Food for thought? Potential conflicts of interest in academic experts advising government and charities on dietary policies.

PubMed

Newton, Alex; Lloyd-Williams, Ffion; Bromley, Helen; Capewell, Simon

2016-08-05

A conflict of interest (CoI) can occur between public duty and private interest, in which a public official's private-capacity interest could improperly influence the performance of their official duties and responsibilities. The most tangible and commonly considered CoI are financial. However, CoI can also arise due to other types of influence including interpersonal relationships, career progression, or ideology. CoI thus exist in academia, business, government and non-governmental organisations. However, public knowledge of CoI is currently limited due to a lack of information. The mechanisms of managing potential conflicts of interest also remain unclear due to a lack of guidelines. We therefore examined the independence of academic experts and how well potential CoI are identified and addressed in four government and non-governmental organisations in the UK responsible for the development of food policy. Policy analysis. We developed an analytical framework to explore CoI in high-level UK food policy advice, using four case studies. Two government policy-making bodies: Department of Health 'Obesity Review Group' (ORG), 'Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition' (SACN) and two charities: 'Action on Sugar' (AoS), & 'Heart of Mersey' (HoM). Information was obtained from publicly available sources and declarations. We developed a five point ordinal scale based upon the ideology of the Nolan Principles of Public Life. Group members were individually categorised on the ordinal ConScale from "0", (complete independence from the food and drink industry) to "4", (employed by the food and drink industry or a representative organisation). CoI involving various industries have long been evident in policy making, academia and clinical practice. Suggested approaches for managing CoI could be categorised as "deny", "describe", or "diminish". Declared CoI were common in the ORG and SACN. 4 out of 28 ORG members were direct industry employees. In SACN 11 out of 17 members

Evolutionary medicine: its scope, interest and potential

PubMed Central

Stearns, Stephen C.

2012-01-01

This review is aimed at readers seeking an introductory overview, teaching courses and interested in visionary ideas. It first describes the range of topics covered by evolutionary medicine, which include human genetic variation, mismatches to modernity, reproductive medicine, degenerative disease, host–pathogen interactions and insights from comparisons with other species. It then discusses priorities for translational research, basic research and health management. Its conclusions are that evolutionary thinking should not displace other approaches to medical science, such as molecular medicine and cell and developmental biology, but that evolutionary insights can combine with and complement established approaches to reduce suffering and save lives. Because we are on the cusp of so much new research and innovative insights, it is hard to estimate how much impact evolutionary thinking will have on medicine, but it is already clear that its potential is enormous. PMID:22933370

Evolutionary medicine: its scope, interest and potential.

PubMed

Stearns, Stephen C

2012-11-07

This review is aimed at readers seeking an introductory overview, teaching courses and interested in visionary ideas. It first describes the range of topics covered by evolutionary medicine, which include human genetic variation, mismatches to modernity, reproductive medicine, degenerative disease, host-pathogen interactions and insights from comparisons with other species. It then discusses priorities for translational research, basic research and health management. Its conclusions are that evolutionary thinking should not displace other approaches to medical science, such as molecular medicine and cell and developmental biology, but that evolutionary insights can combine with and complement established approaches to reduce suffering and save lives. Because we are on the cusp of so much new research and innovative insights, it is hard to estimate how much impact evolutionary thinking will have on medicine, but it is already clear that its potential is enormous.

Global nursing management. Avoiding conflicts of interest.

PubMed

Willers, Lisa

2004-01-01

Traditionally, the healthcare industry has been no stranger to some conflicts of interest. However, as healthcare responds to demands to contain costs and adapts business models that resemble those of the corporate world, new conflicts of interest arise. Nurse executives operating in healthcare systems today must have an understanding of conflicts of interest in order to promptly identify actual as well as potential conflicts. It is imperative that strategies are set in place to prevent or handle conflicts of interest as they occur in order to build trusting relationships with patients, suppliers, and communities.

Identifying and Addressing Potential Conflict of Interest: A Professional Medical Organization’s Code of Ethics

PubMed Central

Heim, Lori

2010-01-01

The new Consumer Alliance agreement between the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and The Coca-Cola Company provides a valuable opportunity to illustrate AAFP’s adherence to its ethical foundation, demonstrate the AAFP’s commitment to serving physicians and the public, and maintain the trust Americans put in their family physicians and the organization that represents them. Throughout the development of this program, as well as in all business interactions, the AAFP consistently addresses possible conflict of interest openly and directly, sharing with our members and the public exactly what measures we take to ensure that, in fact, no unethical conduct or breach of trust would—or will in the future—occur. In this case, the AAFP saw a public health and education need that was both unmet and undermined by the barrage of marketing messages and confusing information, and acted to fill that need. In so doing, the AAFP hewed to its high ethical standards, its core values, and its mission in the decisions made and the actions that followed. PMID:20644192

Potential Conflicting Interests for Surgeons in End-of-Life Care.

PubMed

Golden, Adam G; Silverman, Michael A; Heller, Andrew; Loyal, Michael; Cendan, Juan

2015-11-01

Thirty-day mortality represents a variable that is commonly used to measure the quality of surgical care. The definition of 30-day mortality and the application of a risk adjustment to its measurement may vary among different organizations comparing physician quality. In the midst of this confusion, conflicting interests arise for surgeons who must weigh the potential benefit of surgical interventions to individual patients versus the potential loss of access by future patients should 30-day mortality ratings be adversely affected. Similarly, surgeons may become adversely impacted by the lack of compensation from avoiding "high-risk" cases, but might face a more severe financial impact if they have a higher mortality rating compared to their peers. © The Author(s) 2014.

48 CFR 2009.570-7 - Conflicts identified after award.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 48 Federal Acquisition Regulations System 6 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 true Conflicts identified after... COMMISSION COMPETITION AND ACQUISITION PLANNING CONTRACTOR QUALIFICATIONS Organizational Conflicts of Interest 2009.570-7 Conflicts identified after award. If potential organizational conflicts of interest are...

Assessment by human research ethics committees of potential conflicts of interest arising from pharmaceutical sponsorship of clinical research.

PubMed

Newcombe, J P; Kerridge, I H

2007-01-01

Conflicts of interest arising from pharmaceutical industry sponsorship of clinical research have the potential to bias research outcomes and ultimately prejudice patient care. It is unknown how Australian Human Research Ethics Committees (HREC) assess and manage such conflicts of interest. We aimed to gain an understanding of how HREC approach the problem of potential conflicts of interest arising from pharmaceutical sponsorship of clinical research. We conducted a survey of HREC chairpersons in New South Wales. HREC vary widely in their approaches to conflicts of interest, including in their use of National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines, which were often misinterpreted or overlooked. Many committees rely primarily on researchers disclosing potential conflicts of interest, whereas a majority of HREC use disclosure to research participants as the primary tool for preventing and managing conflicts of interest. Almost no HREC place limitations on researcher relationships with pharmaceutical companies. These findings suggest reluctance on the part of HREC to regulate many potential conflicts of interest between researchers and pharmaceutical sponsors, which may arise from uncertainty regarding the meaning or significance of conflicts of interest in research, from ambiguity surrounding the role of HREC in assessing and managing conflicts of interest in research or from misinterpretation or ignorance of current National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines. Further review of policies and practices in this important area may prove beneficial in safeguarding clinical research and patient care while promoting continuing constructive engagement with the pharmaceutical industry.

Omen: identifying potential spear-phishing targets before the email is sent.

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

Wendt, Jeremy Daniel.

2013-07-01

We present the results of a two year project focused on a common social engineering attack method called "spear phishing". In a spear phishing attack, the user receives an email with information specifically focused on the user. This email contains either a malware-laced attachment or a link to download the malware that has been disguised as a useful program. Spear phishing attacks have been one of the most effective avenues for attackers to gain initial entry into a target network. This project focused on a proactive approach to spear phishing. To create an effective, user-specific spear phishing email, the attackermore » must research the intended recipient. We believe that much of the information used by the attacker is provided by the target organization's own external website. Thus when researching potential targets, the attacker leaves signs of his research in the webserver's logs. We created tools and visualizations to improve cybersecurity analysts' abilities to quickly understand a visitor's visit patterns and interests. Given these suspicious visitors and log-parsing tools, analysts can more quickly identify truly suspicious visitors, search for potential spear-phishing targeted users, and improve security around those users before the spear phishing email is sent.« less

42 CFR 137.160 - Are Self-Governance Tribes required to address potential conflicts of interest?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... 42 Public Health 1 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Are Self-Governance Tribes required to address...-GOVERNANCE Operational Provisions Conflicts of Interest § 137.160 Are Self-Governance Tribes required to address potential conflicts of interest? Yes, self-Governance Tribes participating in self-governance...

PROMISE: a tool to identify genomic features with a specific biologically interesting pattern of associations with multiple endpoint variables.

PubMed

Pounds, Stan; Cheng, Cheng; Cao, Xueyuan; Crews, Kristine R; Plunkett, William; Gandhi, Varsha; Rubnitz, Jeffrey; Ribeiro, Raul C; Downing, James R; Lamba, Jatinder

2009-08-15

In some applications, prior biological knowledge can be used to define a specific pattern of association of multiple endpoint variables with a genomic variable that is biologically most interesting. However, to our knowledge, there is no statistical procedure designed to detect specific patterns of association with multiple endpoint variables. Projection onto the most interesting statistical evidence (PROMISE) is proposed as a general procedure to identify genomic variables that exhibit a specific biologically interesting pattern of association with multiple endpoint variables. Biological knowledge of the endpoint variables is used to define a vector that represents the biologically most interesting values for statistics that characterize the associations of the endpoint variables with a genomic variable. A test statistic is defined as the dot-product of the vector of the observed association statistics and the vector of the most interesting values of the association statistics. By definition, this test statistic is proportional to the length of the projection of the observed vector of correlations onto the vector of most interesting associations. Statistical significance is determined via permutation. In simulation studies and an example application, PROMISE shows greater statistical power to identify genes with the interesting pattern of associations than classical multivariate procedures, individual endpoint analyses or listing genes that have the pattern of interest and are significant in more than one individual endpoint analysis. Documented R routines are freely available from www.stjuderesearch.org/depts/biostats and will soon be available as a Bioconductor package from www.bioconductor.org.

Leptin and its potential interest in assisted reproduction cycles.

PubMed

Catteau, A; Caillon, H; Barrière, P; Denis, M G; Masson, D; Fréour, T

2016-04-01

Leptin, an adipose hormone, has been shown to control energy homeostasis and food intake, and exert many actions on female reproductive function. Consequently, this adipokine is a pivotal factor in studies conducted on animal models and humans to decipher the mechanisms behind the infertility often observed in obese women. A systematic PubMed search was conducted on all articles, published up to January 2015 and related to leptin and its actions on energy balance and reproduction, using the following key words: leptin, reproduction, infertility, IVF and controlled ovarian stimulation. The available literature was reviewed in order to provide an overview of the current knowledge on the physiological roles of leptin, its involvement in female reproductive function and its potential interest as a prognostic marker in IVF cycles. Animal and human studies show that leptin communicates nutritional status to the central nervous system and emerging evidence has demonstrated that leptin is involved in the control of reproductive functions by acting both directly on the ovaries and indirectly on the central nervous system. With respect to the clinical use of leptin as a biomarker in IVF cycles, a systematic review of the literature suggested its potential interest as a predictor of IVF outcome, as high serum and/or follicular fluid leptin concentrations have correlated negatively with cycle outcome. However, these preliminary results remain to be confirmed. Leptin regulates energy balance and female reproductive function, mainly through its action on hypothalamic-pituitary-ovarian function, whose molecular and cellular aspects are progressively being deciphered. Preliminary studies evaluating leptin as a biomarker in human IVF seem promising but need further confirmation. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Robust global identifiability theory using potentials--Application to compartmental models.

PubMed

Wongvanich, N; Hann, C E; Sirisena, H R

2015-04-01

This paper presents a global practical identifiability theory for analyzing and identifying linear and nonlinear compartmental models. The compartmental system is prolonged onto the potential jet space to formulate a set of input-output equations that are integrals in terms of the measured data, which allows for robust identification of parameters without requiring any simulation of the model differential equations. Two classes of linear and non-linear compartmental models are considered. The theory is first applied to analyze the linear nitrous oxide (N2O) uptake model. The fitting accuracy of the identified models from differential jet space and potential jet space identifiability theories is compared with a realistic noise level of 3% which is derived from sensor noise data in the literature. The potential jet space approach gave a match that was well within the coefficient of variation. The differential jet space formulation was unstable and not suitable for parameter identification. The proposed theory is then applied to a nonlinear immunological model for mastitis in cows. In addition, the model formulation is extended to include an iterative method which allows initial conditions to be accurately identified. With up to 10% noise, the potential jet space theory predicts the normalized population concentration infected with pathogens, to within 9% of the true curve. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Consumer interest in community pharmacy HIV screening services.

PubMed

Darin, Kristin M; Scarsi, Kimberly K; Klepser, Donald G; Klepser, Stephanie A; Reeves, Andrew; Young, Maria; Klepser, Michael E

2015-01-01

To evaluate consumers' interest in pharmacist-provided human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) screening and to evaluate potential barriers and facilitators to HIV screening in the community pharmacy setting. Cross-sectional survey of adult patients who presented to one of five community (chain and independent) pharmacies from November 2010 to August 2011. Based on 380 usable surveys, 135 (35.8%) participants were interested in pharmacy-based HIV screening. Independent predictors of interest in HIV screening identified in multivariate analysis (reference groups: ages 30 to 49 years old and white, non-Hispanic race) included younger age (18 to 29 years old) (odds ratio [OR], 2.48; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.31 to 4.71); black, non-Hispanic race (OR, 2.37; CI, 1.40 to 4.03); and other race (OR, 4.58; CI, 1.63 to 12.87). Lack of perceived risk for HIV was the most commonly cited barrier to HIV screening; and free, rapid, or confidential HIV testing were identified as potential facilitators. Interest in pharmacy-based HIV screening was high among participants representing age and race groups disproportionately affected by HIV. Expansion of HIV screening efforts to community pharmacies warrants further consideration.

Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment Tutorial: Navigate the SDMPB and Identify an 8-digit HUC of Interest

EPA Science Inventory

This tutorial reviews some of the screens, icons, and basic functions of the SDMProjectBuilder (SDMPB) that allow a user to identify a watershed of interest that can be used to choose a pour point or 12-digit HUC (HUC-12) for a microbial assessment. It demonstrates how to identif...

Identifying potential academic leaders

PubMed Central

White, David; Krueger, Paul; Meaney, Christopher; Antao, Viola; Kim, Florence; Kwong, Jeffrey C.

2016-01-01

Objective To identify variables associated with willingness to undertake leadership roles among academic family medicine faculty. Design Web-based survey. Bivariate and multivariable analyses (logistic regression) were used to identify variables associated with willingness to undertake leadership roles. Setting Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto in Ontario. Participants A total of 687 faculty members. Main outcome measures Variables related to respondents’ willingness to take on various academic leadership roles. Results Of all 1029 faculty members invited to participate in the survey, 687 (66.8%) members responded. Of the respondents, 596 (86.8%) indicated their level of willingness to take on various academic leadership roles. Multivariable analysis revealed that the predictors associated with willingness to take on leadership roles were as follows: pursuit of professional development opportunities (odds ratio [OR] 3.79, 95% CI 2.29 to 6.27); currently holding at least 1 leadership role (OR 5.37, 95% CI 3.38 to 8.53); a history of leadership training (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.25 to 2.78); the perception that mentorship is important for one’s current role (OR 2.25, 95% CI 1.40 to 3.60); and younger age (OR 0.97, 95% CI 0.95 to 0.99). Conclusion Willingness to undertake new or additional leadership roles was associated with 2 variables related to leadership experiences, 2 variables related to perceptions of mentorship and professional development, and 1 demographic variable (younger age). Interventions that support opportunities in these areas might expand the pool and strengthen the academic leadership potential of faculty members. PMID:27331226

PROMISE: a tool to identify genomic features with a specific biologically interesting pattern of associations with multiple endpoint variables

PubMed Central

Pounds, Stan; Cheng, Cheng; Cao, Xueyuan; Crews, Kristine R.; Plunkett, William; Gandhi, Varsha; Rubnitz, Jeffrey; Ribeiro, Raul C.; Downing, James R.; Lamba, Jatinder

2009-01-01

Motivation: In some applications, prior biological knowledge can be used to define a specific pattern of association of multiple endpoint variables with a genomic variable that is biologically most interesting. However, to our knowledge, there is no statistical procedure designed to detect specific patterns of association with multiple endpoint variables. Results: Projection onto the most interesting statistical evidence (PROMISE) is proposed as a general procedure to identify genomic variables that exhibit a specific biologically interesting pattern of association with multiple endpoint variables. Biological knowledge of the endpoint variables is used to define a vector that represents the biologically most interesting values for statistics that characterize the associations of the endpoint variables with a genomic variable. A test statistic is defined as the dot-product of the vector of the observed association statistics and the vector of the most interesting values of the association statistics. By definition, this test statistic is proportional to the length of the projection of the observed vector of correlations onto the vector of most interesting associations. Statistical significance is determined via permutation. In simulation studies and an example application, PROMISE shows greater statistical power to identify genes with the interesting pattern of associations than classical multivariate procedures, individual endpoint analyses or listing genes that have the pattern of interest and are significant in more than one individual endpoint analysis. Availability: Documented R routines are freely available from www.stjuderesearch.org/depts/biostats and will soon be available as a Bioconductor package from www.bioconductor.org. Contact: stanley.pounds@stjude.org Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. PMID:19528086

Identifying Potential Kidney Donors Using Social Networking Websites

PubMed Central

Chang, Alexander; Anderson, Emily E.; Turner, Hang T.; Shoham, David; Hou, Susan H.; Grams, Morgan

2013-01-01

Social networking sites like Facebook may be a powerful tool for increasing rates of live kidney donation. They allow for wide dissemination of information and discussion, and could lessen anxiety associated with a face-to-face request for donation. However, sparse data exist on the use of social media for this purpose. We searched Facebook, the most popular social networking site, for publicly available English-language pages seeking kidney donors for a specific individual, abstracting information on the potential recipient, characteristics of the page itself, and whether potential donors were tested. In the 91 pages meeting inclusion criteria, the mean age of potential recipients was 37 (range: 2–69); 88% were U.S. residents. Other posted information included the individual’s photograph (76%), blood type (64%), cause of kidney disease (43%), and location (71%). Thirty-two percent of pages reported having potential donors tested, and 10% reported receiving a live donor kidney transplant. Those reporting donor testing shared more potential recipient characteristics, provided more information about transplantation, and had higher page traffic. Facebook is already being used to identify potential kidney donors. Future studies should focus on how to safely, ethically, and effectively use social networking sites to inform potential donors and potentially expand live kidney donation. PMID:23600791

Intelligence, personality, and interests: evidence for overlapping traits.

PubMed

Ackerman, P L; Heggestad, E D

1997-03-01

The authors review the development of the modern paradigm for intelligence assessment and application and consider the differentiation between intelligence-as-maximal performance and intelligence-as-typical performance. They review theories of intelligence, personality, and interest as a means to establish potential overlap. Consideration of intelligence-as-typical performance provides a basis for evaluation of intelligence-personality and intelligence-interest relations. Evaluation of relations among personality constructs, vocational interests, and intellectual abilities provides evidence for communality across the domains of personality of J. L. Holland's (1959) model of vocational interests. The authors provide an extensive meta-analysis of personality-intellectual ability correlations, and a review of interest-intellectual ability associations. They identify 4 trait complexes: social, clerical/conventional, science/math, and intellectual/cultural.

Identifying the Role of Common Interests in Online User Trust Formation

PubMed Central

Ji, Lei; Liu, Jian-Guo; Hou, Lei; Guo, Qiang

2015-01-01

Despite enormous recent efforts in detecting the mechanism of the social relation formation in online social systems, the underlying rules between the common interests and social relations are still under dispute. Do online users befriend others who have similar tastes, or do their tastes become more similar after they become friends? In this paper, we investigate the correlation between online user trust formation and their common interests, measured by the overlap rate ρ and taste similarity θ respectively. The trust relation creation time is set as the zero timestamp. The statistical results before and after the trust formation for an online network, namely Epinions, show that, the overlap rate ρ increases greatly before the trust formation, while it would increase smoothly after the creation of the trust relation. Comparing with the empirical results, two null models are presented by shuffling the temporal behaviors of online users, which suggests that the accumulation of the common interests can result in the trust formation. Furthermore, we investigate the taste similarity θ of the common interests, which can reflect the users’ preference on their common interests. The empirical results show that the taste similarity θ is rapidly increased around the day when users trust the others. That is, the similar tastes on the common interests among users lead to the trust formation. Finally, we report that the user degree can also influence the effect of the taste similarity θ on user trust formation. This work may shed some light for deeply understanding the evolution mechanism of the online social systems. PMID:26161853

Identifying the Role of Common Interests in Online User Trust Formation.

PubMed

Ji, Lei; Liu, Jian-Guo; Hou, Lei; Guo, Qiang

2015-01-01

Despite enormous recent efforts in detecting the mechanism of the social relation formation in online social systems, the underlying rules between the common interests and social relations are still under dispute. Do online users befriend others who have similar tastes, or do their tastes become more similar after they become friends? In this paper, we investigate the correlation between online user trust formation and their common interests, measured by the overlap rate ρ and taste similarity θ respectively. The trust relation creation time is set as the zero timestamp. The statistical results before and after the trust formation for an online network, namely Epinions, show that, the overlap rate ρ increases greatly before the trust formation, while it would increase smoothly after the creation of the trust relation. Comparing with the empirical results, two null models are presented by shuffling the temporal behaviors of online users, which suggests that the accumulation of the common interests can result in the trust formation. Furthermore, we investigate the taste similarity θ of the common interests, which can reflect the users' preference on their common interests. The empirical results show that the taste similarity θ is rapidly increased around the day when users trust the others. That is, the similar tastes on the common interests among users lead to the trust formation. Finally, we report that the user degree can also influence the effect of the taste similarity θ on user trust formation. This work may shed some light for deeply understanding the evolution mechanism of the online social systems.

Release of genetically engineered insects: a framework to identify potential ecological effects

PubMed Central

David, Aaron S; Kaser, Joe M; Morey, Amy C; Roth, Alexander M; Andow, David A

2013-01-01

Genetically engineered (GE) insects have the potential to radically change pest management worldwide. With recent approvals of GE insect releases, there is a need for a synthesized framework to evaluate their potential ecological and evolutionary effects. The effects may occur in two phases: a transitory phase when the focal population changes in density, and a steady state phase when it reaches a new, constant density. We review potential effects of a rapid change in insect density related to population outbreaks, biological control, invasive species, and other GE organisms to identify a comprehensive list of potential ecological and evolutionary effects of GE insect releases. We apply this framework to the Anopheles gambiae mosquito – a malaria vector being engineered to suppress the wild mosquito population – to identify effects that may occur during the transitory and steady state phases after release. Our methodology reveals many potential effects in each phase, perhaps most notably those dealing with immunity in the transitory phase, and with pathogen and vector evolution in the steady state phase. Importantly, this framework identifies knowledge gaps in mosquito ecology. Identifying effects in the transitory and steady state phases allows more rigorous identification of the potential ecological effects of GE insect release. PMID:24198955

Ports Primer: 7.5 Potential Community Interests

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Communities have interests in environmental impacts of ports including environmental justice; public health outcomes; climate adaptation/resilience; air quality; ecological impacts; nuisance; and access to natural areas and open space.

A new simplex chemometric approach to identify olive oil blends with potentially high traceability.

PubMed

Semmar, N; Laroussi-Mezghani, S; Grati-Kamoun, N; Hammami, M; Artaud, J

2016-10-01

Olive oil blends (OOBs) are complex matrices combining different cultivars at variable proportions. Although qualitative determinations of OOBs have been subjected to several chemometric works, quantitative evaluations of their contents remain poorly developed because of traceability difficulties concerning co-occurring cultivars. Around this question, we recently published an original simplex approach helping to develop predictive models of the proportions of co-occurring cultivars from chemical profiles of resulting blends (Semmar & Artaud, 2015). Beyond predictive model construction and validation, this paper presents an extension based on prediction errors' analysis to statistically define the blends with the highest predictability among all the possible ones that can be made by mixing cultivars at different proportions. This provides an interesting way to identify a priori labeled commercial products with potentially high traceability taking into account the natural chemical variability of different constitutive cultivars. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Cooperative Development of the Digital Library: Identifying and Working with Potential Partners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Poland, Jean

In a university environment, the library can benefit from interest in the digital future on the part of other concerned groups. Computer science departments are natural partners in the development of digital libraries. Professional societies, for-profit companies, and foundations are also potential sources of support. Cornell University Library…

Use of Event-Related Potentials to Identify Language and Reading Skills

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Molfese, Victoria J.; Molfese, Dennis L.; Beswick, Jennifer L.; Jacobi-Vessels, Jill; Molfese, Peter J.; Molnar, Andrew E.; Wagner, Mary C.; Haines, Brittany L.

2008-01-01

The extent to which oral language and emergent literacy skills are influenced by event-related potential measures of phonological processing was examined. Results revealed that event-related potential responses identify differences in letter naming but not receptive language skills.

Quantitative Microbial Risk Assessment Tutorial - Navigate the SDMPB and Identify an 8-digit HUC of Interest - Updated 2017

EPA Science Inventory

This tutorial reviews some of the screens, icons, and basic functions of the SDMProjectBuilder (SDMPB) that allow a user to identify an 8-digit HUC (HUC-8) of interest from which a pour point or 12-digit HUC (HUC-12) can be chosen for a microbial assessment. It demonstrates how t...

Identifying potential kidney donors using social networking web sites.

PubMed

Chang, Alexander; Anderson, Emily E; Turner, Hang T; Shoham, David; Hou, Susan H; Grams, Morgan

2013-01-01

Social networking sites like Facebook may be a powerful tool for increasing rates of live kidney donation. They allow for wide dissemination of information and discussion and could lessen anxiety associated with a face-to-face request for donation. However, sparse data exist on the use of social media for this purpose. We searched Facebook, the most popular social networking site, for publicly available English-language pages seeking kidney donors for a specific individual, abstracting information on the potential recipient, characteristics of the page itself, and whether potential donors were tested. In the 91 pages meeting inclusion criteria, the mean age of potential recipients was 37 (range: 2-69); 88% were US residents. Other posted information included the individual's photograph (76%), blood type (64%), cause of kidney disease (43%), and location (71%). Thirty-two percent of pages reported having potential donors tested, and 10% reported receiving a live-donor kidney transplant. Those reporting donor testing shared more potential recipient characteristics, provided more information about transplantation, and had higher page traffic. Facebook is already being used to identify potential kidney donors. Future studies should focus on how to safely, ethically, and effectively use social networking sites to inform potential donors and potentially expand live kidney donation. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

What is interesting? Exploring the appraisal structure of interest.

PubMed

Silvia, Paul J

2005-03-01

Relative to other emotions, interest is poorly understood. On the basis of theories of appraisal process and structure, it was predicted that interest consists of appraisals of novelty (factors related to unfamiliarity and complexity) and appraisals of coping potential (the ability to understand the new, complex thing). Four experiments, using in vivo rather than retrospective methods, supported this appraisal structure. The findings were general across measured and manipulated appraisals, interesting stimuli (random polygons, visual art, poetry), and measures of interest (self-reports, forced-choice, behavioral measures). Furthermore, the appraisal structure was specific to interest (it did not predict enjoyment, a related positive emotion), and appraisals predicted interest beyond relevant traits (curiosity, openness). The appraisal perspective offers a powerful way of construing the causes of interest. Copyright 2005 APA, all rights reserved.

Exome Sequencing Identifies Potentially Druggable Mutations in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma.

PubMed

Chow, Yock Ping; Tan, Lu Ping; Chai, San Jiun; Abdul Aziz, Norazlin; Choo, Siew Woh; Lim, Paul Vey Hong; Pathmanathan, Rajadurai; Mohd Kornain, Noor Kaslina; Lum, Chee Lun; Pua, Kin Choo; Yap, Yoke Yeow; Tan, Tee Yong; Teo, Soo Hwang; Khoo, Alan Soo-Beng; Patel, Vyomesh

2017-03-03

In this study, we first performed whole exome sequencing of DNA from 10 untreated and clinically annotated fresh frozen nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) biopsies and matched bloods to identify somatically mutated genes that may be amenable to targeted therapeutic strategies. We identified a total of 323 mutations which were either non-synonymous (n = 238) or synonymous (n = 85). Furthermore, our analysis revealed genes in key cancer pathways (DNA repair, cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, immune response, lipid signaling) were mutated, of which those in the lipid-signaling pathway were the most enriched. We next extended our analysis on a prioritized sub-set of 37 mutated genes plus top 5 mutated cancer genes listed in COSMIC using a custom designed HaloPlex target enrichment panel with an additional 88 NPC samples. Our analysis identified 160 additional non-synonymous mutations in 37/42 genes in 66/88 samples. Of these, 99/160 mutations within potentially druggable pathways were further selected for validation. Sanger sequencing revealed that 77/99 variants were true positives, giving an accuracy of 78%. Taken together, our study indicated that ~72% (n = 71/98) of NPC samples harbored mutations in one of the four cancer pathways (EGFR-PI3K-Akt-mTOR, NOTCH, NF-κB, DNA repair) which may be potentially useful as predictive biomarkers of response to matched targeted therapies.

Exome Sequencing Identifies Potentially Druggable Mutations in Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma

PubMed Central

Chow, Yock Ping; Tan, Lu Ping; Chai, San Jiun; Abdul Aziz, Norazlin; Choo, Siew Woh; Lim, Paul Vey Hong; Pathmanathan, Rajadurai; Mohd Kornain, Noor Kaslina; Lum, Chee Lun; Pua, Kin Choo; Yap, Yoke Yeow; Tan, Tee Yong; Teo, Soo Hwang; Khoo, Alan Soo-Beng; Patel, Vyomesh

2017-01-01

In this study, we first performed whole exome sequencing of DNA from 10 untreated and clinically annotated fresh frozen nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) biopsies and matched bloods to identify somatically mutated genes that may be amenable to targeted therapeutic strategies. We identified a total of 323 mutations which were either non-synonymous (n = 238) or synonymous (n = 85). Furthermore, our analysis revealed genes in key cancer pathways (DNA repair, cell cycle regulation, apoptosis, immune response, lipid signaling) were mutated, of which those in the lipid-signaling pathway were the most enriched. We next extended our analysis on a prioritized sub-set of 37 mutated genes plus top 5 mutated cancer genes listed in COSMIC using a custom designed HaloPlex target enrichment panel with an additional 88 NPC samples. Our analysis identified 160 additional non-synonymous mutations in 37/42 genes in 66/88 samples. Of these, 99/160 mutations within potentially druggable pathways were further selected for validation. Sanger sequencing revealed that 77/99 variants were true positives, giving an accuracy of 78%. Taken together, our study indicated that ~72% (n = 71/98) of NPC samples harbored mutations in one of the four cancer pathways (EGFR-PI3K-Akt-mTOR, NOTCH, NF-κB, DNA repair) which may be potentially useful as predictive biomarkers of response to matched targeted therapies. PMID:28256603

Using a watershed-centric approach to identify potentially impacted beaches

EPA Science Inventory

Beaches can be affected by a variety of contaminants. Of particular concern are beaches impacted by human fecal contamination and urban runoff. This poster demonstrates a methodology to identify potentially impacted beaches using Geographic Information Systems (GIS). Since h...

MISAGA: An Algorithm for Mining Interesting Subgraphs in Attributed Graphs.

PubMed

He, Tiantian; Chan, Keith C C

2018-05-01

An attributed graph contains vertices that are associated with a set of attribute values. Mining clusters or communities, which are interesting subgraphs in the attributed graph is one of the most important tasks of graph analytics. Many problems can be defined as the mining of interesting subgraphs in attributed graphs. Algorithms that discover subgraphs based on predefined topologies cannot be used to tackle these problems. To discover interesting subgraphs in the attributed graph, we propose an algorithm called mining interesting subgraphs in attributed graph algorithm (MISAGA). MISAGA performs its tasks by first using a probabilistic measure to determine whether the strength of association between a pair of attribute values is strong enough to be interesting. Given the interesting pairs of attribute values, then the degree of association is computed for each pair of vertices using an information theoretic measure. Based on the edge structure and degree of association between each pair of vertices, MISAGA identifies interesting subgraphs by formulating it as a constrained optimization problem and solves it by identifying the optimal affiliation of subgraphs for the vertices in the attributed graph. MISAGA has been tested with several large-sized real graphs and is found to be potentially very useful for various applications.

[Research interest and recruitment potential--medical students and research].

PubMed

Lehmann, A K; Hexeberg, E; Engebråten, O; Bjugn, R

1992-06-30

A questionnaire survey on scientific interest among 324 medical students at the University of Bergen in 1990 showed that 14% of the students had already participated in medical research programmes (10% still research trainees). In addition, 45% had considered starting working as a research trainee while a student. Many were discouraged, however, by the problem of finding a suitable supervisor. Relatively more of the male students expressed considerable interest in science (32 versus 22% of the females). The medical students already recruited to scientific work stressed the importance of scientific experience for their future career. The faculty has recently made participation in research projects compulsory. The personal supervision during this short period (6-8 weeks) will probably have major impact on the interest in research and the recruitment of future medical research trainees.

The Effects of Rising Interest Rates on Electric Utility Stock Prices: Regulatory Considerations and Approaches

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

Kihm, Steve; Satchwell, Andrew; Cappers, Peter

This technical brief identifies conditions under which utility regulators should consider implementing policy approaches that seek to mitigate negative outcomes due to an increase in interest rates. Interest rates are a key factor in determining a utility’s cost of equity and investors find value when returns exceed the cost of equity. Through historical observations of periods of rising and falling interest rates and application of a pro forma financial tool, we identify the key drivers of utility stock valuations and estimate the degree to which those valuations might be affected by increasing interest rates.3 We also analyze the efficacy ofmore » responses by utility regulators to mitigate potential negative financial impacts. We find that regulators have several possible approaches to mitigate a decline in value in an environment of increasing interest rates, though regulators must weigh the tradeoffs of improving investor value with potential increases in customer costs. Furthermore, the range of approaches reflects today’s many different electric utility regulatory models and regulatory responses to a decline in investor value will fit within state-specific models.« less

Co-expression modules construction by WGCNA and identify potential prognostic markers of uveal melanoma.

PubMed

Wan, Qi; Tang, Jing; Han, Yu; Wang, Dan

2018-01-01

Uveal melanoma is an aggressive cancer which has a high percentage recurrence and with a worse prognosis. Identify the potential prognostic markers of uveal melanoma may provide information for early detection of recurrence and treatment. RNA sequence data of uveal melanoma and patient clinic traits were obtained from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database. Co-expression modules were built by weighted gene co -expression network analysis (WGCNA) and applied to investigate the relationship underlying modules and clinic traits. Besides, functional enrichment analysis was performed on these co-expression genes from interested modules. First, using WGCNA, identified 21 co-expression modules were constructed by the 10975 genes from the 80 human uveal melanoma samples. The number of genes in these modules ranged from 42 to 5091. Found four co -expression modules significantly correlated with three clinic traits (status, recurrence and recurrence Time). Module red, and purple positively correlated with patient's life status and recurrence Time. Module green positively correlates with recurrence. The result of functional enrichment analysis showed that the module magenta was mainly enriched genetic material assemble processes, the purple module was mainly enriched in tissue homeostasis and melanosome membrane and the module red was mainly enriched metastasis of cell, suggesting its critical role in the recurrence and development of the disease. Additionally, identified the hug gene (top connectivity with other genes) in each module. The hub gene SLC17A7, NTRK2, ABTB1 and ADPRHL1 might play a vital role in recurrence of uveal melanoma. Our findings provided the framework of co-expression gene modules of uveal melanoma and identified some prognostic markers might be detection of recurrence and treatment for uveal melanoma. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Completion of potential conflicts of interest through optimization of Rukoh reservoir operation in Pidie District, Aceh Province, Indonesia

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Azmeri, Hadihardaja, Iwan K.; Shaskia, Nina; Admaja, Kamal Surya

2017-11-01

Rukoh Reservoir's construction was planned to be built in Krueng Rukoh Watershed with supplet ion from Krueng Tiro River. Rukoh Reservoir operating system as a multipurpose reservoir raised potential conflict of interest between raw water and irrigation water. In this study, the operating system of Rukoh Reservoirs was designed to supply raw water in Titeu Sub-District and replenish water shortage in Baro Irrigation Area which is not able to be served by the Keumala Weir. Reservoir operating system should be planned optimally so that utilization of water in accordance with service area demands. Reservoir operation method was analyzed by using optimization technique with nonlinear programming. Optimization of reservoir operation is intended to minimize potential conflicts of interest in the operation. Suppletion discharge from Krueng Tiro River amounted to 46.62%, which was calculated based on ratio of Baro and Tiro irrigation area. However, during dry seasons, water demands could not be fully met, so there was a shortage of water. By considering the rules to minimize potential conflicts of interest between raw water and irrigation water, it would require suppletion from Krueng Tiro amounted to 52.30%. The increment of suppletion volume could minimize conflicts of interest. It produced l00% reservoir reliability for raw water and irrigation demands. Rukoh reservoir could serve raw water demands of Titeu Sub-District and irrigation demands of Baro irrigation area which is covering an area of 6,047 hectars. Reservoir operation guidelines can specify reservoir water release to balance the demands and the target storage.

A multivariate geostatistical methodology to delineate areas of potential interest for future sedimentary gold exploration.

PubMed

Goovaerts, P; Albuquerque, Teresa; Antunes, Margarida

2016-11-01

This paper describes a multivariate geostatistical methodology to delineate areas of potential interest for future sedimentary gold exploration, with an application to an abandoned sedimentary gold mining region in Portugal. The main challenge was the existence of only a dozen gold measurements confined to the grounds of the old gold mines, which precluded the application of traditional interpolation techniques, such as cokriging. The analysis could, however, capitalize on 376 stream sediment samples that were analyzed for twenty two elements. Gold (Au) was first predicted at all 376 locations using linear regression (R 2 =0.798) and four metals (Fe, As, Sn and W), which are known to be mostly associated with the local gold's paragenesis. One hundred realizations of the spatial distribution of gold content were generated using sequential indicator simulation and a soft indicator coding of regression estimates, to supplement the hard indicator coding of gold measurements. Each simulated map then underwent a local cluster analysis to identify significant aggregates of low or high values. The one hundred classified maps were processed to derive the most likely classification of each simulated node and the associated probability of occurrence. Examining the distribution of the hot-spots and cold-spots reveals a clear enrichment in Au along the Erges River downstream from the old sedimentary mineralization.

Identifying Underlying Causes of Situational Interest in a Science Course for Preservice Elementary Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, David H.; Dixon, Jeanette; Archer, Jennifer

2016-01-01

Situational interest is short-term interest that is linked to environmental factors in a particular situation. Previous studies have found that some science teaching techniques can be very effective in generating situational interest among students, but the reasons why these are effective remain unclear: Hands-on activities, for example, are known…

Discovering Potential Pathogens among Fungi Identified as Nonsporulating Molds▿

PubMed Central

Pounder, June I.; Simmon, Keith E.; Barton, Claudia A.; Hohmann, Sheri L.; Brandt, Mary E.; Petti, Cathy A.

2007-01-01

Fungal infections are increasing, particularly among immunocompromised hosts, and a rapid diagnosis is essential to initiate antifungal therapy. Often fungi cannot be identified by conventional methods and are classified as nonsporulating molds (NSM).We sequenced internal transcribed spacer regions from 50 cultures of NSM and found 16 potential pathogens that can be associated with clinical disease. In selected clinical settings, identification of NSM could prove valuable and have an immediate impact on patient management. PMID:17135442

Proteomics-based approach identified differentially expressed proteins with potential roles in endometrial carcinoma.

PubMed

Li, Zhengyu; Min, Wenjiao; Huang, Canhua; Bai, Shujun; Tang, Minghai; Zhao, Xia

2010-01-01

We used proteomic approaches to identify altered expressed proteins in endometrial carcinoma, with the aim of discovering potential biomarkers or therapeutic targets for endometrial carcinoma. The global proteins extracted from endometrial carcinoma and normal endometrial tissues were separated by 2-dimensional electrophoresis and analyzed with PDQuest (Bio-Rad, Hercules, Calif) software. The differentially expressed spots were identified by mass spectrometry and searched against NCBInr protein database. Those proteins with potential roles were confirmed by Western blotting and immunohistochemical assays. Ninety-nine proteins were identified by mass spectrometry, and a cluster diagram analysis indicated that these proteins were involved in metabolism, cell transformation, protein folding, translation and modification, proliferation and apoptosis, signal transduction, cytoskeleton, and so on. In confirmatory immunoblotting and immunohistochemical analyses, overexpressions of epidermal fatty acid-binding protein, calcyphosine, and cyclophilin A were also observed in endometrial carcinoma tissues, which were consistent with the proteomic results. Our results suggested that these identified proteins, including epidermal fatty acid-binding protein, calcyphosine, and cyclophilin A, might be of potential values in the studies of endometrial carcinogenesis or investigations of diagnostic biomarkers or treatment targets for endometrial carcinoma.

An automated technique to identify potential inappropriate traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) prescriptions.

PubMed

Yang, Hsuan-Chia; Iqbal, Usman; Nguyen, Phung Anh; Lin, Shen-Hsien; Huang, Chih-Wei; Jian, Wen-Shan; Li, Yu-Chuan

2016-04-01

Medication errors such as potential inappropriate prescriptions would induce serious adverse drug events to patients. Information technology has the ability to prevent medication errors; however, the pharmacology of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is not as clear as in western medicine. The aim of this study was to apply the appropriateness of prescription (AOP) model to identify potential inappropriate TCM prescriptions. We used the association rule of mining techniques to analyze 14.5 million prescriptions from the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. The disease and TCM (DTCM) and traditional Chinese medicine-traditional Chinese medicine (TCMM) associations are computed by their co-occurrence, and the associations' strength was measured as Q-values, which often referred to as interestingness or life values. By considering the number of Q-values, the AOP model was applied to identify the inappropriate prescriptions. Afterwards, three traditional Chinese physicians evaluated 1920 prescriptions and validated the detected outcomes from the AOP model. Out of 1920 prescriptions, 97.1% of positive predictive value and 19.5% of negative predictive value were shown by the system as compared with those by experts. The sensitivity analysis indicated that the negative predictive value could improve up to 27.5% when the model's threshold changed to 0.4. We successfully applied the AOP model to automatically identify potential inappropriate TCM prescriptions. This model could be a potential TCM clinical decision support system in order to improve drug safety and quality of care. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hot spot analysis applied to identify ecosystem services potential in Lithuania

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pereira, Paulo; Depellegrin, Daniel; Misiune, Ieva

2016-04-01

Hot spot analysis are very useful to identify areas with similar characteristics. This is important for a sustainable use of the territory, since we can identify areas that need to be protected, or restored. This is a great advantage in terms of land use planning and management, since we can allocate resources, reduce the economical costs and do a better intervention in the landscape. Ecosystem services (ES) are different according land use. Since landscape is very heterogeneous, it is of major importance understand their spatial pattern and where are located the areas that provide better ES and the others that provide less services. The objective of this work is to use hot-spot analysis to identify areas with the most valuable ES in Lithuania. CORINE land-cover (CLC) of 2006 was used as the main spatial information. This classification uses a grid of 100 m resolution and extracted a total of 31 land use types. ES ranking was carried out based on expert knowledge. They were asked to evaluate the ES potential of each different CLC from 0 (no potential) to 5 (very high potential). Hot spot analysis were evaluated using the Getis-ord test, which identifies cluster analysis available in ArcGIS toolbox. This tool identifies areas with significantly high low values and significant high values at a p level of 0.05. In this work we used hot spot analysis to assess the distribution of providing, regulating cultural and total (sum of the previous 3) ES. The Z value calculated from Getis-ord was used to statistical analysis to access the clusters of providing, regulating cultural and total ES. ES with high Z value show that they have a high number of cluster areas with high potential of ES. The results showed that the Z-score was significantly different among services (Kruskal Wallis ANOVA =834. 607, p<0.001). The Z score of providing services (0.096±2.239) were significantly higher than the total (0.093±2.045), cultural (0.080±1.979) and regulating (0.076±1.961). These

A spectroscopic tool for identifying sources of origin for materials of military interest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Miziolek, Andrzej W.; De Lucia, Frank C.

