have been associated with improved survival in some cancers, but evidence for ovarian cancer is limited. Methods: Pooling individual-level data from 12 Ovarian Cancer Association Consortium studies, we evaluated the association between self-reported, pre-diagnosis use of common analgesics and overall/progression-free/disease-specific survival among 7694 women with invasive epithelial ovarian cancer (4273 deaths). Results: Regular analgesic use (at least once per week) was not associated with overall survival (pooled hazard ratios, pHRs (95% confidence intervals): aspirin 0.96 (0.88–1.04); non-aspirin NSAIDs 0.97 (0.89–1.05); acetaminophen 1.01 (0.93–1.10)), nor with progression-free/disease-specific survival. There was however a survival advantage for users of any NSAIDs in studies clearly defining non-use as less than once per week (pHR=0.89 (0.82–0.98)). Conclusions: Although this study did not show a clear association between analgesic use and ovarian cancer survival, further investigation with clearer definitions of use and information about post-diagnosis use is warranted. PMID:28350790

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Marchisio, Mario Andrea, E-mail: marchisio@hit.edu.cn

Published in 2008, Parts & Pools represents one of the first attempts to conceptualize the modular design of bacterial synthetic gene circuits with Standard Biological Parts (DNA segments) and Pools of molecules referred to as common signal carriers (e.g., RNA polymerases and ribosomes). The original framework for modeling bacterial components and designing prokaryotic circuits evolved over the last years and brought, first, to the development of an algorithm for the automatic design of Boolean gene circuits. This is a remarkable achievement since gene digital circuits have a broad range of applications that goes from biosensors for health and environment caremore » to computational devices. More recently, Parts & Pools was enabled to give a proper formal description of eukaryotic biological circuit components. This was possible by employing a rule-based modeling approach, a technique that permits a faithful calculation of all the species and reactions involved in complex systems such as eukaryotic cells and compartments. In this way, Parts & Pools is currently suitable for the visual and modular design of synthetic gene circuits in yeast and mammalian cells too.« less

Entropy, pumped-storage and energy system finance

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Karakatsanis, Georgios

2015-04-01

Pumped-storage holds a key role for integrating renewable energy units with non-renewable fuel plants into large-scale energy systems of electricity output. An emerging issue is the development of financial engineering models with physical basis to systematically fund energy system efficiency improvements across its operation. A fundamental physically-based economic concept is the Scarcity Rent; which concerns the pricing of a natural resource's scarcity. Specifically, the scarcity rent comprises a fraction of a depleting resource's full price and accumulates to fund its more efficient future use. In an integrated energy system, scarcity rents derive from various resources and can be deposited to a pooled fund to finance the energy system's overall efficiency increase; allowing it to benefit from economies of scale. With pumped-storage incorporated to the system, water upgrades to a hub resource, in which the scarcity rents of all connected energy sources are denominated to. However, as available water for electricity generation or storage is also limited, a scarcity rent upon it is also imposed. It is suggested that scarcity rent generation is reducible to three (3) main factors, incorporating uncertainty: (1) water's natural renewability, (2) the energy system's intermittent components and (3) base-load prediction deviations from actual loads. For that purpose, the concept of entropy is used in order to measure the energy system's overall uncertainty; hence pumped-storage intensity requirements and generated water scarcity rents. Keywords: pumped-storage, integration, energy systems, financial engineering, physical basis, Scarcity Rent, pooled fund, economies of scale, hub resource, uncertainty, entropy Acknowledgement: This research was funded by the Greek General Secretariat for Research and Technology through the research project Combined REnewable Systems for Sustainable ENergy DevelOpment (CRESSENDO; grant number 5145)

Evidence-based review of clinical outcomes of guideline-recommended pharmacotherapies for generalized anxiety disorder.