2014-05-01

There is a need to identify the source of origin for many items of military interest, including ammunition and weapons that may be circulated and traded in illicit markets. Both fieldable systems (man-portable or handheld) as well as benchtop systems in field and home base laboratories are desired for screening and attribution purposes. Laser Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) continues to show significant capability as a promising new tool for materials identification, matching, and provenance. With the use of the broadband, high resolution spectrometer systems, the LIBS devices can not only determine the elemental inventory of the sample, but they are also capable of elemental fingerprinting to signify sources of origin of various materials. We present the results of an initial study to differentiate and match spent cartridges from different manufacturers and countries. We have found that using Partial Least Squares Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) we are able to achieve on average 93.3% True Positives and 5.3% False Positives. These results add to the large body of publications that have demonstrated that LIBS is a particularly suitable tool for source of origin determinations.

A typology of vaping: Identifying differing beliefs, motivations for use, identity and political interest amongst e-cigarette users.

PubMed

Farrimond, Hannah

2017-10-01

The aim of this study was to identify and differentiate socially shared accounts of e-cigarette use (vaping) using Q-methodology, combining factor analysis with qualitative comments. Seventy statements on e-cigarettes, drawn from media, academic and online discussions, were sorted by participants along a continuum of agreement/disagreement, commenting on strongly ranked items. Each participant thus created their own 'account' of their vaping. A by-person correlation matrix of the sorts was conducted, then factor analysed, to identify similar accounts (p<0.01). Fifty-five UK vapers participated by post, 55% male, mean age of 46, 84% only vaping/16% vaping and smoking, 95% vaping daily. Three accounts of e-cigarettes were identified. The first two were associated with having quit smoking; the third with ongoing tobacco smoking and vaping. In Factor One, 'Vaping as Pleasure', vaping was characterized as enjoyable, with long-term use envisaged and a medical model of vaping rejected. Factor One participants also held a strong vaping identity and were politically motivated to maintain the rights of adults to vape. In Factor Two, 'Vaping as Medical Treatment', vaping was understood as a pragmatic choice about how to medicate one's smoking addiction, with the aim being to treat and ultimately reduce nicotine dependence. In Factor Three, 'Ambivalent E-Cigarette Use', participants reported fewer benefits and harboured more negative beliefs about e-cigarettes; they also strongly rejected a vaper identity, having no interest in online forums or being labelled a 'vaper' themselves. The UK e-cigarette users in this sample were not a homogeneous group; differing in their beliefs, motivations for use, identity and political interest. In particular they diverged on whether they accepted a medicalized account of vaping and identified as a vaper. Public health messages targeted to one group of e-cigarette users may not resonate with others. Crown Copyright © 2017. Published by

Identifying the "Truly Disadvantaged": A Comprehensive Biosocial Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barnes, J. C.; Beaver, Kevin M.; Connolly, Eric J.; Schwartz, Joseph A.

2016-01-01

There has been significant interest in examining the developmental factors that predispose individuals to chronic criminal offending. This body of research has identified some social-environmental risk factors as potentially important. At the same time, the research producing these results has generally failed to employ genetically sensitive…

Identifying potential impact of lead contamination using a geographic information system

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

Bocco, G.; Sanchez, R.

1997-01-01

The main objective of this research was to identify the potential hazards associated with lead contamination from fixed sources in the city of Tijuana. An exploratory model is presented that describes the potential polluting sources as well as the exposed universe. The results of the analysis provide a clear picture of the geographic distribution of hazards areas for potential lead pollution in Tijuana. The findings are indicative of the dramatic consequences of rapid industrialization and urbanization in a city where there have not been significant planning efforts to mitigate the negative effects of this growth. The approach followed helps tomore » narrow the universe of potential pollution sources, which can help to direct attention, research priorities, and resources to the most critical areas. 16 refs.« less

Medical merchants: conflict of interest, office product sales and notifiable conduct.

PubMed

Parker, Malcolm H; Wardle, Jon L; Weir, Michael; Stewart, Cameron L

2011-01-03

Professional ethical codes identify the issue of conflict of interest, which can distort doctors' objective judgements concerning the best interests of patients. Legal fiduciary duties may be owed by doctors to patients in situations of potential conflict of interest. Prescribing and dispensing functions have been largely legally separated to prevent conflicts of interest arising. The advent of integrative medicine has been accompanied by an apparent growth of in-house selling of therapeutic products. Medical merchandising constitutes a prima-facie conflict of interest and may amount to notifiable conduct under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law provisions. We believe that doctors who sell therapeutic products should adhere to strict conditions to avoid significantly departing from accepted professional standards. Doctors who have a reasonable belief that a colleague is failing to comply with these conditions could consider notifying the Medical Board of Australia.

Spontaneous swallowing frequency has potential to identify dysphagia in acute stroke.

PubMed

Crary, Michael A; Carnaby, Giselle D; Sia, Isaac; Khanna, Anna; Waters, Michael F

2013-12-01

Spontaneous swallowing frequency has been described as an index of dysphagia in various health conditions. This study evaluated the potential of spontaneous swallow frequency analysis as a screening protocol for dysphagia in acute stroke. In a cohort of 63 acute stroke cases, swallow frequency rates (swallows per minute [SPM]) were compared with stroke and swallow severity indices, age, time from stroke to assessment, and consciousness level. Mean differences in SPM were compared between patients with versus without clinically significant dysphagia. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis was used to identify the optimal threshold in SPM, which was compared with a validated clinical dysphagia examination for identification of dysphagia cases. Time series analysis was used to identify the minimally adequate time period to complete spontaneous swallow frequency analysis. SPM correlated significantly with stroke and swallow severity indices but not with age, time from stroke onset, or consciousness level. Patients with dysphagia demonstrated significantly lower SPM rates. SPM differed by dysphagia severity. Receiver operating characteristic curve analysis yielded a threshold of SPM≤0.40 that identified dysphagia (per the criterion referent) with 0.96 sensitivity, 0.68 specificity, and 0.96 negative predictive value. Time series analysis indicated that a 5- to 10-minute sampling window was sufficient to calculate spontaneous swallow frequency to identify dysphagia cases in acute stroke. Spontaneous swallowing frequency presents high potential to screen for dysphagia in acute stroke without the need for trained, available personnel.

Spontaneous Swallowing Frequency [Has Potential to] Identify Dysphagia in Acute Stroke

PubMed Central

Carnaby, Giselle D; Sia, Isaac; Khanna, Anna; Waters, Michael

2014-01-01

Background and Purpose Spontaneous swallowing frequency has been described as an index of dysphagia in various health conditions. This study evaluated the potential of spontaneous swallow frequency analysis as a screening protocol for dysphagia in acute stroke. Methods In a cohort of 63 acute stroke cases swallow frequency rates (swallows per minute: SPM) were compared to stroke and swallow severity indices, age, time from stroke to assessment, and consciousness level. Mean differences in SPM were compared between patients with vs. without clinically significant dysphagia. ROC analysis was used to identify the optimal threshold in SPM which was compared to a validated clinical dysphagia examination for identification of dysphagia cases. Time series analysis was employed to identify the minimally adequate time period to complete spontaneous swallow frequency analysis. Results SPM correlated significantly with stroke and swallow severity indices but not with age, time from stroke onset, or consciousness level. Patients with dysphagia demonstrated significantly lower SPM rates. SPM differed by dysphagia severity. ROC analysis yielded a threshold of SPM ≤ 0.40 which identified dysphagia (per the criterion referent) with 0.96 sensitivity, 0.68 specificity, and 0.96 negative predictive value. Time series analysis indicated that a 5 to 10 minute sampling window was sufficient to calculate spontaneous swallow frequency to identify dysphagia cases in acute stroke. Conclusions Spontaneous swallowing frequency presents high potential to screen for dysphagia in acute stroke without the need for trained, available personnel. PMID:24149008

A multivariate geostatistical methodology to delineate areas of potential interest for future sedimentary gold exploration

PubMed Central

Goovaerts, P.; Albuquerque, Teresa; Antunes, Margarida

2015-01-01

This paper describes a multivariate geostatistical methodology to delineate areas of potential interest for future sedimentary gold exploration, with an application to an abandoned sedimentary gold mining region in Portugal. The main challenge was the existence of only a dozen gold measurements confined to the grounds of the old gold mines, which precluded the application of traditional interpolation techniques, such as cokriging. The analysis could, however, capitalize on 376 stream sediment samples that were analyzed for twenty two elements. Gold (Au) was first predicted at all 376 locations using linear regression (R2=0.798) and four metals (Fe, As, Sn and W), which are known to be mostly associated with the local gold’s paragenesis. One hundred realizations of the spatial distribution of gold content were generated using sequential indicator simulation and a soft indicator coding of regression estimates, to supplement the hard indicator coding of gold measurements. Each simulated map then underwent a local cluster analysis to identify significant aggregates of low or high values. The one hundred classified maps were processed to derive the most likely classification of each simulated node and the associated probability of occurrence. Examining the distribution of the hot-spots and cold-spots reveals a clear enrichment in Au along the Erges River downstream from the old sedimentary mineralization. PMID:27777638

Identifying Potential Norovirus Epidemics in China via Internet Surveillance

PubMed Central

Chen, Bin; Jiang, Tao; Cai, Gaofeng; Jiang, Zhenggang; Chen, Yongdi; Wang, Zhengting; Gu, Hua; Chai, Chengliang

2017-01-01

Background Norovirus is a common virus that causes acute gastroenteritis worldwide, but a monitoring system for norovirus is unavailable in China. Objective We aimed to identify norovirus epidemics through Internet surveillance and construct an appropriate model to predict potential norovirus infections. Methods The norovirus-related data of a selected outbreak in Jiaxing Municipality, Zhejiang Province of China, in 2014 were collected from immediate epidemiological investigation, and the Internet search volume, as indicated by the Baidu Index, was acquired from the Baidu search engine. All correlated search keywords in relation to norovirus were captured, screened, and composited to establish the composite Baidu Index at different time lags by Spearman rank correlation. The optimal model was chosen and possibly predicted maps in Zhejiang Province were presented by ArcGIS software. Results The combination of two vital keywords at a time lag of 1 day was ultimately identified as optimal (ρ=.924, P<.001). The exponential curve model was constructed to fit the trend of this epidemic, suggesting that a one-unit increase in the mean composite Baidu Index contributed to an increase of norovirus infections by 2.15 times during the outbreak. In addition to Jiaxing Municipality, Hangzhou Municipality might have had some potential epidemics in the study time from the predicted model. Conclusions Although there are limitations with early warning and unavoidable biases, Internet surveillance may be still useful for the monitoring of norovirus epidemics when a monitoring system is unavailable. PMID:28790023

Disruptive Civil Technologies: Six Technologies With Potential Impacts on US Interests Out to 2025

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-04-01

power (geopolitical, military, economic, or social cohesion). The six disruptive technologies were identified through a process carried out by...clustering, development of technology descriptors, screening, and prioritizing, analysts down-selected from 102 potentially disruptive technologies . They

The Relationship between Leadership Preparation and the Level of Teachers' Interest in Assuming a Principalship in Chile

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Galdames, Sergio; Gonzalez, Alvaro

2016-01-01

There is a vast body of knowledge supporting the critical role of principal for school improvement and improved students' learning outcomes. While, there is increasing evidence addressing the lack of interest in the principalship, training and preparation has been identified as a potential enhancer for principalship interest. The purpose of this…

Using Social Media Data to Identify Potential Candidates for Drug Repurposing: A Feasibility Study.

PubMed

Rastegar-Mojarad, Majid; Liu, Hongfang; Nambisan, Priya

2016-06-16

Drug repurposing (defined as discovering new indications for existing drugs) could play a significant role in drug development, especially considering the declining success rates of developing novel drugs. Typically, new indications for existing medications are identified by accident. However, new technologies and a large number of available resources enable the development of systematic approaches to identify and validate drug-repurposing candidates. Patients today report their experiences with medications on social media and reveal side effects as well as beneficial effects of those medications. Our aim was to assess the feasibility of using patient reviews from social media to identify potential candidates for drug repurposing. We retrieved patient reviews of 180 medications from an online forum, WebMD. Using dictionary-based and machine learning approaches, we identified disease names in the reviews. Several publicly available resources were used to exclude comments containing known indications and adverse drug effects. After manually reviewing some of the remaining comments, we implemented a rule-based system to identify beneficial effects. The dictionary-based system and machine learning system identified 2178 and 6171 disease names respectively in 64,616 patient comments. We provided a list of 10 common patterns that patients used to report any beneficial effects or uses of medication. After manually reviewing the comments tagged by our rule-based system, we identified five potential drug repurposing candidates. To our knowledge, this is the first study to consider using social media data to identify drug-repurposing candidates. We found that even a rule-based system, with a limited number of rules, could identify beneficial effect mentions in patient comments. Our preliminary study shows that social media has the potential to be used in drug repurposing.

The Interest Checklist: a factor analysis.

PubMed

Klyczek, J P; Bauer-Yox, N; Fiedler, R C

1997-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the 80 items on the Interest Checklist empirically cluster into the five categories of interests described by Matsutsuyu, the developer of the tool. The Interest Checklist was administered to 367 subjects classified in three subgroups: students, working adults, and retired elderly persons. An 80-item correlation matrix was formed from the responses to the Interest Checklist for each subgroup and then used in a factor analysis model to identify the underlying structure or domains of interest. Results indicated that the Social Recreation theoretical category was empirically independent for all three subgroups; the Physical Sports and Cultural/Educational theoretical categories were empirically independent for only the college students and working adults; and the Manual Skills theoretical category was empirically independent for only the working adults. Although therapists should continue to be cautious in their interpretation of patients' Interest Checklist scores, the tool is useful for identifying patients' interests in order to choose meaningful activities for therapy.

Identifying High Academic Potential in Australian Aboriginal Children Using Dynamic Testing

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chaffey, Graham W.; Bailey, Stan B.; Vine, Ken W.

2015-01-01

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of dynamic testing as a method for identifying high academic potential in Australian Aboriginal children. The 79 participating Aboriginal children were drawn from Years 3-5 in rural schools in northern New South Wales. The dynamic testing method used in this study involved a…

Conflict of interests for radiation oncologists: Harnessing disclosures from policy to reality.

PubMed

Guy, J-B; Vallard, A; Espenel, S; Langrand-Escure, J; Trone, J-C; Méry, B; Ben Mrad, M; Diao, P; Mattevi, C; Chargari, C; Magné, N

2016-05-01

An increasing attention is being paid to disclosures of conflicts of interests in the field of oncology. The purpose of this study was to examine how radiation oncologists report their conflicts of interests with pharmaceutical or technology industries. We collected the data of conflicts of interests disclosures in the abstract books from the annual 2012 and 2013 meetings of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in Miami (FL, USA), and in Atlanta (GA, USA), respectively. Geographic origins of abstracts as well other factors were examined. We identified a total of 4219 abstracts published in the past two years. The total number of involved authors was of 28,283. All of the published abstracts had conflicts of interests disclosures. Amongst them, 563 abstracts (13.4%) reported at least one potential conflict of interests, in which 1264 (4.5%) declared a potential conflict of interests in their disclosures. Geographic distribution of abstracts with financial relationship was as following: 67.9%, 15.5%, 7.7% and 7.7% for USA, Europe, Asia/Pacifica, and Canada, respectively. Abstracts with conflict of interest originated from North America in 75.6% of cases. USA distribution was 70.6% and 29.4% for Eastern and Western, respectively. The proportion of physicians declaring financial conflicts of interests remains extremely low, whichever geographic area authors are from. In comparison to the rest of the world, the US proved itself better at declaring potential links. Changes in medical culture and education could represent a significant step to improve the process of revealing conflicts of interest in medical journal as well as in international meetings. Copyright © 2016 Société française de radiothérapie oncologique (SFRO). Published by Elsevier SAS. All rights reserved.

12 CFR 721.7 - What are the potential conflicts of interest for officials and employees when credit unions...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... for officials and employees when credit unions engage in activities approved under this part? 721.7... INCIDENTAL POWERS § 721.7 What are the potential conflicts of interest for officials and employees when credit unions engage in activities approved under this part? (a) Conflicts. No official, employee, or...

12 CFR 721.7 - What are the potential conflicts of interest for officials and employees when credit unions...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... for officials and employees when credit unions engage in activities approved under this part? 721.7... INCIDENTAL POWERS § 721.7 What are the potential conflicts of interest for officials and employees when credit unions engage in activities approved under this part? (a) Conflicts. No official, employee, or...

Using Click Chemistry to Identify Potential Drug Targets in Plasmodium

DTIC Science & Technology

2015-04-01

step of the Plasmodium mammalian cycle . Inhibiting this step can block malaria at an early step. However, few anti-malarials target liver infection...points in the life cycle of malaria parasites. PLoS Biol 12: e1001806. 2. Falae A, Combe A, Amaladoss A, Carvalho T, Menard R, et al. (2010) Role of...AWARD NUMBER: W81XWH-13-1-0429 TITLE: Using "Click Chemistry" to Identify Potential Drug Targets in Plasmodium PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR: Dr. Purnima

Towards a balanced approach to identifying conflicts of interest faced by institutional review boards.

PubMed

Kaur, Sharon; Balan, Sujata

2015-10-01

The welfare and protection of human subjects is critical to the integrity of clinical investigation and research. Institutional review boards (IRBs) were thus set up to be impartial reviewers of research protocols in clinical research. Their main role is to stand between the investigator and her human subjects in order to ensure that the welfare of human subjects are protected. While there is much literature on the conflicts of interest (CIs) faced by investigators and researchers in clinical investigations, an area that is less explored is CIs that may affect members of IRBs during the institutional ethics review of clinical investigations. This article examines the notion of CIs in clinical research and attempts to develop a framework for a clearer and more balanced approach to identifying CIs that may influence members of IRBs and impede their independence. It will also apply the proposed framework to demonstrate how IRBs possess, or at least may appear to possess, forms of financial CIs and non-financial CIs. The proper identification and management of these CIs is critical to preserving the integrity of clinical investigations and achieving the primary aim of human subjects protection.

Regulating Interest when Learning Online: Potential Motivation and Performance Trade-Offs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sansone, Carol; Smith, Jessi L.; Thoman, Dustin B.; MacNamara, Atara

2012-01-01

Online learning may be particularly sensitive to self-regulatory trade-offs between maintaining interest and performance. Undergraduates in online or on-campus sections of the same course rated strategies used to motivate studying for the first exam, and interest after the first exam and at semester's end. First exam and final class grades were…

Multiple oil pay revives interest

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

Stremel, K.

1984-03-01

Good, relatively shallow multiple pay oil potential is reviving interest in the flanks of the prolific Big Horn Basin. Operators say that although the areal extent of the basin's fields may not be that large, potential pay zones can exceed 250 feet. Several companies have stepped up geophysical work and activity. A discussion of trapping systems, test wells and stratigraphy studies are included from various petroleum companies. The interest was sparked by lower acreage costs and poor economic conditions elsewhere.

Level of interest in a weight management program among adult U.S. military dependents

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

There is little information on the extent to which different challenged populations with high rates of overweight and obesity have interest in participating in weight management programs. The purpose of this study was to identify potential rates of enrollment in a weight management program among adu...

Structured methods for identifying and correcting potential human errors in aviation operations

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

Nelson, W.R.

1997-10-01

Human errors have been identified as the source of approximately 60% of the incidents and accidents that occur in commercial aviation. It can be assumed that a very large number of human errors occur in aviation operations, even though in most cases the redundancies and diversities built into the design of aircraft systems prevent the errors from leading to serious consequences. In addition, when it is acknowledged that many system failures have their roots in human errors that occur in the design phase, it becomes apparent that the identification and elimination of potential human errors could significantly decrease the risksmore » of aviation operations. This will become even more critical during the design of advanced automation-based aircraft systems as well as next-generation systems for air traffic management. Structured methods to identify and correct potential human errors in aviation operations have been developed and are currently undergoing testing at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL).« less

Early event-related brain potentials that reflect interest for content information in the media.

PubMed

Adachi, Shinobu; Morikawa, Koji; Nittono, Hiroshi

2012-03-28

This study investigated the relationship between event-related brain potentials (ERPs) to abridged content information in the media and the subsequent decisions to view the full content. Student volunteers participated in a task that simulated information selection on the basis of the content information. Screenshots of television clips and headlines of news articles on the Web were used as content information for the image condition and the headline condition, respectively. Following presentation of a stimulus containing content information, participants decided whether or not they would view the full content by pressing a select or a reject button. When the select button was pressed, participants were presented with a television clip or a news article. When the reject button was pressed, participants continued on to the next trial, without viewing further. In comparison with rejected stimuli, selected stimuli elicited a larger negative component, with a peak latency of ∼250 ms. The increase in the negative component was independent of the type of visual stimulus. These results suggest that interest toward content information is reflected in early-stage event-related brain potential responses.

Potential of DNA sequences to identify zoanthids (Cnidaria: Zoantharia).

PubMed

Sinniger, Frederic; Reimer, James D; Pawlowski, Jan

2008-12-01

The order Zoantharia is known for its chaotic taxonomy and difficult morphological identification. One method that potentially could help for examining such troublesome taxa is DNA barcoding, which identifies species using standard molecular markers. The mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit I (COI) has been utilized to great success in groups such as birds and insects; however, its applicability in many other groups is controversial. Recently, some studies have suggested that barcoding is not applicable to anthozoans. Here, we examine the use of COI and mitochondrial 16S ribosomal DNA for zoanthid identification. Despite the absence of a clear barcoding gap, our results show that for most of 54 zoanthid samples, both markers could separate samples to the species, or species group, level, particularly when easily accessible ecological or distributional data were included. Additionally, we have used the short V5 region of mt 16S rDNA to identify eight old (13 to 50 years old) museum samples. We discuss advantages and disadvantages of COI and mt 16S rDNA as barcodes for Zoantharia, and recommend that either one or both of these markers be considered for zoanthid identification in the future.

Conflicts of interest between physicians and the pharmaceutical industry and special interest groups.

PubMed

Schetky, Diane H

2008-01-01

Health care in the United States is a tangled web of competing interest groups beneath which ethical conflicts of interest flourish. Physicians, professional organizations, and academic medical centers must continually evaluate their relationships with the pharmaceutical industry as they relate to personal, professional, and institutional ethical values. This article explores the relevant pressing ethical issues and proposals for changing course and managing these potentially troublesome relationships.

Responses of medical schools to institutional conflicts of interest.

PubMed

Ehringhaus, Susan H; Weissman, Joel S; Sears, Jacqueline L; Goold, Susan Dorr; Feibelmann, Sandra; Campbell, Eric G

2008-02-13

Institutional financial conflicts of interest may affect research results. No national data exist on the extent to which US medical schools have formally responded to challenges associated with institutional conflicts of interest (ICOI). To assess the current state of ICOI policies and practices in US medical schools using the recommendations issued by 2 national higher education and research organizations as the standard. National survey of deans of all 125 accredited allopathic medical schools in the United States, administered between February 2006 and December 2006. The extent to which medical schools have adopted ICOI policies applicable to their institution and to their institutional officials; the scope of these policies in terms of those covered entities, offices, and financial relationships; the existence of recommended organizational structures as means to address ICOI; and the institutions' linkages between ICOI and their institutional review boards (IRBs). Responses were received from a total of 86 (69%) of 125 US medical schools. Although only 30 (38%) respondents (not all overall respondents answered all questions) have adopted an ICOI policy applicable to financial interests held by the institutions, a much higher number have adopted ICOI policies applicable to the financial interests of the officials: 55 (71%) for senior officials, 55 (69%) for midlevel officials, 62 (81%) for IRB members, and 51 (66%) for governing board members. Most institutions treat as potential ICOI the financial interests held by an institutional research official for a research sponsor (43 [78%]) or for a product that is the subject of research (43 [78%]). The majority of institutions have adopted organizational structures that separate research responsibility from investment management and from technology transfer responsibility. Gaps exist in institutions informing their IRBs of potential ICOI in research projects under review. This study provides the first national data

Identifying Pre-Service Teachers' Beliefs about Teaching EFL and Their Potential Changes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Suárez Flórez, Sergio Andrés; Basto Basto, Edwin Arley

2017-01-01

This study aims at identifying pre-service teachers' beliefs about teaching English as a foreign language and tracking their potential changes throughout the teaching practicum. Participants were two pre-service teachers in their fifth year of their Bachelor of Arts in Foreign Languages program in a public university in Colombia. Data were…

7 CFR 1951.867 - Conflict of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 14 2010-01-01 2009-01-01 true Conflict of interest. 1951.867 Section 1951.867... Conflict of interest. The intermediary will, for each proposed loan to an ultimate recipient, inform FmHA... financial interest is sufficient to create potential conflict of interest. In the event FmHA or its...

Identifying the Career-Interest Profiles of Junior-High-School Students Through Latent Profile Analysis.

PubMed

Sung, Yao-Ting; Cheng, Yu-Wen; Hsueh, Jen-Hu

2017-04-03

Exploring the career-interest profiles of students has both practical and theoretical significance; however, a minimal amount of research has been conducted to address this issue. The present study combined latent profile analysis and differentiation values to investigate the career-interest profiles of 13,853 junior-high-school students. The results indicate that while the students' interests could be stratified into 25 profiles, 44.6% of students could be classified the as having low-differentiation profiles (such as like or dislike all types of vocational activities) and 24.9% of students could be classified the as having the artistic-social (like both artistic and social types of activities) profile. In addition, the proportions of females and males differed significantly among the profiles, but different grades did not. The proportion of males was higher for all three low-differentiation groups than of female proportions. Implications for career practices and future research are proposed.

Obtaining subjects' consent to publish identifying personal information: current practices and identifying potential issues.

PubMed

Yoshida, Akiko; Dowa, Yuri; Murakami, Hiromi; Kosugi, Shinji

2013-11-25

In studies publishing identifying personal information, obtaining consent is regarded as necessary, as it is impossible to ensure complete anonymity. However, current journal practices around specific points to consider when obtaining consent, the contents of consent forms and how consent forms are managed have not yet been fully examined. This study was conducted to identify potential issues surrounding consent to publish identifying personal information. Content analysis was carried out on instructions for authors and consent forms developed by academic journals in four fields (as classified by Journal Citation Reports): medicine general and internal, genetics and heredity, pediatrics, and psychiatry. An online questionnaire survey of editors working for journals that require the submission of consent forms was also conducted. Instructions for authors were reviewed for 491 academic journals (132 for medicine general and internal, 147 for genetics and heredity, 100 for pediatrics, and 112 for psychiatry). Approximately 40% (203: 74 for medicine general and internal, 31 for genetics and heredity, 58 for pediatrics, and 40 for psychiatry) stated that subject consent was necessary. The submission of consent forms was required by 30% (154) of the journals studied, and 10% (50) provided their own consent forms for authors to use. Two journals mentioned that the possible effects of publication on subjects should be considered. Many journal consent forms mentioned the difficulties in ensuring complete anonymity of subjects, but few addressed the study objective, the subjects' right to refuse consent and the withdrawal of consent. The main reason for requiring the submission of consent forms was to confirm that consent had been obtained. Approximately 40% of journals required subject consent to be obtained. However, differences were observed depending on the fields. Specific considerations were not always documented. There is a need to address issues around the study

Obtaining subjects’ consent to publish identifying personal information: current practices and identifying potential issues

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background In studies publishing identifying personal information, obtaining consent is regarded as necessary, as it is impossible to ensure complete anonymity. However, current journal practices around specific points to consider when obtaining consent, the contents of consent forms and how consent forms are managed have not yet been fully examined. This study was conducted to identify potential issues surrounding consent to publish identifying personal information. Methods Content analysis was carried out on instructions for authors and consent forms developed by academic journals in four fields (as classified by Journal Citation Reports): medicine general and internal, genetics and heredity, pediatrics, and psychiatry. An online questionnaire survey of editors working for journals that require the submission of consent forms was also conducted. Results Instructions for authors were reviewed for 491 academic journals (132 for medicine general and internal, 147 for genetics and heredity, 100 for pediatrics, and 112 for psychiatry). Approximately 40% (203: 74 for medicine general and internal, 31 for genetics and heredity, 58 for pediatrics, and 40 for psychiatry) stated that subject consent was necessary. The submission of consent forms was required by 30% (154) of the journals studied, and 10% (50) provided their own consent forms for authors to use. Two journals mentioned that the possible effects of publication on subjects should be considered. Many journal consent forms mentioned the difficulties in ensuring complete anonymity of subjects, but few addressed the study objective, the subjects’ right to refuse consent and the withdrawal of consent. The main reason for requiring the submission of consent forms was to confirm that consent had been obtained. Conclusion Approximately 40% of journals required subject consent to be obtained. However, differences were observed depending on the fields. Specific considerations were not always documented. There is a need

Proteomic Analysis of Saliva Identifies Potential Biomarkers for Orthodontic Tooth Movement

PubMed Central

Ellias, Mohd Faiz; Zainal Ariffin, Shahrul Hisham; Karsani, Saiful Anuar; Abdul Rahman, Mariati; Senafi, Shahidan; Megat Abdul Wahab, Rohaya

2012-01-01

Orthodontic treatment has been shown to induce inflammation, followed by bone remodelling in the periodontium. These processes trigger the secretion of various proteins and enzymes into the saliva. This study aims to identify salivary proteins that change in expression during orthodontic tooth movement. These differentially expressed proteins can potentially serve as protein biomarkers for the monitoring of orthodontic treatment and tooth movement. Whole saliva from three healthy female subjects were collected before force application using fixed appliance and at 14 days after 0.014′′ Niti wire was applied. Salivary proteins were resolved using two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) over a pH range of 3–10, and the resulting proteome profiles were compared. Differentially expressed protein spots were then identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF tandem mass spectrometry. Nine proteins were found to be differentially expressed; however, only eight were identified by MALDI-TOF/TOF. Four of these proteins—Protein S100-A9, immunoglobulin J chain, Ig alpha-1 chain C region, and CRISP-3—have known roles in inflammation and bone resorption. PMID:22919344

Pharmacophore modeling and virtual screening to identify potential RET kinase inhibitors.

PubMed

Shih, Kuei-Chung; Shiau, Chung-Wai; Chen, Ting-Shou; Ko, Ching-Huai; Lin, Chih-Lung; Lin, Chun-Yuan; Hwang, Chrong-Shiong; Tang, Chuan-Yi; Chen, Wan-Ru; Huang, Jui-Wen

2011-08-01

Chemical features based 3D pharmacophore model for REarranged during Transfection (RET) tyrosine kinase were developed by using a training set of 26 structurally diverse known RET inhibitors. The best pharmacophore hypothesis, which identified inhibitors with an associated correlation coefficient of 0.90 between their experimental and estimated anti-RET values, contained one hydrogen-bond acceptor, one hydrogen-bond donor, one hydrophobic, and one ring aromatic features. The model was further validated by a testing set, Fischer's randomization test, and goodness of hit (GH) test. We applied this pharmacophore model to screen NCI database for potential RET inhibitors. The hits were docked to RET with GOLD and CDOCKER after filtering by Lipinski's rules. Ultimately, 24 molecules were selected as potential RET inhibitors for further investigation. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Using Market Research to Characterize College Students and Identify Potential Targets for Influencing Health Behaviors

PubMed Central

Berg, Carla J.; Ling, Pamela M.; Guo, Hongfei; Windle, Michael; Thomas, Janet L.; Ahluwalia, Jasjit S.; An, Lawrence C.

2013-01-01

Marketing campaigns, such as those developed by the tobacco industry, are based on market research, which defines segments of a population by assessing psychographic characteristics (i.e., attitudes, interests). This study uses a similar approach to define market segments of college smokers, to examine differences in their health behaviors (smoking, drinking, binge drinking, exercise, diet), and to determine the validity of these segments. A total of 2,265 undergraduate students aged 18–25 years completed a 108-item online survey in fall 2008 assessing demographic, psychographic (i.e., attitudes, interests), and health-related variables. Among the 753 students reporting past 30-day smoking, cluster analysis was conducted using 21 psychographic questions and identified three market segments – Stoic Individualists, Responsible Traditionalists, and Thrill-Seeking Socializers. We found that segment membership was related to frequency of alcohol use, binge drinking, and limiting dietary fat. We then developed three messages targeting each segment and conducted message testing to validate the segments on a subset of 73 smokers representing each segment in spring 2009. As hypothesized, each segment indicated greater relevance and salience for their respective message. These findings indicate that identifying qualitatively different subgroups of young adults through market research may inform the development of engaging interventions and health campaigns targeting college students. PMID:25264429

Using Market Research to Characterize College Students and Identify Potential Targets for Influencing Health Behaviors.

PubMed

Berg, Carla J; Ling, Pamela M; Guo, Hongfei; Windle, Michael; Thomas, Janet L; Ahluwalia, Jasjit S; An, Lawrence C

2010-12-01

Marketing campaigns, such as those developed by the tobacco industry, are based on market research, which defines segments of a population by assessing psychographic characteristics (i.e., attitudes, interests). This study uses a similar approach to define market segments of college smokers, to examine differences in their health behaviors (smoking, drinking, binge drinking, exercise, diet), and to determine the validity of these segments. A total of 2,265 undergraduate students aged 18-25 years completed a 108-item online survey in fall 2008 assessing demographic, psychographic (i.e., attitudes, interests), and health-related variables. Among the 753 students reporting past 30-day smoking, cluster analysis was conducted using 21 psychographic questions and identified three market segments - Stoic Individualists, Responsible Traditionalists, and Thrill-Seeking Socializers. We found that segment membership was related to frequency of alcohol use, binge drinking, and limiting dietary fat. We then developed three messages targeting each segment and conducted message testing to validate the segments on a subset of 73 smokers representing each segment in spring 2009. As hypothesized, each segment indicated greater relevance and salience for their respective message. These findings indicate that identifying qualitatively different subgroups of young adults through market research may inform the development of engaging interventions and health campaigns targeting college students.

31 CFR 31.211 - Organizational conflicts of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... prevent unauthorized people from learning nonpublic information relating to the arrangement and isolate key individuals from learning how their performance under the arrangement could affect the financial... learning of a potential organizational conflict of interest, disclose the potential conflict of interest in...

31 CFR 31.211 - Organizational conflicts of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... prevent unauthorized people from learning nonpublic information relating to the arrangement and isolate key individuals from learning how their performance under the arrangement could affect the financial... learning of a potential organizational conflict of interest, disclose the potential conflict of interest in...

31 CFR 31.211 - Organizational conflicts of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... prevent unauthorized people from learning nonpublic information relating to the arrangement and isolate key individuals from learning how their performance under the arrangement could affect the financial... learning of a potential organizational conflict of interest, disclose the potential conflict of interest in...

Time-saving impact of an algorithm to identify potential surgical site infections.

PubMed

Knepper, B C; Young, H; Jenkins, T C; Price, C S

2013-10-01

To develop and validate a partially automated algorithm to identify surgical site infections (SSIs) using commonly available electronic data to reduce manual chart review. Retrospective cohort study of patients undergoing specific surgical procedures over a 4-year period from 2007 through 2010 (algorithm development cohort) or over a 3-month period from January 2011 through March 2011 (algorithm validation cohort). A single academic safety-net hospital in a major metropolitan area. Patients undergoing at least 1 included surgical procedure during the study period. Procedures were identified in the National Healthcare Safety Network; SSIs were identified by manual chart review. Commonly available electronic data, including microbiologic, laboratory, and administrative data, were identified via a clinical data warehouse. Algorithms using combinations of these electronic variables were constructed and assessed for their ability to identify SSIs and reduce chart review. The most efficient algorithm identified in the development cohort combined microbiologic data with postoperative procedure and diagnosis codes. This algorithm resulted in 100% sensitivity and 85% specificity. Time savings from the algorithm was almost 600 person-hours of chart review. The algorithm demonstrated similar sensitivity on application to the validation cohort. A partially automated algorithm to identify potential SSIs was highly sensitive and dramatically reduced the amount of manual chart review required of infection control personnel during SSI surveillance.

The Near-Earth Object Human Space Flight Accessible Targets Study (NHATS) List of Near-Earth Asteroids: Identifying Potential Targets for Future Exploration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Abell, Paul; Barbee, B. W.; Mink, R. G.; Adamo, D. R.; Alberding, C. M.; Mazanek, D. D.; Johnson, L. N.; Yeomans, D. K.; Chodas, P. W.; Chamberlin, A. B.; Benner, L. A. M.; Drake, B. G.; Friedensen, V. P.

2012-10-01

Introduction: Much attention has recently been focused on human exploration of near-Earth asteroids (NEAs). Detailed planning for deep space exploration and identification of potential NEA targets for human space flight requires selecting objects from the growing list of known NEAs. NASA therefore initiated the Near-Earth Object Human Space Flight Accessible Target Study (NHATS), which uses dynamical trajectory performance constraints to identify potentially accessible NEAs. Accessibility Criteria: Future NASA human space flight capability is being defined while the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle and Space Launch System are under development. Velocity change and mission duration are two of the most critical factors in any human spaceflight endeavor, so the most accessible NEAs tend to be those with orbits similar to Earth’s. To be classified as NHATS-compliant, a NEA must offer at least one round-trip trajectory solution satisfying purposely inclusive constraints, including total mission change in velocity ≤ 12 km/s, mission duration ≤ 450 days (with at least 8 days at the NEA), Earth departure between Jan 1, 2015 and Dec 31, 2040, Earth departure C3 ≤ 60 km2/s2, and Earth return atmospheric entry speed ≤ 12 km/s. Monitoring and Updates: The NHATS list of potentially accessible targets is continuously updated as NEAs are discovered and orbit solutions for known NEAs are improved. The current list of accessible NEAs identified as potentially viable for future human exploration under the NHATS criteria is available to the international community via a website maintained by NASA’s NEO Program Office (http://neo.jpl.nasa.gov/nhats/). This website also lists predicted optical and radar observing opportunities for each NHATS-compliant NEA to facilitate acquisition of follow-up observations. Conclusions: This list of NEAs will be useful for analyzing robotic mission opportunities, identifying optimal round trip human space flight trajectories, and

40 CFR Table 5 to Subpart Jj of... - List of VHAP of Potential Concern Identified by Industry

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 10 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false List of VHAP of Potential Concern Identified by Industry 5 Table 5 to Subpart JJ of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION.... 63, Subpt. JJ, Table 5 Table 5 to Subpart JJ of Part 63—List of VHAP of Potential Concern Identified...

Characterization of potential mineralization in Afghanistan: four permissive areas identified using imaging spectroscopy data

USGS Publications Warehouse

King, Trude V.V.; Berger, Byron R.; Johnson, Michaela R.

2014-01-01

As part of the U.S. Geological Survey and Department of Defense Task Force for Business and Stability Operations natural resources revitalization activities in Afghanistan, four permissive areas for mineralization, Bamyan 1, Farah 1, Ghazni 1, and Ghazni 2, have been identified using imaging spectroscopy data. To support economic development, the areas of potential mineralization were selected on the occurrence of selected mineral assemblages mapped using the HyMap™ data (kaolinite, jarosite, hydrated silica, chlorite, epidote, iron-bearing carbonate, buddingtonite, dickite, and alunite) that may be indicative of past mineralization processes in areas with limited or no previous mineral resource studies. Approximately 30 sites were initially determined to be candidates for areas of potential mineralization. Additional criteria and material used to refine the selection and prioritization process included existing geologic maps, Landsat Thematic Mapper data, and published literature. The HyMapTM data were interpreted in the context of the regional geologic and tectonic setting and used the presence of alteration mineral assemblages to identify areas with the potential for undiscovered mineral resources. Further field-sampling, mapping, and supporting geochemical analyses are necessary to fully substantiate and verify the specific deposit types in the four areas of potential mineralization.

Identifying external nutrient reduction requirements and potential in the hypereutrophic Lake Taihu Basin, China.

PubMed

Peng, Jiao-Ting; Zhu, Xiao-Dong; Sun, Xiang; Song, Xiao-Wei

2018-04-01

Reducing external nutrient loads is the first step for controlling eutrophication. Here, we identified external nutrient reduction requirements and potential of strategies for achieving reductions to remediate a eutrophic water body, Lake Taihu, China. A mass balance approach based on the entire lake was used to identify nutrient reduction requirements; an empirical export coefficient approach was introduced to estimate the nutrient reduction potential of the overall program on integrated regulation of Taihu Lake Basin (hereafter referred to as the "Guideline"). Reduction requirements included external total nitrogen (TN) and total phosphorus (TP) loads, which should be reduced by 41-55 and 25-50%, respectively, to prevent nutrient accumulation in Lake Taihu and to meet the planned water quality targets. In 2010, which is the most seriously polluted calendar year during the 2008-2014 period, the nutrient reduction requirements were estimated to be 36,819 tons of N and 2442 tons of P, and the potential nutrient reduction strategies would reduce approximately 25,821 tons of N and 3024 tons of P. Since there is a net N remaining in the reduction requirements, it should be the focus and deserves more attention in identifying external nutrient reduction strategies. Moreover, abatement measures outlined in the Guideline with high P reduction potential required large monetary investments. Achieving TP reduction requirement using the cost-effective strategy costs about 80.24 million USD. The design of nutrient reduction strategies should be enacted according to regional and sectoral differences and the cost-effectiveness of abatement measures.

What’s the risk? Identifying potential human pathogens within grey-headed flying foxes faeces

PubMed Central

Galbraith, Penelope; Coutts, Scott; Prosser, Toby; Boyce, John; McCarthy, David T.