PubMed

Bereza, Basil G; Machado, Márcio; Ravindran, Arun V; Einarson, Thomas R

2012-08-01

To quantify the rates of clinical outcomes of Canadian Psychiatric Association (CPA) guideline-recommended pharmacotherapies for generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) by drug classification within each treatment line. Evidence from original research cited by the CPA was included. Pooled analyses, duplicates, and studies with nonextractable data were excluded. Response, remission, and baseline-endpoint or mean reductions scores of the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HARS) were extracted. The Cochrane Collaboration's computer program, Review Manager, version 5, with a random effects model, was used to pool results. A total of 50 articles were cited as evidence for managing GAD by the CPA. There was sufficient evidence of remission with first- or third-line agents to pool reported rates, and with agents from all 3 treatment lines to pool response rates and reduction in HARS scores. The mean range of effect size varied considerably from study to study within each treatment line. Comparison of pooled remission rates between first- and second-line agents was not possible. While the range of values by drug and drug class overlapped, the summary results for the probability of response and reduction in HARS scores was greater for first-line, compared with second-line, treatments. Drug components for third-line treatments were heterogeneous and produced mixed results. Despite the abundance of evidence in its totality presented in the CPA guidelines, there is inadequate evidence to formulate recommendations based on the pooled results from this study alone. However, such analysis provides an additional resource for clinicians to make more effective treatment decisions for individual patients with GAD.

Topography Battles Surface Texture: An Experimental Study of Pool-riffle Formation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chartrand, S. M.; Hassan, M. A.; Jellinek, M.

2016-12-01

Pool-riffles are perhaps the most common streambed shape found in streams and rivers, and not surprisingly, they are essential to salmon ecology, and are a central focus of many restoration actions. Yet, when an applied earth scientist or engineer is faced with developing a pool-riffle design, there is a lack of clear and rigorously developed design guidelines. Given the volumes of money spent annually within the restoration industry, this is a real problem. Recognition of this problem is growing, however, and an increasing level of attention has been directed to questions of pool-riffle formation in the past decade. At this point and given certain landscape characteristics, it is well established that streamwise gradients in channel width are associated with pool-riffles. Specifically, pools are associated with negative gradients in width, and riffles with positive gradients. Importantly, these associations have now been documented from field-derived data, as well as via experimental and numerical investigations. There is much to build from the present knowledge base, and central to this are questions related to (a) how pool-riffles evolve during the formative process, (b) what are the basic set of ingredients necessary for pool-riffle formation within systems characterized by relatively non-erodible channel margins, and (c) do pool-riffles persist, once formed, under a broad range of forcing conditions? We have completed four physical experiments examining the process and evolution of pool-riffle formation under a large range of upstream boundary, as well as physical channel conditions. We will report on two of the completed experiments. Our work will highlight two new non-dimensional channel evolution numbers, derived to help describe and characterize bedform development, as well as response to perturbations from near-equilibrium conditions. The channel evolution numbers lay the foundation for development of a new regime diagram, which quantifies the basic ingredients needed to drive pool-riffle formation, as well as formation of other types of gravel bedforms. We believe our work holds promise for application in identifying suitable conditions for pool-riffle construction, and natural maintenance over typical restoration project time frames.

Evidence of collaboration, pooling of resources, learning and role blurring in interprofessional healthcare teams: a realist synthesis.

PubMed

Sims, Sarah; Hewitt, Gillian; Harris, Ruth

2015-01-01

Interprofessional teamwork has become an integral feature of healthcare delivery in a wide range of conditions and services in many countries. Many assumptions are made in healthcare literature and policy about how interprofessional teams function and about the outcomes of interprofessional teamwork. Realist synthesis is an approach to reviewing research evidence on complex interventions which seeks to explore these assumptions. It does this by unpacking the mechanisms of an intervention, exploring the contexts which trigger or deactivate them and connecting these contexts and mechanisms to their subsequent outcomes. This is the second in a series of four papers reporting a realist synthesis of interprofessional teamworking. The paper discusses four of the 13 mechanisms identified in the synthesis: collaboration and coordination; pooling of resources; individual learning; and role blurring. These mechanisms together capture the day-to-day functioning of teams and the dependence of that on members' understanding each others' skills and knowledge and learning from them. This synthesis found empirical evidence to support all four mechanisms, which tentatively suggests that collaboration, pooling, learning, and role blurring are all underlying processes of interprofessional teamwork. However, the supporting evidence for individual learning was relatively weak, therefore there may be assumptions made about learning within healthcare literature and policy that are not founded upon strong empirical evidence. There is a need for more robust research on individual learning to further understand its relationship with interprofessional teamworking in healthcare.

Recent thymic emigrants are preferentially incorporated only into the depleted T-cell pool.

PubMed

Houston, Evan G; Higdon, Lauren E; Fink, Pamela J

2011-03-29

Recent thymic emigrants (RTEs) are the youngest subset of peripheral T cells, and they differ functionally and phenotypically from the rest of the naïve T-cell pool. RTEs are present in the peripheral T-cell pool throughout life but are the most common subset of T cells in neonates and adults recovering from lymphoablation. Using a murine model to study the homeostasis of RTEs, we show that under lymphoreplete conditions, RTEs are at a competitive disadvantage to already established mature naïve (MN) T cells. This disadvantage may be caused by a defect in survival, because RTEs may transduce homeostatic signals inefficiently, and their ability to survive is enhanced with increased expression of IL-7 receptor or B-cell lymphoma 2 (Bcl-2). Conversely, under lymphopenic conditions, enhanced proliferation by RTEs allows them to out-compete their MN T-cell counterparts. These results suggest that in times of need, such as in neonates or lymphopenic adults, RTEs perform well to fill the gaps in the peripheral T-cell pool, but when the periphery already is full, many RTEs are not incorporated into the pool of recirculating lymphocytes.

A Survey of Precipitation-Induced Atmospheric Cold Pools over Oceans and Their Interactions with the Larger-Scale Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuidema, Paquita; Torri, Giuseppe; Muller, Caroline; Chandra, Arunchandra

2017-11-01

Pools of air cooled by partial rain evaporation span up to several hundreds of kilometers in nature and typically last less than 1 day, ultimately losing their identity to the large-scale flow. These fundamentally differ in character from the radiatively-driven dry pools defining convective aggregation. Advancement in remote sensing and in computer capabilities has promoted exploration of how precipitation-induced cold pool processes modify the convective spectrum and life cycle. This contribution surveys current understanding of such cold pools over the tropical and subtropical oceans. In shallow convection with low rain rates, the cold pools moisten, preserving the near-surface equivalent potential temperature or increasing it if the surface moisture fluxes cannot ventilate beyond the new surface layer; both conditions indicate downdraft origin air from within the boundary layer. When rain rates exceed ˜ 2 mm h^{-1}, convective-scale downdrafts can bring down drier air of lower equivalent potential temperature from above the boundary layer. The resulting density currents facilitate the lifting of locally thermodynamically favorable air and can impose an arc-shaped mesoscale cloud organization. This organization allows clouds capable of reaching 4-5 km within otherwise dry environments. These are more commonly observed in the northern hemisphere trade wind regime, where the flow to the intertropical convergence zone is unimpeded by the equator. Their near-surface air properties share much with those shown from cold pools sampled in the equatorial Indian Ocean. Cold pools are most effective at influencing the mesoscale organization when the atmosphere is moist in the lower free troposphere and dry above, suggesting an optimal range of water vapor paths. Outstanding questions on the relationship between cold pools, their accompanying moisture distribution and cloud cover are detailed further. Near-surface water vapor rings are documented in one model inside but near the cold pool edge; these are not consistent with observations, but do improve with smaller horizontal grid spacings.

A Survey of Precipitation-Induced Atmospheric Cold Pools over Oceans and Their Interactions with the Larger-Scale Environment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zuidema, Paquita; Torri, Giuseppe; Muller, Caroline; Chandra, Arunchandra

Pools of air cooled by partial rain evaporation span up to several hundreds of kilometers in nature and typically last less than 1 day, ultimately losing their identity to the large-scale flow. These fundamentally differ in character from the radiatively-driven dry pools defining convective aggregation. Advancement in remote sensing and in computer capabilities has promoted exploration of how precipitation-induced cold pool processes modify the convective spectrum and life cycle. This contribution surveys current understanding of such cold pools over the tropical and subtropical oceans. In shallow convection with low rain rates, the cold pools moisten, preserving the near-surface equivalent potential temperature or increasing it if the surface moisture fluxes cannot ventilate beyond the new surface layer; both conditions indicate downdraft origin air from within the boundary layer. When rain rates exceed 2 mm h-1, convective-scale downdrafts can bring down drier air of lower equivalent potential temperature from above the boundary layer. The resulting density currents facilitate the lifting of locally thermodynamically favorable air and can impose an arc-shaped mesoscale cloud organization. This organization allows clouds capable of reaching 4-5 km within otherwise dry environments. These are more commonly observed in the northern hemisphere trade wind regime, where the flow to the intertropical convergence zone is unimpeded by the equator. Their near-surface air properties share much with those shown from cold pools sampled in the equatorial Indian Ocean. Cold pools are most effective at influencing the mesoscale organization when the atmosphere is moist in the lower free troposphere and dry above, suggesting an optimal range of water vapor paths. Outstanding questions on the relationship between cold pools, their accompanying moisture distribution and cloud cover are detailed further. Near-surface water vapor rings are documented in one model inside but near the cold pool edge; these are not consistent with observations, but do improve with smaller horizontal grid spacings.