2018-01-01

Pteropus poliocephalus (grey-headed flying foxes) are recognised vectors for a range of potentially fatal human pathogens. However, to date research has primarily focused on viral disease carriage, overlooking bacterial pathogens, which also represent a significant human disease risk. The current study applied 16S rRNA amplicon sequencing, community analysis and a multi-tiered database OTU picking approach to identify faecal-derived zoonotic bacteria within two colonies of P. poliocephalus from Victoria, Australia. Our data show that sequences associated with Enterobacteriaceae (62.8% ± 24.7%), Pasteurellaceae (19.9% ± 25.7%) and Moraxellaceae (9.4% ± 11.8%) dominate flying fox faeces. Further colony specific differences in bacterial faecal colonisation patterns were also identified. In total, 34 potential pathogens, representing 15 genera, were identified. However, species level definition was only possible for Clostridium perfringens, which likely represents a low infectious risk due to the low proportion observed within the faeces and high infectious dose required for transmission. In contrast, sequences associated with other pathogenic species clusters such as Haemophilus haemolyticus-H. influenzae and Salmonella bongori-S. enterica, were present at high proportions in the faeces, and due to their relatively low infectious doses and modes of transmissions, represent a greater potential human disease risk. These analyses of the microbial community composition of Pteropus poliocephalus have significantly advanced our understanding of the potential bacterial disease risk associated with flying foxes and should direct future epidemiological and quantitative microbial risk assessments to further define the health risks presented by these animals. PMID:29360880

Researchers identify potential therapeutic targets for a rare childhood cancer | Center for Cancer Research

Cancer.gov

CCR researchers have identified the mechanism behind a rare but extremely aggressive childhood cancer called alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) and have pinpointed a potential drug target for its treatment. Learn more...

Surveillance methods for identifying, characterizing, and monitoring tobacco products: potential reduced exposure products as an example

PubMed Central

O’Connor, Richard J.; Cummings, K. Michael; Rees, Vaughan W.; Connolly, Gregory N.; Norton, Kaila J.; Sweanor, David; Parascandola, Mark; Hatsukami, Dorothy K.; Shields, Peter G.

2015-01-01

Tobacco products are widely sold and marketed, yet integrated data systems for identifying, tracking, and characterizing products are lacking. Tobacco manufacturers recently have developed potential reduction exposure products (PREPs) with implied or explicit health claims. Currently, a systematic approach for identifying, defining, and evaluating PREPs sold at the local, state or national levels in the US has not been developed. Identifying, characterizing, and monitoring new tobacco products could be greatly enhanced with a responsive surveillance system. This paper critically reviews available surveillance data sources for identifying and tracking tobacco products, including PREPs, evaluating strengths and weaknesses of potential data sources in light of their reliability and validity. Absent regulations mandating disclosure of product-specific information, it is likely that public health officials will need to rely on a variety of imperfect data sources to help identify, characterize, and monitor tobacco products, including PREPs. PMID:19959680

Conflicts of interest in research: looking out for number one means keeping the primary interest front and center.

PubMed

Romain, Paul L

2015-06-01

Conflicts of interest represent circumstances in which professional judgments or actions regarding a primary interest, such as the responsibilities of a medical researcher, may be at risk of being unduly influenced by a secondary interest, such as financial gain or career advancement. The secondary interest may be financial or non-financial, and the resultant bias may be conscious or unconscious. The presence of conflicts of interest poses a problem for professional, patient, and public trust in research and the research enterprise. Effective means of identifying and managing conflicts are an important element in successfully achieving the goals of research. These strategies typically focus on the investigator and rely upon disclosure, which has substantial limitations. Additional management strategies include process-oriented steps and outcomes-oriented strategies. More attention to identifying and managing non-financial conflicts is needed. Future empirical research will be important for defining which conflicts need to be better addressed and how to achieve this goal.

7 CFR 3560.10 - Conflict of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 7 Agriculture 15 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Conflict of interest. 3560.10 Section 3560.10... AGRICULTURE DIRECT MULTI-FAMILY HOUSING LOANS AND GRANTS General Provisions and Definitions § 3560.10 Conflict of interest. To reduce the potential for employee conflict of interest, all RHS activities will be...

Tracking Multiple Topics for Finding Interesting Articles

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

Pon, R K; Cardenas, A F; Buttler, D J

We introduce multiple topic tracking (MTT) for iScore to better recommend news articles for users with multiple interests and to address changes in user interests over time. As an extension of the basic Rocchio algorithm, traditional topic detection and tracking, and single-pass clustering, MTT maintains multiple interest profiles to identify interesting articles for a specific user given user-feedback. Focusing on only interesting topics enables iScore to discard useless profiles to address changes in user interests and to achieve a balance between resource consumption and classification accuracy. iScore is able to achieve higher quality results than traditional methods such as themore » Rocchio algorithm. We identify several operating parameters that work well for MTT. Using the same parameters, we show that MTT alone yields high quality results for recommending interesting articles from several corpora. The inclusion of MTT improves iScore's performance by 25% in recommending news articles from the Yahoo! News RSS feeds and the TREC11 adaptive filter article collection. And through a small user study, we show that iScore can still perform well when only provided with little user feedback.« less

A vector space model approach to identify genetically related diseases.

PubMed

Sarkar, Indra Neil

2012-01-01

The relationship between diseases and their causative genes can be complex, especially in the case of polygenic diseases. Further exacerbating the challenges in their study is that many genes may be causally related to multiple diseases. This study explored the relationship between diseases through the adaptation of an approach pioneered in the context of information retrieval: vector space models. A vector space model approach was developed that bridges gene disease knowledge inferred across three knowledge bases: Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man, GenBank, and Medline. The approach was then used to identify potentially related diseases for two target diseases: Alzheimer disease and Prader-Willi Syndrome. In the case of both Alzheimer Disease and Prader-Willi Syndrome, a set of plausible diseases were identified that may warrant further exploration. This study furthers seminal work by Swanson, et al. that demonstrated the potential for mining literature for putative correlations. Using a vector space modeling approach, information from both biomedical literature and genomic resources (like GenBank) can be combined towards identification of putative correlations of interest. To this end, the relevance of the predicted diseases of interest in this study using the vector space modeling approach were validated based on supporting literature. The results of this study suggest that a vector space model approach may be a useful means to identify potential relationships between complex diseases, and thereby enable the coordination of gene-based findings across multiple complex diseases.

13 CFR 107.730 - Financings which constitute conflicts of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... interests (including potential interests), of at least five percent. (2) Other Financings with Associates... were) fair and equitable to you, taking into account any differences in the timing of each party's... direct or indirect financial interest in the Portfolio Concern that exceeds, or has the potential to...

13 CFR 107.730 - Financings which constitute conflicts of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... interests (including potential interests), of at least five percent. (2) Other Financings with Associates... were) fair and equitable to you, taking into account any differences in the timing of each party's... direct or indirect financial interest in the Portfolio Concern that exceeds, or has the potential to...

Identifying Potential Ventilator Auto-Triggering Among Organ Procurement Organization Referrals.

PubMed

Henry, Nicholas R; Russian, Christopher J; Nespral, Joseph

2016-06-01

Ventilator auto-trigger is the delivery of an assisted mechanical ventilated breath over the set ventilator frequency in the absence of a spontaneous inspiratory effort and can be caused by inappropriate ventilator trigger sensitivity. Ventilator auto-trigger can be misinterpreted as a spontaneous breath and has the potential to delay or prevent brain death testing and confuse health-care professionals and/or patient families. To determine the frequency of organ donor referrals from 1 Organ Procurement Organization (OPO) that could benefit from an algorithm designed to assist organ recovery coordinators to identify and correct ventilator auto-triggering. This retrospective analysis evaluated documentation of organ donor referrals from 1 OPO in central Texas during the 2013 calendar year that resulted in the withdrawal of care by the patient's family and the recovery of organs. The frequency of referrals that presented with absent brain stem reflexes except for additional respirations over the set ventilator rate was determined to assess for the need of the proposed algorithm. Documentation of 672 organ procurement organization referrals was evaluated. Documentation from 42 referrals that resulted in the withdrawal of care and 21 referrals that resulted in the recovery of organs were identified with absent brain stem reflexes except for spontaneous respirations on the mechanical ventilator. As a result, an algorithm designed to identify and correct ventilator auto-trigger could have been used 63 times during the 2013 calendar year. © 2016, NATCO.

Identifying and exploiting genes that potentiate the evolution of antibiotic resistance.

PubMed

Gifford, Danna R; Furió, Victoria; Papkou, Andrei; Vogwill, Tom; Oliver, Antonio; MacLean, R Craig

2018-06-01

There is an urgent need to develop novel approaches for predicting and preventing the evolution of antibiotic resistance. Here, we show that the ability to evolve de novo resistance to a clinically important β-lactam antibiotic, ceftazidime, varies drastically across the genus Pseudomonas. This variation arises because strains possessing the ampR global transcriptional regulator evolve resistance at a high rate. This does not arise because of mutations in ampR. Instead, this regulator potentiates evolution by allowing mutations in conserved peptidoglycan biosynthesis genes to induce high levels of β-lactamase expression. Crucially, blocking this evolutionary pathway by co-administering ceftazidime with the β-lactamase inhibitor avibactam can be used to eliminate pathogenic P. aeruginosa populations before they can evolve resistance. In summary, our study shows that identifying potentiator genes that act as evolutionary catalysts can be used to both predict and prevent the evolution of antibiotic resistance.

The effect of interval tubal sterilization on sexual interest and pleasure.

PubMed

Costello, Caroline; Hillis, Susan D; Marchbanks, Polly A; Jamieson, Denise J; Peterson, Herbert B

2002-09-01

To determine if interval tubal sterilization leads to a change in female sexual interest or pleasure and to identify predictors of a positive or negative effect. Our study population comprised 4576 women enrolled in a prospective, multicenter cohort study between 1978 and 1983. Potential demographic, clinical, and surgical predictors of sexual outcome were tested for significant variation from the overall pattern of unchanged, increased, and decreased sexual interest and pleasure. Over 80% of the 4576 study women reported no consistent change in either sexual interest (80.0%) or pleasure (81.7%) after interval tubal sterilization. Among women with consistent change, positive effects were reported ten and 15 times more often than negative effects for sexual interest and pleasure, respectively. All subgroups of women, except for those with poststerilization regret, were significantly (P <.05) more likely to experience increased rather than decreased interest or pleasure. Women with poststerilization regret were the subgroup most likely to have a negative effect; in multivariate analyses, poststerilization regret was the only factor to be a predictor for decreased interest (odds ratio 4.0) and decreased pleasure (odds ratio 5.1). Similarly, women reporting regret were significantly less likely to report increased interest or pleasure. Whether the regret or the decreased sexual interest or pleasure occurred first is unclear. Interval tubal ligation is unlikely to result in changed sexual interest or pleasure. Among those with change, the majority experienced positive sexual effects.

48 CFR 2452.209-70 - Potential organizational conflicts of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... conflicts of interest. 2452.209-70 Section 2452.209-70 Federal Acquisition Regulations System DEPARTMENT OF... relevant facts that show how its organizational structure and/or management systems limit its knowledge of... and how that structure or system would avoid or mitigate such organizational conflict. (d) No award...

Newer Approaches to Identify Potential Untoward Effects in Functional Foods.

PubMed

Marone, Palma Ann; Birkenbach, Victoria L; Hayes, A Wallace

2016-01-01

Globalization has greatly accelerated the numbers and variety of food and beverage products available worldwide. The exchange among greater numbers of countries, manufacturers, and products in the United States and worldwide has necessitated enhanced quality measures for nutritional products for larger populations increasingly reliant on functionality. These functional foods, those that provide benefit beyond basic nutrition, are increasingly being used for their potential to alleviate food insufficiency while enhancing quality and longevity of life. In the United States alone, a steady import increase of greater than 15% per year or 24 million shipments, over 70% products of which are food related, is regulated under the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This unparalleled growth has resulted in the need for faster, cheaper, and better safety and efficacy screening methods in the form of harmonized guidelines and recommendations for product standardization. In an effort to meet this need, the in vitro toxicology testing market has similarly grown with an anticipatory 15% increase between 2010 and 2015 of US$1.3 to US$2.7 billion. Although traditionally occupying a small fraction of the market behind pharmaceuticals and cosmetic/household products, the scope of functional food testing, including additives/supplements, ingredients, residues, contact/processing, and contaminants, is potentially expansive. Similarly, as functional food testing has progressed, so has the need to identify potential adverse factors that threaten the safety and quality of these products. © The Author(s) 2015.

The Positive Psychology of Interested Adolescents.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hunter, Jeremy P.; Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly

2003-01-01

Using the experience sampling method with a diverse national sample of 1,215 high school students, identified 2 groups of adolescents, those who experience chronic interest in everyday life experiences and those who experience widespread boredom. Suggests that a generalized chronic experience of interest can be a signal of psychological health.…

Systemic analysis of genome-wide expression profiles identified potential therapeutic targets of demethylation drugs for glioblastoma.

PubMed

Ning, Tongbo; Cui, Hao; Sun, Feng; Zou, Jidian

2017-09-05

Glioblastoma represents one of the most aggressive malignant brain tumors with high morbidity and motility. Demethylation drugs have been developed for its treatment with little efficacy has been observed. The purpose of this study was to screen therapeutic targets of demethylation drugs or bioactive molecules for glioblastoma through systemic bioinformatics analysis. We firstly downloaded genome-wide expression profiles from the Gene Expression Omnibus (GEO) and conducted the primary analysis through R software, mainly including preprocessing of raw microarray data, transformation between probe ID and gene symbol and identification of differential expression genes (DEGs). Secondly, functional enrichment analysis was conducted via the Database for Annotation, Visualization and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) to explore biological processes involved in the development of glioblastoma. Thirdly, we constructed protein-protein interaction (PPI) network of interested genes and conducted cross analysis for multi datasets to obtain potential therapeutic targets for glioblastoma. Finally, we further confirmed the therapeutic targets through real-time RT-PCR. As a result, biological processes that related to cancer development, amino metabolism, immune response and etc. were found to be significantly enriched in genes that differential expression in glioblastoma and regulated by 5'aza-dC. Besides, network and cross analysis identified ACAT2, UFC1 and CYB5R1 as novel therapeutic targets of demethylation drugs which also confirmed by real time RT-PCR. In conclusions, our study identified several biological processes and genes that involved in the development of glioblastoma and regulated by 5'aza-dC, which would be helpful for the treatment of glioblastoma. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

77 FR 41406 - Evaluation of In Vitro Tests for Identifying Eye Injury Hazard Potential of Chemicals and...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-13

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Evaluation of In Vitro Tests for Identifying Eye Injury...-animal testing strategies proposed for identifying eye injury hazard potential of chemicals and products... Panel and submission of data from substances tested in in vitro tests for identifying eye injury hazard...

How should doctors disclose conflicts of interest to patients? A focus group investigation.

PubMed

Oakes, J Michael; Whitham, Hilary K; Spaulding, Alicen Burns; Zentner, Lynn A; Beccard, Seth R

2015-01-01

Disclosure is often proposed as a strategy for handling financial conflicts of interest in medicine. Yet there has been no guidance on how clinicians should disclose potential conflicts of interest to patients. To discern patients' attitudes toward conflicts of interest in medicine and their opinions about how physicians should disclose possible conflicts in the clinical setting, we conducted six focus groups with patients recruited from three clinics in the Twin Cities area. Investigators reviewed audio recordings of the focus group discussions independently and identified themes. Maintaining patient-doctor trust was critical to all study participants. Most wanted to know only about conflicts of interest that were directly relevant to their care. In addition, most participants said physicians and other health care providers should offer patients an easy-to-read document about any conflict of interest during clinic check-ins and bring up the subject when discussing specific treatment plans for which the conflict of interest is relevant. Our study offers the first insights into patient attitudes toward and opinions about disclosure practices in clinical settings. More research into the practical aspects of managing conflicts of interest is needed as ineffective disclosure may undermine patients' trust in their doctors.

Identifying DNA-binding proteins using structural motifs and the electrostatic potential

PubMed Central

Shanahan, Hugh P.; Garcia, Mario A.; Jones, Susan; Thornton, Janet M.

2004-01-01

Robust methods to detect DNA-binding proteins from structures of unknown function are important for structural biology. This paper describes a method for identifying such proteins that (i) have a solvent accessible structural motif necessary for DNA-binding and (ii) a positive electrostatic potential in the region of the binding region. We focus on three structural motifs: helix–turn-helix (HTH), helix–hairpin–helix (HhH) and helix–loop–helix (HLH). We find that the combination of these variables detect 78% of proteins with an HTH motif, which is a substantial improvement over previous work based purely on structural templates and is comparable to more complex methods of identifying DNA-binding proteins. Similar true positive fractions are achieved for the HhH and HLH motifs. We see evidence of wide evolutionary diversity for DNA-binding proteins with an HTH motif, and much smaller diversity for those with an HhH or HLH motif. PMID:15356290

Identifying potential recommendation domains for conservation agriculture in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Malawi.

PubMed

Tesfaye, Kindie; Jaleta, Moti; Jena, Pradyot; Mutenje, Munyaradzi

2015-02-01

Conservation agriculture (CA) is being promoted as an option for reducing soil degradation, conserving water, enhancing crop productivity, and maintaining yield stability. However, CA is a knowledge- and technology-intensive practice, and may not be feasible or may not perform better than conventional agriculture under all conditions and farming systems. Using high resolution (≈1 km(2)) biophysical and socioeconomic geospatial data, this study identified potential recommendation domains (RDs) for CA in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Malawi. The biophysical variables used were soil texture, surface slope, and rainfall while the socioeconomic variables were market access and human and livestock population densities. Based on feasibility and comparative performance of CA over conventional agriculture, the biophysical and socioeconomic factors were first used to classify cultivated areas into three biophysical and three socioeconomic potential domains, respectively. Combinations of biophysical and socioeconomic domains were then used to develop potential RDs for CA based on adoption potential within the cultivated areas. About 39, 12, and 5% of the cultivated areas showed high biophysical and socioeconomic potential while 50, 39, and 21% of the cultivated areas showed high biophysical and medium socioeconomic potential for CA in Malawi, Kenya, and Ethiopia, respectively. The results indicate considerable acreages of land with high CA adoption potential in the mixed crop-livestock systems of the studied countries. However, there are large differences among countries depending on biophysical and socio-economic conditions. The information generated in this study could be used for targeting CA and prioritizing CA-related agricultural research and investment priorities in the three countries.

Identifying Potential Recommendation Domains for Conservation Agriculture in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Malawi

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tesfaye, Kindie; Jaleta, Moti; Jena, Pradyot; Mutenje, Munyaradzi

2015-02-01

Conservation agriculture (CA) is being promoted as an option for reducing soil degradation, conserving water, enhancing crop productivity, and maintaining yield stability. However, CA is a knowledge- and technology-intensive practice, and may not be feasible or may not perform better than conventional agriculture under all conditions and farming systems. Using high resolution (≈1 km2) biophysical and socioeconomic geospatial data, this study identified potential recommendation domains (RDs) for CA in Ethiopia, Kenya, and Malawi. The biophysical variables used were soil texture, surface slope, and rainfall while the socioeconomic variables were market access and human and livestock population densities. Based on feasibility and comparative performance of CA over conventional agriculture, the biophysical and socioeconomic factors were first used to classify cultivated areas into three biophysical and three socioeconomic potential domains, respectively. Combinations of biophysical and socioeconomic domains were then used to develop potential RDs for CA based on adoption potential within the cultivated areas. About 39, 12, and 5 % of the cultivated areas showed high biophysical and socioeconomic potential while 50, 39, and 21 % of the cultivated areas showed high biophysical and medium socioeconomic potential for CA in Malawi, Kenya, and Ethiopia, respectively. The results indicate considerable acreages of land with high CA adoption potential in the mixed crop-livestock systems of the studied countries. However, there are large differences among countries depending on biophysical and socio-economic conditions. The information generated in this study could be used for targeting CA and prioritizing CA-related agricultural research and investment priorities in the three countries.

Systems to identify potentially inappropriate prescribing in people with advanced dementia: a systematic review.

PubMed

Disalvo, Domenica; Luckett, Tim; Agar, Meera; Bennett, Alexandra; Davidson, Patricia Mary

2016-05-31

Systems for identifying potentially inappropriate medications in older adults are not immediately transferrable to advanced dementia, where the management goal is palliation. The aim of the systematic review was to identify and synthesise published systems and make recommendations for identifying potentially inappropriate prescribing in advanced dementia. Studies were included if published in a peer-reviewed English language journal and concerned with identifying the appropriateness or otherwise of medications in advanced dementia or dementia and palliative care. The quality of each study was rated using the STrengthening the Reporting of OBservational studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) checklist. Synthesis was narrative due to heterogeneity among designs and measures. Medline (OVID), CINAHL, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews (2005 - August 2014) and AMED were searched in October 2014. Reference lists of relevant reviews and included articles were searched manually. Eight studies were included, all of which were scored a high quality using the STROBE checklist. Five studies used the same system developed by the Palliative Excellence in Alzheimer Care Efforts (PEACE) Program. One study used number of medications as an index, and two studies surveyed health professionals' opinions on appropriateness of specific medications in different clinical scenarios. Future research is needed to develop and validate systems with clinical utility for improving safety and quality of prescribing in advanced dementia. Systems should account for individual clinical context and distinguish between deprescribing and initiation of medications.

Tracking Multiple Topics for Finding Interesting Articles

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

Pon, R K; Cardenas, A F; Buttler, D J

We introduce multiple topic tracking (MTT) for iScore to better recommend news articles for users with multiple interests and to address changes in user interests over time. As an extension of the basic Rocchio algorithm, traditional topic detection and tracking, and single-pass clustering, MTT maintains multiple interest profiles to identify interesting articles for a specific user given user-feedback. Focusing on only interesting topics enables iScore to discard useless profiles to address changes in user interests and to achieve a balance between resource consumption and classification accuracy. Also by relating a topic's interestingness to an article's interestingness, iScore is able tomore » achieve higher quality results than traditional methods such as the Rocchio algorithm. We identify several operating parameters that work well for MTT. Using the same parameters, we show that MTT alone yields high quality results for recommending interesting articles from several corpora. The inclusion of MTT improves iScore's performance by 9% to 14% in recommending news articles from the Yahoo! News RSS feeds and the TREC11 adaptive filter article collection. And through a small user study, we show that iScore can still perform well when only provided with little user feedback.« less

Genome characterization of Turkey Rotavirus G strains from the United States identifies potential recombination events with human Rotavirus B strains.

PubMed

Chen, Fangzhou; Knutson, Todd P; Porter, Robert E; Ciarlet, Max; Mor, Sunil Kumar; Marthaler, Douglas G

2017-12-01

Rotavirus G (RVG) strains have been detected in a variety of avian species, but RVG genomes have been published from only a single pigeon and two chicken strains. Two turkey RVG strains were identified and characterized, one in a hatchery with no reported health issues and the other in a hatchery with high embryo/poult mortality. The two turkey RVG strains shared only an 85.3 % nucleotide sequence identity in the VP7 gene while the other genes possessed high nucleotide identity among them (96.3-99.9 %). Low nucleotide percentage identities (31.6-87.3 %) occurred among the pigeon and chicken RVG strains. Interestingly, potential recombination events were detected between our RVG strains and a human RVB strain, in the VP6 and NSP3 segments. The epidemiology of RVG in avian flocks and the pathogenicity of the two different RVG strains should be further investigated to understand the ecology and impact of RVG in commercial poultry flocks.

The Structure of Vocational Interests in Filipino Adolescents

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Primavera, Michele T.; Church, A. Timothy; Katigbak, Marcia S.; Bruna, Lisa; White, Joy R.; Peradilla, Imelda

2010-01-01

The structure of vocational interests was investigated in Filipino high school students (N = 503), who rated their interest in 303 culture-relevant occupational titles and 93 major fields of study. Item-level principal components analyses identified general interest, prestige, and sex-type dimensions, rather than Prediger's (1982) People/Things…

Utilizing Occupational Complexity Levels in Vocational Interest Assessments: Assessing Interests for STEM Areas

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Toker, Yonca; Ackerman, Phillip L.

2012-01-01

With an aim to improve vocational interest assessments geared toward the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) areas, we developed a new assessment by incorporating occupational complexity levels. Occupations which correspond to Holland's realistic and investigative themes were identified together with their complexity levels…

Identifying Potentially Preventable Emergency Department Visits by Nursing Home Residents in the United States.

PubMed

Burke, Robert E; Rooks, Sean P; Levy, Cari; Schwartz, Robert; Ginde, Adit A

2015-05-01

To identify and describe potentially preventable emergency department (ED) visits by nursing home (NH) residents in the United States. These visits are important because they are common, frequently lead to hospitalization, and can be associated with significant cost to the patient and the health care system. Retrospective analysis of the 2005-2010 National Hospital Ambulatory Care Survey (NHAMCS), comparing ED visits by nursing home residents that did not lead to hospital admission (potentially preventable) with those that led to admission (less likely preventable). Nationally representative sample of US EDs; federal hospitals and hospitals with fewer than 6 beds were excluded. Older (age ≥65 years) NH residents with an ED visit during this time period. Patient demographics, ED visit information including testing performed, interventions (both procedures and medications) provided, and diagnoses treated. Older NH residents accounted for 3857 of 208,956 ED visits during the time period of interest (1.8%). When weighted to be nationally representative, these represent 13.97 million ED visits, equivalent to 1.8 ED visits annually per NH resident in the United States. More than half of visits (53.5%) did not lead to hospital admission; of those discharged from the ED, 62.8% had normal vital signs on presentation and 18.9% did not have any diagnostic testing before ED discharge. Injuries were 1.78 times more likely to be discharged than admitted (44.8% versus 25.3%, respectively, P < .001), whereas infections were 2.06 times as likely to be admitted as discharged (22.9% versus 11.1%, respectively). Computed tomography (CT) scans were performed in 25.4% and 30.1% of older NH residents who were discharged from the ED and admitted to the hospital, respectively, and more than 70% of these were CTs of the head. NH residents received centrally acting, sedating medications before ED discharge in 9.4% of visits. This nationally representative sample of older NH residents

A Riemannian geometric mapping technique for identifying incompressible equivalents to subsonic potential flows

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

German, Brian Joseph

much the same way that general relativity ascribes gravitational forces to the curvature of space-time. Although the analogy with general relativity is fruitful, it is important not to overstate the similarities between compressibility and the physics of gravity, as the interest for this thesis is primarily in the mathematical framework and not physical phenomenology or epistemology. The thesis presents the philosophy and theory for the transformation method followed by a numerical method for practical solutions of equivalent incompressible flows over arbitrary closed profiles. The numerical method employs an iterative approach involving the solution of the equivalent incompressible flow with a panel method, the calculation of the metric tensor for the gauge transformation, and the solution of the curvilinear coordinate mapping to the canonical flow with a finite difference approach for the elliptic boundary value problem. This method is demonstrated for non-circulatory flow over a circular cylinder and both symmetric and lifting flows over a NACA 0012 profile. Results are validated with accepted subcritical full potential test cases available in the literature. For chord-preserving mapping boundary conditions, the results indicate that the equivalent incompressible profiles thicken with Mach number and develop a leading edge droop with increased angle of attack. Two promising areas of potential applicability of the method have been identified. The first is in airfoil inverse design methods leveraging incompressible flow knowledge including heuristics and empirical data for the potential field effects on viscous phenomena such as boundary layer transition and separation. The second is in aerodynamic testing using distorted similarity-scaled models.

A Psychoevolutionary Approach to Identifying Preferred Nature Scenes With Potential to Provide Restoration From Stress.

PubMed

Thake, Carol L; Bambling, Matthew; Edirippulige, Sisira; Marx, Eric

2017-10-01

Research supports therapeutic use of nature scenes in healthcare settings, particularly to reduce stress. However, limited literature is available to provide a cohesive guide for selecting scenes that may provide optimal therapeutic effect. This study produced and tested a replicable process for selecting nature scenes with therapeutic potential. Psychoevolutionary theory informed the construction of the Importance for Survival Scale (IFSS), and its usefulness for identifying scenes that people generally prefer to view and that hold potential to reduce stress was tested. Relationships between Importance for Survival (IFS), preference, and restoration were tested. General community participants ( N = 20 males, 20 females; M age = 48 years) Q-sorted sets of landscape photographs (preranked by the researcher in terms of IFS using the IFSS) from most to least preferred, and then completed the Short-Version Revised Restoration Scale in response to viewing a selection of the scenes. Results showed significant positive relationships between IFS and each of scene preference (large effect), and restoration potential (medium effect), as well as between scene preference and restoration potential across the levels of IFS (medium effect), and for individual participants and scenes (large effect). IFS was supported as a framework for identifying nature scenes that people will generally prefer to view and that hold potential for restoration from emotional distress; however, greater therapeutic potential may be expected when people can choose which of the scenes they would prefer to view. Evidence for the effectiveness of the IFSS was produced.

Exome sequencing of hepatocellular carcinomas identifies new mutational signatures and potential therapeutic targets

DOE PAGES

Schulze, Kornelius; Imbeaud, Sandrine; Letouzé, Eric; ...

2015-03-30

Our genomic analyses promise to improve tumor characterization to optimize personalized treatment for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Exome sequencing analysis of 243 liver tumors identified mutational signatures associated with specific risk factors, mainly combined alcohol and tobacco consumption and exposure to aflatoxin B1. We identified 161 putative driver genes associated with 11 recurrently altered pathways. Associations of mutations defined 3 groups of genes related to risk factors and centered on CTNNB1 (alcohol), TP53 (hepatitis B virus, HBV) and AXIN1. These analyses according to tumor stage progression identified TERT promoter mutation as an early event, whereasFGF3, FGF4, FGF19 or CCND1more » amplification and TP53 and CDKN2A alterations appeared at more advanced stages in aggressive tumors. In 28% of the tumors, we identified genetic alterations potentially targetable by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved drugs. Finally, we identified risk factor–specific mutational signatures and defined the extensive landscape of altered genes and pathways in HCC, which will be useful to design clinical trials for targeted therapy.« less

Exome sequencing of hepatocellular carcinomas identifies new mutational signatures and potential therapeutic targets

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

Schulze, Kornelius; Imbeaud, Sandrine; Letouzé, Eric

Our genomic analyses promise to improve tumor characterization to optimize personalized treatment for patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Exome sequencing analysis of 243 liver tumors identified mutational signatures associated with specific risk factors, mainly combined alcohol and tobacco consumption and exposure to aflatoxin B1. We identified 161 putative driver genes associated with 11 recurrently altered pathways. Associations of mutations defined 3 groups of genes related to risk factors and centered on CTNNB1 (alcohol), TP53 (hepatitis B virus, HBV) and AXIN1. These analyses according to tumor stage progression identified TERT promoter mutation as an early event, whereasFGF3, FGF4, FGF19 or CCND1more » amplification and TP53 and CDKN2A alterations appeared at more advanced stages in aggressive tumors. In 28% of the tumors, we identified genetic alterations potentially targetable by US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)–approved drugs. Finally, we identified risk factor–specific mutational signatures and defined the extensive landscape of altered genes and pathways in HCC, which will be useful to design clinical trials for targeted therapy.« less

Conflicts of interest and your physician: psychological processes that cause unexpected changes in behavior.

PubMed

Sah, Sunita

2012-01-01

The ubiquitous nature of medical conflicts of interest is attracting increased attention from physicians, policymakers, and patients. However, little work has examined the psychological processes at play in the presence of such conflicts. I investigate the subtle influences arising from conflicts of interest that change behavior in both physicians and patients. First, I explore why physicians accept gifts from pharmaceutical companies and medical device manufacturers that appear, to many critics, to be unethical. I review evidence from my published and ongoing research that demonstrates two psychological processes that enable physicians to accept industry gifts: (a) a sense of entitlement and (b) a sense of invulnerability to the biasing effects of conflicts of interest. Second, I investigate the situations that may increase or decrease bias. I find that people, subject to a financial conflict of interest, show greater bias in their advice when they feel less able to identify with the advice-recipient(s). This, perversely, leads to advisors giving more biased advice to groups of people than to one identified individual. Finally, I examine the impact of the conflicted advice on the patient and the success of policies intended to manage such conflicts. Mandatory second opinions and disclosure are often advocated as potential solutions to deal with conflicts of interest. However, both policies have limitations and can sometimes make matters worse. A primary advisor who knows about a second advisor may give even more biased advice since the presence of a second advisor undermines the relationship with the primary advisor. Also, although disclosure of a conflict of interest does have the intended effect of causing patients to trust the advice they receive less, I find that it also has an additional unintended consequence: it creates increased pressure to comply with the (distrusted) advice. This increased pressure occurs because patients want to avoid appearing as

Vitiligo blood transcriptomics provides new insights into disease mechanisms and identifies potential novel therapeutic targets.

PubMed

Dey-Rao, Rama; Sinha, Animesh A

2017-01-28

Significant gaps remain regarding the pathomechanisms underlying the autoimmune response in vitiligo (VL), where the loss of self-tolerance leads to the targeted killing of melanocytes. Specifically, there is incomplete information regarding alterations in the systemic environment that are relevant to the disease state. We undertook a genome-wide profiling approach to examine gene expression in the peripheral blood of VL patients and healthy controls in the context of our previously published VL-skin gene expression profile. We used several in silico bioinformatics-based analyses to provide new insights into disease mechanisms and suggest novel targets for future therapy. Unsupervised clustering methods of the VL-blood dataset demonstrate a "disease-state"-specific set of co-expressed genes. Ontology enrichment analysis of 99 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) uncovers a down-regulated immune/inflammatory response, B-Cell antigen receptor (BCR) pathways, apoptosis and catabolic processes in VL-blood. There is evidence for both type I and II interferon (IFN) playing a role in VL pathogenesis. We used interactome analysis to identify several key blood associated transcriptional factors (TFs) from within (STAT1, STAT6 and NF-kB), as well as "hidden" (CREB1, MYC, IRF4, IRF1, and TP53) from the dataset that potentially affect disease pathogenesis. The TFs overlap with our reported lesional-skin transcriptional circuitry, underscoring their potential importance to the disease. We also identify a shared VL-blood and -skin transcriptional "hot spot" that maps to chromosome 6, and includes three VL-blood dysregulated genes (PSMB8, PSMB9 and TAP1) described as potential VL-associated genetic susceptibility loci. Finally, we provide bioinformatics-based support for prioritizing dysregulated genes in VL-blood or skin as potential therapeutic targets. We examined the VL-blood transcriptome in context with our (previously published) VL-skin transcriptional profile to address

Multi-temporal terrestrial laser scanning for identifying rockslide modifications: potentialities and problems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Castagnetti, Cristina; Bertacchini, Eleonora; Capra, Alessandro; Rivola, Riccardo

2013-04-01

The heart of this research is to provide an efficient methodology for a reliable acquisition and interpretation of Terrestrial Laser Scanner (TLS) data in the application field of landslide monitoring. In particular, rockslides, which are characterized by vertical walls of rock and by a complex morphology, are of great concern in the study. In these cases the airborne laser scanning is not able to provide useful and reliable description and the terrestrial laser scanning might be the only possible choice to obtain a good and reliable description of the geomorphology or to identify the changes occurred over time. The last purpose is still a challenging task when long distances are involved because the accurate and punctual identification of displacements is not possible due to the laser beam divergence. The final purpose of the research is a proposal of a methodology which is based on TLS technology for identifying displacements and extracting geomorphological changes. The approach is clearly based on a multi-temporal analysis which is computed on several repetitions of TLS surveys performed on the area of interest. To achieve best results and optimize the processing strategy, different methods about point clouds alignment have been tested together with algorithms both for filtering and post-processing. The case study is the Collagna Landslide that is located in the North Appennines (Reggio Emilia, Italy) on the right flank of Biola torrent. The large scale composite landslide area is made both by a wide rock slide sector and a more limited earth slide sector that, after high precipitation rates, disrupted the National Road 63 in December 2008. An integrated monitoring system is installed since 2009 and comprises both point-based technologies such as extensometers, total station and global positioning system, and also area-based technologies such as airborne laser scanner, long-range TLS and ground-based radar. This choice allows to couple the advantages of both

Antecedents and Consequences of Situational Interest

PubMed Central

Linnenbrink-Garcia, Lisa; Patall, Erika A.; Messersmith, Emily E.

2015-01-01

Background There is a growing body of research on situational interest (SI). Yet, we still know relatively little about how SI is supported in the classroom and the academic benefits of SI. Aims The current study investigated (1) contextual antecedents of SI, (2) potential benefits of SI for academic outcomes, and (3) SI as a mediator of classroom practices to academic outcomes. Sample Participants were 126 male and female adolescents (mean age = 14.6 years) who took part in a science course during a 3-week residential summer program for talented adolescents. Method Participants completed self-report measures prior to the start of the summer program and at the end of the program. Summer program instructors completed ratings of students’ engagement during the program. Results Multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate the three study aims. After controlling for initial individual interest, perceived choice, instructor approachability, and course connections to real life were statistically significant predictors of SI during the summer program, with varying relations observed based on the form of SI (triggered, maintained-feeling, maintained-value). SI was positively related to individual interest and perceived competence in science at the end of the program as well as teacher-rated engagement; SI also mediated the relations of classroom practices to these outcomes. Conclusion Results suggest that classroom practices shape SI. In turn, SI supports motivation and engagement. Moreover, differentiated antecedents and outcomes of the three subcomponents of SI were identified, highlighting the utility of this three-component approach for studying SI. PMID:24175684

Antecedents and consequences of situational interest.

PubMed

Linnenbrink-Garcia, Lisa; Patall, Erika A; Messersmith, Emily E

2013-12-01

There is a growing body of research on situational interest (SI). Yet, we still know relatively little about how SI is supported in the classroom and the academic benefits of SI. The current study investigated (1) contextual antecedents of SI; (2) potential benefits of SI for academic outcomes; and (3) SI as a mediator of classroom practices to academic outcomes. Participants were 126 male and female adolescents (mean age = 14.6 years) who took part in a science course during a 3-week residential summer programme for talented adolescents. Participants completed self-report measures prior to the start of the summer programme and at the end of the programme. Summer programme instructors completed ratings of students' engagement during the programme. Multiple regression analyses were conducted to investigate the three study aims. After controlling for initial individual interest, perceived choice, instructor approachability, and course connections to real life were statistically significant predictors of SI during the summer programme, with varying associations observed based on the form of SI (triggered, maintained-feeling, and maintained-value). SI was positively related to individual interest and perceived competence in science at the end of the programme as well as teacher-rated engagement; SI also mediated the associations of classroom practices with these outcomes. Results suggest that classroom practices shape SI. In turn, SI supports motivation and engagement. Moreover, differentiated antecedents and outcomes of the three sub-components of SI were identified, highlighting the utility of this three-component approach for studying SI. © 2012 The British Psychological Society.

"Members of the same club": challenges and decisions faced by US IRBs in identifying and managing conflicts of interest.

PubMed

Klitzman, Robert

2011-01-01

Conflicts of interest (COIs) in research have received increasing attention, but many questions arise about how Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) view and approach these. I conducted in-depth interviews of 2 hours each with 46 US IRB chairs, administrators, and members, exploring COI and other issues related to research integrity. I contacted leaders of 60 IRBs (every fourth one among the top 240 institutions by NIH funding), and interviewed IRB leaders from 34 of these institutions (response rate = 55%). Data were analyzed using standard qualitative methods, informed by Grounded Theory. IRBs confront financial and non-financial COIs of PIs, institutions, and IRBs themselves. IRB members may seek to help, or compete with, principal investigators (PIs). Non-financial COI also often appear to be "indirect financial" conflicts based on gain (or loss) not to oneself, but to one's colleagues or larger institution. IRBs faced challenges identifying and managing these COI, and often felt that they could be more effective. IRBs' management of their own potential COI vary, and conflicted members may observe, participate, and/or vote in discussions. Individual IRB members frequently judge for themselves whether to recuse themselves. Challenges arise in addressing these issues, since institutions and PIs need funding, financial information is considered confidential, and COI can be unconscious. This study, the first to explore qualitatively how IRBs confront COIs and probe how IRBs confront non-financial COIs, suggests that IRBs face several types of financial and non-financial COIs, involving themselves, PIs, and institutions, and respond varyingly. These data have critical implications for practice and policy. Disclosure of indirect and non-financial COIs to subjects may not be feasible, partly since IRBs, not PIs, are conflicted. Needs exist to consider guidelines and clarifications concerning when and how, in protocol reviews, IRB members should recuse themselves

Nightmares in the general population: identifying potential causal factors.

PubMed

Rek, Stephanie; Sheaves, Bryony; Freeman, Daniel

2017-09-01

Nightmares are inherently distressing, prevent restorative sleep, and are associated with a number of psychiatric problems, but have rarely been the subject of empirical study. Negative affect, linked to stressful events, is generally considered the key trigger of nightmares; hence nightmares have most often been considered in the context of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). However, many individuals with heightened negative affect do not have nightmares. The objective of this study was to identify mechanistically plausible factors, beyond negative affect, that may explain why individuals experience nightmares. 846 participants from the UK general population completed an online survey about nightmare occurrence and severity (pre-occupation, distress, and impairment), negative affect, worry, depersonalisation, hallucinatory experiences, paranoia, alcohol use, sleep duration, physical activity levels, PTSD symptoms, and stressful life events. Associations of nightmares with the putative predictive factors were tested controlling for levels of negative affect. Analyses were also repeated controlling for levels of PTSD and the recent occurrence of stressful life events. Nightmare occurrence, adjusting for negative affect, was associated with higher levels of worry, depersonalisation, hallucinatory experiences, paranoia, and sleep duration (odds ratios 1.25-1.45). Nightmare severity, controlling for negative affect, was associated with higher levels of worry, depersonalisation, hallucinatory experiences, and paranoia (R 2 s: 0.33-0.39). Alcohol use and physical activity levels were not associated with nightmares. The study identifies a number of potential predictors of the occurrence and severity of nightmares. Causal roles require testing in future longitudinal, experimental, and treatment studies.

Sequential strategy to identify a susceptibility gene for schizophrenia: Report of potential linkage on chromosome 22q12-q13.1: Part 1

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

Pulver, A.E.; Wolyniec, P.S.; Lasseter, V.K.

To identify genes responsible for the susceptibility for schizophrenia, and to test the hypothesis that schizophrenia is etiologically heterogeneous, we have studied 39 multiplex families from a systematic sample of schizophrenic patients. Using a complex autosomal dominant model, which considers only those with a diagnosis of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder as affected, a random search of the genome for detection of linkage was undertaken. Pairwise linkage analyses suggest a potential linkage (LRH = 34.7 or maximum lod score = 1.54) for one region (22q12-q13.1). Reanalyses, varying parameters in the dominant model, maximized the LRH at 660.7 (maximum lod score 2.82).more » This finding is of sufficient interest to warrant further investigation through collaborative studies. 72 refs., 5 tabs.« less

Interest point detection for hyperspectral imagery

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dorado-Muñoz, Leidy P.; Vélez-Reyes, Miguel; Roysam, Badrinath; Mukherjee, Amit

2009-05-01

This paper presents an algorithm for automated extraction of interest points (IPs)in multispectral and hyperspectral images. Interest points are features of the image that capture information from its neighbours and they are distinctive and stable under transformations such as translation and rotation. Interest-point operators for monochromatic images were proposed more than a decade ago and have since been studied extensively. IPs have been applied to diverse problems in computer vision, including image matching, recognition, registration, 3D reconstruction, change detection, and content-based image retrieval. Interest points are helpful in data reduction, and reduce the computational burden of various algorithms (like registration, object detection, 3D reconstruction etc) by replacing an exhaustive search over the entire image domain by a probe into a concise set of highly informative points. An interest operator seeks out points in an image that are structurally distinct, invariant to imaging conditions, stable under geometric transformation, and interpretable which are good candidates for interest points. Our approach extends ideas from Lowe's keypoint operator that uses local extrema of Difference of Gaussian (DoG) operator at multiple scales to detect interest point in gray level images. The proposed approach extends Lowe's method by direct conversion of scalar operations such as scale-space generation, and extreme point detection into operations that take the vector nature of the image into consideration. Experimental results with RGB and hyperspectral images which demonstrate the potential of the method for this application and the potential improvements of a fully vectorial approach over band-by-band approaches described in the literature.

Identifying Potential Collapse Features Under Highways

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-01-01

In 1994, subsidence features were identified on Interstate 70 in eastern Ohio. These : features were caused by collapse of old mine workings beneath the highway. An attempt : was made to delineate these features using geophysical methods with no avai...

Use of multi-criteria decision analysis to identify potentially dangerous glacial lakes.

PubMed

Kougkoulos, Ioannis; Cook, Simon J; Jomelli, Vincent; Clarke, Leon; Symeonakis, Elias; Dortch, Jason M; Edwards, Laura A; Merad, Myriam

2018-04-15

Glacial Lake Outburst Floods (GLOFs) represent a significant threat in deglaciating environments, necessitating the development of GLOF hazard and risk assessment procedures. Here, we outline a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) approach that can be used to rapidly identify potentially dangerous lakes in regions without existing tailored GLOF risk assessments, where a range of glacial lake types exist, and where field data are sparse or non-existent. Our MCDA model (1) is desk-based and uses freely and widely available data inputs and software, and (2) allows the relative risk posed by a range of glacial lake types to be assessed simultaneously within any region. A review of the factors that influence GLOF risk, combined with the strict rules of criteria selection inherent to MCDA, has allowed us to identify 13 exhaustive, non-redundant, and consistent risk criteria. We use our MCDA model to assess the risk of 16 extant glacial lakes and 6 lakes that have already generated GLOFs, and found that our results agree well with previous studies. For the first time in GLOF risk assessment, we employed sensitivity analyses to test the strength of our model results and assumptions, and to identify lakes that are sensitive to the criteria and risk thresholds used. A key benefit of the MCDA method is that sensitivity analyses are readily undertaken. Overall, these sensitivity analyses lend support to our model, although we suggest that further work is required to determine the relative importance of assessment criteria, and the thresholds that determine the level of risk for each criterion. As a case study, the tested method was then applied to 25 potentially dangerous lakes in the Bolivian Andes, where GLOF risk is poorly understood; 3 lakes are found to pose 'medium' or 'high' risk, and require further detailed investigation. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

What do we really know about conflicts of interest in biomedical research?

PubMed

Warner, Teddy D; Gluck, John P

2003-12-01

Conflicts of interest in research have long been seen to pose serious threats to the integrity of research. Indeed, the past two decades have revealed increased attention to the possible influence of conflicts of interest as the number of research studies funded by private industry have increased. We review empirical findings directly pertinent to issues concerning financial conflicts of interest in biomedical research, and we provide an overview of the current issues and state of understanding concerning such conflicts in research. We searched Medline from January 1992 to January 2002 to locate current studies that have reported primary or secondary empirical data pertaining to conflicts of interest in research. The rate of potential conflicts of interest for researchers appears to be at least 30% in some situations although the accuracy of such a rate is untested, and the rate of disclosure of conflicts of interest is as low as 2%. Furthermore, some evidence exists to indicate that researchers with conflicting interests may indeed offer different professional opinions and judgments than those for whom such conflicts do not exist. The effectiveness of various disclosure and management methods for conflicts of interest is unknown. We summarize the current empirical literature, concluding that relatively little is known based on such data. We suggest a number of questions that need to be answered by future research, and we offer recommendations for policy makers to consider and evaluate in the future in identifying, revealing, and managing conflicts of interest.

Identifying potential collapse features under highways.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-03-01

In 1994, subsidence features were identified on Interstate 70 in eastern Ohio. These features were caused by collapse of old mine workings beneath the highway. An attempt was made to delineate these features using geophysical methods with no avail. T...

Study motives, career choices and interest in paediatric dentistry among final year dental students in Nigeria

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Students’ motives for studying Dentistry have been a subject of interest for years because of the potential for understanding the psychological makeup and subsequent job satisfaction for the dentist. It is also useful in identifying expectations of the profession. This study therefore tried to identify study motives and career preferences of dental students especially with respect to the practice of paediatric dentistry. Methods This was a cross-sectional study using a self-administered questionnaire. The final year students in six dental schools in Nigeria were required to fill the questionnaire. Students were asked to rank their motives and career preferences on a Likert like scale with points ranging from 0–5 where 0 represented a factor that had no influence on their decision and 5 represented a very influential factor. The underlying dimensions for study motives, career preference, impression about and motive for interest in the practice of paediatric dentistry were identified using factor analysis. Results One hundred and seventy nine of 223 students (80.3%) participated in this study. Motives for the practice of dentistry included characteristics of the profession, altruism and intellectual challenges, existence of artistic theme in dentistry and parent’s recommendation. Overall, 67.1% of respondents indicated interest in postgraduate studies and 50.8% were interested in paediatric dentistry practice. The main motives for showing interest in the practice of paediatric dentistry were ‘personal interest, professional interest and interest of significant others in children’, and ‘family influence’. Significantly more males than females were interested in the practice of paediatric dentistry though the motives for interest in the practice of paediatric dentistry did not differ significantly by sex or age. Conclusion The non-significant sex difference in the motives for interest in the practice of paediatric dentistry is a possible

Using high frequency consumption data to identify demand response potential for solar energy integration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jin, L.; Borgeson, S.; Fredman, D.; Hans, L.; Spurlock, A.; Todd, A.

2015-12-01

California's renewable portfolio standard (2012) requires the state to get 33% of its electricity from renewable sources by 2020. Increased share of variable renewable sources such as solar and wind in the California electricity system may require more grid flexibility to insure reliable power services. Such grid flexibility can be potentially provided by changes in end use electricity consumptions in response to grid conditions (demand-response). In the solar case, residential consumption in the late afternoon can be used as reserve capacity to balance the drop in solar generation. This study presents our initial attempt to identify, from a behavior perspective, residential demand response potentials in relation to solar ramp events using a data-driven approach. Based on hourly residential energy consumption data, we derive representative daily load shapes focusing on discretionary consumption with an innovative clustering analysis technique. We aggregate the representative load shapes into behavior groups in terms of the timing and rhythm of energy use in the context of solar ramp events. Households of different behavior groups that are active during hours with high solar ramp rates are identified for capturing demand response potential. Insights into the nature and predictability of response to demand-response programs are provided.

Lack of proportionality. Seven specifications of public interest that override post-approval commercial interests on limited access to clinical data.

PubMed

Strech, Daniel; Littmann, Jasper

2012-07-02

For the protection of commercial interests, licensing bodies such as the EMA and health technology assessment institutions such as NICE restrict full access to unpublished evidence. Their respective policies on data transparency, however, lack a systematic account of (1) what kinds of commercial interests remain relevant after market approval has been granted, (2) what the specific types of public interest are that may override these commercial interests post approval, and, most importantly, (3) what criteria guide the trade-off between public interest and legitimate measures for the protection of commercial interest. Comparing potential commercial interests with seven specifications of relevant public interest reveals the lack of proportionality inherent in the current practices of EMA and NICE.

Reporting Science and Conflicts of Interest in the Lay Press

PubMed Central

Cook, Daniel M.; Boyd, Elizabeth A.; Grossmann, Claudia; Bero, Lisa A.

2007-01-01

Background Forthright reporting of financial ties and conflicts of interest of researchers is associated with public trust in and esteem for the scientific enterprise. Methods/Principal Findings We searched Lexis/Nexis Academic News for the top news stories in science published in 2004 and 2005. We conducted a content analysis of 1152 newspaper stories. Funders of the research were identified in 38% of stories, financial ties of the researchers were reported in 11% of stories, and 5% reported financial ties of sources quoted. Of 73 stories not reporting on financial ties, 27% had financial ties publicly disclosed in scholarly journals. Conclusions/Significance Because science journalists often did not report conflict of interest information, adherence to gold-standard recommendations for science journalism was low. Journalists work under many different constraints, but nonetheless news reports of scientific research were incomplete, potentially eroding public trust in science. PMID:18060060

Onset dynamics of action potentials in rat neocortical neurons and identified snail neurons: quantification of the difference.

PubMed

Volgushev, Maxim; Malyshev, Aleksey; Balaban, Pavel; Chistiakova, Marina; Volgushev, Stanislav; Wolf, Fred

2008-04-09

The generation of action potentials (APs) is a key process in the operation of nerve cells and the communication between neurons. Action potentials in mammalian central neurons are characterized by an exceptionally fast onset dynamics, which differs from the typically slow and gradual onset dynamics seen in identified snail neurons. Here we describe a novel method of analysis which provides a quantitative measure of the onset dynamics of action potentials. This method captures the difference between the fast, step-like onset of APs in rat neocortical neurons and the gradual, exponential-like AP onset in identified snail neurons. The quantitative measure of the AP onset dynamics, provided by the method, allows us to perform quantitative analyses of factors influencing the dynamics.

Onset Dynamics of Action Potentials in Rat Neocortical Neurons and Identified Snail Neurons: Quantification of the Difference

PubMed Central

Volgushev, Maxim; Malyshev, Aleksey; Balaban, Pavel; Chistiakova, Marina; Volgushev, Stanislav; Wolf, Fred

2008-01-01

The generation of action potentials (APs) is a key process in the operation of nerve cells and the communication between neurons. Action potentials in mammalian central neurons are characterized by an exceptionally fast onset dynamics, which differs from the typically slow and gradual onset dynamics seen in identified snail neurons. Here we describe a novel method of analysis which provides a quantitative measure of the onset dynamics of action potentials. This method captures the difference between the fast, step-like onset of APs in rat neocortical neurons and the gradual, exponential-like AP onset in identified snail neurons. The quantitative measure of the AP onset dynamics, provided by the method, allows us to perform quantitative analyses of factors influencing the dynamics. PMID:18398478

Potential ligand-binding residues in rat olfactory receptors identified by correlated mutation analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singer, M. S.; Oliveira, L.; Vriend, G.; Shepherd, G. M.

1995-01-01

A family of G-protein-coupled receptors is believed to mediate the recognition of odor molecules. In order to identify potential ligand-binding residues, we have applied correlated mutation analysis to receptor sequences from the rat. This method identifies pairs of sequence positions where residues remain conserved or mutate in tandem, thereby suggesting structural or functional importance. The analysis supported molecular modeling studies in suggesting several residues in positions that were consistent with ligand-binding function. Two of these positions, dominated by histidine residues, may play important roles in ligand binding and could confer broad specificity to mammalian odor receptors. The presence of positive (overdominant) selection at some of the identified positions provides additional evidence for roles in ligand binding. Higher-order groups of correlated residues were also observed. Each group may interact with an individual ligand determinant, and combinations of these groups may provide a multi-dimensional mechanism for receptor diversity.

Quantifying patterns of research interest evolution

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jia, Tao; Wang, Dashun; Szymanski, Boleslaw

Changing and shifting research interest is an integral part of a scientific career. Despite extensive investigations of various factors that influence a scientist's choice of research topics, quantitative assessments of mechanisms that give rise to macroscopic patterns characterizing research interest evolution of individual scientists remain limited. Here we perform a large-scale analysis of extensive publication records, finding that research interest change follows a reproducible pattern characterized by an exponential distribution. We identify three fundamental features responsible for the observed exponential distribution, which arise from a subtle interplay between exploitation and exploration in research interest evolution. We develop a random walk based model, which adequately reproduces our empirical observations. Our study presents one of the first quantitative analyses of macroscopic patterns governing research interest change, documenting a high degree of regularity underlying scientific research and individual careers.

75 FR 61246 - Additional Identifying Information Associated With Persons Whose Property and Interests in...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-04

... 13551 of August 30, 2010, ``Blocking Property of Certain Persons With Respect to North Korea'' AGENCY... Property of Certain Persons With Respect to North Korea,'' whose property and interests in property are... Persons With Respect to North Korea'' (the ``Order'') pursuant to, inter alia, the International Emergency...

A P300 event related potential technique for assessment of sexually oriented interest.

PubMed

Vardi, Yoram; Volos, Michal; Sprecher, Elliot; Granovsky, Yelena; Gruenwald, Ilan; Yarnitsky, David

2006-12-01

Despite all of the modern, sophisticated tests that exist for diagnosing and assessing male and female sexual disorders, to our knowledge there is no objective psychophysiological test to evaluate sexual arousal and interest. We provide preliminary data showing a decrease in auditory P300 wave amplitude during exposure to sexually explicit video clips and a significant correlation between the auditory P300 amplitude decrease and self-reported scores of sexual arousal and interest in the clips. A total of 30 healthy subjects were exposed to several blocks of auditory stimuli administered using an oddball paradigm. Baseline auditory P300 amplitudes were obtained and auditory stimuli were then delivered while viewing visual clips with 3 types of content, including sport, scenery and sex. Auditory P300 amplitude significantly decreased during viewing clips of all contents. Viewing sexual content clips caused a maximal decrease in P300 amplitude (p <0.0001). In addition, a high correlation was found between the amplitude decrease and scores on the sexual arousal questionnaire regarding the viewed clips (r = 0.61, p <0.001). In addition, the P300 amplitude decrease was significantly related to the sexual interest score (r = 0.37, p = 0.042) but not to interest in clips of nonsexual content. The change in auditory P300 amplitude during exposure to visual stimuli with sexual context seems to be an objective measure of subject sexual interest. This method might be applied to assess therapeutic intervention and as a diagnostic tool for assessing disorders of impaired libido or psychogenic sexual dysfunction.

24 CFR 401.310 - Conflicts of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... under paragraph (c) of this section. (3) HUD will not enter into PRAs with potential PAEs who have conflicts of interest associated with a particular project, or permit PAEs to continue performance under existing PRAs when such PAEs have conflicts of interest, unless such conflicts have been eliminated to HUD...

Mobile NBM - Android medical mobile application designed to help in learning how to identify the different regions of interest in the brain's white matter.

PubMed

Sánchez-Rola, Iskander; Zapirain, Begoña García

2014-07-18

One of the most critical tasks when conducting neurological studies is identifying the different regions of interest in the brain's white matter. Currently few programs or applications are available that serve as an interactive guide in this process. This is why a mobile application has been designed and developed in order to teach users how to identify the referred regions of the brain. It also enables users to share the results obtained and take an examination on the knowledge thus learnt. In order to provide direct user-user or user-developer contact, the project includes a website and a Twitter account. An application has been designed with a basic, minimalist look, which anyone can access easily in order to learn to identify a specific region in the brain's white matter. A survey has also been conducted on people who have used it, which has shown that the application is attractive both in the student (final mean satisfaction of 4.2/5) and in the professional (final mean satisfaction of 4.3/5) environment. The response obtained in the online part of the project reflects the high practical value and quality of the application, as shown by the fact that the website has seen a large number of visitors (over 1000 visitors) and the Twitter account has a high number of followers (over 280 followers). Mobile NBM is the first mobile application to be used as a guide in the process of identifying a region of interest in the brain's white matter. Although initially not many areas are available in the application, new ones can be added as required by users in their respective studies. Apart from the application itself, the online resources provided (website and Twitter account) significantly enhance users' experience.

Using self-organizing maps to identify potential halo white dwarfs.

PubMed

García-Berro, Enrique; Torres, Santiago; Isern, Jordi

2003-01-01

We present the results of an unsupervised classification of the disk and halo white dwarf populations in the solar neighborhood. The classification is done by merging the results of detailed Monte Carlo (MC) simulations, which reproduce very well the characteristics of the white dwarf populations in the solar neighborhood, with a catalogue of real stars. The resulting composite catalogue is analyzed using a competitive learning algorithm. In particular we have used the so-called self-organized map. The MC simulated stars are used as tracers and help in identifying the resulting clusters. The results of such an strategy turn out to be quite satisfactory, suggesting that this approach can provide an useful framework for analyzing large databases of white dwarfs with well determined kinematical, spatial and photometric properties once they become available in the next decade. Moreover, the results are of astrophysical interest as well, since a straightforward interpretation of several recent astronomical observations, like the detected microlensing events in the direction of the Magellanic Clouds, the possible detection of high proper motion white dwarfs in the Hubble Deep Field and the discovery of high velocity white dwarfs in the solar neighborhood, suggests that a fraction of the baryonic dark matter component of our galaxy could be in the form of old and dim halo white dwarfs.

Identifying Potential Regions of Copy Number Variation for Bipolar Disorder

PubMed Central

Chen, Yi-Hsuan; Lu, Ru-Band; Hung, Hung; Kuo, Po-Hsiu

2014-01-01

Bipolar disorder is a complex psychiatric disorder with high heritability, but its genetic determinants are still largely unknown. Copy number variation (CNV) is one of the sources to explain part of the heritability. However, it is a challenge to estimate discrete values of the copy numbers using continuous signals calling from a set of markers, and to simultaneously perform association testing between CNVs and phenotypic outcomes. The goal of the present study is to perform a series of data filtering and analysis procedures using a DNA pooling strategy to identify potential CNV regions that are related to bipolar disorder. A total of 200 normal controls and 200 clinically diagnosed bipolar patients were recruited in this study, and were randomly divided into eight control and eight case pools. Genome-wide genotyping was employed using Illumina Human Omni1-Quad array with approximately one million markers for CNV calling. We aimed at setting a series of criteria to filter out the signal noise of marker data and to reduce the chance of false-positive findings for CNV regions. We first defined CNV regions for each pool. Potential CNV regions were reported based on the different patterns of CNV status between cases and controls. Genes that were mapped into the potential CNV regions were examined with association testing, Gene Ontology enrichment analysis, and checked with existing literature for their associations with bipolar disorder. We reported several CNV regions that are related to bipolar disorder. Two CNV regions on chromosome 11 and 22 showed significant signal differences between cases and controls (p < 0.05). Another five CNV regions on chromosome 6, 9, and 19 were overlapped with results in previous CNV studies. Experimental validation of two CNV regions lent some support to our reported findings. Further experimental and replication studies could be designed for these selected regions. PMID:27605030

24 CFR 3282.359 - Conflict of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 24 Housing and Urban Development 5 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Conflict of interest. 3282.359... § 3282.359 Conflict of interest. (a) All submissions by private organizations shall include a statement that the submitting party is independent in that it does not have any actual or potential conflict of...

Developing clinical practice guidelines: target audiences, identifying topics for guidelines, guideline group composition and functioning and conflicts of interest

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Clinical practice guidelines are one of the foundations of efforts to improve health care. In 1999, we authored a paper about methods to develop guidelines. Since it was published, the methods of guideline development have progressed both in terms of methods and necessary procedures and the context for guideline development has changed with the emergence of guideline clearing houses and large scale guideline production organisations (such as the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence). It therefore seems timely to, in a series of three articles, update and extend our earlier paper. In this first paper we discuss: the target audience(s) for guidelines and their use of guidelines; identifying topics for guidelines; guideline group composition (including consumer involvement) and the processes by which guideline groups function and the important procedural issue of managing conflicts of interest in guideline development. PMID:22762776

Developing clinical practice guidelines: target audiences, identifying topics for guidelines, guideline group composition and functioning and conflicts of interest.

PubMed

Eccles, Martin P; Grimshaw, Jeremy M; Shekelle, Paul; Schünemann, Holger J; Woolf, Steven

2012-07-04

Clinical practice guidelines are one of the foundations of efforts to improve health care. In 1999, we authored a paper about methods to develop guidelines. Since it was published, the methods of guideline development have progressed both in terms of methods and necessary procedures and the context for guideline development has changed with the emergence of guideline clearing houses and large scale guideline production organisations (such as the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence). It therefore seems timely to, in a series of three articles, update and extend our earlier paper. In this first paper we discuss: the target audience(s) for guidelines and their use of guidelines; identifying topics for guidelines; guideline group composition (including consumer involvement) and the processes by which guideline groups function and the important procedural issue of managing conflicts of interest in guideline development.

Using Helicopter Electromagnetic Surveys to Identify Potential Hazards at Mine Waste Impoundments

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

Hammack, R.W.

2008-01-01

In July 2003, helicopter electromagnetic surveys were conducted at 14 coal waste impoundments in southern West Virginia. The purpose of the surveys was to detect conditions that could lead to impoundment failure either by structural failure of the embankment or by the flooding of adjacent or underlying mine works. Specifically, the surveys attempted to: 1) identify saturated zones within the mine waste, 2) delineate filtrate flow paths through the embankment or into adjacent strata and receiving streams, and 3) identify flooded mine workings underlying or adjacent to the waste impoundment. Data from the helicopter surveys were processed to generate conductivity/depthmore » images. Conductivity/depth images were then spatially linked to georeferenced air photos or topographic maps for interpretation. Conductivity/depth images were found to provide a snapshot of the hydrologic conditions that exist within the impoundment. This information can be used to predict potential areas of failure within the embankment because of its ability to image the phreatic zone. Also, the electromagnetic survey can identify areas of unconsolidated slurry in the decant basin and beneath the embankment. Although shallow, flooded mineworks beneath the impoundment were identified by this survey, it cannot be assumed that electromagnetic surveys can detect all underlying mines. A preliminary evaluation of the data implies that helicopter electromagnetic surveys can provide a better understanding of the phreatic zone than the piezometer arrays that are typically used.« less

Conflict of interest reporting in biomedical journals published in China.

PubMed

Yang, Lili; Wang, Panzhi; Yang, Rongwang

2017-01-01

This study aimed to investigate the current status and policy of Conflict of interest (COI) reporting in biomedical journals in China. Thirty Chinese-language medical journals and 37 English-language biomedical journals indexed by Journal Citation Reports categories were included into this study. These 67 journals were all published in China. All articles published in the most recent two issues were checked for identifying the disclosure statement in the text or not. Twenty-one of 30 (70%) Chinese-language journals required a disclosure of author's potential COI. No journals require editors or referees to disclose the conflicts of interest to the readers. In total, 1,212 publications in Chinese-language were evaluated. Only two journals reported COI in their publications. For the 37 English-language journals, 32 (86.5%) required author's potential COI disclosure, and four of them required only research articles or original articles to disclose COI. A total of 1,170 publications were evaluated. Among them, 50% editorials, 79.3% review articles, and 73.6% original articles reported presence or absence of COI. In our studied journals, the percentage of the policies requiring author COI disclosure is still low. Biomedical journals published in China should enforce COI disclosure policies to authors, editors, and referees.

Managing conflict of interest in clinical practice.

PubMed

Camilleri, Michael; Cortese, Denis A

2007-05-01

Conflict of interest, even the appearance of potential conflict, has long been a concern for physicians and scientists. Conflict of interest arises when an activity is accompanied by a divergence between personal or institutional benefit when compared to the responsibilities to patients and to society; it arises in the context of research, purchasing, leadership, and investments. Conflict of interest is of concern because it compromises the trust of the patient and of society in the individual physician or the medical center.

“Members of the Same Club”: Challenges and Decisions Faced by US IRBs in Identifying and Managing Conflicts of Interest

PubMed Central

Klitzman, Robert

2011-01-01

Conflicts of interest (COIs) in research have received increasing attention, but many questions arise about how Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) view and approach these. Methods I conducted in-depth interviews of 2 hours each with 46 US IRB chairs, administrators, and members, exploring COI and other issues related to research integrity. I contacted leaders of 60 IRBs (every fourth one among the top 240 institutions by NIH funding), and interviewed IRB leaders from 34 of these institutions (response rate = 55%). Data were analyzed using standard qualitative methods, informed by Grounded Theory. Results IRBs confront financial and non-financial COIs of PIs, institutions, and IRBs themselves. IRB members may seek to help, or compete with, principal investigators (PIs). Non-financial COI also often appear to be “indirect financial” conflicts based on gain (or loss) not to oneself, but to one's colleagues or larger institution. IRBs faced challenges identifying and managing these COI, and often felt that they could be more effective. IRBs' management of their own potential COI vary, and conflicted members may observe, participate, and/or vote in discussions. Individual IRB members frequently judge for themselves whether to recuse themselves. Challenges arise in addressing these issues, since institutions and PIs need funding, financial information is considered confidential, and COI can be unconscious. Conclusions This study, the first to explore qualitatively how IRBs confront COIs and probe how IRBs confront non-financial COIs, suggests that IRBs face several types of financial and non-financial COIs, involving themselves, PIs, and institutions, and respond varyingly. These data have critical implications for practice and policy. Disclosure of indirect and non-financial COIs to subjects may not be feasible, partly since IRBs, not PIs, are conflicted. Needs exist to consider guidelines and clarifications concerning when and how, in protocol reviews, IRB

7 CFR 170.6 - How are potential market participants identified for the USDA Farmers Market?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... the USDA Farmers Market? 170.6 Section 170.6 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture... AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING PRACTICES UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 USDA FARMERS MARKET § 170.6 How are potential market participants identified for the USDA Farmers Market...

7 CFR 170.6 - How are potential market participants identified for the USDA Farmers Market?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... the USDA Farmers Market? 170.6 Section 170.6 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture... AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING PRACTICES UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 USDA FARMERS MARKET § 170.6 How are potential market participants identified for the USDA Farmers Market...

7 CFR 170.6 - How are potential market participants identified for the USDA Farmers Market?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... the USDA Farmers Market? 170.6 Section 170.6 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture... AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING PRACTICES UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 USDA FARMERS MARKET § 170.6 How are potential market participants identified for the USDA Farmers Market...

7 CFR 170.6 - How are potential market participants identified for the USDA Farmers Market?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... the USDA Farmers Market? 170.6 Section 170.6 Agriculture Regulations of the Department of Agriculture... AGRICULTURE (CONTINUED) MISCELLANEOUS MARKETING PRACTICES UNDER THE AGRICULTURAL MARKETING ACT OF 1946 USDA FARMERS MARKET § 170.6 How are potential market participants identified for the USDA Farmers Market...

Using SCOPE to identify potential regulatory motifs in coregulated genes.

PubMed

Martyanov, Viktor; Gross, Robert H

2011-05-31

SCOPE is an ensemble motif finder that uses three component algorithms in parallel to identify potential regulatory motifs by over-representation and motif position preference. Each component algorithm is optimized to find a different kind of motif. By taking the best of these three approaches, SCOPE performs better than any single algorithm, even in the presence of noisy data. In this article, we utilize a web version of SCOPE to examine genes that are involved in telomere maintenance. SCOPE has been incorporated into at least two other motif finding programs and has been used in other studies. The three algorithms that comprise SCOPE are BEAM, which finds non-degenerate motifs (ACCGGT), PRISM, which finds degenerate motifs (ASCGWT), and SPACER, which finds longer bipartite motifs (ACCnnnnnnnnGGT). These three algorithms have been optimized to find their corresponding type of motif. Together, they allow SCOPE to perform extremely well. Once a gene set has been analyzed and candidate motifs identified, SCOPE can look for other genes that contain the motif which, when added to the original set, will improve the motif score. This can occur through over-representation or motif position preference. Working with partial gene sets that have biologically verified transcription factor binding sites, SCOPE was able to identify most of the rest of the genes also regulated by the given transcription factor. Output from SCOPE shows candidate motifs, their significance, and other information both as a table and as a graphical motif map. FAQs and video tutorials are available at the SCOPE web site which also includes a "Sample Search" button that allows the user to perform a trial run. Scope has a very friendly user interface that enables novice users to access the algorithm's full power without having to become an expert in the bioinformatics of motif finding. As input, SCOPE can take a list of genes, or FASTA sequences. These can be entered in browser text fields, or read from

The microscopic (optical and SEM) examination of putrefaction fluid deposits (PFD). Potential interest in forensic anthropology.

PubMed

Charlier, P; Georges, P; Bouchet, F; Huynh-Charlier, I; Carlier, R; Mazel, V; Richardin, P; Brun, L; Blondiaux, J; Lorin de la Grandmaison, G

2008-10-01

This article describes the potential interest in physical and forensic anthropology of the microscopic analysis of residues of putrefaction fluid, a calcified deposit frequently found associated with bone rests. Its sampling and analysis seem straightforward and relatively reproducible. Samples came from archeological material (Monterenzio Vecchia, an Etruscan necropolis from the north of Italy dated between the fifth and third century B.C.; body rests of Agnès Sorel, royal mistress died in 1450 A.D.; skull and grave of French King Louis the XI and Charlotte of Savoy dated from 1483 A.D.). All samples were studied by direct optical microscope and scanning electron microscopy. Many cytological, histological, and elemental analysis were possible, producing precious data for the identification of these remains and, in some cases, the cause of death.

A Study of Students' Reading Interests in a Second Language

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Khairuddin, Zurina

2013-01-01

Reading interests is important in enhancing students' success in school and out of it. Hence, students need to have high reading interests. The purpose of this study was to identify students' reading interests in reading second language materials and to examine the differences in students' reading interests based on genders. This study was carried…

Kidney disease models: tools to identify mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets

PubMed Central

Bao, Yin-Wu; Yuan, Yuan; Chen, Jiang-Hua; Lin, Wei-Qiang

2018-01-01

Acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) are worldwide public health problems affecting millions of people and have rapidly increased in prevalence in recent years. Due to the multiple causes of renal failure, many animal models have been developed to advance our understanding of human nephropathy. Among these experimental models, rodents have been extensively used to enable mechanistic understanding of kidney disease induction and progression, as well as to identify potential targets for therapy. In this review, we discuss AKI models induced by surgical operation and drugs or toxins, as well as a variety of CKD models (mainly genetically modified mouse models). Results from recent and ongoing clinical trials and conceptual advances derived from animal models are also explored. PMID:29515089

Measuring Health Information Dissemination and Identifying Target Interest Communities on Twitter: Methods Development and Case Study of the @SafetyMD Network.

PubMed

Kandadai, Venk; Yang, Haodong; Jiang, Ling; Yang, Christopher C; Fleisher, Linda; Winston, Flaura Koplin

2016-05-05

Little is known about the ability of individual stakeholder groups to achieve health information dissemination goals through Twitter. This study aimed to develop and apply methods for the systematic evaluation and optimization of health information dissemination by stakeholders through Twitter. Tweet content from 1790 followers of @SafetyMD (July-November 2012) was examined. User emphasis, a new indicator of Twitter information dissemination, was defined and applied to retweets across two levels of retweeters originating from @SafetyMD. User interest clusters were identified based on principal component analysis (PCA) and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA) of a random sample of 170 followers. User emphasis of keywords remained across levels but decreased by 9.5 percentage points. PCA and HCA identified 12 statistically unique clusters of followers within the @SafetyMD Twitter network. This study is one of the first to develop methods for use by stakeholders to evaluate and optimize their use of Twitter to disseminate health information. Our new methods provide preliminary evidence that individual stakeholders can evaluate the effectiveness of health information dissemination and create content-specific clusters for more specific targeted messaging.

Interests and attitudes of engineering students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rutherford, Brian

2007-12-01

Engineering programs have been less successful than other professions in achieving gender equity. Analyses of gender differences in the attitudes and interests of engineering students may help illuminate ways to combat the underrepresentation of women in engineering. This study examined data collected from 863 engineering students who attended 15 American universities from fall 2005 through spring 2006 using an online survey. The survey was designed to understand the backgrounds, academic preparation, motivation, interests, and attitudes of engineering students. To determine whether males and females received different academic preparation prior to entering engineering, the survey examined participants' mathematics, science, and technical coursework taken in high school. The questions probed students' comfort and interest level in mathematics, science, and technology/engineering and investigated student interest in the three fundamental engineering activities by asking 49 design, build, and analyze questions on topics covering a variety of engineering disciplines. A combination of question formats was used including pre-categorized demographic information, 5-point Likert scales, and open-ended responses. Gender similarities and differences were identified and their implications were considered for the recruitment and retention of engineers. Female engineering students in this study were equally or better prepared than males to major in engineering based on the number and types of science and mathematics classes taken in high school. However, statistically significant gender differences were found in the attitudes and interests of engineering students. The difference in the comfort level, interest in learning, being able to demonstrate, or in performing stem skills depended on the question topic rather than gender. The areas with the highest comfort and interest level were often different for females and males. Several topics and curriculum areas of high interest to

Student treatment on clerkships based on their specialty interests.

PubMed

Woolley, Douglas C; Paolo, Anthony M; Bonaminio, Giulia A; Moser, Scott E

2006-01-01

Student clerkship experiences may suffer if teachers are not sympathetic to students' clinical interests. In this study, we quantified these experiences, compared reports of primary care and focused specialty students, and identified clerkships and teachers that posed special problems. Students starting their 4th year at 6 schools completed a survey. The response rate was 75%. Students reported that these experiences, which were provoked by their clinical interests, were common: hearing deprecating comments about their interests, being denied learning opportunities, receiving lower evaluations, being discouraged from pursing their interests, and needing to be evasive for self-protection. Primary care students reported less mistreatment than focused specialty students. Students identified some clerkships and types of teachers as special problem sources. Students reported mistreatment triggered by clinical interests at twice the national rates for mistreatment triggered by race or sex. Such mistreatment is common and challenges medical schools to ensure that students are treated well regardless of their career aspirations.

48 CFR 1552.209-70 - Organizational conflict of interest notification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Clauses 1552.209-70 Organizational conflict of interest notification. As prescribed in 1509.507-1(b) insert the following solicitation provision in all solicitations. Organizational Conflict of Interest... subcontractor) may have a potential organizational conflict of interest. (b) Prospective Contractors should...

The Health Informatics Trial Enhancement Project (HITE): Using routinely collected primary care data to identify potential participants for a depression trial

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background Recruitment to clinical trials can be challenging. We identified anonymous potential participants to an existing pragmatic randomised controlled depression trial to assess the feasibility of using routinely collected data to identify potential trial participants. We discuss the strengths and limitations of this approach, assess its potential value, report challenges and ethical issues encountered. Methods Swansea University's Health Information Research Unit's Secure Anonymised Information Linkage (SAIL) database of routinely collected health records was interrogated, using Structured Query Language (SQL). Read codes were used to create an algorithm of inclusion/exclusion criteria with which to identify suitable anonymous participants. Two independent clinicians rated the eligibility of the potential participants' identified. Inter-rater reliability was assessed using the kappa statistic and inter-class correlation. Results The study population (N = 37263) comprised all adults registered at five general practices in Swansea UK. Using the algorithm 867 anonymous potential participants were identified. The sensitivity and specificity results > 0.9 suggested a high degree of accuracy from the algorithm. The inter-rater reliability results indicated strong agreement between the confirming raters. The Intra Class Correlation Coefficient (Cronbach's Alpha) > 0.9, suggested excellent agreement and Kappa coefficient > 0.8; almost perfect agreement. Conclusions This proof of concept study showed that routinely collected primary care data can be used to identify potential participants for a pragmatic randomised controlled trial of folate augmentation of antidepressant therapy for the treatment of depression. Further work will be needed to assess generalisability to other conditions and settings and the inclusion of this approach to support Electronic Enhanced Recruitment (EER). PMID:20398303

Identifying new persistent and bioaccumulative organics among chemicals in commerce II: pharmaceuticals.

PubMed

Howard, Philip H; Muir, Derek C G

2011-08-15

The goal of this study was to identify commercial pharmaceuticals that might be persistent and bioaccumulative (P&B) and that were not being considered in current wastewater and aquatic environmental measurement programs. We developed a database of 3193 pharmaceuticals from two U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) databases and some lists of top ranked or selling drugs. Of the 3193 pharmaceuticals, 275 pharmaceuticals have been found in the environment and 399 pharmaceuticals were, based upon production volumes, designated as high production volume (HPV) pharmaceuticals. All pharmaceuticals that had reported chemical structures were evaluated for potential bioaccumulation (B) or persistence (P) using quantitative structure property relationships (QSPR) or scientific judgment. Of the 275 drugs detected in the environment, 92 were rated as potentially bioaccumulative, 121 were rated as potentially persistent, and 99 were HPV pharmaceuticals. After removing the 275 pharmaceuticals previously detected in the environment, 58 HPV compounds were identified that were both P&B and 48 were identified as P only. Of the non-HPV compounds, 364 pharmaceuticals were identified that were P&B. This study has yielded some interesting and probable P&B pharmaceuticals that should be considered for further study.

Mobile NBM - android medical mobile application designed to help in learning how to identify the different regions of interest in the brain’s white matter

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background One of the most critical tasks when conducting neurological studies is identifying the different regions of interest in the brain’s white matter. Currently few programs or applications are available that serve as an interactive guide in this process. This is why a mobile application has been designed and developed in order to teach users how to identify the referred regions of the brain. It also enables users to share the results obtained and take an examination on the knowledge thus learnt. In order to provide direct user-user or user-developer contact, the project includes a website and a Twitter account. Results An application has been designed with a basic, minimalist look, which anyone can access easily in order to learn to identify a specific region in the brain’s white matter. A survey has also been conducted on people who have used it, which has shown that the application is attractive both in the student (final mean satisfaction of 4.2/5) and in the professional (final mean satisfaction of 4.3/5) environment. The response obtained in the online part of the project reflects the high practical value and quality of the application, as shown by the fact that the website has seen a large number of visitors (over 1000 visitors) and the Twitter account has a high number of followers (over 280 followers). Conclusions Mobile NBM is the first mobile application to be used as a guide in the process of identifying a region of interest in the brain’s white matter. Although initially not many areas are available in the application, new ones can be added as required by users in their respective studies. Apart from the application itself, the online resources provided (website and Twitter account) significantly enhance users’ experience. PMID:25037858

National variety trials identify clones with high potential

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Quality potato varieties are the backbone of a strong potato industry. Variety trials have been used to identify promising new varieties for well over a century. Trials are repeated and information collected over many years in order to confidently identify lines that may be well suited for productio...

TH-B-BRC-01: How to Identify and Resolve Potential Clinical Errors

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

Das, I.

2016-06-15

Radiation treatment consists of a chain of events influenced by the quality of machine operation, beam data commissioning, machine calibration, patient specific data, simulation, treatment planning, imaging and treatment delivery. There is always a chance that the clinical medical physicist may make or fail to detect an error in one of the events that may impact on the patient’s treatment. In the clinical scenario, errors may be systematic and, without peer review, may have a low detectability because they are not part of routine QA procedures. During treatment, there might be errors on machine that needs attention. External reviews ofmore » some of the treatment delivery components by independent reviewers, like IROC, can detect errors, but may not be timely. The goal of this session is to help junior clinical physicists identify potential errors as well as the approach of quality assurance to perform a root cause analysis to find and eliminate an error and to continually monitor for errors. A compilation of potential errors will be presented by examples of the thought process required to spot the error and determine the root cause. Examples may include unusual machine operation, erratic electrometer reading, consistent lower electron output, variation in photon output, body parts inadvertently left in beam, unusual treatment plan, poor normalization, hot spots etc. Awareness of the possibility and detection of error in any link of the treatment process chain will help improve the safe and accurate delivery of radiation to patients. Four experts will discuss how to identify errors in four areas of clinical treatment. D. Followill, NIH grant CA 180803.« less

Navigating the Murky Waters of Conflict of Interest: Searching for the Middle Path.

PubMed

Zonia, Susan C

2016-02-01

On August 23, 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued the Final Rule on conflict of interest. The purpose of the rule was to provide a clear framework for federally funded studies to identify, reduce, avoid, and/or manage researchers' external commercial relationships that could appear to impact the design, conduct, or reporting of research. Since the issuance of the final rule, colleges and universities have been tasked with closely monitoring external commercial relations of faculty to ensure that potential biases in research are minimized. The monitoring has become an even greater challenge as federal dollars for research decline, along with colleges and universities' ability to internally fund research. External commercial relations, including faculty start-up companies, are often an easy go-to source for funding to continue research and development. In such cases, sources of funding vary from crowdfunding to commercial incubator or innovation project start-up funds. There have been many lessons learned since implementation. This article will site some common examples encountered at one university of commercial relationships that have the potential to affect human subject research. Every industry tie to academically based research must be closely reviewed to ensure appropriate interactions between researchers and sponsors. Equally imperative is to build a collaborative relationship with faculty and conflict of interest administrators. Transparency and partnership are key to developing workable management plans. Even when there is the presence of a significant financial interest, much can be done to protect human subjects as well as the integrity of the research. Independent oversight, prohibiting the principal investigator (PI) from recruiting patients, limiting access to data, replication of results, review of annual progress reports, informing patients of potential financial gain, and so forth, are just a few of the safeguards we can put

Effects of disclosing financial interests on attitudes toward clinical research.

PubMed

Weinfurt, Kevin P; Hall, Mark A; Dinan, Michaela A; DePuy, Venita; Friedman, Joëlle Y; Allsbrook, Jennifer S; Sugarman, Jeremy

2008-06-01

The effects of disclosing financial interests to potential research participants are not well understood. To examine the effects of financial interest disclosures on potential research participants' attitudes toward clinical research. Computerized experiment conducted with 3,623 adults in the United States with either diabetes mellitus or asthma, grouped by lesser and greater severity. Respondents read a description of a hypothetical clinical trial relevant to their diagnosis that included a financial disclosure statement. Respondents received 1 of 5 disclosure statements. Willingness to participate in the hypothetical clinical trial, relative importance of information about the financial interest, change in trust after reading the disclosure statement, surprise regarding the financial interest, and perceived effect of the financial interest on the quality of the clinical trial. Willingness to participate in the hypothetical clinical trial did not differ substantially among the types of financial disclosures. Respondents viewed the disclosed information as less important than other factors in deciding to participate. Disclosures were associated with some respondents trusting the researchers less, although trust among some respondents increased. Most respondents were not surprised to learn of financial interests. Researchers owning equity were viewed as more troubling than researchers who were compensated for the costs of research through per capita payments. Aside from a researcher holding an equity interest, the disclosure to potential research participants of financial interests in research, as recommended in recent policies, is unlikely to affect willingness to participate in research.

Regional gray matter correlates of vocational interests

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Previous studies have identified brain areas related to cognitive abilities and personality, respectively. In this exploratory study, we extend the application of modern neuroimaging techniques to another area of individual differences, vocational interests, and relate the results to an earlier study of cognitive abilities salient for vocations. Findings First, we examined the psychometric relationships between vocational interests and abilities in a large sample. The primary relationships between those domains were between Investigative (scientific) interests and general intelligence and between Realistic (“blue-collar”) interests and spatial ability. Then, using MRI and voxel-based morphometry, we investigated the relationships between regional gray matter volume and vocational interests. Specific clusters of gray matter were found to be correlated with Investigative and Realistic interests. Overlap analyses indicated some common brain areas between the correlates of Investigative interests and general intelligence and between the correlates of Realistic interests and spatial ability. Conclusions Two of six vocational-interest scales show substantial relationships with regional gray matter volume. The overlap between the brain correlates of these scales and cognitive-ability factors suggest there are relationships between individual differences in brain structure and vocations. PMID:22591829

Regional gray matter correlates of vocational interests.