76 FR 37300 - Approval and Promulgation of Air Quality Implementation Plans; Illinois; Royal Fiberglass Pools...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-27

...EPA is proposing to approve into the Illinois State Implementation Plan (SIP) an adjusted standard for Royal Fiberglass Pools (``Royal'') at its Dix, Illinois facility. On November 8, 2010, the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency (IEPA) submitted to EPA for approval an adjustment to the general rule, Use of Organic Material Rule, commonly known as the eight pound per hour (8 lb/hr) rule, as it applies to emissions of volatile organic matter (VOM) from Royal's pool manufacturing facility. The adjusted standard relieves Royal from being subject to the general rule for VOM emissions from its Dix facility. EPA is approving this SIP revision because it will not interfere with attainment or maintenance of the ozone National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS).

Pseudomonas Folliculitis Associated with Use of Hot Tubs and Spas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramsey, Michael L.

1989-01-01

Discusses the history, etiology, diagnosis, histopathology, treatment, and prevention of Pseudomonas Folliculitis, an increasingly common skin infection contracted in hot tubs and, to some extent, in swimming pools. (Author/SM)

The Roles of Sexual and Viability Selection in the Evolution of Incomplete Reproductive Isolation: From Allopatry to Sympatry.

PubMed

Cotto, Olivier; Servedio, Maria R

2017-11-01

In recent years, theoretical models have introduced the concept that ongoing hybridization between "good" species can occur because incomplete reproductive isolation can be a selected optimum. They furthermore show that positive frequency-dependent sexual selection, which is naturally generated by some of the underlying processes that lead to assortative mating, plays a key role in the evolution of incomplete reproductive isolation. This occurs, however, through different mechanisms in sympatric versus allopatric scenarios. We investigate the evolution of incomplete reproductive isolation by sexual selection in scenarios ranging from sympatry to allopatry, to examine how these mechanisms interact. We consider an ecological scenario in which there are two habitats used during foraging and individuals can breed either within a habitat or in a common mating pool. We find that when trait divergence is maintained, sexual selection drives the evolution of choosiness in opposite ways in the common mating pool versus within each habitat. Specifically, strong choosiness is favored in the common mating pool, whereas intermediate choosiness is favored within habitat; the interaction of these forces determines whether intermediate reproductive isolation ultimately evolves in the system. We further find cases where the evolution of stronger choosiness occurs but leads to the loss of divergence. Overall, our study shows that contrasting forces on the evolution of reproductive isolation can occur in different mating areas, and we propose a new avenue for understanding the diversity in levels of reproductive isolation within and across species.

Distance Learning and Cloud Computing: "Just Another Buzzword or a Major E-Learning Breakthrough?"

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Romiszowski, Alexander J.

2012-01-01

"Cloud computing is a model for the enabling of ubiquitous, convenient, and on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and other services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction." This…

77 FR 8780 - Magnuson-Stevens Act Provisions; Fisheries of the Northeastern United States; Northeast...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-15

... pool harvesting resources and consolidate operations to fewer vessels, if they desire. NMFS received... the CA I Hook Gear Haddock Special Access Program (SAP); (12) gear requirements in the U.S./Canada... Haddock SAP; (18) seasonal restriction for the CA II Yellowtail Flounder/Haddock SAP; (19) prohibition on...

Children's Well-Being during Parents' Marital Disruption Process: A Pooled Time-Series Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sun, Yongmin; Li, Yuanzhang

2002-01-01

Examines the extent to which parents' marital disruption process affects children's academic performance and well-being both before and after parental divorce. Compared with peers in intact families, children of divorce faired less well. Discusses how family resources mediate detrimental effects over time. Similar results are noted for girls and…

36 CFR 28.12 - Development standards.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... significant harm to the natural resources of the Seashore. (c) Minimum lot size is 4,000 square feet. A.../FEMA shown on Flood Insurance Rate Maps for Fire Island communities. (g) A swimming pool is an... hazards and/or detract from the natural or cultural scene. (j) A zoning authority shall have in place...