PubMed

Schroeder, David H; Haier, Richard J; Tang, Cheuk Ying

2012-05-16

Previous studies have identified brain areas related to cognitive abilities and personality, respectively. In this exploratory study, we extend the application of modern neuroimaging techniques to another area of individual differences, vocational interests, and relate the results to an earlier study of cognitive abilities salient for vocations. First, we examined the psychometric relationships between vocational interests and abilities in a large sample. The primary relationships between those domains were between Investigative (scientific) interests and general intelligence and between Realistic ("blue-collar") interests and spatial ability. Then, using MRI and voxel-based morphometry, we investigated the relationships between regional gray matter volume and vocational interests. Specific clusters of gray matter were found to be correlated with Investigative and Realistic interests. Overlap analyses indicated some common brain areas between the correlates of Investigative interests and general intelligence and between the correlates of Realistic interests and spatial ability. Two of six vocational-interest scales show substantial relationships with regional gray matter volume. The overlap between the brain correlates of these scales and cognitive-ability factors suggest there are relationships between individual differences in brain structure and vocations.

Application of near infrared reflectance (NIR) spectroscopy to identify potential PSE meat.

PubMed

Li, Xiao; Feng, Fang; Gao, Runze; Wang, Lu; Qian, Ye; Li, Chunbao; Zhou, Guanghong

2016-07-01

Pale, soft and exudative (PSE) meat is a quality problem that causes a large economic loss to the pork industry. In the present work, near infrared (NIR) quantification and identification methods were used to investigate the feasibility of differentiating potential PSE meat from normal meat. NIR quantification models were developed to estimate meat pH and colour attributes (L*, a*, b*). Promising results were reported for prediction of muscle pH (R(2) CV  = 70.10%, RPDCV = 1.83) and L* (R(2) CV  = 77.18%, RPDCV = 1.91), but it is still hard to promote to practical application at this level. The Factorisation Method applied to NIR spectra could differentiate potential PSE meat from normal meat at 3 h post-mortem. Correlation analysis showed significant relationship between NIR data and LF-NMR T2 components that were indicative of water distribution and mobility in muscle. PSE meat had unconventionally faster energy metabolism than normal meat, which caused greater water mobility. NIR spectra coupled with the Factorisation Method could be a promising technology to identify potential PSE meat. The difference in the intensity of H2 O absorbance peaks between PSE and normal meat might be the basis of this identification method. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

An Australasian model license reassessment procedure for identifying potentially unsafe drivers.

PubMed

Fildes, Brian N; Charlton, Judith; Pronk, Nicola; Langford, Jim; Oxley, Jennie; Koppel, Sjaanie

2008-08-01

Most licensing jurisdictions in Australia currently employ age-based assessment programs as a means to manage older driver safety, yet available evidence suggests that these programs have no safety benefits. This paper describes a community referral-based model license re assessment procedure for identifying and assessing potentially unsafe drivers. While the model was primarily developed for assessing older driver fitness to drive, it could be applicable to other forms of driver impairment associated with increased crash risk. It includes a three-tier process of assessment, involving the use of validated and relevant assessment instruments. A case is argued that this process is a more systematic, transparent and effective process for managing older driver safety and thus more likely to be widely acceptable to the target community and licensing authorities than age-based practices.

Rapid, Potentially Automatable, Method Extract Biomarkers for HPLC/ESI/MS/MS to Detect and Identify BW Agents

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-11-01

status can sometimes be reflected in the infectious potential or drug resistance of those pathogens. For example, in Mycobacterium tuberculosis ... Mycobacterium tuberculosis , its antibiotic resistance and prediction of pathogenicity amongst Mycobacterium spp. based on signature lipid biomarkers ...TITLE AND SUBTITLE Rapid, Potentially Automatable, Method Extract Biomarkers for HPLC/ESI/MS/MS to Detect and Identify BW Agents 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b

Preventing Trustee Conflicts of Interest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harpool, David

1998-01-01

The potential for conflict of interest in college and university trustees is high. A 1974 court decision (Stern vs. Sibley Memorial Hospital) established guidelines for trustees of nonprofit organizations, and a survey of 566 colleges and universities reveals how institutions are managing such conflicts through policy statements and…

The enduring effect of scientific interest on trust in climate scientists in the United States

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Motta, Matthew

2018-06-01

People who distrust scientists are more likely to reject scientific consensus, and are more likely to support politicians who are sceptical of scientific research1. Consequently, boosting Americans' trust in scientists is a central goal of science communication2. However, while previous research has identified several correlates of distrust in climate scientists3 and scientists more broadly4, far less is known about potential long-term influences taking root in young adulthood. This omission is notable, as previous research suggests that attitudes towards science formulated in pre-teenage years play a key role in shaping attitudes in adulthood5. Using data from the Longitudinal Study of American Youth, I find that interest in science at age 12-14 years is associated with increased trust in climate scientists in adulthood (mid thirties), irrespective of Americans' political ideology. The enduring and bipartisan effects of scientific interest at young ages suggest a potential direction for future efforts to boost mass trust in climate scientists.

Integrated Molecular Profiling of Human Gastric Cancer Identifies DDR2 as a Potential Regulator of Peritoneal Dissemination.

PubMed

Kurashige, Junji; Hasegawa, Takanori; Niida, Atsushi; Sugimachi, Keishi; Deng, Niantao; Mima, Kosuke; Uchi, Ryutaro; Sawada, Genta; Takahashi, Yusuke; Eguchi, Hidetoshi; Inomata, Masashi; Kitano, Seigo; Fukagawa, Takeo; Sasako, Mitsuru; Sasaki, Hiroki; Sasaki, Shin; Mori, Masaki; Yanagihara, Kazuyoshi; Baba, Hideo; Miyano, Satoru; Tan, Patrick; Mimori, Koshi

2016-03-03

Peritoneal dissemination is the most frequent, incurable metastasis occurring in patients with advanced gastric cancer (GC). However, molecular mechanisms driving peritoneal dissemination still remain poorly understood. Here, we aimed to provide novel insights into the molecular mechanisms that drive the peritoneal dissemination of GC. We performed combined expression analysis with in vivo-selected metastatic cell lines and samples from 200 GC patients to identify driver genes of peritoneal dissemination. The driver-gene functions associated with GC dissemination were examined using a mouse xenograft model. We identified a peritoneal dissemination-associated expression signature, whose profile correlated with those of genes related to development, focal adhesion, and the extracellular matrix. Among the genes comprising the expression signature, we identified that discoidin-domain receptor 2 (DDR2) as a potential regulator of peritoneal dissemination. The DDR2 was upregulated by the loss of DNA methylation and that DDR2 knockdown reduced peritoneal metastasis in a xenograft model. Dasatinib, an inhibitor of the DDR2 signaling pathway, effectively suppressed peritoneal dissemination. DDR2 was identified as a driver gene for GC dissemination from the combined expression signature and can potentially serve as a novel therapeutic target for inhibiting GC peritoneal dissemination.

48 CFR 1552.209-72 - Organizational conflict of interest certification.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Provisions and Clauses 1552.209-72 Organizational conflict of interest certification. As prescribed in 1509... Conflict of Interest Certification (APR 1984) The offeror [] is [] is not aware of any information bearing on the existence of any potential organizational conflict of interest. If the offeror is aware of...

Exploring Situational Interest Sources in the French Physical Education Context

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roure, Cédric; Pasco, Denis

2018-01-01

Based on the framework of interest, studies have shown that situational interest possesses strong motivation potential for students in physical education. Understanding how teachers can use situational interest in a classroom context is critical to motivate students. However, such investigations have been exclusively conducted in the United States…

Pilot survey of NICU nurses' interest in the neonatal nurse practitioner role.

PubMed

Rasmussen, Lynn B; Vargo, Lyn E; Reavey, Daphne A; Hunter, Kim S

2005-02-01

This descriptive, qualitative pilot study explored the interest and perceptions of neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses regarding the neonatal nurse practitioner (NNP) role. Motivating factors to become an NNP, challenges facing NNPs, and rewards of the NNP role from the perspectives of NICU nurses were explored. The convenience sample was obtained using 2 survey techniques. The first sample group included nurses who were employed in Level III NICUs located within 2 major Midwestern cities. In order to confirm the data and to expand the scope, the second sample group was recruited from NICU nurses who were attending a regional educational conference. All participants were currently employed NICU nurses and were therefore potential NNP students. Combining the participants of both enrollment techniques resulted in a potential of 696 subjects. A simple self-administered survey was used to collect data. Narrative data were qualitatively analyzed. Demographic data and categorical items were quantified. This study achieved a total 30% response rate (n = 209). Of the total participants, only 32% of Level III NICU nurses were interested in becoming an NNP. Analysis of the data revealed 6 major categories (themes) of reasons why nurses were not interested in the NNP role. The themes most often mentioned by the participants were (1) obligations to family and/or work (46%) and (2) too much responsibility in the NNP role (30%). The data also revealed several different rewards and challenges for those in the NNP role as well as factors that may motivate nurses to become an NNP. Given the current NNP shortage, an increase in the supply of NNPs for the workforce is imperative. Current enrollment in NNP academic programs does not appear to be meeting the demand. Exploring the factors that influence enrollment in NNP programs from the perspective of potential NNP students is the first step towards increasing the supply of NNPs. The majority of participants were not interested

Summary of the Ahankashan Area of Interest

USGS Publications Warehouse

Drew, Lawrence J.; Sutphin, David M.; Mars, John C.; Bogdanow, Anya K.

2015-09-15

This report summarizes and interprets results of the work in the Ahankashan Area of Interest in northwestern Afghanistan and four study areas—the Ahankashan Prospect Area, Syahsang-Kushkak, Taghab-Soni, and Zakak-e ‘Olya—delineated for their potential undiscovered mineral occurrences with specific emphasis on porphyry copper and related occurrence types. The Area of Interest is underlain by rocks of three different geologic domains that cross from east to west—the Band-e-Bayan Block/Central Pamirs Domain in the south, the Hindu Kush Domain in the Paropamisus Mountains, and the Afghan Turkestan Domain in the north. The domains are sutured remnants of Tethyan tectonic elements. Interpretation of the geologic maps indicates the presence of thrust faults, strike-slip faults, and granitic intrusions emplaced in ground prepared by faulting. Thrust faulting was followed by strike-slip faulting and then followed by magmatic intrusions. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer data were used to map minerals that have been altered by hydrothermal fluids typically associated with mineralization to delineate new potential occurrences of copper, gold, and silver. Propylitic-, argillic-, and phyllic-altered intrusive rocks are found in the area, as well as very minor amounts of hydrothermal silica-rich rocks. This area of interest is vastly underexplored and contains only seven known mineral occurrences, of which the Ahankashan copper (gold) skarn occurrence is the best known. Gold has been found in stream sediments near the Ahankashan skarn, in the Taghab-Soni study area, and possibly other parts of the Area of Interest, suggesting potential for at least small-scale placer occurrences.

Comparative study of Saccharomyces cerevisiae wine strains to identify potential marker genes correlated to desiccation stress tolerance.

PubMed

Capece, Angela; Votta, Sonia; Guaragnella, Nicoletta; Zambuto, Marianna; Romaniello, Rossana; Romano, Patrizia

2016-05-01

The most diffused formulation of starter for winemaking is active dry yeast (ADY). ADYs production process is essentially characterized by air-drying stress, a combination of several stresses, including thermal, hyperosmotic and oxidative and cell capacity to counteract such multiple stresses will determine its survival. The molecular mechanisms underlying cell stress response to desiccation have been mostly studied in laboratory and commercial yeast strains, but a growing interest is currently developing for indigenous yeast strains which represent a valuable and alternative source of genetic and molecular biodiversity to be exploited. In this work, a comparative study of different Saccharomyces cerevisiae indigenous wine strains, previously selected for their technological traits, has been carried out to identify potentially relevant genes involved in desiccation stress tolerance. Cell viability was evaluated along desiccation treatment and gene expression was analyzed by real-time PCR before and during the stress. Our data show that the observed differences in individual strain sensitivity to desiccation stress could be associated to specific gene expression over time. In particular, either the basal or the stress-induced mRNA levels of certain genes, such as HSP12, SSA3, TPS1, TPS2, CTT1 and SOD1, result tightly correlated to the strain survival advantage. This study provides a reliable and sensitive method to predict desiccation stress tolerance of indigenous wine yeast strains which could be preliminary to biotechnological applications. © FEMS 2016. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Genetic studies of plasma analytes identify novel potential biomarkers for several complex traits

PubMed Central

Deming, Yuetiva; Xia, Jian; Cai, Yefei; Lord, Jenny; Del-Aguila, Jorge L.; Fernandez, Maria Victoria; Carrell, David; Black, Kathleen; Budde, John; Ma, ShengMei; Saef, Benjamin; Howells, Bill; Bertelsen, Sarah; Bailey, Matthew; Ridge, Perry G.; Hefti, Franz; Fillit, Howard; Zimmerman, Earl A.; Celmins, Dzintra; Brown, Alice D.; Carrillo, Maria; Fleisher, Adam; Reeder, Stephanie; Trncic, Nadira; Burke, Anna; Tariot, Pierre; Reiman, Eric M.; Chen, Kewei; Sabbagh, Marwan N.; Beiden, Christine M.; Jacobson, Sandra A.; Sirrel, Sherye A.; Doody, Rachelle S.; Villanueva-Meyer, Javier; Chowdhury, Munir; Rountree, Susan; Dang, Mimi; Kowall, Neil; Killiany, Ronald; Budson, Andrew E.; Norbash, Alexander; Johnson, Patricia Lynn; Green, Robert C.; Marshall, Gad; Johnson, Keith A.; Sperling, Reisa A.; Snyder, Peter; Salloway, Stephen; Malloy, Paul; Correia, Stephen; Bernick, Charles; Munic, Donna; Stern, Yaakov; Honig, Lawrence S.; Bell, Karen L.; Relkin, Norman; Chaing, Gloria; Ravdin, Lisa; Paul, Steven; Flashman, Laura A.; Seltzer, Marc; Hynes, Mary L.; Santulli, Robert B.; Bates, Vernice; Capote, Horacio; Rainka, Michelle; Friedl, Karl; Murali Doraiswamy, P.; Petrella, Jeffrey R.; Borges-Neto, Salvador; James, Olga; Wong, Terence; Coleman, Edward; Schwartz, Adam; Cellar, Janet S.; Levey, Allan L.; Lah, James J.; Behan, Kelly; Scott Turner, Raymond; Johnson, Kathleen; Reynolds, Brigid; Pearlson, Godfrey D.; Blank, Karen; Anderson, Karen; Obisesan, Thomas O.; Wolday, Saba; Allard, Joanne; Lerner, Alan; Ogrocki, Paula; Tatsuoka, Curtis; Fatica, Parianne; Farlow, Martin R.; Saykin, Andrew J.; Foroud, Tatiana M.; Shen, Li; Faber, Kelly; Kim, Sungeun; Nho, Kwangsik; Marie Hake, Ann; Matthews, Brandy R.; Brosch, Jared R.; Herring, Scott; Hunt, Cynthia; Albert, Marilyn; Onyike, Chiadi; D’Agostino, Daniel; Kielb, Stephanie; Graff-Radford, Neill R; Parfitt, Francine; Kendall, Tracy; Johnson, Heather; Petersen, Ronald; Jack, Clifford R.; Bernstein, Matthew; Borowski, Bret; Gunter, Jeff; Senjem, Matt; Vemuri, Prashanthi; Jones, David; Kantarci, Kejal; Ward, Chad; Mason, Sara S.; Albers, Colleen S.; Knopman, David; Johnson, Kris; Chertkow, Howard; Hosein, Chris; Mintzer, Jacob; Spicer, Kenneth; Bachman, David; Grossman, Hillel; Mitsis, Effie; Pomara, Nunzio; Hernando, Raymundo; Sarrael, Antero; Potter, William; Buckholtz, Neil; Hsiao, John; Kittur, Smita; Galvin, James E.; Cerbone, Brittany; Michel, Christina A.; Pogorelec, Dana M.; Rusinek, Henry; de Leon, Mony J; Glodzik, Lidia; De Santi, Susan; Johnson, Nancy; Chuang-Kuo; Kerwin, Diana; Bonakdarpour, Borna; Weintraub, Sandra; Grafman, Jordan; Lipowski, Kristine; Mesulam, Marek-Marsel; Scharre, Douglas W.; Kataki, Maria; Adeli, Anahita; Kaye, Jeffrey; Quinn, Joseph; Silbert, Lisa; Lind, Betty; Carter, Raina; Dolen, Sara; Borrie, Michael; Lee, T-Y; Bartha, Rob; Martinez, Walter; Villena, Teresa; Sadowsky, Carl; Khachaturian, Zaven; Ott, Brian R.; Querfurth, Henry; Tremont, Geoffrey; Frank, Richard; Fleischman, Debra; Arfanakis, Konstantinos; Shah, Raj C.; deToledo-Morrell, Leyla; Sorensen, Greg; Finger, Elizabeth; Pasternack, Stephen; Rachinsky, Irina; Drost, Dick; Rogers, John; Kertesz, Andrew; Furst, Ansgar J.; Chad, Stevan; Yesavage, Jerome; Taylor, Joy L.; Lane, Barton; Rosen, Allyson; Tinklenberg, Jared; Black, Sandra; Stefanovic, Bojana; Caldwell, Curtis; Robin Hsiung, Ging-Yuek; Mudge, Benita; Assaly, Michele; Fox, Nick; Schultz, Susan K.; Boles Ponto, Laura L.; Shim, Hyungsub; Ekstam Smith, Karen; Burns, Jeffrey M.; Swerdlow, Russell H.; Brooks, William M.; Marson, Daniel; Griffith, Randall; Clark, David; Geldmacher, David; Brockington, John; Roberson, Erik; Natelson Love, Marissa; DeCarli, Charles; Carmichael, Owen; Olichney, John; Maillard, Pauline; Fletcher, Evan; Nguyen, Dana; Preda, Andrian; Potkin, Steven; Mulnard, Ruth A.; Thai, Gaby; McAdams-Ortiz, Catherine; Landau, Susan; Jagust, William; Apostolova, Liana; Tingus, Kathleen; Woo, Ellen; Silverman, Daniel H.S.; Lu, Po H.; Bartzokis, George; Thompson, Paul; Donohue, Michael; Thomas, Ronald G.; Walter, Sarah; Gessert, Devon; Brewer, James; Vanderswag, Helen; Sather, Tamie; Jiminez, Gus; Balasubramanian, Archana B.; Mason, Jennifer; Sim, Iris; Aisen, Paul; Davis, Melissa; Morrison, Rosemary; Harvey, Danielle; Thal, Lean; Beckett, Laurel; Neylan, Thomas; Finley, Shannon; Weiner, Michael W.; Hayes, Jacqueline; Rosen, Howard J.; Miller, Bruce L.; Perry, David; Massoglia, Dino; Brawman-Mentzer, Olga; Schuff, Norbert; Smith, Charles D.; Hardy, Peter; Sinha, Partha; Oates, Elizabeth; Conrad, Gary; Koeppe, Robert A.; Lord, Joanne L.; Heidebrink, Judith L.; Arnold, Steven E.; Karlawish, Jason H.; Wolk, David; Clark, Christopher M.; Trojanowki, John Q.; Shaw, Leslie M.; Lee, Virginia; Korecka, Magdalena; Figurski, Michal; Toga, Arthur W.; Crawford, Karen; Neu, Scott; Schneider, Lon S.; Pawluczyk, Sonia; Beccera, Mauricio; Teodoro, Liberty; Spann, Bryan M.; Womack, Kyle; Mathews, Dana; Quiceno, Mary; Foster, Norm; Montine, Tom; Fruehling, J. Jay; Harding, Sandra; Johnson, Sterling; Asthana, Sanjay; Carlsson, Cynthia M.; Petrie, Eric C.; Peskind, Elaine; Li, Gail; Porsteinsson, Anton P.; Goldstein, Bonnie S.; Martin, Kim; Makino, Kelly M.; Ismail, M. Saleem; Brand, Connie; Smith, Amanda; Ashok Raj, Balebail; Fargher, Kristin; Kuller, Lew; Mathis, Chet; Ann Oakley, Mary; Lopez, Oscar L.; Simpson, Donna M.; Sink, Kaycee M.; Gordineer, Leslie; Williamson, Jeff D.; Garg, Pradeep; Watkins, Franklin; Cairns, Nigel J.; Raichle, Marc; Morris, John C.; Householder, Erin; Taylor-Reinwald, Lisa; Holtzman, David; Ances, Beau; Carroll, Maria; Creech, Mary L.; Franklin, Erin; Mintun, Mark A.; Schneider, Stacy; Oliver, Angela; Duara, Ranjan; Varon, Daniel; Greig, Maria T.; Roberts, Peggy; Varma, Pradeep; MacAvoy, Martha G.; Carson, Richard E.; van Dyck, Christopher H.; Davies, Peter; Holtzman, David; Morris, John C.; Bales, Kelly; Pickering, Eve H.; Lee, Jin-Moo; Heitsch, Laura; Kauwe, John; Goate, Alison; Piccio, Laura; Cruchaga, Carlos

2016-01-01

Genome-wide association studies of 146 plasma protein levels in 818 individuals revealed 56 genome-wide significant associations (28 novel) with 47 analytes. Loci associated with plasma levels of 39 proteins tested have been previously associated with various complex traits such as heart disease, inflammatory bowel disease, Type 2 diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. These data suggest that these plasma protein levels may constitute informative endophenotypes for these complex traits. We found three potential pleiotropic genes: ABO for plasma SELE and ACE levels, FUT2 for CA19-9 and CEA plasma levels, and APOE for ApoE and CRP levels. We also found multiple independent signals in loci associated with plasma levels of ApoH, CA19-9, FetuinA, IL6r, and LPa. Our study highlights the power of biological traits for genetic studies to identify genetic variants influencing clinically relevant traits, potential pleiotropic effects, and complex disease associations in the same locus.

Extracting factors for interest rate scenarios

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Molgedey, L.; Galic, E.

2001-04-01

Factor based interest rate models are widely used for risk managing purposes, for option pricing and for identifying and capturing yield curve anomalies. The movements of a term structure of interest rates are commonly assumed to be driven by a small number of orthogonal factors such as SHIFT, TWIST and BUTTERFLY (BOW). These factors are usually obtained by a Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of historical bond prices (interest rates). Although PCA diagonalizes the covariance matrix of either the interest rates or the interest rate changes, it does not use both covariance matrices simultaneously. Furthermore higher linear and nonlinear correlations are neglected. These correlations as well as the mean reverting properties of the interest rates become crucial, if one is interested in a longer time horizon (infrequent hedging or trading). We will show that Independent Component Analysis (ICA) is a more appropriate tool than PCA, since ICA uses the covariance matrix of the interest rates as well as the covariance matrix of the interest rate changes simultaneously. Additionally higher linear and nonlinear correlations may be easily incorporated. The resulting factors are uncorrelated for various time delays, approximately independent but nonorthogonal. This is in contrast to the factors obtained from the PCA, which are orthogonal and uncorrelated for identical times only. Although factors from the ICA are nonorthogonal, it is sufficient to consider only a few factors in order to explain most of the variation in the original data. Finally we will present examples that ICA based hedges outperforms PCA based hedges specifically if the portfolio is sensitive to structural changes of the yield curve.

Potentially preventable infant and child deaths identified at autopsy; findings and implications.

PubMed

Bamber, Andrew R; Mifsud, William; Wolfe, Ingrid; Cass, Hilary; Pryce, Jeremy; Malone, Marian; Sebire, Neil J

2015-09-01

The purpose of the study was to determine the proportion of pediatric deaths investigated by HM Coronial autopsy which were potentially preventable deaths due to treatable natural disease, and what implications such findings may have for health policies to reduce their occurrence. A retrospective study of 1779 autopsies of individuals between 7 days and 14 years of age requested by HM Coroner, taking place in one specialist pediatric autopsy center, was undertaken. Cases were included if they involved a definite natural disease process in which appropriate recognition and treatment was likely to have affected their outcome. Strict criteria were used and cases were excluded where the individual had any longstanding condition which might have predisposed them to, or altered the recognition of, acute illness, or its response to therapy. Almost 8% (134/1779) of the study group were potentially preventable deaths as a result of natural disease, the majority occurring in children younger than 2 years of age. Most individuals reported between 1 and 7 days of symptoms before their death, and the majority had sought medical advice during this period, including from general practitioners within working hours, and hospital emergency departments. Of those who had sought medical attention, around one-third had done so more than once (28%, 15/53). Sepsis and pneumonia accounted for the majority of deaths (46 and 34% respectively), with all infections (sepsis, pneumonia and meningitis) accounting for 110/134 (82%). Around 10% of pediatric deaths referred to HM Coroner are potentially preventable, being the result of treatable natural acute illnesses. In many cases medical advice had been sought during the final illness. The results highlight how a review of autopsy data can identify significant findings with the potential to reduce mortality, and the importance of centralized investigation and reporting of pediatric deaths.

Early warning system for potential churners among mortgage customers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Irpan, Hamidah Muhd; Aidid, Sharifah Sakinah Syed Hassan; Mohmad, Sarahiza; Ibrahim, Noorazilah

2014-07-01

Retaining existing customer is a major task for many companies because cost to acquire new customers is higher than retaining existing customers. For mortgage business in Bank X, customer relationship management plays a big role to understand their customers' profile and churners so that suitable action can be done to retain their potential churners. Objectives of this study are (1) understanding their customers' profile and churners, (2) modeling potential churners using neural network model and (3) to deploy the model to identify potential churners. Data was divided into two parts: sampling (67,470 cases) and scoring (4,488 cases). Analysis was done using SAS Enterprise Miner. Dependent variable is churner/non churner while independent variables are balance and amount of loan, interest rate offered installment amount, loan performance, months in arrear, vintage, tenure, age, race and gender. Potential churners were identified as Malays, followed by Indian, other races and Chinese. Nonperforming loan and male customers tend to churn compared to performing loan and female customers. Younger customers with small loan amount, balance and monthly instalment, higher interest rate, have many months in arrears, longer vintage and tenure have higher tendency to churn from Bank X. Hence, Bank X should focus on the potential churners for their campaign to minimize the expenses of retaining existing customers by doing an effective campaign with high successful rate.

Laryngeal teflonoma identified by Fourier-transform infrared microspectroscopy after forensic autopsy: an interesting tool for foreign material identification in forensic cases.

PubMed

Duband, Sébastien; Govin, Alexandre; Dumollard, Jean-Marc; Forest, Fabien; Basset, Thierry; Péoc'h, Michel

2012-01-10

Forensic pathologists are sometimes confronted with microscopic foreign bodies mixed in with soft tissues surrounding wounds and which are thus difficult to identify. This identification, however, could be primordial in investigating a crime and in determining the weapon used. A case of a fatal respiratory distress syndrome due to conjoining suicidal drug intoxication and laryngeal obstruction by a voluminous foreign body giant cell granuloma is presented. The classical histological examination showed exogenous particles in the vocal cord tumor with birefringent qualities. Their analysis with Fourier-Transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometry coupled with infrared microscope allows the determination of their chemical nature as polytetrafluoroethylene and to the diagnosis of teflonoma. This case report put the emphasis on the forensic interest of the FTIR imaging. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Conflicts of interest in government-funded studies.

PubMed

Pickar, J H

2015-06-01

Conflict of interest in scientific publications has become a topic of critical importance. A primary focus has been the relationship between authors, journals and the pharmaceutical industry. That focus must be expanded to include government funding organizations. There are significant benefits to authors and investigators in participating in government-funded research, and to journals in publishing it. There are substantial risks to patients in not considering the potential for conflict of interest.

Positive selection moments identify potential functional residues in human olfactory receptors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Singer, M. S.; Weisinger-Lewin, Y.; Lancet, D.; Shepherd, G. M.

1996-01-01

Correlated mutation analysis and molecular models of olfactory receptors have provided evidence that residues in the transmembrane domains form a binding pocket for odor ligands. As an independent test of these results, we have calculated positive selection moments for the alpha-helical sixth transmembrane domain (TM6) of human olfactory receptors. The moments can be used to identify residues that have been preferentially affected by positive selection and are thus likely to interact with odor ligands. The results suggest that residue 622, which is commonly a serine or threonine, could form critical H-bonds. In some receptors a dual-serine subsite, formed by residues 622 and 625, could bind hydroxyl determinants on odor ligands. The potential importance of these residues is further supported by site-directed mutagenesis in the beta-adrenergic receptor. The findings should be of practical value for future physiological studies, binding assays, and site-directed mutagenesis.

The orthopaedic profession and industry: conflict or convergence of interests.

PubMed

Crowninshield, Roy

2003-07-01

Many improvements in orthopaedic care have been enabled by the relationship that exists between the orthopaedic profession and the orthopaedic industry. This relationship is multifactorial and includes new technology development, medical education, orthopaedic research, and patient education. Acting individually and collectively, the profession and the industry advance their standing by focusing on improved patient care. Although the industry, the profession, and the patient have many shared interests, they also may have real or potential conflicts of interests. The patient's interest in the quality of treatment outcome is shared by the profession and industry. However, the interests of the profession may include issues related to the success of their practices, management of their time, and advancement of their skills. Industry's interests, in turn, include the support of their customers and the success of their businesses. Conflicts of interest between these parties are potentially neither avoidable nor undesirable. Managed well, the relationship of the orthopaedic profession and the industry achieves the goals of each while advancing patient care. As the profession and the industry each experience change, continued attention should be directed to ensuring that the interest of each is advanced only in the context of serving the interest of the patient with musculoskeletal disorders.

Interest group opinions about fuel reduction in southern Appalachia

Treesearch

Carin E. Vadala; Robert D. Bixler; Thomas A. Waldrop

2013-01-01

Opinions of interested publics and interest groups (n = 640) about fuel reduction (FR) in the Southern Appalachian Mountains were investigated through social survey using both pictorial and written questions. The study identified three discrete groups based on knowledge of forest history in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, attitudes toward social and ecological...

17 CFR 229.909 - (Item 909) Conflicts of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... 17 Commodity and Securities Exchanges 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false (Item 909) Conflicts of...) Conflicts of interest. (a) Briefly describe the general partner's fiduciary duties to each partnership subject to the roll-up transaction and each actual or potential material conflict of interest between the...

Autonomy, best interests and the public interest: treatment, non-treatment and the values of medical law.

PubMed

Huxtable, Richard

2014-01-01

When constructing its responses to cases concerning the treatment and non-treatment of patients, both competent and incompetent, English medical law primarily uses two analytic tools: the autonomy and the welfare (or best interests) of the patient. I argue, however, that the construction going on behind the facade involves the use of more-and more precise-tools. In such cases, the law effectively asks three questions. The first, autonomy, question asks: is the proposed course desired by the patient? The second, best interests, question asks: if the patient is not autonomous, then (what) is the proposed course in the patient's best interests? And the third, public interest, question asks: whether or not the patient is autonomous, is the proposed course in the public interest? In its responses to each question, law then offers three different answers, which reveal a plurality of ethical commitments. Thus, the wishes of the (autonomous) patient might reflect her current, her best, or her ideal desires. The best interests of the (non-autonomous) patient, meanwhile, are variously articulated in terms of (again) her desires, or the promotion or preservation of a particular mental state, or the attainment of certain objective goods. Finally, and most often obscured from view, there are public interest concerns-with the interests of the patient, some other (or others), or even the community at large. In identifying these different questions and answers, I hope to provide an explanatory typology. Whether law's plurality of answers-and values-is appropriate, however, remains open to question. © The Author [2014]. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

The influence of television and film on interest in space and science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jackson, Katrina Marie

Entertainment media has the great potential to inspire interest in the topics it presents. The purpose of this study is to better understand how entertainment media contributes to people's interests in space and science. There is a huge variety of science communication topics in previous literature, some of which deals with television and film, but very little that specifically study how television and film can inspire interest. A historical review of pioneers in the space industry shows that many were inspired by entertainment media, which at the time consisted of science fiction novels and magazines. In order to explore the possible relationships among influences for scientists and non-scientists and to determine specific questions for future research, I created and distributed an anonymous, online survey. The survey is suggestive, exploratory research using a convenience sampling method and is not meant to provide scientifically accurate statistics. 251 participants completed the survey; 196 were scientists and 55 were non-scientists. The survey showed that the participants did identify entertainment media as a major influencing factor, on a comparable level as factors such as classes or family members. Participants in space-related fields were influenced by entertainment media more than the participants in other fields were. I identified several questions for future research, such as: Are people in space-related fields inspired by entertainment media more than other scientists are? Are non-space-related scientists often inspired by space-related media? Do people who regularly watch science fiction tend to be more scientifically literate than average?

Conflicts of interest in divisions of general practice

PubMed Central

Palmer, N; Braunack‐Mayer, A; Rogers, W; Provis, C; Cullity, G

2006-01-01

Community‐based healthcare organisations manage competing, and often conflicting, priorities. These conflicts can arise from the multiple roles these organisations take up, and from the diverse range of stakeholders to whom they must be responsive. Often such conflicts may be titled conflicts of interest; however, what precisely constitutes such conflicts and what should be done about them is not always clear. Clarity about the duties owed by organisations and the roles they assume can help identify and manage some of these conflicts. Taking divisions of general practice in Australia as an example, this paper sets out to distinguish two main types of conflicts of interest, so that they may be more clearly identified and more effectively managed. PMID:17145912

Interest Matters: The Importance of Promoting Interest in Education.

PubMed

Harackiewicz, Judith M; Smith, Jessi L; Priniski, Stacy J

2016-10-01

Interest is a powerful motivational process that energizes learning, guides academic and career trajectories, and is essential to academic success. Interest is both a psychological state of attention and affect toward a particular object or topic, and an enduring predisposition to reengage over time. Integrating these two definitions, the four-phase model of interest development guides interventions that promote interest and capitalize on existing interests. Four interest-enhancing interventions seem useful: attention-getting settings, contexts evoking prior individual interest, problem-based learning, and enhancing utility value. Promoting interest can contribute to a more engaged, motivated, learning experience for students.

Metabolomic profiling to identify potential serum biomarkers for schizophrenia and risperidone action.

PubMed

Xuan, Jiekun; Pan, Guihua; Qiu, Yunping; Yang, Lun; Su, Mingming; Liu, Yumin; Chen, Jian; Feng, Guoyin; Fang, Yiru; Jia, Wei; Xing, Qinghe; He, Lin

2011-12-02

Despite recent advances in understanding the pathophysiology of schizophrenia and the mechanisms of antipsychotic drug action, the development of biomarkers for diagnosis and therapeutic monitoring in schizophrenia remains challenging. Metabolomics provides a powerful approach to discover diagnostic and therapeutic biomarkers by analyzing global changes in an individual's metabolic profile in response to pathophysiological stimuli or drug intervention. In this study, we performed gas chromatography-mass spectrometry based metabolomic profiling in serum of unmedicated schizophrenic patients before and after an 8-week risperidone monotherapy, to detect potential biomarkers associated with schizophrenia and risperidone treatment. Twenty-two marker metabolites contributing to the complete separation of schizophrenic patients from matched healthy controls were identified, with citrate, palmitic acid, myo-inositol, and allantoin exhibiting the best combined classification performance. Twenty marker metabolites contributing to the complete separation between posttreatment and pretreatment patients were identified, with myo-inositol, uric acid, and tryptophan showing the maximum combined classification performance. Metabolic pathways including energy metabolism, antioxidant defense systems, neurotransmitter metabolism, fatty acid biosynthesis, and phospholipid metabolism were found to be disturbed in schizophrenic patients and partially normalized following risperidone therapy. Further study of these metabolites may facilitate the development of noninvasive biomarkers and more efficient therapeutic strategies for schizophrenia.

Barriers to Office-Based Mental Health Care and Interest in E-Communication With Providers: A Survey Study.

PubMed

Rai, Minnie; Vigod, Simone N; Hensel, Jennifer M

2016-08-01

With rising availability and use of Internet and mobile technology in society, the demand and need for its integration into health care is growing. Despite great potential within mental health care and growing uptake, there is still little evidence to guide how these tools should be integrated into traditional care, and for whom. To examine factors that might inform how e-communication should be implemented in our local outpatient mental health program, including barriers to traditional office-based care, patient preferences, and patient concerns. We conducted a survey in the waiting room of our outpatient mental health program located in an urban, academic ambulatory hospital. The survey assessed (1) age, mobile phone ownership, and general e-communication usage, (2) barriers to attending office-based appointments, (3) preferences for, and interest in, e-communication for mental health care, and (4) concerns about e-communication use for mental health care. We analyzed the data descriptively and examined associations between the presence of barriers, identifying as a social media user, and interest level in e-communication. Respondents (N=68) were predominantly in the age range of 25-54 years. The rate of mobile phone ownership was 91% (62/68), and 59% (40/68) of respondents identified as social media users. There was very low existing use of e-communication between providers and patients, with high levels of interest endorsed by survey respondents. Respondents expressed an interest in using e-communication with their provider to share updates and get feedback, coordinate care, and get general information. In regression analysis, both a barrier to care and identifying as a social media user were significantly associated with e-communication interest (P=.03 and P=.003, respectively). E-communication interest was highest among people who both had a barrier to office-based care and were a social media user. Despite high interest, there were also many concerns

Joint issues – conflicts of interest, the ASR hip and suggestions for managing surgical conflicts of interest

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Financial and nonfinancial conflicts of interest in medicine and surgery are troubling because they have the capacity to skew decision making in ways that might be detrimental to patient care and well-being. The recent case of the Articular Surface Replacement (ASR) hip provides a vivid illustration of the harmful effects of conflicts of interest in surgery. Discussion We identify financial and nonfinancial conflicts of interest experienced by surgeons, hospitals and regulators in the ASR case. These conflicts may have impacted surgical advice, decision-making and evidence gathering with respect to the ASR prosthesis, and contributed to the significant harms experienced by patients in whom the hip was implanted. Drawing on this case we explore shortcomings in the standard responses to conflicts of interest – disclosure and recusal. We argue disclosure is necessary but by no means sufficient to address conflicts of interest. Using the concept of recusal we develop remedies including second opinions and third party consent which may be effective in mitigating conflicts, but their implementation introduces new challenges. Summary Deployment of the ASR hip is a case of surgical innovation gone wrong. As we show, there were multiple conflicts of interest involved in the introduction of the ASR hip into practice and subsequent attempts to gloss over the mounting body of evidence about its lack of safety and effectiveness. Conflicts of interest in surgery are often not well managed. We suggest strategies in this paper which can minimise the conflicts of interest associated with surgical innovation. PMID:25128372

Causal network analysis of head and neck keloid tissue identifies potential master regulators.

PubMed

Garcia-Rodriguez, Laura; Jones, Lamont; Chen, Kang Mei; Datta, Indrani; Divine, George; Worsham, Maria J

2016-10-01

To generate novel insights and hypotheses in keloid development from potential master regulators. Prospective cohort. Six fresh keloid and six normal skin samples from 12 anonymous donors were used in a prospective cohort study. Genome-wide profiling was done previously on the cohort using the Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip (Illumina, San Diego, CA). The 190 statistically significant CpG islands between keloid and normal tissue mapped to 152 genes (P < .05). The top 10 statistically significant genes (VAMP5, ACTR3C, GALNT3, KCNAB2, LRRC61, SCML4, SYNGR1, TNS1, PLEKHG5, PPP1R13-α, false discovery rate <.015) were uploaded into the Ingenuity Pathway Analysis software's Causal Network Analysis (QIAGEN, Redwood City, CA). To reflect expected gene expression direction in the context of methylation changes, the inverse of the methylation ratio from keloid versus normal tissue was used for the analysis. Causal Network Analysis identified disease-specific master regulator molecules based on downstream differentially expressed keloid-specific genes and expected directionality of expression (hypermethylated vs. hypomethylated). Causal Network Analysis software identified four hierarchical networks that included four master regulators (pyroxamide, tributyrin, PRKG2, and PENK) and 19 intermediate regulators. Causal Network Analysis of differentiated methylated gene data of keloid versus normal skin demonstrated four causal networks with four master regulators. These hierarchical networks suggest potential driver roles for their downstream keloid gene targets in the pathogenesis of the keloid phenotype, likely triggered due to perturbation/injury to normal tissue. NA Laryngoscope, 126:E319-E324, 2016. © 2016 The American Laryngological, Rhinological and Otological Society, Inc.

Trends, Frequency, and Nature of Surgeon-Reported Conflicts of Interest in Plastic Surgery.

PubMed

Lopez, Joseph; Musavi, Leila; Quan, Amy; Calotta, Nicholas; Juan, Ilona; Park, Angela; Tufaro, Anthony P; May, James W; Dorafshar, Amir H

2017-10-01

The purpose of this study was to identify types and trends in industry sponsorship of plastic surgery research since the establishment of conflict-of-interest reporting policies in plastic surgery. The authors analyzed the frequency and types of self-reported conflicts of interest in the plastic surgery literature since the adoption of reporting policies in 2007. All original articles that met the authors' inclusion criteria and were published in the following three journals from 2008 to 2013 were included: Annals of Plastic Surgery, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, and Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive & Aesthetic Surgery. A multivariate regression analysis was performed to determine what study-specific variables were associated with conflict-of-interest disclosures. A total of 3722 articles were analyzed. The incidence of conflicts of interest increased from 14 percent in 2008 to 24 percent in 2009. However, thereafter, the incidence of conflicts of interest decreased steadily from 21 percent in 2010 to 9 percent in 2013. Furthermore, the authors' analysis revealed that from 2008 to 2013, industry decreased direct research support but steadily increased the rate of consultantships (p < 0.001). A multivariate regression analysis revealed that, after adjusting for potential confounders, self-reported conflicts of interest have decreased since 2008 (p = 0.03) and the prevalence of conflicts of interest differs by plastic surgery subspecialty (p < 0.0001), country of origin (p < 0.0001), and journal of publication (p = 0.05). If self-reporting of conflicts of interest is assumed to be accurate, the number of surgeon-reported conflicts of interest in plastic surgery declined overall. Although the absolute number of consultantships did not change, the rate of consultantships rather than direct research support increased over this period.

Scope and impact of financial conflicts of interest in biomedical research: a systematic review.

PubMed

Bekelman, Justin E; Li, Yan; Gross, Cary P

Despite increasing awareness about the potential impact of financial conflicts of interest on biomedical research, no comprehensive synthesis of the body of evidence relating to financial conflicts of interest has been performed. To review original, quantitative studies on the extent, impact, and management of financial conflicts of interest in biomedical research. Studies were identified by searching MEDLINE (January 1980-October 2002), the Web of Science citation database, references of articles, letters, commentaries, editorials, and books and by contacting experts. All English-language studies containing original, quantitative data on financial relationships among industry, scientific investigators, and academic institutions were included. A total of 1664 citations were screened, 144 potentially eligible full articles were retrieved, and 37 studies met our inclusion criteria. One investigator (J.E.B.) extracted data from each of the 37 studies. The main outcomes were the prevalence of specific types of industry relationships, the relation between industry sponsorship and study outcome or investigator behavior, and the process for disclosure, review, and management of financial conflicts of interest. Approximately one fourth of investigators have industry affiliations, and roughly two thirds of academic institutions hold equity in start-ups that sponsor research performed at the same institutions. Eight articles, which together evaluated 1140 original studies, assessed the relation between industry sponsorship and outcome in original research. Aggregating the results of these articles showed a statistically significant association between industry sponsorship and pro-industry conclusions (pooled Mantel-Haenszel odds ratio, 3.60; 95% confidence interval, 2.63-4.91). Industry sponsorship was also associated with restrictions on publication and data sharing. The approach to managing financial conflicts varied substantially across academic institutions and peer

Integrating virtual screening and biochemical experimental approach to identify potential anti-cancer agents from drug databank.

PubMed

Deka, Suman Jyoti; Roy, Ashalata; Manna, Debasis; Trivedi, Vishal

2018-06-01

Chemical libraries constitute a reservoir of pharmacophoric molecules to identify potent anti-cancer agents. Virtual screening of heterocyclic compound library in conjugation with the agonist-competition assay, toxicity-carcinogenicity analysis, and string-based structural searches enabled us to identify several drugs as potential anti-cancer agents targeting protein kinase C (PKC) as a target. Molecular modeling study indicates that Cinnarizine fits well within the PKC C2 domain and exhibits extensive interaction with the protein residues. Molecular dynamics simulation of PKC-Cinnarizine complex at different temperatures (300, 325, 350, 375, and 400[Formula: see text]K) confirms that Cinnarizine fits nicely into the C2 domain and forms a stable complex. The drug Cinnarizine was found to bind PKC with a dissociation constant Kd of [Formula: see text]M. The breast cancer cells stimulated with Cinnarizine causes translocation of PKC-[Formula: see text] to the plasma membrane as revealed by immunoblotting and immunofluorescence studies. Cinnarizine also dose dependently reduced the viability of MDAMB-231 and MCF-7 breast cancer cells with an IC[Formula: see text] of [Formula: see text] and [Formula: see text]g/mL, respectively. It is due to the disturbance of cell cycle of breast cancer cells with reduction of S-phase and accumulation of cells in G1-phase. It disturbs mitochondrial membrane potentials to release cytochrome C into the cytosol and activates caspase-3 to induce apoptosis in cancer cells. The cell death was due to induction of apoptosis involving mitochondrial pathway. Hence, the current study has assigned an additional role to Cinnarizine as an activator of PKC and potentials of the approach to identify new molecules for anti-cancer therapy. Thus, in silico screening along with biochemical experimentation is a robust approach to assign additional roles to the drugs present in the databank for anti-cancer therapy.

Assessing urban potential flooding risk and identifying effective risk-reduction measures.

PubMed

Cherqui, Frédéric; Belmeziti, Ali; Granger, Damien; Sourdril, Antoine; Le Gauffre, Pascal

2015-05-01

Flood protection is one of the traditional functions of any drainage system, and it remains a major issue in many cities because of economic and health impact. Heavy rain flooding has been well studied and existing simulation software can be used to predict and improve level of protection. However, simulating minor flooding remains highly complex, due to the numerous possible causes related to operational deficiencies or negligent behaviour. According to the literature, causes of blockages vary widely from one case to another: it is impossible to provide utility managers with effective recommendations on how to improve the level of protection. It is therefore vital to analyse each context in order to define an appropriate strategy. Here we propose a method to represent and assess the flooding risk, using GIS and data gathered during operation and maintenance. Our method also identifies potential management responses. The approach proposed aims to provide decision makers with clear and comprehensible information. Our method has been successfully applied to the Urban Community of Bordeaux (France) on 4895 interventions related to flooding recorded during the 2009-2011 period. Results have shown the relative importance of different issues, such as human behaviour (grease, etc.) or operational deficiencies (roots, etc.), and lead to identify corrective and proactive. This study also confirms that blockages are not always directly due to the network itself and its deterioration. Many causes depend on environmental and operating conditions on the network and often require collaboration between municipal departments in charge of roads, green spaces, etc. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Integrated pathway-based approach identifies association between genomic regions at CTCF and CACNB2 and schizophrenia.

PubMed

Juraeva, Dilafruz; Haenisch, Britta; Zapatka, Marc; Frank, Josef; Witt, Stephanie H; Mühleisen, Thomas W; Treutlein, Jens; Strohmaier, Jana; Meier, Sandra; Degenhardt, Franziska; Giegling, Ina; Ripke, Stephan; Leber, Markus; Lange, Christoph; Schulze, Thomas G; Mössner, Rainald; Nenadic, Igor; Sauer, Heinrich; Rujescu, Dan; Maier, Wolfgang; Børglum, Anders; Ophoff, Roel; Cichon, Sven; Nöthen, Markus M; Rietschel, Marcella; Mattheisen, Manuel; Brors, Benedikt

2014-06-01

In the present study, an integrated hierarchical approach was applied to: (1) identify pathways associated with susceptibility to schizophrenia; (2) detect genes that may be potentially affected in these pathways since they contain an associated polymorphism; and (3) annotate the functional consequences of such single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the affected genes or their regulatory regions. The Global Test was applied to detect schizophrenia-associated pathways using discovery and replication datasets comprising 5,040 and 5,082 individuals of European ancestry, respectively. Information concerning functional gene-sets was retrieved from the Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes, Gene Ontology, and the Molecular Signatures Database. Fourteen of the gene-sets or pathways identified in the discovery dataset were confirmed in the replication dataset. These include functional processes involved in transcriptional regulation and gene expression, synapse organization, cell adhesion, and apoptosis. For two genes, i.e. CTCF and CACNB2, evidence for association with schizophrenia was available (at the gene-level) in both the discovery study and published data from the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium schizophrenia study. Furthermore, these genes mapped to four of the 14 presently identified pathways. Several of the SNPs assigned to CTCF and CACNB2 have potential functional consequences, and a gene in close proximity to CACNB2, i.e. ARL5B, was identified as a potential gene of interest. Application of the present hierarchical approach thus allowed: (1) identification of novel biological gene-sets or pathways with potential involvement in the etiology of schizophrenia, as well as replication of these findings in an independent cohort; (2) detection of genes of interest for future follow-up studies; and (3) the highlighting of novel genes in previously reported candidate regions for schizophrenia.

Situational Interest of Fourth-Grade Children in Music at School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, J. Christopher

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify the characteristics of common elementary music class activities that elicit situational interest, the short-term interest that emerges spontaneously in learners when faced with environmental factors in an educational experience. An instrumental case study approach was employed, with 24 fourth-grade…

Special Interest Groups: How to Use Them to Your Advantage.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stevenson, Kenneth R.

1995-01-01

Outlines a five-step, reality-based process for dealing with special-interest groups: (1) value controversy; (2) know the school district's mission; (3) identify the interest groups; (4) choose an appropriate strategy--evasion, conciliation, bargaining, opposition, or consensus; and (5) periodically evaluate how the district has handled issues.…

USE OF qRTPCR TO IDENTIFY POTENTIAL BIOMARKERS OF BROMATE EXPOSURE IN F344 MALE RAT KIDNEYS

EPA Science Inventory

Potassium bromate (KBrO3) is a drinking water disinfection by-product that is nephrotoxic and carcinogenic. To identify potential biomarkers of carcinogenicity, male F344 rats were chronically exposed to a carcinogenic dose (400mg/l) of KBrO3 in their drinking water. Kidneys were...

Dermatology Interest Groups in Medical Schools.

PubMed

Quirk, Shannon K; Riemer, Christie; Beers, Paula J; Browning, Richard J; Correa, Mark; Fawaz, Bilal; Lehrer, Michael; Mounessa, Jessica; Lofgreen, Seth; Oetken, Tara; Saley, Taylor P; Tinkey, Katherine; Tracey, Elisabeth H; Dellavalle, Robert; Dunnick, Cory

2016-07-15

Involvement in a Dermatology Interest Group (DIG) allows students to learn about dermatology, partake in service projects, get involved in research, and ask questions about the application process for residency programs. In this article, we review the activities and member involvement of DIGs from 11 medical schools. To our knowledge, this is the first descriptive analysis of DIGs across the United States. This comparison of DIGs is not only potentially helpful for medical schools interested in establishing a DIG, but it also offers insight into how previously established DIGs could improve and have a greater impact both in individual medical schools and in the community at-large.

Chromobacterium violaceum: important insights for virulence and biotechnological potential by exoproteomic studies.

PubMed

Ciprandi, Alessandra; da Silva, Wanderson Marques; Santos, Agenor Valadares; de Castro Pimenta, Adriano Monteiro; Carepo, Marta Sofia Peixe; Schneider, Maria Paula Cruz; Azevedo, Vasco; Silva, Artur

2013-07-01

Chromobacterium violaceum is a beta-proteobacterium with high biotechnological potential, found in tropical environments. This bacterium causes opportunistic infections in both humans and animals, that can spread throughout several tissues, quickly leading to the death of the host. Genomic studies identified potential mechanisms of pathogenicity but no further studies were done to confirm the expression of these systems. In this study 36 unique protein entries were identified in databank from a two-dimensional profile of C. violaceum secreted proteins. Chromobacterium violaceum exoproteomic preliminary studies confirmed the production of proteins identified as virulence factors (such as a collagenase, flagellum proteins, metallopeptidases, and toxins), allowing us to better understand its pathogenicity mechanisms. Biotechnologically interesting proteins (such as chitinase and chitosanase) were also identified among the secreted proteins, as well as proteins involved in the transport and capture of amino acids, carbohydrates, and oxidative stress protection. Overall, the secreted proteins identified provide us important insights on pathogenicity mechanisms, biotechnological potential, and environment adaptation of C. violaceum.

Genome-wide screen identifies a novel prognostic signature for breast cancer survival

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

Mao, Xuan Y.; Lee, Matthew J.; Zhu, Jeffrey

Large genomic datasets in combination with clinical data can be used as an unbiased tool to identify genes important in patient survival and discover potential therapeutic targets. We used a genome-wide screen to identify 587 genes significantly and robustly deregulated across four independent breast cancer (BC) datasets compared to normal breast tissue. Gene expression of 381 genes was significantly associated with relapse-free survival (RFS) in BC patients. We used a gene co-expression network approach to visualize the genetic architecture in normal breast and BCs. In normal breast tissue, co-expression cliques were identified enriched for cell cycle, gene transcription, cell adhesion,more » cytoskeletal organization and metabolism. In contrast, in BC, only two major co-expression cliques were identified enriched for cell cycle-related processes or blood vessel development, cell adhesion and mammary gland development processes. Interestingly, gene expression levels of 7 genes were found to be negatively correlated with many cell cycle related genes, highlighting these genes as potential tumor suppressors and novel therapeutic targets. A forward-conditional Cox regression analysis was used to identify a 12-gene signature associated with RFS. A prognostic scoring system was created based on the 12-gene signature. This scoring system robustly predicted BC patient RFS in 60 sampling test sets and was further validated in TCGA and METABRIC BC data. Our integrated study identified a 12-gene prognostic signature that could guide adjuvant therapy for BC patients and includes novel potential molecular targets for therapy.« less

Genome-wide screen identifies a novel prognostic signature for breast cancer survival

DOE PAGES

Mao, Xuan Y.; Lee, Matthew J.; Zhu, Jeffrey; ...

2017-01-21

Large genomic datasets in combination with clinical data can be used as an unbiased tool to identify genes important in patient survival and discover potential therapeutic targets. We used a genome-wide screen to identify 587 genes significantly and robustly deregulated across four independent breast cancer (BC) datasets compared to normal breast tissue. Gene expression of 381 genes was significantly associated with relapse-free survival (RFS) in BC patients. We used a gene co-expression network approach to visualize the genetic architecture in normal breast and BCs. In normal breast tissue, co-expression cliques were identified enriched for cell cycle, gene transcription, cell adhesion,more » cytoskeletal organization and metabolism. In contrast, in BC, only two major co-expression cliques were identified enriched for cell cycle-related processes or blood vessel development, cell adhesion and mammary gland development processes. Interestingly, gene expression levels of 7 genes were found to be negatively correlated with many cell cycle related genes, highlighting these genes as potential tumor suppressors and novel therapeutic targets. A forward-conditional Cox regression analysis was used to identify a 12-gene signature associated with RFS. A prognostic scoring system was created based on the 12-gene signature. This scoring system robustly predicted BC patient RFS in 60 sampling test sets and was further validated in TCGA and METABRIC BC data. Our integrated study identified a 12-gene prognostic signature that could guide adjuvant therapy for BC patients and includes novel potential molecular targets for therapy.« less

Corporate social responsibility and conflicts of interest in the alcohol and gambling industries: a post-political discourse?

PubMed

Geiger, Ben Baumberg; Cuzzocrea, Valentina

2017-06-01

The corporate pursuit of social goals - known as Corporate Social Responsibility or 'CSR' - has been subject to critique on a number of grounds. However, a hitherto underexplored potential consequence of CSR has been suggested in a recent paper by C. Garsten and K. Jacobsson ('Post-Political Regulation: Soft Power and Post-political Visions in Global Governance' (2013), Critical Sociology 39: 421-37). They suggest that CSR is part of an international trend towards 'post-political' governance discourses, where an emphasis on different actors' common goals obscures conflicts of interest, subverting the open political conflict necessary for a well-functioning democracy. This paper examines whether such post-political discourses - including an outright denial of conflict of interest - can be found within the alcohol and gambling industries, where conflicts of interest are likely to be particularly acute given the addictive nature of the goods/services in question. Based on interviews with CSR professionals in these industries in Italy, the UK, and at EU-level, we do indeed find evidence of a post-political discourse. In these discourses, alcohol/gambling industry staff deny potential conflicts of interest on the basis that any small benefits from sales to a small number of addicts are seen to be outweighed by the reputational damage that addicts cause. Crucially, however, this coexists with another, less post-political discourse, where addictions CSR professionals emphasize 'common ground' as a basis for CSR, while accepting some instances of possible conflict of interest. Here interviewees make considerable efforts to differentiate good (sustainable) from bad (short-term) self-interest in order to stress the genuineness of their own actions. We conclude the paper by considering whether CSR embedded within a 'common ground' discourse still hides conflicts of interests and subverts democratic debate, or overcomes the problems identified by Garsten and Jacobsson. �

An event-related potential paradigm for identifying (rare negative) attitude stimuli that people intentionally misreport.

PubMed

Crites, Stephen L; Mojica, Andrew J; Corral, Guadalupe; Taylor, Jennifer H

2010-09-01

This experiment explored whether a late positive potential (LPP) of the event-related brain potential is useful for examining attitudes that people attempt to conceal. Participants identified a set of liked, neutral, and disliked people and viewed sequences consisting of either names or pictures of these people. Disliked people appeared rarely among liked people, and participants either: (1) always accurately reported their negative attitudes toward the people; (2) misreported negative attitudes as positive when they saw a picture of a disliked person; or (3) misreported negative attitudes as positive when they saw a name of a disliked person. Rare negative stimuli evoked a larger-amplitude LPP than frequent positive stimuli. Misreporting attitudes significantly reduced the amplitude difference between rare negative and frequent positive stimuli, though it remained significant.

Correlates of admitted sexual interest in children among individuals convicted of child pornography offenses.

PubMed

Seto, Michael C; Eke, Angela W

2017-06-01

Recent research on a risk assessment tool for child pornography offending suggests that admission of sexual interest in children is a risk factor for any sexual recidivism. Admission is easily vulnerable to lying, however, or to refusals to respond when asked about sexual interests. This may become a particular issue when individuals are concerned about the potential impact of admission of sexual interest on sentencing and other risk-related decisions. In this study, we identified the following behavioral correlates (coded yes/no) of admission of sexual interest in children in the risk tool development sample of 286 men convicted of child pornography offenses: (a) never married (54% of sample), (b) child pornography content included child sexual abuse videos (64%), (c) child pornography content included sex stories involving children (31%), (d) evidence of interest in child pornography spanned 2 or more years (55%), (e) volunteered in a role with high access to children (7%), and (f) engaged in online sexual communication with a minor or officer posing as a minor (10%). When summed, the average score on this Correlates of Admission of Sexual Interest in Children (CASIC) measure was 2.21 (SD = 1.22, range 0-6) out of a possible 6, and the CASIC score was significantly associated with admission of sexual interest in children, area under the curve (AUC) = .71, 95% CI [ .65, .77]. The CASIC had a stronger relationship with admission in a small cross-validation sample of 60 child pornography offenders, AUC = .81, 95% CI [.68, .95]. CASIC scores may substitute for admission of sexual interest in risk assessment involving those with child pornography offenses. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Research between conflicts of interest in a small German municipality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Meinikmann, Karin; Lewandowski, Jörg

2017-04-01

Lake eutrophication is a traditional topic in hydrology which attracts the attention of scientists all over the world to date. However, in single cases of lakes experiencing severe consequences of nutrient overloads (e.g., toxic algae blooms, loss of species richness…) also a non-scientific public arouses interest in processes behind and reasons for these phenomena. This interest results from the various effects of eutrophication on the anthropogenic use of the lake, such as loss of the lakés recreational value, potential health impairments from contact with lake water, changes of the ecological/esthetical status, etc. We present our manifold experiences in communicating with different actors who are or at least feel affected by our research to identify sources for elevated phosphorus loads to Lake Arendsee in Germany. Among those are supporters and opponents of restoration plans as there are for example • representatives of different public authorities, • inhabitants of local communities making their income from tourism around the lake, • farmers, • fishermen, • etc. We describe different conflicts of interest arising from this situation and describe problems we had interacting with single actors. A citizen-science action was initiated which increased both, the research output and the awareness of the problem within the general local public. We conclude that even in small municipalities a complex structure of stakeholders may develop who might act in unpredictable ways to achieve their personal or political goals.

Financial conflicts of interest and reporting bias regarding the association between sugar-sweetened beverages and weight gain: a systematic review of systematic reviews.

PubMed

Bes-Rastrollo, Maira; Schulze, Matthias B; Ruiz-Canela, Miguel; Martinez-Gonzalez, Miguel A

2013-12-01

Industry sponsors' financial interests might bias the conclusions of scientific research. We examined whether financial industry funding or the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest influenced the results of published systematic reviews (SRs) conducted in the field of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and weight gain or obesity. We conducted a search of the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases to identify published SRs from the inception of the databases to August 31, 2013, on the association between SSB consumption and weight gain or obesity. SR conclusions were independently classified by two researchers into two groups: those that found a positive association and those that did not. These two reviewers were blinded with respect to the stated source of funding and the disclosure of conflicts of interest. We identified 17 SRs (with 18 conclusions). In six of the SRs a financial conflict of interest with some food industry was disclosed. Among those reviews without any reported conflict of interest, 83.3% of the conclusions (10/12) were that SSB consumption could be a potential risk factor for weight gain. In contrast, the same percentage of conclusions, 83.3% (5/6), of those SRs disclosing some financial conflict of interest with the food industry were that the scientific evidence was insufficient to support a positive association between SSB consumption and weight gain or obesity. Those reviews with conflicts of interest were five times more likely to present a conclusion of no positive association than those without them (relative risk: 5.0, 95% CI: 1.3-19.3). An important limitation of this study is the impossibility of ruling out the existence of publication bias among those studies not declaring any conflict of interest. However, the best large randomized trials also support a direct association between SSB consumption and weight gain or obesity. Financial conflicts of interest may bias conclusions from SRs on SSB consumption and weight gain

Financial Conflicts of Interest and Reporting Bias Regarding the Association between Sugar-Sweetened Beverages and Weight Gain: A Systematic Review of Systematic Reviews

PubMed Central

Bes-Rastrollo, Maira; Schulze, Matthias B.; Ruiz-Canela, Miguel; Martinez-Gonzalez, Miguel A.

2013-01-01

Background Industry sponsors' financial interests might bias the conclusions of scientific research. We examined whether financial industry funding or the disclosure of potential conflicts of interest influenced the results of published systematic reviews (SRs) conducted in the field of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) and weight gain or obesity. Methods and Findings We conducted a search of the PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases to identify published SRs from the inception of the databases to August 31, 2013, on the association between SSB consumption and weight gain or obesity. SR conclusions were independently classified by two researchers into two groups: those that found a positive association and those that did not. These two reviewers were blinded with respect to the stated source of funding and the disclosure of conflicts of interest. We identified 17 SRs (with 18 conclusions). In six of the SRs a financial conflict of interest with some food industry was disclosed. Among those reviews without any reported conflict of interest, 83.3% of the conclusions (10/12) were that SSB consumption could be a potential risk factor for weight gain. In contrast, the same percentage of conclusions, 83.3% (5/6), of those SRs disclosing some financial conflict of interest with the food industry were that the scientific evidence was insufficient to support a positive association between SSB consumption and weight gain or obesity. Those reviews with conflicts of interest were five times more likely to present a conclusion of no positive association than those without them (relative risk: 5.0, 95% CI: 1.3–19.3). An important limitation of this study is the impossibility of ruling out the existence of publication bias among those studies not declaring any conflict of interest. However, the best large randomized trials also support a direct association between SSB consumption and weight gain or obesity. Conclusions Financial conflicts of interest may bias

EPA's Final Financial Assistance Conflict of Interest Policy

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA has established the following revised interim policy governing disclosure of actual and potential conflicts of interest (COI Policy) by applicants for, and recipients of, federal financial assistance awards from EPA.

Novel Approach to Identify Potential Bioactive Plant Metabolites: Pharmacological and Metabolomics Analyses of Ethanol and Hot Water Extracts of Several Canadian Medicinal Plants of the Cree of Eeyou Istchee.

PubMed

Shang, Nan; Saleem, Ammar; Musallam, Lina; Walshe-Roussel, Brendan; Badawi, Alaa; Cuerrier, Alain; Arnason, John T; Haddad, Pierre S

2015-01-01

We evaluated and compared the antidiabetic potential and molecular mechanisms of 17 Cree plants' ethanol extracts (EE) and hot water extracts (HWE) on glucose homeostasis in vitro and used metabolomics to seek links with the content of specific phytochemicals. Several EE of medical plants stimulated muscle glucose uptake and inhibited hepatic G6Pase activity. Some HWE partially or completely lost these antidiabetic activities in comparison to EE. Only R. groenlandicum retained similar potential between EE and HWE in both assays. In C2C12 muscle cells, EE of R. groenlandicum, A. incana and S. purpurea stimulated glucose uptake by activating AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) pathway and increasing glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT4) expression. In comparison to EE, HWE of R. groenlandicum exhibited similar activities; HWE of A. incana completely lost its effect on all parameters; interestingly, HWE of S. purpurea activated insulin pathway instead of AMPK pathway to increase glucose uptake. In the liver, for a subset of 5 plants, HWE and EE activated AMPK pathway whereas the EE and HWE of S. purpurea and K. angustifolia also activated insulin pathways. Quercetin-3-O-galactoside and quercetin 3-O-α-L-arabinopyranoside, were successfully identified by discriminant analysis as biomarkers of HWE plant extracts that stimulate glucose uptake in vitro. More importantly, the latter compound was not identified by previous bioassay-guided fractionation.

Potential Coastal Pumped Hydroelectric Energy Storage Locations Identified using GIS-based Topographic Analysis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Parsons, R.; Barnhart, C. J.; Benson, S. M.

2013-12-01

Large-scale electrical energy storage could accommodate variable, weather dependent energy resources such as wind and solar. Pumped hydroelectric energy storage (PHS) and compressed energy storage area (CAES) have life cycle energy and financial costs that are an order of magnitude lower than conventional electrochemical storage technologies. However PHS and CAES storage technologies require specific geologic conditions. Conventional PHS requires an upper and lower reservoir separated by at least 100 m of head, but no more than 10 km in horizontal distance. Conventional PHS also impacts fresh water supplies, riparian ecosystems, and hydrologic environments. A PHS facility that uses the ocean as the lower reservoir benefits from a smaller footprint, minimal freshwater impact, and the potential to be located near off shore wind resources and population centers. Although technologically nascent, today one coastal PHS facility exists. The storage potential for coastal PHS is unknown. Can coastal PHS play a significant role in augmenting future power grids with a high faction of renewable energy supply? In this study we employ GIS-based topographic analysis to quantify the coastal PHS potential of several geographic locations, including California, Chile and Peru. We developed automated techniques that seek local topographic minima in 90 m spatial resolution shuttle radar topography mission (SRTM) digital elevation models (DEM) that satisfy the following criteria conducive to PHS: within 10 km from the sea; minimum elevation 150 m; maximum elevation 1000 m. Preliminary results suggest the global potential for coastal PHS could be very significant. For example, in northern Chile we have identified over 60 locations that satisfy the above criteria. Two of these locations could store over 10 million cubic meters of water or several GWh of energy. We plan to report a global database of candidate coastal PHS locations and to estimate their energy storage capacity.

The Generalizability of Students' Interests in Biology across Gender, Country and Religion

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hagay, G.; Baram-Tsabari, A.; Ametller, J.; Cakmakci, G.; Lopes, B.; Moreira, A.; Pedrosa-de-Jesus, H.

2013-01-01

In order to bridge the existing gap between biology curricula and students' interests in biology, a strategy for identifying students' interest based on their questions and integrating them into the curriculum was developed. To characterize the level of generalizability of students' science interests over 600 high school students from Portugal,…

System and method for generating and/or screening potential metal-organic frameworks

DOEpatents

Wilmer, Christopher E; Leaf, Michael; Snurr, Randall Q; Farha, Omar K; Hupp, Joseph T

2015-04-21

A system and method for systematically generating potential metal-organic framework (MOFs) structures given an input library of building blocks is provided herein. One or more material properties of the potential MOFs are evaluated using computational simulations. A range of material properties (surface area, pore volume, pore size distribution, powder x-ray diffraction pattern, methane adsorption capability, and the like) can be estimated, and in doing so, illuminate unidentified structure-property relationships that may only have been recognized by taking a global view of MOF structures. In addition to identifying structure-property relationships, this systematic approach to identify the MOFs of interest is used to identify one or more MOFs that may be useful for high pressure methane storage.

System and method for generating and/or screening potential metal-organic frameworks

DOEpatents

Wilmer, Christopher E; Leaf, Michael; Snurr, Randall Q; Farha, Omar K; Hupp, Joseph T

2014-12-02

A system and method for systematically generating potential metal-organic framework (MOFs) structures given an input library of building blocks is provided herein. One or more material properties of the potential MOFs are evaluated using computational simulations. A range of material properties (surface area, pore volume, pore size distribution, powder x-ray diffraction pattern, methane adsorption capability, and the like) can be estimated, and in doing so, illuminate unidentified structure-property relationships that may only have been recognized by taking a global view of MOF structures. In addition to identifying structure-property relationships, this systematic approach to identify the MOFs of interest is used to identify one or more MOFs that may be useful for high pressure methane storage.

Sex-Atypical Interests and Inferred Values of Ns of One.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diamond, Esther E.

Over the years, the responses of men and women to interest inventories have shown large differences that, in the interests of sex-fairness, have necessitated separate scales and norms for empirically built inventories. The degree of overlap between scores on male- and female-normed scales quickly identifies the individual with sex-typical or…

Parent and Public Interest in Whole Genome Sequencing

PubMed Central

Dodson, Daniel S.; Goldenberg, Aaron J.; Davis, Matthew M.; Singer, Dianne C.; Tarini, Beth A.

2015-01-01

Objective To assess the baseline interest of the public in whole genome sequencing (WGS) for themselves, parents’ interest in WGS for their youngest children, and factors associated with such interest. Methods A random sample of adults from a probability-based nationally representative online panel was surveyed. All participants were provided basic information about WGS and then asked their interest in WGS for themselves. Those participants who self-identified as parents were asked about their interest in WGS for their children. The order in which parents were asked about their interest in WGS for themselves and their child was randomized. The relationship between parent/child characteristics and interest in WGS was examined. Results Overall response rate was 62% (55% among parents). 58.6% of the total population (parents and non-parents) was interested in WGS for themselves. Similarly, 61.8% of parents were interested in WGS for themselves and 57.8% were interested in WGS for their youngest children. Of note, 84.7% of parents showed an identical interest level in WGS for themselves and their youngest children. Mothers as a whole, and parents whose youngest children had ≥2 health conditions had significantly more interest in WGS for themselves and their youngest children, while those with conservative political ideologies had considerably less. Conclusions While U.S. adults have varying interest levels in WGS, parents appear to have similar interests in genome testing for themselves and their youngest children. As WGS technology becomes available in the clinic and private market, clinicians should be prepared to discuss WGS risks and benefits with their patients. PMID:25765282

Ten Project Areas to Stimulate an Interest in Reading.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leigh, Robert K.; And Others

The result of an International Reading Association committee organized to identify successful community programs that stimulate an interest in reading, this paper identifies and describes 10 selected program areas that might be used as models for other communities. Following a brief description of the project and the submission criteria, the 10…

Antecedents and Consequences of Situational Interest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Linnenbrink-Garcia, Lisa; Patall, Erika A.; Messersmith, Emily E.

2013-01-01

Background: There is a growing body of research on situational interest (SI). Yet, we still know relatively little about how SI is supported in the classroom and the academic benefits of SI. Aim: The current study investigated (1) contextual antecedents of SI; (2) potential benefits of SI for academic outcomes; and (3) SI as a mediator of…

Three challenges described for identifying participants with missing data in trials reports, and potential solutions suggested to systematic reviewers.

PubMed

Akl, Elie A; Kahale, Lara A; Ebrahim, Shanil; Alonso-Coello, Pablo; Schünemann, Holger J; Guyatt, Gordon H

2016-08-01

To categorize the challenges in determining the extent of missing participant data in randomized trials and suggest potential solutions for systematic review authors. During the process of updating a series of Cochrane systematic reviews on the topic of anticoagulation in patients with cancer, we identified challenges and used an iterative approach to improve, and a consensus process to agree on the challenges identified, and to suggest potential ways of dealing with them. The five systematic reviews included 58 trials and 75 meta-analyses for patient-important dichotomous outcomes with 27,037 randomized participants. We identified three categories of challenges: (1) Although systematic reviewers require information about missing data to be reported by outcome, trialists typically report the information by participant; (2) It is not always clear whether the trialists followed up participants in certain categories (e.g., noncompliers), that is, whether some categories of participants did or did not have missing data; (3) It is not always clear how the trialists dealt with missing data in their analysis (e.g., exclusion from the denominator vs. assumptions made for the numerator). We discuss potential solutions for each one of these challenges and suggest further research work. Current reporting of missing data is often not explicit and transparent, and although our potential solutions to problems of suboptimal reporting may be helpful, reliable and valid characterization of the extent and nature of missing data remains elusive. Reporting of missing data in trials needs further improvement. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Physicians, social media, and conflict of interest.

PubMed

Decamp, Matthew

2013-02-01

Physicians and patients increasingly use social media technologies, such as Facebook, Twitter, and weblogs (blogs), both professionally and personally. Amidst recent reports of physician misbehavior online, as well as concerns about social media's potential negative effect on trust in the medical profession, several national-level physician organizations have created professional guidelines on social media use by physicians. Missing from these guidelines is adequate attention to conflict of interest. Some guidelines do not explicitly mention conflict of interest; others recommend only disclosure. Recommending disclosure fails to appreciate the unique features of social media that make adequate disclosure difficult to accomplish. Moreover, in emphasizing disclosure alone, current guidelines are inconsistent with medicine's general trend toward management or elimination, not just disclosure, of potential conflicts. Because social media sites typically rely on physicians' voluntary compliance with professional norms, physicians necessarily play a major role in shaping these norms' content and scope. To achieve the benefits of social media and ensure the veracity of social media content while preserving trust in the profession, physicians must reaffirm their commitment to disclose potential conflicts; advocate for better electronic disclosure mechanisms; and develop concrete management strategies-including, where necessary, the elimination of conflicts altogether.

42 CFR 50.604 - Responsibilities of Institutions regarding Investigator financial conflicts of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

..., written, and enforced administrative process to identify and manage financial conflicts of interest with... Investigator financial conflicts of interest. 50.604 Section 50.604 Public Health PUBLIC HEALTH SERVICE... Research § 50.604 Responsibilities of Institutions regarding Investigator financial conflicts of interest...

40 CFR Table 5 to Subpart Jj of... - List of VHAP of Potential Concern Identified by Industry

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 11 2014-07-01 2014-07-01 false List of VHAP of Potential Concern Identified by Industry 5 Table 5 to Subpart JJ of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) NATIONAL EMISSION STANDARDS FOR HAZARDOUS AIR POLLUTANTS FOR SOURCE CATEGORIES (CONTINUED) National...

40 CFR Table 5 to Subpart Jj of... - List of VHAP of Potential Concern Identified by Industry

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 11 2012-07-01 2012-07-01 false List of VHAP of Potential Concern Identified by Industry 5 Table 5 to Subpart JJ of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) NATIONAL EMISSION STANDARDS FOR HAZARDOUS AIR POLLUTANTS FOR SOURCE CATEGORIES (CONTINUED) National...

40 CFR Table 5 to Subpart Jj of... - List of VHAP of Potential Concern Identified by Industry

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 11 2013-07-01 2013-07-01 false List of VHAP of Potential Concern Identified by Industry 5 Table 5 to Subpart JJ of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) NATIONAL EMISSION STANDARDS FOR HAZARDOUS AIR POLLUTANTS FOR SOURCE CATEGORIES (CONTINUED) National...

40 CFR Table 5 to Subpart Jj of... - List of VHAP of Potential Concern Identified by Industry

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... 40 Protection of Environment 10 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false List of VHAP of Potential Concern Identified by Industry 5 Table 5 to Subpart JJ of Part 63 Protection of Environment ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY (CONTINUED) AIR PROGRAMS (CONTINUED) NATIONAL EMISSION STANDARDS FOR HAZARDOUS AIR POLLUTANTS FOR SOURCE CATEGORIES (CONTINUED) National...

Identifying Potential Collapse Features Under Highways : Executive Summary

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2003-03-01

In 1994, subsidence features were identified on Interstate 70 in eastern Ohio. These : features were caused by collapse of old mine workings beneath the highway. An attempt : was made to delineate these features using geophysical methods with no avai...

Recommending personally interested contents by text mining, filtering, and interfaces

DOEpatents

Xu, Songhua

2015-10-27

A personalized content recommendation system includes a client interface device configured to monitor a user's information data stream. A collaborative filter remote from the client interface device generates automated predictions about the interests of the user. A database server stores personal behavioral profiles and user's preferences based on a plurality of monitored past behaviors and an output of the collaborative user personal interest inference engine. A programmed personal content recommendation server filters items in an incoming information stream with the personal behavioral profile and identifies only those items of the incoming information stream that substantially matches the personal behavioral profile. The identified personally relevant content is then recommended to the user following some priority that may consider the similarity between the personal interest matches, the context of the user information consumption behaviors that may be shown by the user's content consumption mode.

Structure Based Virtual Screening Studies to Identify Novel Potential Compounds for GPR142 and Their Relative Dynamic Analysis for Study of Type 2 Diabetes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kaushik, Aman C.; Kumar, Sanjay; Wei, Dong Q.; Sahi, Shakti

2018-02-01

GPR142 (G protein receptor 142) is a novel orphan GPCR (G protein coupled receptor) belonging to ‘Class A’ of GPCR family and expressed in beta cells of pancreas. In this study, we reported the structure based virtual screening to identify the hit compounds which can be developed as leads for potential agonists. The results were validated through induced fit docking, pharmacophore modeling and system biology approaches. Since, there is no solved crystal structure of GPR142, we attempted to predict the 3D structure followed by validation and then identification of active site using threading and ab initio methods. Also, structure based virtual screening was performed against a total of 1171519 compounds from different libraries and only top 20 best hit compounds were screened and analyzed. Moreover, the biochemical pathway of GPR142 complex with screened compound2 was also designed and compared with experimental data. Interestingly, compound2 showed an increase in insulin production via Gq mediated signaling pathway suggesting the possible role of novel GPR142 agonists in therapy against type 2 diabetes.

Interest in Mathematics = Interest in Mathematics? What General Measures of Interest Reflect When the Object of Interest Changes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ufer, Stefan; Rach, Stefanie; Kosiol, Timo

2017-01-01

Students' motivational characteristics, e.g., subject-related interest, are considered important predictors for successful learning processes. However, few empirical studies provide evidence for the assumed chain of effects between high interest and high achievement in mathematics. One reason for this result might be that the applied measures of…

Synthesis, microwave spectrum, and dipole moment of allenylisocyanide (H2C═C═CHNC), a compound of potential astrochemical interest.

PubMed

Møllendal, Harald; Samdal, Svein; Matrane, Abdellatif; Guillemin, Jean-Claude

2011-07-14

An improved synthesis of a compound of potential astrochemical interest, allenylisocyanide (H(2)C═C═CHNC), is reported together with its microwave spectrum, which has been investigated in the 8-120 GHz spectral range to facilitate a potential identification in interstellar space. The spectra of the ground vibrational state and of five vibrationally excited states belonging to three different vibrational modes have been assigned for the parent species. A total of 658 transitions with a maximum value of J = 71 were assigned for the ground state and accurate values obtained for the rotational and quartic centrifugal distortion constants. The spectra of five heavy-atom ((13)C and (15)N) isotopologues were also assigned. The dipole moment was determined to be μ(a) = 11.93(16) × 10(-30) C m, μ(b) = 4.393(44) × 10(-30) C m, and μ(tot) = 12.71(16) × 10(-30) C m. The spectroscopic work has been augmented by theoretical calculations at the CCSD/cc-pVTZ and B3LYP/cc-pVTZ levels of theory. The theoretical calculations are generally in good agreement with the experimental results.

Factors affecting interest in cardiothoracic surgery: Survey of North American general surgery residents.

PubMed

Vaporciyan, Ara A; Reed, Carolyn E; Erikson, Clese; Dill, Michael J; Carpenter, Andrea J; Guleserian, Kristine J; Merrill, Walter

2009-05-01

Applications to cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) training programs have declined precipitously. The viewpoints of potential applicants, general surgery residents, have not yet been assessed. Their perceptions are crucial to understanding the cause and formulating appropriate changes in our educational system. An initial survey instrument was content-validated, and the final instrument was distributed electronically between March 24 and May 2, 2008 through 251 general surgery program directors to all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited general surgery residents (7508). The response rate was 29% (2153 residents; 89% programs). Respondent's demographics matched existing data; 6% were committed to CTS, and 26% reported prior or current interest in CTS. Interest waned after postgraduate year 3. Interest correlated with CTS rotation duration. Of the respondents committed to CTS, 76% had mentors (71% were cardiothoracic surgeons). CTS had the most shortcomings among 9 subspecialties. Job security and availability accounted for 46% of reported shortcomings (3 to 14 times higher than other subspecialties). Work schedule accounted for 25%. Length of training was not a very important factor, although it was identified as an option to increase interest in CTS. Residents who were undecided or uninterested in CTS were twice as likely to cite the ability to balance work and personal life as important than residents who chose CTS. The dominant concern documented in the survey is job security and availability. The importance of mentorship and exposure to CTS faculty in promoting interest was also evident. Decision makers should consider these findings when planning changes in education and the specialty.

Factors affecting interest in cardiothoracic surgery: survey of North American general surgery residents.

PubMed

Vaporciyan, Ara A; Reed, Carolyn E; Erikson, Clese; Dill, Michael J; Carpenter, Andrea J; Guleserian, Kristine J; Merrill, Walter

2009-05-01

Applications to cardiothoracic surgery (CTS) training programs have declined precipitously. The viewpoints of potential applicants, general surgery residents, have not yet been assessed. Their perceptions are crucial to understanding the cause and formulating appropriate changes in our educational system. An initial survey instrument was content-validated, and the final instrument was distributed electronically between March 24 and May 2, 2008 through 251 general surgery program directors to all Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited general surgery residents (7,508). The response rate was 29% (2153 residents; 89% programs). Respondent's demographics matched existing data; 6% were committed to CTS, and 26% reported prior or current interest in CTS. Interest waned after postgraduate year 3. Interest correlated with CTS rotation duration. Of the respondents committed to CTS, 76% had mentors (71% were cardiothoracic surgeons). CTS had the most shortcomings among 9 subspecialties. Job security and availability accounted for 46% of reported shortcomings (3 to 14 times higher than other subspecialties). Work schedule accounted for 25%. Length of training was not a very important factor, although it was identified as an option to increase interest in CTS. Residents who were undecided or uninterested in CTS were twice as likely to cite the ability to balance work and personal life as important than residents who chose CTS. The dominant concern documented in the survey is job security and availability. The importance of mentorship and exposure to CTS faculty in promoting interest was also evident. Decision makers should consider these findings when planning changes in education and the specialty.

Gut Bacteria Missing in Severe Acute Malnutrition, Can We Identify Potential Probiotics by Culturomics?

PubMed Central

Tidjani Alou, Maryam; Million, Matthieu; Traore, Sory I.; Mouelhi, Donia; Khelaifia, Saber; Bachar, Dipankar; Caputo, Aurelia; Delerce, Jeremy; Brah, Souleymane; Alhousseini, Daouda; Sokhna, Cheikh; Robert, Catherine; Diallo, Bouli A.; Diallo, Aldiouma; Parola, Philippe; Golden, Michael; Lagier, Jean-Christophe

2017-01-01

Severe acute malnutrition is the world-leading cause of children under-five's death. Recent metagenomics studies have established a link between gut microbiota and severe acute malnutrition, describing an immaturity with a striking depletion in oxygen-sensitive prokaryotes. Amoxicillin and therapeutic diet cure most of the children with severe acute malnutrition but an irreversible disruption of the gut microbiota is suspected in the refractory and most severe cases. In these cases, therapeutic diet may be unable to reverse the microbiota alteration leading to persistent impaired development or death. In addition, as enteric sepsis is a major cause of death in this context, identification of missing gut microbes to be tested as probiotics (live bacteria that confer a benefit to the host) to restore rapidly the healthy gut microbiota and prevent the gut pathogenic invasion is of foremost importance. In this study, stool samples of malnourished patients with kwashiorkor and healthy children were collected from Niger and Senegal and analyzed by culturomics and metagenomics. We found a globally decreased diversity, a decrease in the hitherto unknown diversity (new species isolation), a depletion in oxygen-sensitive prokaryotes including Methanobrevibacter smithii and an enrichment in potentially pathogenic Proteobacteria, Fusobacteria and Streptococcus gallolyticus. A complex of 12 species identified only in healthy children using culturomics and metagenomics were identified as probiotics candidates, providing a possible, defined, reproducible, safe, and convenient alternative to fecal transplantation to restore a healthy gut microbiota in malnourished children. Microbiotherapy based on selected strains has the potential to improve the current treatment of severe acute malnutrition and prevent relapse and death by reestablishing a healthy gut microbiota. PMID:28588566

Immunoblotting Quantification Approach for Identifying Potential Hypoallergenic Citrus Cultivars.

PubMed

Wu, Jinlong; Deng, Wenjun; Lin, Dingbo; Deng, Xiuxin; Ma, Zhaocheng

2018-02-28

The inherent allergens of citrus fruits, such as Cit s 1, Cit s 2, Cit s 3 can cause allergic reactions. A better understanding of the genetic factors (cultivar to cultivar) affecting the allergenic potential of citrus fruits would be beneficial for further identification of hypoallergenic genotypes. In the present study, an immunoblotting quantification approach was adopted to assess the potential allergenicity of 21 citrus cultivars, including nine subgroups (tangerine, satsuma, orange, pummelo, grapefruit, lemon, kumquat, tangor, and tangelo). To prepare highly sensitive and specific rabbit polyclonal antibodies, antigenicity of purified rCit s 1.01, rCit s 2.01, and rCit s 3.01 peptides were enhanced with high epitope density in a single protein molecule. The data integration of three citrus allergen quantifications demonstrated that the four pummelo cultivars (Kao Phuang Pummelo, Wanbai Pummelo, Shatian Pummelo, and Guanxi Pummelo) were potential hypoallergenic, compared with other 8 subgroups. Moreover, the immunological analyses with sera of allergic subjects revealed that Shatian Pummelo and Guanxi Pummelo showed the lowest immunoreactivity in 8 representative citrus cultivars. These potential hypoallergenic genotypes are of great significance to not only allergic consumers but also citrus breeders in the genetic improvement of hypoallergenic citrus as breeding resources.