Retirement and Marital Decision Making: Effects on Retirement Satisfaction

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Szinovacz, Maximiliane E.; Davey, Adam

2005-01-01

This study explores how partner's employment and pre-retirement decision-making structures affect retirement satisfaction, using pooled data from Waves 1 to 4 of the Health and Retirement Surveys. Based on resource theory, the analyses indicate that retired husbands are least satisfied if their wives remain employed and had more say in decisions…

Military Enlistments: What Can We Learn from Geographic Variation? Technical Report 620.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brown, Charles

Some economic variables were examined that affect enlistment decisions and therefore affect the continued success of the All-Volunteer Force. The study used a multiple regression, pooled cross-section/time-series model over the 1975-1982 period, including pay, unemployment, educational benefits, and recruiting resources as independent variables.…

K-20 Partnerships: Literature Review and Recommendations for Research. WCER Working Paper No. 2008-3

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clifford, Matthew; Millar, Susan B.

2008-01-01

Federal programs, such as the National Science Foundation's Math and Science Partnership program, are promoting partnerships between K-12 school districts and higher education institutions (K-20 partnerships) in hopes of fostering greater alignment and cooperation among participating institutions and pooling resources to address persistent…

75 FR 1616 - Post-2010 Resource Pool, Pick-Sloan Missouri Basin Program-Eastern Division

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-01-12

... Allocation for the new customer was calculated using the Procedures. As defined in the Post-1985 Marketing..., a Federal power marketing agency of the Department of Energy (DOE), hereby announces the Post-2010... need to withdraw power from existing customers. The Final Power Allocation is published to show Western...

78 FR 44034 - Petition for Rulemaking Submitted by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc.

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-23

... the Fukushima Dai-ichi Accident,'' (Fukushima Task Force Report, ADAMS Accession No. ML111861807..., pages 43-46, of the Fukushima Task Force Report, which discusses the enhancement of spent fuel pool... Commission was still in the process of reviewing the Fukushima Task Force Report, and the NRC did not...

Creating Global-Ready Places: The Campus-Community Connection

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chapman, M. Perry

2009-01-01

Globalization is reshaping the relationship between U.S. universities and their host cities. U.S. universities must adjust to momentous changes in the worldwide higher education system, and U.S. cities must retool to maintain their place in the innovation economy. Institutional and civic resources are being pooled to form global-ready urban…

Risk Reduction and Resource Pooling on a Cooperation Task

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pietras, Cynthia J.; Cherek, Don R.; Lane, Scott D.; Tcheremissine, Oleg

2006-01-01

Two experiments investigated choice in adult humans on a simulated cooperation task to evaluate a risk-reduction account of sharing based on the energy-budget rule. The energy-budget rule is an optimal foraging model that predicts risk-averse choices when net energy gains exceed energy requirements (positive energy budget) and risk-prone choices…

Temple Program: Proposal for the Portal School Program.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Temple Univ., Philadelphia, PA.

A proposal is set out for a program designed to improve education by concentrating resources across all levels of instruction. It involves a mutual agreement between the Philadelphia Public Schools, the school community, and Temple University to pool their personnel and materials with the aim of creating an educational program that will…

The Program Evaluator's Role in Cross-Project Pollination.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yasgur, Bruce J.

An expanded duties role of the multiple-program evaluator as an integral part of the ongoing decision-making process in all projects served is defended. Assumptions discussed included that need for projects with related objectives to pool resources and avoid duplication of effort and the evaluator's unique ability to provide an objective…

75 FR 78988 - Post-2014 Resource Pool-Loveland Area Projects, Allocation Procedures and Call for Applications

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-12-17

... Administration (Western), a Federal power marketing agency of the Department of Energy (DOE), is publishing this... allocation of Federal electric power. Subpart C of the Energy Planning and Management Program (Program... for applications, in conjunction with the Loveland Area Projects (LAP) Final Post-1989 Marketing Plan...

Pools and Spas

Science.gov Websites

State Employees [Food Safety and Sanitation] Search DEC State of Alaska Home Food Establishments Public Facilities Seafood Shellfish Contact Us How Do I Open a Food Business Train My Employees Make a Complaint Resources Open a Restaurant Train My Staff View Last Inspection Develop a Food Safety System Alaska Smoking