Conflict of Interest in the Evaluation and Dissemination of “Model” School-based Drug and Violence Prevention Programs

PubMed Central

Gorman, Dennis M.; Conde, Eugenia

2010-01-01

Conflict of interest refers to a set of conditions in which professional judgment concerning the validity of research might be influenced by a secondary competing interest. The competing interest that has received most attention in the literature addressing the prevalence and effects of such conflicts on the practice of empirical research has been that of financial relationships between investigators and research sponsors. The potential for conflicts of interest to arise in the evaluation of drug prevention programs was raised by Moskowitz in this journal in 1993, but to date there has been no attempt made to estimate the scope of this problem. The present study addressed this issue using a sample of “model” school-based drug and violence prevention interventions by first, identifying the types or relationships that exist between program developers and program distributors, and, second, by assessing how many of the evaluations of these programs published in peer-reviewed journals had been conducted by the developers of the programs compared to independent evaluation teams. The data presented indicate that there are relatively few published evaluations that do not involve program developers and that there are few instances in which there is complete separation between the program developer and program distributor. Using the open systems model of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Research Integrity as a framework, it is argued that the culture and norms of the program developer and those of the program evaluator are fundamentally distinct and therefore failure to separate these roles produces high potential for conflict of interest to arise. PMID:17945143

Volcanic Centers in the East Africa Rift: Volcanic Processes with Seismic Stresses to Identify Potential Hydrothermal Vents

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Patlan, E.; Wamalwa, A. M.; Kaip, G.; Velasco, A. A.

2015-12-01

The Geothermal Development Company (GDC) in Kenya actively seeks to produce geothermal energy, which lies within the East African Rift System (EARS). The EARS, an active continental rift zone, appears to be a developing tectonic plate boundary and thus, has a number of active as well as dormant volcanoes throughout its extent. These volcanic centers can be used as potential sources for geothermal energy. The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) and the GDC deployed seismic sensors to monitor several volcanic centers: Menengai, Silali, and Paka, and Korosi. We identify microseismic, local events, and tilt like events using automatic detection algorithms and manual review to identify potential local earthquakes within our seismic network. We then perform the double-difference location method of local magnitude less than two to image the boundary of the magma chamber and the conduit feeding the volcanoes. In the process of locating local seismicity, we also identify long-period, explosion, and tremor signals that we interpret as magma passing through conduits of the magma chamber and/or fluid being transported as a function of magma movement or hydrothermal activity. We used waveform inversion and S-wave shear wave splitting to approximate the orientation of the local stresses from the vent or fissure-like conduit of the volcano. The microseismic events and long period events will help us interpret the activity of the volcanoes. Our goal is to investigate basement structures beneath the volcanoes and identify the extent of magmatic modifications of the crust. Overall, these seismic techniques will help us understand magma movement and volcanic processes in the region.

New approaches for identifying and testing potential new anti-asthma agents.

PubMed

Licari, Amelia; Castagnoli, Riccardo; Brambilla, Ilaria; Marseglia, Alessia; Tosca, Maria Angela; Marseglia, Gian Luigi; Ciprandi, Giorgio

2018-01-01

Asthma is a chronic disease with significant heterogeneity in clinical features, disease severity, pattern of underlying disease mechanisms, and responsiveness to specific treatments. While the majority of asthmatic patients are controlled by standard pharmacological strategies, a significant subgroup has limited therapeutic options representing a major unmet need. Ongoing asthma research aims to better characterize distinct clinical phenotypes, molecular endotypes, associated reliable biomarkers, and also to develop a series of new effective targeted treatment modalities. Areas covered: The expanding knowledge on the pathogenetic mechanisms of asthma has allowed researchers to investigate a range of new treatment options matched to patient profiles. The aim of this review is to provide a comprehensive and updated overview of the currently available, new and developing approaches for identifying and testing potential treatment options for asthma management. Expert opinion: Future therapeutic strategies for asthma require the identification of reliable biomarkers that can help with diagnosis and endotyping, in order to determine the most effective drug for the right patient phenotype. Furthermore, in addition to the identification of clinical and inflammatory phenotypes, it is expected that a better understanding of the mechanisms of airway remodeling will likely optimize asthma targeted treatment.

Proteomic profiling identifies the inorganic pyrophosphatase (PPA1) protein as a potential biomarker of metastasis in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma.

PubMed

Bodnar, Magdalena; Luczak, Magdalena; Bednarek, Kinga; Szylberg, Lukasz; Marszalek, Andrzej; Grenman, Reidar; Szyfter, Krzysztof; Jarmuz-Szymczak, Malgorzata; Giefing, Maciej

2016-06-01

Relapse and metastasis are the main causes of unfavorable outcome in head and neck cancers. Whereas, understanding of the molecular background of these processes is far from being complete. Therefore, in this study we aimed to identify potential biomarker candidates of relapse and metastasis in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma (LSCC) by combining the 2D electrophoresis based protein screen and immunohistochemical analysis of candidate proteins. We screened three groups of LSCC cell lines derived from primary tumors, recurrent tumors and metastases and identified seven proteins that differed significantly in relative abundance between the analyzed groups. Among the identified proteins were the heat shock proteins HSP60 and HSP70 that were significantly downregulated both in recurrences- and metastases-derived cell lines but not in primary tumor-derived cell lines. Moreover, we identified significant upregulation of the annexin V, calreticulin and the inorganic pyrophosphatase (PPA1) exclusively in the metastases-derived cell lines. As these upregulated proteins could potentially become novel biomarkers of metastasis, we have compared their abundance in primary tumor LSCC N(0) cases, primary tumor LSCC N(+) cases as well as in LSCC metastases N(+). Our results show an intense increase of cytoplasmic PPA1 abundance in the N(+) (p = 0.000042) compared to the N(0) group. In summary, we show a group of proteins deregulated in recurrences and metastases of LSCC. Moreover, we suggest the PPA1 protein as a potential new biomarker for metastasis in this cancer.

Identifying key areas of ecosystem services potential to improve ecological management in Chongqing City, southwest China.

PubMed

Xiao, Yang; Xiao, Qiang

2018-03-29

Because natural ecosystems and ecosystem services (ES) are both critical to the well-being of humankind, it is important to understand their relationships and congruence for conservation planning. Spatial conservation planning is required to set focused preservation priorities and to assess future ecological implications. This study uses the combined measures of ES models and ES potential to estimate and analyze all four groups of ecosystem services to generate opportunities to maximize ecosystem services. Subsequently, we identify the key areas of conservation priorities as future forestation and conservation hotspot zones to improve the ecological management in Chongqing City, located in the upper reaches of the Three Gorges Reservoir Area, China. Results show that ecosystem services potential is extremely obvious. Compared to ecosystem services from 2000, we determined that soil conservation could be increased by 59.11%, carbon sequestration by 129.51%, water flow regulation by 83.42%, and water purification by 84.42%. According to our prioritization results, approximately 48% of area converted to forests exhibited high improvements in all ecosystem services (categorized as hotspot-1, hotspot-2, and hotspot-3). The hotspots identified in this study can be used as an excellent surrogate for evaluation ecological engineering benefits and can be effectively applied in improving ecological management planning.

A proposed approach may help systematic reviews retain needed expertise while minimizing bias from nonfinancial conflicts of interest.

PubMed

Viswanathan, Meera; Carey, Timothy S; Belinson, Suzanne E; Berliner, Elise; Chang, Stephanie M; Graham, Elaine; Guise, Jeanne-Marie; Ip, Stanley; Maglione, Margaret A; McCrory, Douglas C; McPheeters, Melissa; Newberry, Sydne J; Sista, Priyanka; White, C Michael

2014-11-01

Groups such as the Institute of Medicine emphasize the importance of attention to financial conflicts of interest. Little guidance exists, however, on managing the risk of bias for systematic reviews from nonfinancial conflicts of interest. We sought to create practical guidance on ensuring adequate clinical or content expertise while maintaining independence of judgment on systematic review teams. Workgroup members built on existing guidance from international and domestic institutions on managing conflicts of interest. We then developed practical guidance in the form of an instrument for each potential source of conflict. We modified the Institute of Medicine's definition of conflict of interest to arrive at a definition specific to nonfinancial conflicts. We propose questions for funders and systematic review principal investigators to evaluate the risk of nonfinancial conflicts of interest. Once risks have been identified, options for managing conflicts include disclosure followed by no change in the systematic review team or activities, inclusion on the team along with other members with differing viewpoints to ensure diverse perspectives, exclusion from certain activities, and exclusion from the project entirely. The feasibility and utility of this approach to ensuring needed expertise on systematic reviews and minimizing bias from nonfinancial conflicts of interest must be investigated. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A NEW HIGH RESOLUTION MASS SPECTROMETRY TECHNIQUE FOR IDENTIFYING PHARMACEUTICALS AND POTENTIAL ENDOCRINE DISRUPTORS IN DRINKING WATER SOURCES

EPA Science Inventory

A New High Resolution Mass Spectrometry Technique for Identifying Pharmaceuticals and Potential Endocrine Disruptors in Drinking Water Sources

Andrew H. Grange and G. Wayne Sovocool U.S.EPA, ORD, NERL, ESD, ECB, P.O. Box 93478, Las Vegas, NV 891933478

Mass spectra...

Electrophysiological measurement of interest during walking in a simulated environment.

PubMed

Takeda, Yuji; Okuma, Takashi; Kimura, Motohiro; Kurata, Takeshi; Takenaka, Takeshi; Iwaki, Sunao

2014-09-01

A reliable neuroscientific technique for objectively estimating the degree of interest in a real environment is currently required in the research fields of neuroergonomics and neuroeconomics. Toward the development of such a technique, the present study explored electrophysiological measures that reflect an observer's interest in a nearly-real visual environment. Participants were asked to walk through a simulated shopping mall and the attractiveness of the shopping mall was manipulated by opening and closing the shutters of stores. During the walking task, participants were exposed to task-irrelevant auditory probes (two-stimulus oddball sequence). The results showed a smaller P2/early P3a component of task-irrelevant auditory event-related potentials and a larger lambda response of eye-fixation-related potentials in an interesting environment (i.e., open-shutter condition) than in a boring environment (i.e., closed-shutter condition); these findings can be reasonably explained by supposing that participants allocated more attentional resources to visual information in an interesting environment than in a boring environment, and thus residual attentional resources that could be allocated to task-irrelevant auditory probes were reduced. The P2/early P3a component and the lambda response may be useful measures of interest in a real visual environment. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

In Silico Screening-Level Prioritization of 8468 Chemicals Produced in OECD Countries to Identify Potential Planetary Boundary Threats.

PubMed

Reppas-Chrysovitsinos, Efstathios; Sobek, Anna; MacLeod, Matthew

2018-01-01

Legislation such as the Stockholm Convention and REACH aim to identify and regulate the production and use of chemicals that qualify as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) and very persistent and very bioaccumulative (vPvB) chemicals, respectively. Recently, a series of studies on planetary boundary threats proposed seven chemical hazard profiles that are distinct from the POP and vPvB profiles. We previously defined two exposure-based hazard profiles; airborne persistent contaminants (APCs) and waterborne persistent contaminants (WPCs) that correspond to two profiles of chemicals that are planetary boundary threats. Here, we extend our method to screen a database of chemicals consisting of 8648 substances produced within the OECD countries. We propose a new scoring scheme to disentangle the POP, vPvB, APC and WPC profiles by focusing on the spatial range of exposure potential, discuss the relationship between high exposure hazard and elemental composition of chemicals, and identify chemicals with high exposure hazard potential.

Interest in Science: A RIASEC-Based Analysis of Students' Interests

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dierks, Pay O.; Höffler, Tim N.; Blankenburg, Janet S.; Peters, Heide; Parchmann, Ilka

2016-01-01

Considering the reported lack of interest in the STEM-domain and the consequential difficulties in recruiting talented and interested young academics, the development of effective enrichment measures is indispensable. This requires a precise picture of students' interests. The paper presents an approach to characterize interest profiles in…

Interest in Biology: A Developmental Shift Characterized Using Self-Generated Questions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet; Yarden, Anat

2007-01-01

Identifying students' interests in biology can play an important role in improving existing curricula to meet their needs. An analysis of 1,751 self-generated biological questions raised by children, adolescents, and adults yielded data regarding the different age groups' interests in biology. Research limitations and applications for teaching are…

The declining interest in an academic career

PubMed Central

Sauermann, Henry

2017-01-01

There is increasing evidence that science & engineering PhD students lose interest in an academic career over the course of graduate training. It is not clear, however, whether this decline reflects students being discouraged from pursuing an academic career by the challenges of obtaining a faculty job or whether it reflects more fundamental changes in students’ career goals for reasons other than the academic labor market. We examine this question using a longitudinal survey that follows a cohort of PhD students from 39 U.S. research universities over the course of graduate training to document changes in career preferences and to explore potential drivers of such changes. We report two main results. First, although the vast majority of students start the PhD interested in an academic research career, over time 55% of all students remain interested while 25% lose interest entirely. In addition, 15% of all students were never interested in an academic career during their PhD program, while 5% become more interested. Thus, the declining interest in an academic career is not a general phenomenon across all PhD students, but rather reflects a divergence between those students who remain highly interested in an academic career and other students who are no longer interested in one. Second, we show that the decline we observe is not driven by expectations of academic job availability, nor by related factors such as postdoctoral requirements or the availability of research funding. Instead, the decline appears partly due to the misalignment between students’ changing preferences for specific job attributes on the one hand, and the nature of the academic research career itself on the other. Changes in students’ perceptions of their own research ability also play a role, while publications do not. We discuss implications for scientific labor markets, PhD career development programs, and science policy. PMID:28922403

The declining interest in an academic career.

PubMed

Roach, Michael; Sauermann, Henry

2017-01-01

There is increasing evidence that science & engineering PhD students lose interest in an academic career over the course of graduate training. It is not clear, however, whether this decline reflects students being discouraged from pursuing an academic career by the challenges of obtaining a faculty job or whether it reflects more fundamental changes in students' career goals for reasons other than the academic labor market. We examine this question using a longitudinal survey that follows a cohort of PhD students from 39 U.S. research universities over the course of graduate training to document changes in career preferences and to explore potential drivers of such changes. We report two main results. First, although the vast majority of students start the PhD interested in an academic research career, over time 55% of all students remain interested while 25% lose interest entirely. In addition, 15% of all students were never interested in an academic career during their PhD program, while 5% become more interested. Thus, the declining interest in an academic career is not a general phenomenon across all PhD students, but rather reflects a divergence between those students who remain highly interested in an academic career and other students who are no longer interested in one. Second, we show that the decline we observe is not driven by expectations of academic job availability, nor by related factors such as postdoctoral requirements or the availability of research funding. Instead, the decline appears partly due to the misalignment between students' changing preferences for specific job attributes on the one hand, and the nature of the academic research career itself on the other. Changes in students' perceptions of their own research ability also play a role, while publications do not. We discuss implications for scientific labor markets, PhD career development programs, and science policy.

Identifying potential markers in Breast Cancer subtypes using plasma label-free proteomics.

PubMed

Corrêa, Stephany; Panis, Carolina; Binato, Renata; Herrera, Ana Cristina; Pizzatti, Luciana; Abdelhay, Eliana

2017-01-16

Breast Cancer (BC) is the most common neoplasia among women and has a high mortality rate worldwide. Over the past several decades, increasing molecular knowledge of BC has resulted in its stratification into 4 major molecular subtypes according to hormonal receptor expression. Unfortunately, although the data accumulated thus far has improved BC prognosis and treatment, there have been few achievements in its diagnosis. In this study, we applied a Label-free Nano-LC/MSMS approach to reveal systemic molecular features and possible plasma markers for BC patients. Compared to healthy control plasma donors, we identified 191, 166, 182, and 186 differentially expressed proteins in the Luminal, Lumina-HER2, HER2, and TN subtypes. In silico analysis demonstrated an overall downregulation of cellular basal machinery and, more importantly, brought new focus to the known pathways and signaling molecules in BC that are related to immune system alterations. Moreover, using western blot analysis, we verified high levels of BCAS3, IRX1, IRX4 and IRX5 in BC plasma samples, thus highlighting the potential use of plasma proteomics in investigations into cancer biomarkers. The results of this study provide new insight into Breast Cancer (BC). We determined the plasma proteomic profile of BC subtypes. Furthermore, we report that the signaling pathways correlating with late processes in BC already exhibit plasma alterations in less aggressive subtypes. Additionally, we validated the high levels of particular proteins in patient samples, which suggests the use of these proteins as potential disease markers.

Using Achievement Goals and Interest to Predict Learning in Physical Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shen, Bo; Chen, Ang; Guan, Jianmin

2007-01-01

On the basis of an integrated theoretical approach to achievement motivation, the authors designed this study to investigate the potential influence of mastery goal, performance-approach and avoidance-approach goals, individual interest, and situational interest on students' learning in a physical education softball unit. The authors collected and…

Molecular analysis of faecal samples from birds to identify potential crop pests and useful biocontrol agents in natural areas.

PubMed

King, R A; Symondson, W O C; Thomas, R J

2015-06-01

Wild habitats adjoining farmland are potentially valuable sources of natural enemies, but also of pests. Here we tested the utility of birds as 'sampling devices', to identify the diversity of prey available to predators and particularly to screen for pests and natural enemies using natural ecosystems as refugia. Here we used PCR to amplify prey DNA from three sympatric songbirds foraging on small invertebrates in Phragmites reedbed ecosystems, namely the Reed Warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus), Sedge Warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus) and Cetti's Warbler (Cettia cetti). A recently described general invertebrate primer pair was used for the first time to analyse diets. Amplicons were cloned and sequenced, then identified by reference to the Barcoding of Life Database and to our own sequences obtained from fresh invertebrates. Forty-five distinct prey DNA sequences were obtained from 11 faecal samples, of which 39 could be identified to species or genus. Targeting three warbler species ensured that species-specific differences in prey choice broadened the range of prey taken. Amongst the prey found in reedbeds were major pests (including the tomato moth Lacanobia oleracea) as well as many potentially valuable natural enemies including aphidophagous hoverflies and braconid wasps. Given the mobility of birds, this approach provides a practical way of sampling a whole habitat at once, providing growers with information on possible invasion by locally resident pests and the colonization potential of natural enemies from local natural habitats.

Applying Silvia's Model of Interest to Academic Text: Is There a Third Appraisal?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Connelly, Daniel A.

2011-01-01

Recent research, treating interest as an emotion, indicates the cognitive appraisals of novelty-complexity and coping potential predict interest. This appraisal-based model of interest has not yet been applied to educational research. The present study evaluated the significance of the model regarding the activity of reading expository,…

Death and best interests: a response to the legal challenge

PubMed Central

Baines, Paul

2010-01-01

In an earlier paper I argued that we do not have an objective conception of best interests and that this is a particular problem because the courts describe that they use an ‘…objective approach or test. That test is the best interests of the patient’ when choosing for children. I further argued that there was no obvious way in which we could hope to develop an objective notion of best interests. As well as this, I argued that a best-interest-based approach was a particular problem around the time of death of some children. A response from a legal perspective argued that, while there is not a clear conception of objective best interests, the courts have a well-described approach to finding a child's objective best interests. In this paper, I argue that without clear agreement on an objective conception of best interests, the courts are unable to locate an objective sense of best interests and that the solutions do not solve the problems that were identified in the initial paper ‘Death and best interests’. PMID:21666740

EPA's Revised Interim Financial Assistance Conflict of Interest Policy

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

EPA has established the following revised interim policy governing disclosure of actual and potential conflicts of interest (COI Policy) by applicants for, and recipients of, federal financial assistance awards from EPA.

The in vitro real-time oscillation monitoring system identifies potential entrainment factors for circadian clocks

PubMed Central

Nakahata, Yasukazu; Akashi, Makoto; Trcka, Daniel; Yasuda, Akio; Takumi, Toru

2006-01-01

Background Circadian rhythms are endogenous, self-sustained oscillations with approximately 24-hr rhythmicity that are manifested in various physiological and metabolic processes. The circadian organization of these processes in mammals is governed by the master oscillator within the suprachiasmatic nuclei (SCN) of the hypothalamus. Recent findings revealed that circadian oscillators exist in most organs, tissues, and even in immortalized cells, and that the oscillators in peripheral tissues are likely to be coordinated by SCN, the master oscillator. Some candidates for endogenous entrainment factors have sporadically been reported, however, their details remain mainly obscure. Results We developed the in vitro real-time oscillation monitoring system (IV-ROMS) by measuring the activity of luciferase coupled to the oscillatory gene promoter using photomultiplier tubes and applied this system to screen and identify factors able to influence circadian rhythmicity. Using this IV-ROMS as the primary screening of entrainment factors for circadian clocks, we identified 12 candidates as the potential entrainment factor in a total of 299 peptides and bioactive lipids. Among them, four candidates (endothelin-1, all-trans retinoic acid, 9-cis retinoic acid, and 13-cis retinoic acid) have already been reported as the entrainment factors in vivo and in vitro. We demonstrated that one of the novel candidates, 15-deoxy-Δ12,14-prostaglandin J2 (15d-PGJ2), a natural ligand of the peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPAR-γ), triggers the rhythmic expression of endogenous clock genes in NIH3T3 cells. Furthermore, we showed that 15d-PGJ2 transiently induces Cry1, Cry2, and Rorα mRNA expressions and that 15d-PGJ2-induced entrainment signaling pathway is PPAR-γ – and MAPKs (ERK, JNK, p38MAPK)-independent. Conclusion Here, we identified 15d-PGJ2 as an entrainment factor in vitro. Using our developed IV-ROMS to screen 299 compounds, we found eight novel and four known

Frequency and Type of Conflicts of Interest in the Peer Review of Basic Biomedical Research Funding Applications: Self-Reporting Versus Manual Detection.

PubMed

Gallo, Stephen A; Lemaster, Michael; Glisson, Scott R

2016-02-01

Despite the presumed frequency of conflicts of interest in scientific peer review, there is a paucity of data in the literature reporting on the frequency and type of conflicts that occur, particularly with regard to the peer review of basic science applications. To address this gap, the American Institute of Biological Sciences (AIBS) conducted a retrospective analysis of conflict of interest data from the peer review of 282 biomedical research applications via several onsite review panels. The overall conflicted-ness of these panels was significantly lower than that reported for regulatory review. In addition, the majority of identified conflicts were institutional or collaborative in nature. No direct financial conflicts were identified, although this is likely due to the relatively basic science nature of the research. It was also found that 65 % of identified conflicts were manually detected by AIBS staff searching reviewer CVs and application documents, with the remaining 35 % resulting from self-reporting. The lack of self-reporting may be in part attributed to a lack of perceived risk of the conflict. This result indicates that many potential conflicts go unreported in peer review, underscoring the importance of improving detection methods and standardizing the reporting of reviewer and applicant conflict of interest information.

Parents' interest in whole-genome sequencing of newborns.

PubMed

Goldenberg, Aaron J; Dodson, Daniel S; Davis, Matthew M; Tarini, Beth A

2014-01-01

The aim of this study was to assess parents' interest in whole-genome sequencing for newborns. We conducted a survey of a nationally representative sample of 1,539 parents about their interest in whole-genome sequencing of newborns. Participants were randomly presented with one of two scenarios that differed in the venue of testing: one offered whole-genome sequencing through a state newborn screening program, whereas the other offered whole-genome sequencing in a pediatrician's office. Overall interest in having future newborns undergo whole-genome sequencing was generally high among parents. If whole-genome sequencing were offered through a state's newborn-screening program, 74% of parents were either definitely or somewhat interested in utilizing this technology. If offered in a pediatrician's office, 70% of parents were either definitely or somewhat interested. Parents in both groups most frequently identified test accuracy and the ability to prevent a child from developing a disease as "very important" in making a decision to have a newborn's whole genome sequenced. These data may help health departments and children's health-care providers anticipate parents' level of interest in genomic screening for newborns. As whole-genome sequencing is integrated into clinical and public health services, these findings may inform the development of educational strategies and outreach messages for parents.

Bayesian inference to identify parameters in viscoelasticity

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rappel, Hussein; Beex, Lars A. A.; Bordas, Stéphane P. A.

2017-08-01

This contribution discusses Bayesian inference (BI) as an approach to identify parameters in viscoelasticity. The aims are: (i) to show that the prior has a substantial influence for viscoelasticity, (ii) to show that this influence decreases for an increasing number of measurements and (iii) to show how different types of experiments influence the identified parameters and their uncertainties. The standard linear solid model is the material description of interest and a relaxation test, a constant strain-rate test and a creep test are the tensile experiments focused on. The experimental data are artificially created, allowing us to make a one-to-one comparison between the input parameters and the identified parameter values. Besides dealing with the aforementioned issues, we believe that this contribution forms a comprehensible start for those interested in applying BI in viscoelasticity.

Exome Sequencing Identifies Potential Risk Variants for Mendelian Disorders at High Prevalence in Qatar

PubMed Central

Rodriguez-Flores, Juan L.; Fakhro, Khalid; Hackett, Neil R.; Salit, Jacqueline; Fuller, Jennifer; Agosto-Perez, Francisco; Gharbiah, Maey; Malek, Joel A.; Zirie, Mahmoud; Jayyousi, Amin; Badii, Ramin; Al-Marri, Ajayeb Al-Nabet; Chouchane, Lotfi; Stadler, Dora J.; Hunter-Zinck, Haley; Mezey, Jason G.; Crystal, Ronald G.

2013-01-01

Exome sequencing of families of related individuals has been highly successful in identifying genetic polymorphisms responsible for Mendelian disorders. Here, we demonstrate the value of the reverse approach, where we use exome sequencing of a sample of unrelated individuals to analyze allele frequencies of known causal mutations for Mendelian diseases. We sequenced the exomes of 100 individuals representing the three major genetic subgroups of the Qatari population (Q1 Bedouin, Q2 Persian-South Asian, Q3 African) and identified 37 variants in 33 genes with effects on 36 clinically significant Mendelian diseases. These include variants not present in 1000 Genomes and variants at high frequency when compared to 1000 Genomes populations. Several of these Mendelian variants were only segregating in one Qatari subpopulation, where the observed subpopulation specificity trends were confirmed in an independent population of 386 Qataris. Pre-marital genetic screening in Qatar tests for only 4 out of the 37, such that this study provides a set of Mendelian disease variants with potential impact on the epidemiological profile of the population that could be incorporated into the testing program if further experimental and clinical characterization confirms high penetrance. PMID:24123366

An overview of confounding. Part 2: how to identify it and special situations.

PubMed

Howards, Penelope P

2018-04-01

Confounding biases study results when the effect of the exposure on the outcome mixes with the effects of other risk and protective factors for the outcome that are present differentially by exposure status. However, not all differences between the exposed and unexposed group cause confounding. Thus, sources of confounding must be identified before they can be addressed. Confounding is absent in an ideal study where all of the population of interest is exposed in one universe and is unexposed in a parallel universe. In an actual study, an observed unexposed population represents the unobserved parallel universe. Thinking about differences between this substitute population and the unexposed parallel universe helps identify sources of confounding. These differences can then be represented in a diagram that shows how risk and protective factors for the outcome are related to the exposure. Sources of confounding identified in the diagram should be addressed analytically and through study design. However, treating all factors that differ by exposure status as confounders without considering the structure of their relation to the exposure can introduce bias. For example, conditions affected by the exposure are not confounders. There are also special types of confounding, such as time-varying confounding and unfixable confounding. It is important to evaluate carefully whether factors of interest contribute to confounding because bias can be introduced both by ignoring potential confounders and by adjusting for factors that are not confounders. The resulting bias can result in misleading conclusions about the effect of the exposure of interest on the outcome. © 2018 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

31 CFR 31.211 - Organizational conflicts of interest.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-07-01

... prevent unauthorized people from learning nonpublic information relating to the arrangement and isolate key individuals from learning how their performance under the arrangement could affect the financial... report any potential organizational conflict of interest. Within five (5) business days after learning of...

Integration analysis of quantitative proteomics and transcriptomics data identifies potential targets of frizzled-8 protein-related antiproliferative factor in vivo.

PubMed

Yang, Wei; Kim, Yongsoo; Kim, Taek-Kyun; Keay, Susan K; Kim, Kwang Pyo; Steen, Hanno; Freeman, Michael R; Hwang, Daehee; Kim, Jayoung

2012-12-01

What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? Interstitial cystitis (IC) is a prevalent and debilitating pelvic disorder generally accompanied by chronic pain combined with chronic urinating problems. Over one million Americans are affected, especially middle-aged women. However, its aetiology or mechanism remains unclear. No efficient drug has been provided to patients. Several urinary biomarker candidates have been identified for IC; among the most promising is antiproliferative factor (APF), whose biological activity is detectable in urine specimens from >94% of patients with both ulcerative and non-ulcerative IC. The present study identified several important mediators of the effect of APF on bladder cell physiology, suggesting several candidate drug targets against IC. In an attempt to identify potential proteins and genes regulated by APF in vivo, and to possibly expand the APF-regulated network identified by stable isotope labelling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC), we performed an integration analysis of our own SILAC data and the microarray data of Gamper et al. (2009) BMC Genomics 10: 199. Notably, two of the proteins (i.e. MAPKSP1 and GSPT1) that are down-regulated by APF are involved in the activation of mTORC1, suggesting that the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) pathway is potentially a critical pathway regulated by APF in vivo. Several components of the mTOR pathway are currently being studied as potential therapeutic targets in other diseases. Our analysis suggests that this pathway might also be relevant in the design of diagnostic tools and medications targeting IC. • To enhance our understanding of the interstitial cystitis urine biomarker antiproliferative factor (APF), as well as interstitial cystitis biology more generally at the systems level, we reanalyzed recently published large-scale quantitative proteomics and in vivo transcriptomics data sets using an integration analysis tool that we have developed. • To

Career Interests of Canadian Psychiatry Residents: What Makes Residents Choose a Research Career?

PubMed Central

Laliberté, Vincent; Rapoport, Mark J.; Andrew, Melissa; Davidson, Marla

2016-01-01

Objectives: Training future clinician-researchers remains a challenge faced by Canadian psychiatry departments. Our objectives were to determine the prevalence of residents interested in pursuing research and other career options as part of their practice, and to identify the factors associated with interest in research. Method: Data from a national online survey of 207 Canadian psychiatry residents from a total of 853 (24.3% response rate) were examined. The main outcome was interest in research as part of residents’ future psychiatrist practice. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify demographic and vocational variables associated with research interest. Results: Interest in research decreases by 76% between the first and fifth year of psychiatry residency (OR 0.76 per year, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.97). Training in a department with a residency research track did not correlate with increased research interest (χ2 = 0.007, df = 1, P = 0.93). Conclusions: Exposing and engaging psychiatry residents in research as early as possible in residency training appears key to promoting future research interest. Psychiatry residency programs and research tracks could consider emphasizing research training initiatives and protected research time early in residency. PMID:27253699

Career Interests of Canadian Psychiatry Residents: What Makes Residents Choose a Research Career?

PubMed

Laliberté, Vincent; Rapoport, Mark J; Andrew, Melissa; Davidson, Marla; Rej, Soham

2016-02-01

Training future clinician-researchers remains a challenge faced by Canadian psychiatry departments. Our objectives were to determine the prevalence of residents interested in pursuing research and other career options as part of their practice, and to identify the factors associated with interest in research. Data from a national online survey of 207 Canadian psychiatry residents from a total of 853 (24.3% response rate) were examined. The main outcome was interest in research as part of residents' future psychiatrist practice. Bivariate and multivariate analyses were performed to identify demographic and vocational variables associated with research interest. Interest in research decreases by 76% between the first and fifth year of psychiatry residency (OR 0.76 per year, 95% CI 0.60 to 0.97). Training in a department with a residency research track did not correlate with increased research interest (χ2 = 0.007, df = 1, P = 0.93). Exposing and engaging psychiatry residents in research as early as possible in residency training appears key to promoting future research interest. Psychiatry residency programs and research tracks could consider emphasizing research training initiatives and protected research time early in residency. © The Author(s) 2015.

Conflicts of interest in translational research

PubMed Central

Parks, Malcolm R; Disis, Mary L

2004-01-01

Translational research requires a team approach to scientific inquiry and product development. Translational research teams consist of basic and clinical scientists who can be members of both academic and industrial communities. The conception, pre-clinical testing, and clinical evaluation of a diagnostic or therapeutic approach demands an intense interaction between investigators with diverse backgrounds. As the barriers between industry and academia are removed, issues of potential conflict of interest become more complex. Translational researchers must become aware of the situations which constitute conflict of interest and understand how such conflicts can impact their research programs. Finally, the translational research community must participate in the dialogue ongoing in the public and private sectors and help shape the rules that will govern conflicts that arise during the evolution of their research programs. PMID:15301694

Vocational Interests and Big Five Traits as Predictors of Job Instability

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wille, Bart; De Fruyt, Filip; Feys, Marjolein

2010-01-01

Although empirical research on this topic is scarce, personality traits and vocational interests have repeatedly been named as potential individual level predictors of job change. Using a long-term cohort study (N = 291), we examined RIASEC interest profiles and Big Five personality scores at the beginning of the professional career as predictors…

Clonal analyses and gene profiling identify genetic biomarkers of the thermogenic potential of human brown and white preadipocytes.

PubMed

Xue, Ruidan; Lynes, Matthew D; Dreyfuss, Jonathan M; Shamsi, Farnaz; Schulz, Tim J; Zhang, Hongbin; Huang, Tian Lian; Townsend, Kristy L; Li, Yiming; Takahashi, Hirokazu; Weiner, Lauren S; White, Andrew P; Lynes, Maureen S; Rubin, Lee L; Goodyear, Laurie J; Cypess, Aaron M; Tseng, Yu-Hua

2015-07-01

Targeting brown adipose tissue (BAT) content or activity has therapeutic potential for treating obesity and the metabolic syndrome by increasing energy expenditure. However, both inter- and intra-individual differences contribute to heterogeneity in human BAT and potentially to differential thermogenic capacity in human populations. Here we generated clones of brown and white preadipocytes from human neck fat and characterized their adipogenic and thermogenic differentiation. We combined an uncoupling protein 1 (UCP1) reporter system and expression profiling to define novel sets of gene signatures in human preadipocytes that could predict the thermogenic potential of the cells once they were maturated. Knocking out the positive UCP1 regulators, PREX1 and EDNRB, in brown preadipocytes using CRISPR-Cas9 markedly abolished the high level of UCP1 in brown adipocytes differentiated from the preadipocytes. Finally, we were able to prospectively isolate adipose progenitors with great thermogenic potential using the cell surface marker CD29. These data provide new insights into the cellular heterogeneity in human fat and offer potential biomarkers for identifying thermogenically competent preadipocytes.

Hydro-geomorphic connectivity and landslide features extraction to identifying potential threats and hazardous areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tarolli, Paolo; Fuller, Ian C.; Basso, Federica; Cavalli, Marco; Sofia, Giulia

2017-04-01

Hydro-geomorphic connectivity has significantly emerged as a new concept to understand the transfer of surface water and sediment through landscapes. A further scientific challenge is determining how the concept can be used to enable sustainable land and water management. This research proposes an interesting approach to integrating remote sensing techniques, connectivity theory, and geomorphometry based on high-resolution digital terrain model (HR-DTMs) to automatically extract landslides crowns and gully erosion, to determine the different rate of connectivity among the main extracted features and the river network, and thus determine a possible categorization of hazardous areas. The study takes place in two mountainous regions in the Wellington Region (New Zealand). The methodology is a three step approach. Firstly, we performed an automatic detection of the likely landslides crowns through the use of thresholds obtained by the statistical analysis of the variability of landform curvature. After that, the research considered the Connectivity Index to analyse how a complex and rugged topography induces large variations in erosion and sediment delivery in the two catchments. Lastly, the two methods have been integrated to create a unique procedure able to classify the different rate of connectivity among the main features and the river network and thus identifying potential threats and hazardous areas. The methodology is fast, and it can produce a detailed and updated inventory map that could be a key tool for erosional and sediment delivery hazard mitigation. This fast and simple method can be a useful tool to manage emergencies giving priorities to more failure-prone zones. Furthermore, it could be considered to do a preliminary interpretations of geomorphological phenomena and more in general, it could be the base to develop inventory maps. References Cavalli M, Trevisani S, Comiti F, Marchi L. 2013. Geomorphometric assessment of spatial sediment connectivity

New probiotic strains for inflammatory bowel disease management identified by combining in vitro and in vivo approaches.

PubMed

Alard, J; Peucelle, V; Boutillier, D; Breton, J; Kuylle, S; Pot, B; Holowacz, S; Grangette, C

2018-02-27

Alterations in the gut microbiota composition play a key role in the development of chronic diseases such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The potential use of probiotics therefore gained attention, although outcomes were sometimes conflicting and results largely strain-dependent. The present study aimed to identify new probiotic strains that have a high potential for the management of this type of pathologies. Strains were selected from a large collection by combining different in vitro and in vivo approaches, addressing both anti-inflammatory potential and ability to improve the gut barrier function. We identified six strains with an interesting anti-inflammatory profile on peripheral blood mononuclear cells and with the ability to restore the gut barrier using a gut permeability model based on Caco-2 cells sensitized with hydrogen peroxide. The in vivo evaluation in two 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid-induced murine models of colitis highlighted that some of the strains exhibited beneficial activities against acute colitis while others improved chronic colitis. Bifidobacterium bifidum PI22, the strain that exhibited the most protective capacities against acute colitis was only slightly efficacious against chronic colitis, while Bifidobacterium lactis LA804 which was less efficacious in the acute model was the most protective against chronic colitis. Lactobacillus helveticus PI5 was not anti-inflammatory in vitro but the best in strengthening the epithelial barrier and as such able to significantly dampen murine acute colitis. Interestingly, Lactobacillus salivarius LA307 protected mice significantly against both types of colitis. This work provides crucial clues for selecting the best strains for more efficacious therapeutic approaches in the management of chronic inflammatory diseases. The strategy employed allowed us to identify four strains with different characteristics and a high potential for the management of inflammatory diseases, such as IBD.

76 FR 51125 - Additional Identifying Information Associated With Persons Whose Property and Interests in...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-08-17

... Transnational Criminal Organizations.'' FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Assistant Director, Sanctions... DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY Office of Foreign Assets Control Additional Identifying Information... 13581of July 24, 2011, ``Blocking Property of Transnational Criminal Organizations.'' AGENCY: Office of...

Interest and use of mental health and specialty behavioral medicine counseling in US primary care patients.

PubMed

Baron, Kelly G; Lattie, Emily; Ho, Joyce; Mohr, David C

2013-03-01

Counseling interventions have the potential to improve health and quality of life for primary care patients, but there are few studies describing the interest in and utilization of counseling among this patient population in the USA. The purpose of the study was to evaluate interest in mental health and specialty behavioral medicine counseling and predictors of utilization over 1 year among US primary care patients. Participants in this two-survey longitudinal study included 658 primary care patients in an urban US academic medical center (461 females, age M = 51.05, SD = 15.46 years). Retention rate was 61.2% at survey 2. Patient demographics, depression, anxiety, and interest in counseling services were assessed through a survey mailed 1 week following an outpatient appointment. Respondents to survey 1 were re-contacted 1 year later to assess. Interest and use of the following counseling services were evaluated in the relevant subgroups: mental health (the entire sample and patients with elevated anxiety and/or depression), health/lifestyle (overweight and obese participants), smoking cessation (current and occasional smokers), and pain management (participants with elevated daily pain ratings). At survey 1, 45.7% of the sample reported interest in mental health counseling, and 58.9% of the sample reported interest in behavioral medicine counseling. Among overweight or obese participants, 59.9% were interested in health/lifestyle counseling. Among smokers, 55.3% were interested in smoking cessation, and among participants with chronic pain, 33.8% were interest in pain management. Rates of utilization of services at survey 2 were 21.3% for mental health, 7.7% for health/lifestyle, 6.7% for smoking cessation, and 6.6% for pain management. Interest in receiving services at survey 1 was the strongest predictor of utilization. Results demonstrate high interest but low utilization over 1 year among US primary care patients. Identifying patients interested in

Ligand- and structure-based in silico studies to identify kinesin spindle protein (KSP) inhibitors as potential anticancer agents.

PubMed

Balakumar, Chandrasekaran; Ramesh, Muthusamy; Tham, Chuin Lean; Khathi, Samukelisiwe Pretty; Kozielski, Frank; Srinivasulu, Cherukupalli; Hampannavar, Girish A; Sayyad, Nisar; Soliman, Mahmoud E; Karpoormath, Rajshekhar

2017-11-29

Kinesin spindle protein (KSP) belongs to the kinesin superfamily of microtubule-based motor proteins. KSP is responsible for the establishment of the bipolar mitotic spindle which mediates cell division. Inhibition of KSP expedites the blockade of the normal cell cycle during mitosis through the generation of monoastral MT arrays that finally cause apoptotic cell death. As KSP is highly expressed in proliferating/cancer cells, it has gained considerable attention as a potential drug target for cancer chemotherapy. Therefore, this study envisaged to design novel KSP inhibitors by employing computational techniques/tools such as pharmacophore modelling, virtual database screening, molecular docking and molecular dynamics. Initially, the pharmacophore models were generated from the data-set of highly potent KSP inhibitors and the pharmacophore models were validated against in house test set ligands. The validated pharmacophore model was then taken for database screening (Maybridge and ChemBridge) to yield hits, which were further filtered for their drug-likeliness. The potential hits retrieved from virtual database screening were docked using CDOCKER to identify the ligand binding landscape. The top-ranked hits obtained from molecular docking were progressed to molecular dynamics (AMBER) simulations to deduce the ligand binding affinity. This study identified MB-41570 and CB-10358 as potential hits and evaluated these experimentally using in vitro KSP ATPase inhibition assays.

Geospatial analysis identifies critical mineral-resource potential in Alaska

USGS Publications Warehouse

Karl, Susan M.; Labay, Keith A.; Jacques, Katherine; Landowski, Claire

2017-03-03

Alaska consists of more than 663,000 square miles (1,717,000 square kilometers) of land—more than a sixth of the total area of the United States—and large tracts of it have not been systematically studied or sampled for mineral-resource potential. Many regions of the State are known to have significant mineral-resource potential, and there are currently six operating mines in the State along with numerous active mineral exploration projects. The U.S. Geological Survey and the Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys have developed a new geospatial tool that integrates and analyzes publicly available databases of geologic information and estimates the mineral-resource potential for critical minerals, which was recently used to evaluate Alaska. The results of the analyses highlight areas that have known mineral deposits and also reveal areas that were not previously considered to be prospective for these deposit types. These results will inform land management decisions by Federal, State, and private landholders, and will also help guide future exploration activities and scientific investigations in Alaska.

A systematic review of the factors predicting the interest in cosmetic plastic surgery.

PubMed

Milothridis, Panagiotis; Pavlidis, Leonidas; Haidich, Anna-Bettina; Panagopoulou, Efharis

2016-01-01

A systematic review of the literature was performed to clarify the psychosocial characteristics of patients who have an interest in cosmetic plastic surgery. Medical literature was reviewed by two independent researchers, and a third reviewer evaluated their results. Twelve studies addressing the predictors of interest in cosmetic surgery were finally identified and analysed. Interest in cosmetic surgery was associated with epidemiological factors, their social networks, their psychological characteristics, such as body image, self-esteem and other personality traits and for specific psychopathology and found that these may either positively or negatively predict their motivation to seek and undergo a cosmetic procedure. The review examined the psychosocial characteristics associated with an interest in cosmetic surgery. Understanding cosmetic patients' characteristics, motivation and expectation for surgery is an important aspect of their clinical care to identify those patients more likely to benefit most from the procedure.

Effect of Interest on Attentional Shift, Recognition, and Recall in Young Children.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Renninger, K. Ann; Wozniak, Robert H.

1985-01-01

Interests of preschool children were naturalistically identified through patterns of attention in the classroom and were related to assessing (1) direction of attentional shift, (2) level of recognition, and (3) likelihood of recall. Findings are interpreted in terms of cognitive/affective conceptualization of interest as central figure of…

Evidence Regarding the Impact of Conflicts of Interest on Environmental and Occupational Health Research.

PubMed

Wells, Ellen M

2017-06-01

This review describes published literature providing evidence for financial conflicts of interest in environmental and occupational health research. Secondary goals were to describe evidence that (a) utilized quantitative methods to evaluate the association of conflicts with study outcomes, and (b) assessed undisclosed as well as disclosed conflicts of interest. Forty-three studies were identified which contained descriptions of the impact of financial conflicts of interest on research results; 11 of these conducted quantitative analyses to demonstrate these relationships. All 11 articles which quantified associations identified significant associations of the presence of financial conflicts of interest with study findings. In studies which measured undisclosed conflicts, these comprised a substantial proportion of all conflicts. Suggestions for improving understanding and interpretation of research results are presented.

Predicting Fish Growth Potential and Identifying Water Quality Constraints: A Spatially-Explicit Bioenergetics Approach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Budy, Phaedra; Baker, Matthew; Dahle, Samuel K.

2011-10-01

Anthropogenic impairment of water bodies represents a global environmental concern, yet few attempts have successfully linked fish performance to thermal habitat suitability and fewer have distinguished co-varying water quality constraints. We interfaced fish bioenergetics, field measurements, and Thermal Remote Imaging to generate a spatially-explicit, high-resolution surface of fish growth potential, and next employed a structured hypothesis to detect relationships among measures of fish performance and co-varying water quality constraints. Our thermal surface of fish performance captured the amount and spatial-temporal arrangement of thermally-suitable habitat for three focal species in an extremely heterogeneous reservoir, but interpretation of this pattern was initially confounded by seasonal covariation of water residence time and water quality. Subsequent path analysis revealed that in terms of seasonal patterns in growth potential, catfish and walleye responded to temperature, positively and negatively, respectively; crappie and walleye responded to eutrophy (negatively). At the high eutrophy levels observed in this system, some desired fishes appear to suffer from excessive cultural eutrophication within the context of elevated temperatures whereas others appear to be largely unaffected or even enhanced. Our overall findings do not lead to the conclusion that this system is degraded by pollution; however, they do highlight the need to use a sensitive focal species in the process of determining allowable nutrient loading and as integrators of habitat suitability across multiple spatial and temporal scales. We provide an integrated approach useful for quantifying fish growth potential and identifying water quality constraints on fish performance at spatial scales appropriate for whole-system management.

Identifying potential misfit items in cognitive process of learning engineering mathematics based on Rasch model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ataei, Sh; Mahmud, Z.; Khalid, M. N.

2014-04-01

The students learning outcomes clarify what students should know and be able to demonstrate after completing their course. So, one of the issues on the process of teaching and learning is how to assess students' learning. This paper describes an application of the dichotomous Rasch measurement model in measuring the cognitive process of engineering students' learning of mathematics. This study provides insights into the perspective of 54 engineering students' cognitive ability in learning Calculus III based on Bloom's Taxonomy on 31 items. The results denote that some of the examination questions are either too difficult or too easy for the majority of the students. This analysis yields FIT statistics which are able to identify if there is data departure from the Rasch theoretical model. The study has identified some potential misfit items based on the measurement of ZSTD where the removal misfit item was accomplished based on the MNSQ outfit of above 1.3 or less than 0.7 logit. Therefore, it is recommended that these items be reviewed or revised to better match the range of students' ability in the respective course.

Identifying tectonic parameters that affect tsunamigenesis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

van Zelst, I.; Brizzi, S.; Heuret, A.; Funiciello, F.; van Dinther, Y.

2016-12-01

The role of tectonics in tsunami generation is at present poorly understood. However, the fact thatsome regions produce more tsunamis than others indicates that tectonics could influencetsunamigenesis. Here, we complement a global earthquake database that contains geometrical,mechanical, and seismicity parameters of subduction zones with tsunami data. We statisticallyanalyse the database to identify the tectonic parameters that affect tsunamigenesis. The Pearson'sproduct-moment correlation coefficients reveal high positive correlations of 0.65 between,amongst others, the maximum water height of tsunamis and the seismic coupling in a subductionzone. However, these correlations are mainly caused by outliers. The Spearman's rank correlationcoefficient results in statistically significant correlations of 0.60 between the number of tsunamisin a subduction zone and subduction velocity (positive correlation) and the sediment thickness atthe trench (negative correlation). Interestingly, there is a positive correlation between the latter andtsunami magnitude. These bivariate statistical methods are extended to a binary decision tree(BDT) and multivariate analysis. Using the BDT, the tectonic parameters that distinguish betweensubduction zones with tsunamigenic and non-tsunamigenic earthquakes are identified. To assessphysical causality of the tectonic parameters with regard to tsunamigenesis, we complement ouranalysis by a numerical study of the most promising parameters using a geodynamic seismic cyclemodel. We show that the inclusion of sediments on the subducting plate results in an increase insplay fault activity, which could lead to larger vertical seafloor displacements due to their steeperdips and hence a larger tsunamigenic potential. We also show that the splay fault is the preferredrupture path for a strongly velocity strengthening friction regime in the shallow part of thesubduction zone, which again increases the tsunamigenic potential.

Deciding together? Best interests and shared decision-making in paediatric intensive care.

PubMed

Birchley, Giles

2014-09-01

In the western healthcare, shared decision making has become the orthodox approach to making healthcare choices as a way of promoting patient autonomy. Despite the fact that the autonomy paradigm is poorly suited to paediatric decision making, such an approach is enshrined in English common law. When reaching moral decisions, for instance when it is unclear whether treatment or non-treatment will serve a child's best interests, shared decision making is particularly questionable because agreement does not ensure moral validity. With reference to current common law and focusing on intensive care practice, this paper investigates what claims shared decision making may have to legitimacy in a paediatric intensive care setting. Drawing on key texts, I suggest these identify advantages to parents and clinicians but not to the child who is the subject of the decision. Without evidence that shared decision making increases the quality of the decision that is being made, it appears that a focus on the shared nature of a decision does not cohere with the principle that the best interests of the child should remain paramount. In the face of significant pressures toward the displacement of the child's interests in a shared decision, advantages of a shared decision to decisional quality require elucidation. Although a number of arguments of this nature may have potential, should no such advantages be demonstrable we have cause to revise our commitment to either shared decision making or the paramountcy of the child in these circumstances.

Reading Interest and Achievement: What Are the Implications for Male Disabled Readers?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Tim K.

A study examined the relationship between reading interest and achievement of male disabled readers. Subjects, 30 males aged 8 to 12 years and identified as disabled readers, were selected from a metropolitan school district in central Oklahoma. Subjects completed a reading interest questionnaire and a standardized reading test. The five subjects…

Assessment of pedophilic sexual interest with an attentional choice reaction time task.

PubMed

Mokros, Andreas; Dombert, Beate; Osterheider, Michael; Zappalà, Angelo; Santtila, Pekka

2010-10-01

Choice-reaction time (CRT) is an experimental information-processing paradigm. Based on an interference effect in visual attention, the CRT method has been shown to be suitable for measuring sexual orientation in men and women. The present study assessed the potential of the CRT to identify deviant (i.e., pedophilic) sexual interest. Participants were patients from forensic-psychiatric hospitals: 21 child molesters and 21 non-sex offenders. The dependent variable was reaction time in an ostensible seek-and-locate task (i.e., identifying the position of a dot superimposed on a picture of a person). There was an interaction effect between stimulus age category and participant group status: Child molesters took longer to respond to pictures of children relative to pictures of adults. Non-sex offenders showed an opposite pattern (i.e., longer reaction times with pictures of adults than with pictures of children). In addition, the data supported the notion of sexual content induced delay: Subjects took longer for the task with nude stimuli than with clothed ones. A subtractive preference index, derived from the reaction times for child and adult stimulus material, allowed distinguishing participants from both groups almost perfectly (ROC-AUC = .998). We conclude that a match of sexual interest with properties of visual stimuli led to a cognitive interference effect: Attentional resources were drawn from the ostensible task of locating the dot towards exploring the picture. This opens up the possibility of using this interference effect (i.e., the delay of response times) for diagnostic purposes.

Market potential of nanoremediation in Europe - Market drivers and interventions identified in a deliberative scenario approach.

PubMed

Bartke, Stephan; Hagemann, Nina; Harries, Nicola; Hauck, Jennifer; Bardos, Paul

2018-04-01

A deliberate expert-based scenario approach is applied to better understand the likely determinants of the evolution of the market for nanoparticles use in remediation in Europe until 2025. An initial set of factors had been obtained from a literature review and was complemented by a workshop and key-informant interviews. In further expert engaging formats - focus groups, workshops, conferences, surveys - this initial set of factors was condensed and engaged experts scored the factors regarding their importance for being likely to influence the market development. An interaction matrix was obtained identifying the factors being most active in shaping the market development in Europe by 2025, namely "Science-Policy-Interface" and "Validated information on nanoparticle application potential". Based on these, potential scenarios were determined and development of factors discussed. Conclusions are offered on achievable interventions to enhance nanoremediation deployment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

How accurately does the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire identify workers with or without potential psychological distress?

PubMed

Tsutsumi, Akizumi; Inoue, Akiomi; Eguchi, Hisashi

2017-07-27

The manual for the Japanese Stress Check Program recommends use of the Brief Job Stress Questionnaire (BJSQ) from among the program's instruments and proposes criteria for defining "high-stress" workers. This study aimed to examine how accurately the BJSQ identifies workers with or without potential psychological distress. We used an online survey to administer the BJSQ with a psychological distress scale (K6) to randomly selected workers (n=1,650). We conducted receiver operating characteristics curve analyses to estimate the screening performance of the cutoff points that the Stress Check Program manual recommends for the BJSQ. Prevalence of workers with potential psychological distress defined as K6 score ≥13 was 13%. Prevalence of "high-risk" workers defined using criteria recommended by the program manual was 16.7% for the original version of the BJSQ. The estimated values were as follows: sensitivity, 60.5%; specificity, 88.9%; Youden index, 0.504; positive predictive value, 47.3%; negative predictive value, 93.8%; positive likelihood ratio, 6.0; and negative likelihood ratio, 0.4. Analyses based on the simplified BJSQ indicated lower sensitivity compared with the original version, although we expected roughly the same screening performance for the best scenario using the original version. Our analyses in which psychological distress measured by K6 was set as the target condition indicate less than half of the identified "high-stress" workers warrant consideration for secondary screening for psychological distress.

Vocational interests of intellectually gifted and highly achieving young adults.

PubMed

Vock, Miriam; Köller, Olaf; Nagy, Gabriel

2013-06-01

Vocational interests play a central role in the vocational decision-making process and are decisive for the later job satisfaction and vocational success. Based on Ackerman's (1996) notion of trait complexes, specific interest profiles of gifted high-school graduates can be expected. Vocational interests of gifted and highly achieving adolescents were compared to those of their less intelligent/achieving peers according to Holland's (1997) RIASEC model. Further, the impact of intelligence and achievement on interests were analysed while statistically controlling for potentially influencing variables. Changes in interests over time were investigated. N= 4,694 German students (age: M= 19.5, SD= .80; 54.6% females) participated in the study (TOSCA; Köller, Watermann, Trautwein, & Lüdtke, 2004). Interests were assessed in participants' final year at school and again 2 years later (N= 2,318). Gifted participants reported stronger investigative and realistic interests, but lower social interests than less intelligent participants. Highly achieving participants reported higher investigative and (in wave 2) higher artistic interests. Considerable gender differences were found: gifted girls had a flat interest profile, while gifted boys had pronounced realistic and investigative and low social interests. Multilevel multiple regression analyses predicting interests by intelligence and school achievement revealed stable interest profiles. Beyond a strong gender effect, intelligence and school achievement each contributed substantially to the prediction of vocational interests. At the time around graduation from high school, gifted young adults show stable interest profiles, which strongly differ between gender and intelligence groups. These differences are relevant for programmes for the gifted and for vocational counselling. ©2012 The British Psychological Society.

Proteomic analysis of polyribosomes identifies splicing factors as potential regulators of translation during mitosis

PubMed Central

Hofmann, Sarah; Elman, Tamar; Shenoy, Anjana; Geiger, Tamar; Elkon, Ran; Ehrlich, Marcelo

2017-01-01

Abstract Precise regulation of mRNA translation is critical for proper cell division, but little is known about the factors that mediate it. To identify mRNA-binding proteins that regulate translation during mitosis, we analyzed the composition of polysomes from interphase and mitotic cells using unbiased quantitative mass-spectrometry (LC–MS/MS). We found that mitotic polysomes are enriched with a subset of proteins involved in RNA processing, including alternative splicing and RNA export. To demonstrate that these may indeed be regulators of translation, we focused on heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein C (hnRNP C) as a test case and confirmed that it is recruited to elongating ribosomes during mitosis. Then, using a combination of pulsed SILAC, metabolic labeling and ribosome profiling, we showed that knockdown of hnRNP C affects both global and transcript-specific translation rates and found that hnRNP C is specifically important for translation of mRNAs that encode ribosomal proteins and translation factors. Taken together, our results demonstrate how proteomic analysis of polysomes can provide insight into translation regulation under various cellular conditions of interest and suggest that hnRNP C facilitates production of translation machinery components during mitosis to provide daughter cells with the ability to efficiently synthesize proteins as they enter G1 phase. PMID:28460002

The role of superconductivity in the Space Program: An assessment of present capabilities and future potential

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Sullivan, D. B. (Editor)

1978-01-01

Technical subject areas discussed include: (1) high field magnets; (2) magnetometers; (3) digital electronics; (4) high frequency detectors; (5) instruments related to gravitational studies; and (6) ultra high Q cavities. Applications of superconductivity which are of potential interest to NASA were identified.

77 FR 75187 - Notice of Determination of No Competitive Interest, Offshore Maine

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-19

... interest in the area requested by Statoil North America (Statoil NA) for a commercial wind lease as described in the Notice of Potential Commercial Leasing for Wind Power on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS...), Interior. ACTION: Notice of Determination of No Competitive Interest (DNCI) for Proposed Commercial Wind...

Analytical approaches to identify potential migrants in polyester-polyurethane can coatings.

PubMed

Louise Bradley, Emma; Driffield, Malcolm; Guthrie, James; Harmer, Nick; Thomas Oldring, Peter Kenneth; Castle, Laurence

2009-12-01

The safety of a polyester-polyurethane can coating has been assessed using a suite of complementary analytical methods to identify and estimate the concentrations of potential chemical migrants. The polyester was based on phthalic acids and aliphatic diols. The polyisocyanate cross-linking agent was 1-isocyanato-3-isocyanatomethyl-3,5,5-trimethyl cyclohexane homopolymer (IPDI) blocked with methylethylketone oxime (MEKO) to make a one-part formulation. The overall migrate, obtained using solvent extraction of cured films, comprised almost completely of 12 cyclic and one linear polyester oligomer up to molecular weight 800 and containing up to six monomer units. These 13 oligomers covered a total of 28 isomeric forms. Other minor components detected were plasticisers and surfactants as well as impurities present in the starting materials. There was no detectable residue of either the blocked isocyanate (<0.01 microg/dm(2)) used as the starting substance or the unblocked isocyanate (<0.02 microg/dm(2)). The level of extractable IPDI was used as an indicator of the completeness of cure in experimental coatings. These studies revealed that there was an influence of time, temperature and catalyst content. Polymerisation was also influenced by the additives used and by the ageing of the wet coating formulation over several months. These studies allow parameters to be specified to ensure that commercial production coatings receive a full cure giving low migration characteristics.

Self-interest without selfishness: the hedonic benefit of imposed self-interest.

PubMed

Berman, Jonathan Z; Small, Deborah A

2012-10-01

Despite commonsense appeal, the link between self-interest and happiness remains elusive. One reason why individuals may not feel satisfied with self-interest is that they feel uneasy about sacrificing the needs of others for their own gain. We propose that externally imposing self-interest allows individuals to enjoy self-benefiting outcomes that are untainted by self-reproach for failing to help others. Study 1 demonstrated that an imposed self-interested option (a reward) leads to greater happiness than does choosing between a self-interested option and a prosocial option (a charity donation). Study 2 demonstrated that this effect is not driven by choice in general; rather, it is the specific trade-off between benefiting the self and benefiting others that inhibits happiness gained from self-interest. We theorize that the agency inherent in choice reduces the hedonic value of self-interest. Results of Study 3 find support for this mechanism.

A pilot study identifying a potential plasma biomarker for determining EGFR mutations in exons 19 or 21 in lung cancer patients

PubMed Central

Pamungkas, Aryo D.; Medriano, Carl A.; Sim, Eunjung; Lee, Sungyong; Park, Youngja H.

2017-01-01

The most common type of lung cancer is non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), which is frequently characterized by a mutation in the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR). Determining the presence of an EGFR mutation in lung cancer is important, as it determines the type of treatment that a patients will receive. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to apply high-resolution metabolomics (HRM) using liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify significant compounds in human plasma samples obtained from South Korean NSCLC patients, as potential biomarkers for providing early detection and diagnosis of minimally-invasive NSCLC. The metabolic differences between lung cancer patients without EGFR mutations were compared with patients harboring EGFR mutations. Univariate analysis was performed, with a false discovery rate of q=0.05, in order to identify significant metabolites between the two groups. In addition, hierarchical clustering analysis was performed to discriminate between the metabolic profiles of the two groups. Furthermore, the significant metabolites were identified and mapped using Mummichog software, in order to generate a potential metabolic network model. Using metabolome-wide association studies, metabolic alterations were identified. Linoleic acid [303.23 m/z, (M+Na)+], 5-methyl tetrahydrofolate [231.10 m/z, (M+2H)+] and N-succinyl-L-glutamate-5 semialdehyde [254.06 m/z, (M+Na)+], were observed to be elevated in patients harboring EGFR mutations, whereas tetradecanoyl carnitine [394.29 m/z, (M+Na)+] was observed to be reduced. This suggests that these compounds may be affected by the EGFR mutation. In conclusion, the present study identified four potential biomarkers in patients with EGFR mutations, using HRM combined with pathway analysis. These results may facilitate the development of novel diagnostic tools for EGFR mutation detection in patients with lung cancer. PMID:28487968

Using Situational Interest to Enhance Individual Interest and Science-Related Behaviours

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Palmer, David; Dixon, Jeanette; Archer, Jennifer

2017-08-01

Situational interest is a relatively transient reaction to highly stimulating factors in the immediate environment, whereas individual interest is a relatively long-term preference for a particular subject or activity. It has been proposed that regular experiences of situational interest in a subject may eventually lead to the development of individual interest in that subject. Importantly, this should also result in an increase in behaviours related to that domain. For example, a student who develops an individual interest in science would be expected to spend more time on science-related activities such as reading about science, talking with other people about science, or watching science shows on TV. However, the extent to which this does happen has not yet been established. The purposes of this study were to find out whether regular experiences of situational interest in science classes can enhance individual interest in science and whether there is an associated increase in science-related activities. The participants were primary teacher education students who were enrolled in a semester-length science course. Data were collected using a survey, an interest inventory, open-ended questionnaires and interviews. It was found that regular experiences of situational interest during the course were associated with positive changes in individual interest in science and increased participation in science-related activities. These changes remained relatively stable over a delay period of 10 months after the end of the course.

Gender Differences in the Vocational Interests of Youth Considering High Job Growth and Green Energy Occupations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Robinson, Becky S.

2012-01-01

For more than 100 years, vocational psychologists and educational researchers have sought to identify the significant influences shaping occupational interests. This descriptive study used a series of vocational card sort exercises with 139 rural high school youth to identify gender differences in occupational interests toward working in 60 of the…

Identifying the potential long-term survivors among breast cancer patients with distant metastasis.

PubMed

Lee, E S; Jung, S Y; Kim, J Y; Kim, J J; Yoo, T K; Kim, Y G; Lee, K S; Lee, E S; Kim, E K; Min, J W; Han, W; Noh, D Y; Moon, H G

2016-05-01

We aimed to develop a prediction model to identify long-term survivors after developing distant metastasis from breast cancer. From the institution's database, we collected data of 547 patients who developed distant metastasis during their follow-ups. We developed a model that predicts the post-metastasis overall survival (PMOS) based on the clinicopathologic factors of the primary tumors and the characteristics of the distant metastasis. For validation, the survival data of 254 patients from four independent institutions were used. The median duration of the PMOS was 31.0 months. The characteristics of the initial primary tumor, such as tumor stage, hormone receptor status, and Ki-67 expression level, and the characteristics of the distant metastasis presentation including the duration of disease-free interval, the site of metastasis, and the presence of metastasis-related symptoms were independent prognostic factors determining the PMOS. The association between tumor stage and the PMOS was only seen in tumors with early relapses. The PMOS score, which was developed based on the above six factors, successfully identified patients with superior survival after metastasis. The median PMOS for patients with a PMOS score of <2 and for patients with a PMOS score of >5 were 71.0 and 12 months, respectively. The clinical significance of the PMOS score was further validated using independent multicenter datasets. We have developed a novel prediction model that can classify breast cancer patients with distant metastasis according to their survival after metastasis. Our model can be a valuable tool to identify long-term survivors who can be potential candidates for more intensive multidisciplinary approaches. Furthermore, our model can provide a more reliable survival information for both physicians and patients during their informed decision-making process. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society for Medical Oncology. All

How do STEM-interested students pursue multiple interests in their higher educational choice?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Vulperhorst, Jonne Pieter; Wessels, Koen Rens; Bakker, Arthur; Akkerman, Sanne Floor

2018-05-01

Interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) has lately received attention in research due to a gap between the number of STEM students and the needs of the labour market. As interest seems to be one of the most important factors in deciding what to study, we focus in the present study on how STEM-interested students weigh multiple interests in making educational choices. A questionnaire with both open-ended and closed-ended items was administered to 91 STEM-interested students enrolled in a STEM programme of a Dutch University for secondary school students. Results indicate that students find it important that a study programme allows them to pursue multiple interests. Some students pursued multiple interests by choosing to enrol in two programmes at the same time. Most students chose one programme that enabled them to combine multiple interests. Combinations of pursued interests were dependent on the disciplinary range of interests of students. Students who were interested in diverse domains combined interests in an educational programme across academic and non-academic domains, whilst students who were mainly interested in STEM combined only STEM-focused interests. Together these findings stress the importance of taking a multiple interest perspective on interest development and educational choice.

Outdoor Experiential Learning to Increase Student Interest in Geoscience Careers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lazar, K.; Moysey, S. M.

2017-12-01

Outdoor-focused experiential learning opportunities are uncommon for students in large introductory geology courses, despite evidence that field experiences are a significant pathway for students to enter the geoscience pipeline. We address this deficiency by creating an extracurricular program for geology service courses that allows students to engage with classmates to foster a positive affective environment in which they are able to explore their geoscience interests, encouraged to visualize themselves as potential geoscientists, and emboldened to continue on a geoscience/geoscience-adjacent career path. Students in introductory-level geology courses were given pre- and post-semester surveys to assess the impact of these experiential learning experiences on student attitudes towards geoscience careers and willingness to pursue a major/minor in geology. Initial results indicate that high achieving students overall increase their interest in pursuing geology as a major regardless of their participation in extracurricular activities, while low achieving students only demonstrate increased interest in a geology major if they did not participate in extra credit activities. Conversely, high achieving, non-participant students showed no change in interest of pursuing a geology minor, while high achieving participants were much more likely to demonstrate interest in a minor at the end of the course. Similar to the trends of interest in a geology major, low achieving students only show increased interest in a minor if they were non-participants. These initial results indicate that these activities may be more effective in channeling students towards geology minors rather than majors, and could increase the number of students pursuing geoscience-related career paths. There also seem to be several competing factors at play affecting the different student populations, from an increased interest due to experience or a displeasure that geology is not simply `rocks for jocks

Conflicts of interest: research and clinical care.

PubMed

Morris, John C

1994-01-01

Conflicts of interest and other ethical dilemmas occur in Alzheimer disease (AD) patient care and research but often are underrecognized by physicians. One or more bioethical principles of autonomy, confidentiality, truth telling, beneficence, and justice, which apply to demented individuals as they do to other patients, may conflict in everyday clinical situations. For example, when demented patients wish to continue driving, autonomy (the patient's right to self-determination) conflicts with beneficence (the duty to promote the patient's welfare). Cognitively impaired patients depend on others for ethical decision making in the resolution of these dilemmas. It is essential that clinicians and investigators involved in the decision-making process do so without bias or conflict of interest. Full disclosure of financial interests increasingly is an accepted requirement in the conduct of biomedical research. In AD, less obvious potential conflicts of interest arise when physicians recruit their patients for antidementia drug trials sponsored by a pharmaceutical company (that provides the physician with research funding) or when investigators fail to acknowledge the patient's withdrawal of assent when attempting to complete a research protocol. The recognition of both financial and nonfinancial conflicts should lead to measures to reduce bias, which in turn will improve the integrity of research findings and promote patient welfare.

"We're All Gonna' Die": Using Human Interest in Disasters to Promote Student Interest and Research in Introductory Science Classes for Non-Science Majors.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prueher, L.

2008-12-01

Humans are fascinated by disasters. Volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, and other natural disasters capture the public interest and provide educators a venue in which to present scientific information and dispel common misconceptions. Presenting scientific information via the vehicle of a disaster can attract even the most science-phobic student, capturing their interest in a way that more traditional methods of presentation cannot or do not. People are inundated with scientific data through the popular media yet little is done to provide non-scientists with the information needed to distinguish between fact and fiction. Docudramas such as, "Supervolcano", blur the boundary between reality and fiction. Human interest in disasters can be used as an educational tool to foster scientific literacy among non-science majors. "We're All Gonna' Die", is an inquiry-based research project used in introductory geology classes at Arapahoe Community College and the University of Northern Colorado. Most students taking this class have no college science background. The project introduces students to geological and environmental hazards. Students choose a city of interest, analyze the potential geologic and environmental hazards in the area, and determine what can be done to minimize potential damage and fatalities. Students are more interested in a topic and delve deeper into the subject matter when researching a project of their own choosing. Students have incorporated demonstrations, skits, student-made videos, games, current geologic events, and research results into their projects. Perhaps as important, the students have fun, become excited about their project and topic, and disseminate the information to family and friends.

Identifying Hydrologic Flowpaths on Arctic Hillslopes Using Electrical Resistivity and Self Potential

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Voytek, E.; Rushlow, C. R.; Godsey, S.; Singha, K.

2015-12-01

Shallow subsurface flow is a dominant process controlling hillslope runoff generation, soil development, and solute reaction and transport. Despite their importance, the location and geometry of flowpaths are difficult to determine. In arctic environments, shallow subsurface flowpaths are limited to a thin zone of seasonal thaw above continuous permafrost, which is traditionally assumed to mimic to surface topography. Here we use a combined approach of electrical resistivity imaging (ERI) and self-potential measurements (SP) to map shallow subsurface flowpaths in and around water tracks, drainage features common to arctic hillslopes. ERI measurements delineate thawed zones in the subsurface that control flowpaths, while SP is sensitive to groundwater flow. We find that areas of low electrical resistivity in the water tracks are deeper than manual thaw depth estimates and variations from surface topography. This finding suggests that traditional techniques significantly underestimate active layer thaw and the extent of the flowpath network on arctic hillslopes. SP measurements identify complex 3-D flowpaths in the thawed zone. Our results lay the groundwork for investigations into the seasonal dynamics, hydrologic connectivity, and climate sensitivity of spatially distributed flowpath networks on arctic hillslopes.

Leveraging CosmoQuest: Quantitative Analysis of Audience Interests and Behaviors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Buxner, S.; Gay, P.; Bakerman, M. N.; Graziano, N.; Murph, S.; Reiheld, A.

2017-12-01

Online science education projects have the potential to reach larger audiences than any other form of public engagement. For this potential to be realized, educators and communicators must get their message heard above the roar of competing content - the news, memes, games, and gossip that dominate online spaces. Once heard, projects must further inspire engagement, and that engagement needs to be meaningful so that it motivates and supports learning. The CosmoQuest project, launched in 2012, has been collecting data on what factors trigger engagement, and how social media in particular can be used to learn about audiences interests, and measure what kinds of messages trigger interaction. This study examines the interplay between social media frequency and messaging, and user engagement in educational content and citizen science. It further data mines Twitter to directly measure the interests of people who follow CosmoQuest on social media. This information will allow us to effectively recruit new people from space science adjacent interests, and to effectively engage them through research validated strategies.

Determinants of interest rates on tax-exempt hospital bonds.

PubMed

Grossman, M; Goldman, F; Nesbitt, S W; Mobilia, P

1993-12-01

The aim of this paper is to examine the determinants of interest rates on tax-exempt hospital bonds. The results highlight the potential and actual roles of Federal and state policy in the determination of these rates. The shift to a Prospective Payment System under Medicare has subsidized the borrowing costs of some hospitals at the expense of others. The selection of underwriters by negotiation rather than by competitive bidding results in higher interest rates. The Federal tax act of 1986 raised the cost of hospital debt by encouraging bond issues to contain call features.

The Potential Relevance of Cognitive Neuroscience for the Development and Use of Technology-Enhanced Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Howard-Jones, Paul; Ott, Michela; van Leeuwen, Theo; De Smedt, Bert

2015-01-01

There is increasing interest in the application of cognitive neuroscience in educational thinking and practice, and here we review findings from neuroscience that demonstrate its potential relevance to technology-enhanced learning (TEL). First, we identify some of the issues in integrating neuroscientific concepts into TEL research. We caution…

Writing for professional publication. Part 5: creating interest.

PubMed

Fowler, John

The first four parts of this series on writing for professional publication focused on the research and preparation required before beginning to write a potential article. In this fifth part of the series, John Fowler, an experienced nursing lecturer and author, explores the final step in preparation for writing: that of creating interest.

Identifying and Addressing Stakeholder Interests in Design Science Research: An Analysis Using Critical Systems Heuristics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Venable, John R.

This paper utilises the Critical Systems Heuristics (CSH) framework developed by Werner Ulrich to critically consider the stakeholders and design goals that should be considered as relevant by researchers conducing Design Science Research (DSR). CSH provides a philosophically and theoretically grounded framework and means for critical consideration of the choices of stakeholders considered to be relevant to any system under design consideration. The paper recommends that legitimately undertaken DSR should include witnesses to represent the interests of the future consumers of the outcomes of DSR, i.e., the future clients, decision makers, professionals, and other non-included stakeholders in the future use of the solution technologies to be invented in DSR. The paper further discusses options for how witnesses might be included, who should be witnessed for and obstacles to implementing the recommendations.

Developing tools to identify marginal lands and assess their potential for bioenergy production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Galatsidas, Spyridon; Gounaris, Nikolaos; Dimitriadis, Elias; Rettenmaier, Nils; Schmidt, Tobias; Vlachaki, Despoina

2017-04-01

The term "marginal land" is currently intertwined in discussions about bioenergy although its definition is neither specific nor firm. The uncertainty arising from marginal land classification and quantification is one of the major constraining factors for its potential use. The clarification of political aims, i.e. "what should be supported?" is also an important constraining factor. Many approaches have been developed to identify marginal lands, based on various definitions according to the management goals. Concerns have been frequently raised regarding the impacts of marginal land use on environment, ecosystem services and sustainability. Current tools of soil quality and land potentials assessment fail to meet the needs of marginal land identification and exploitation for biomass production, due to the lack of comprehensive analysis of interrelated land functions and their quantitative evaluation. Land marginality is determined by dynamic characteristics in many cases and may therefore constitute a transitional state, which requires reassessment in due time. Also, marginal land should not be considered simply a dormant natural resource waiting to be used, since it may already provide multiple benefits and services to society relating to wildlife, biodiversity, carbon sequestration, etc. The consequences of cultivating such lands need to be fully addressed to present a balanced view of their sustainable potential for bioenergy. This framework is the basis for the development of the SEEMLA tools, which aim at supporting the identification, assessment, management of marginal lands in Europe and the decision-making for sustainable biomass production of them using appropriate bioenergy crops. The tools comprise two applications, a web-based one (independent of spatial data) and a GIS-based application (land regionalization on the basis of spatial data), which both incorporate: - Land resource characteristics, restricting the cultivation of agricultural crops but

The Generalizability of Students' Interests in Biology Across Gender, Country and Religion

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hagay, G.; Baram-Tsabari, A.; Ametller, J.; Cakmakci, G.; Lopes, B.; Moreira, A.; Pedrosa-de-Jesus, H.

2013-06-01

In order to bridge the existing gap between biology curricula and students' interests in biology, a strategy for identifying students' interest based on their questions and integrating them into the curriculum was developed. To characterize the level of generalizability of students' science interests over 600 high school students from Portugal, Turkey, England and Israel, who chose biology as an advanced subject, their interest level was ranked in 36 questions that were originally raised by Israeli students. Results indicate that students from four different countries show interest in similar science questions. The most intriguing questions were the ones that dealt with human health and new developments in reproduction and genetics. Religious affiliation had the strongest effect on students' interest level, followed by national affiliation and gender. The findings suggest that students' interest in one context is relevant to the development of interest-based learning materials in a different context. However, despite these similarities, cultural and sociological differences need to be taken into account.

Toward a Deeper Understanding of Student Interest or Lack of Interest in Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Li-Hsuan

2010-01-01

This study examined the nature of college students' interest or lack of interest in science and the factors to which they attributed their interest or lack of interest. Twenty-four college students were interviewed to gain an understanding of their ideas and experiences of science; their overall interest in science; their interest levels in four…

The Use of Film Clips in a Viewing Time Task of Sexual Interests.

PubMed

Lalumière, Martin L; Babchishin, Kelly M; Ebsworth, Megan

2018-04-01

Viewing time tasks using still pictures to assess age and gender sexual interests have been well validated and are commonly used. The use of film clips in a viewing time task would open up interesting possibilities for the study of sexual interest toward sexual targets or activities that are not easily captured in still pictures. We examined the validity of a viewing time task using film clips to assess sexual interest toward male and female targets, in a sample of 52 young adults. Film clips produced longer viewing times than still pictures. For both men and women, the indices derived from the film viewing time task were able to distinguish individuals who identified as homosexual (14 men, 8 women) from those who identified as heterosexual (15 men, 15 women), and provided comparable group differentiation as indices derived from a viewing time task using still pictures. Men's viewing times were more gender-specific than those of women. Viewing times to film clips were correlated with participants' ratings of sexual appeal of the same clips, and with viewing times to pictures. The results support the feasibility of a viewing time measure of sexual interest that utilizes film clips and, thus, expand the types of sexual interests that could be investigated (e.g., sadism, biastophilia).

Assessing Research Interest and Capacity in Community Health Centers

PubMed Central

Bhuiya, Nazmim; Pernice, Joan; Khan, Sami M.; Sequist, Thomas D.; Tendulkar, Shalini A.

2013-01-01

Abstract Objective Community health centers (CHCs) have great potential to participate in the development of evidence‐based primary care but face obstacles to engagement in clinical translational research. Methods To understand factors associated with CHC interest in building research infrastructure, Harvard Catalyst and the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers conducted an online survey of medical directors in all 50 Massachusetts CHC networks. Results Thirty‐two (64%) medical directors completed the survey representing 126 clinical sites. Over 80% reported that their primary care providers (PCPs) were slightly to very interested in future clinical research and that they were interested in building research infrastructure at their CHC. Frequently cited barriers to participation in research included financial issues, lack of research skills, and lack of research infrastructure. In bivariate analyses, PCP interest in future clinical research and a belief that involvement in research contributed to PCP retention were significantly associated with interest in building research infrastructure. Conclusion CHCs critical role in caring for vulnerable populations ideally positions them to raise relevant research questions and translate evidence into practice. Our findings suggest a high interest in engagement in research among CHC leadership. CTSAs have a unique opportunity to support local CHCs in this endeavor. PMID:24127928

Towards an Understanding of Interest Development: Challenges and Opportunities for Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lynch, Raymond

2017-01-01

Many studies have examined the psychology of interest and interest development, with these studies spanning various fields such as educational psychology, personality development, and vocational guidance. However, the pragmatic benefit of being able to accurately measure interests has often overshadowed the broader potential benefits of research…

Can inbound and domestic medical tourism improve your bottom line? Identifying the potential of a U.S. tourism market.

PubMed

Fottler, Myron D; Malvey, Donna; Asi, Yara; Kirchner, Sarah; Warren, Natalia A

2014-01-01

In large part due to current economic conditions and the political uncertainties of healthcare reform legislation, hospitals need to identify new sources of revenue. Two potentially untapped sources are inbound (international) and domestic (within the United States) medical tourists. This case study uses data from a large, urban healthcare system in the southeastern United States to quantify its potential market opportunities for medical tourism. The data were mined from electronic health records, and descriptive frequency analysis was used to provide a preliminary market assessment. This approach permits healthcare systems to move beyond anecdotal information and assess the relative market potential of their particular geographic area and the diagnostic services they offer for attracting inbound and domestic medical tourists. Implications for healthcare executives and guidance on how they can focus marketing efforts are discussed.

Increasing Interest in Cognitive Psychology Using Scenario-Based Assessment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cormack, Sophie

2014-01-01

Students often perceive cognitive psychology as an abstract and difficult subject with little intrinsic interest. When student feedback identified problems with the traditional essay assessment in a cognitive psychology module, action research led to the development of a forensic scenario-based assessment which successfully increased student…

IDENTIFYING POTENTIAL SOURCES OF BACKGROUND CONTAMINATION IN RT-PCR

EPA Science Inventory

Extraction of nucleic acids from low biomass samples, such as drinking water, is particularly sensitive to potential background contamination because the contaminating material is minimally diluted by the sample. The presence of bacterial DNA in Taq DNA polymerase is wel...

Identifying and tracing potential energy surfaces of electronic excitations with specific character via their transition origins: application to oxirane.

PubMed

Li, Jian-Hao; Zuehlsdorff, T J; Payne, M C; Hine, N D M

2015-05-14

We show that the transition origins of electronic excitations identified by quantified natural transition orbital (QNTO) analysis can be employed to connect potential energy surfaces (PESs) according to their character across a wide range of molecular geometries. This is achieved by locating the switching of transition origins of adiabatic potential surfaces as the geometry changes. The transition vectors for analysing transition origins are provided by linear response time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) calculations under the Tamm-Dancoff approximation. We study the photochemical CO ring opening of oxirane as an example and show that the results corroborate the traditional Gomer-Noyes mechanism derived experimentally. The knowledge of specific states for the reaction also agrees well with that given by previous theoretical work using TDDFT surface-hopping dynamics that was validated by high-quality quantum Monte Carlo calculations. We also show that QNTO can be useful for considerably larger and more complex systems: by projecting the excitations to those of a reference oxirane molecule, the approach is able to identify and analyse specific excitations of a trans-2,3-diphenyloxirane molecule.

Current state of Czech astronomy popularization and its potential for enhancing science career interest

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kříček, Radek

2015-08-01

The Czech Republic has a dense net of observatories, astronomical clubs and other activities for both adults and children. Can we use it to improve skills of our pupils and their motivation to choose their career in science? Does the situation in the Czech Republic differ from abroad? What can we improve in the future? These questions were not answered satisfactorily so far. We decided to contribute to solve this issue.We present our survey of current state based mainly on electronic sources and personal dealings. Besides of 56 observatories working with public and many interest clubs, there are other possibilities to meet astronomy. For example, Astronomical Olympiad attracts thousands of pupils across the country each year to solve both theoretical and practical tasks in astronomy. In other projects, children can visit Dark-Sky Parks, design experiments for a stratospheric balloon, observe with CCD or radio devices or build their own rockets.We outline our ongoing project to examine the link between popularization activities and pupils’ or high school students’ attitude toward science and science career. We plan to create a typology of both popularization activities and life stories of people dealing with astronomy. From the methodological point of view, the mixed method design, combining both the qualitative and quantitative approach, will be used to solve the research problems. The basic research plan will be a case study. So far the project is based on interviews with various subjects. We choose people with different life stories, all connected with astronomy or astronomy popularization in some period. We focus on important moments in their career, similarities between subjects, and various types of possible motivation to participate in astronomy-related activities or to study science at university.Future results can be used to help interested organizations such as universities, observatories or astronomical societies. They will be able to work more

Short communication: Development of a direct in vivo screening model to identify potential probiotic bacteria using Caenorhabditis elegans.

PubMed

Park, M R; Yun, H S; Son, S J; Oh, S; Kim, Y

2014-11-01

Caenorhabditis elegans is an accepted model host to study host-bacteria interactions in the gut, in addition to being a simple model with which to study conserved aspects of biological signaling pathways in intestinal environments, because these nematode worms have similar intestinal cells to those of humans. Here, we used C. elegans to develop a new in vivo screening system for potential probiotic lactic acid bacteria (LAB). Initially, critical colonization ability of LAB strains isolated from Korean infant feces was screened in the worm intestinal tract over a period of 5 d. Furthermore, we investigated host health-promoting activities, including longevity-extending effects and immune-enhancing activities against foodborne pathogen infection. We identified 4 LAB strains that were highly persistent in the nematode gut and that significantly prolonged the longevity of C. elegans and improved the survival of C. elegans in response to infection by Staphylococcus aureus. The 4 LAB strains we identified showed resistance to acid and bile conditions, assimilated cholesterol, and were able to attach to a mucus layer. The 4 LAB isolates were identified as Lactobacillus plantarum using 16S rRNA sequencing analysis. Taken together, we developed a direct in vivo screening system using C. elegans to study host health-promoting LAB. Our system is simple, rapid, cost-effective, and reliable, and we anticipate that this system will result in the discovery of many more potential probiotic bacteria for dairy foods. Copyright © 2014 American Dairy Science Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Distribution and incidence of atoxigenic Aspergillus flavus VCG in tree crop orchards in California: a strategy for identifying potential antagonists

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

To identify predominant isolates for potential use as biocontrol agents, Aspergillus flavus isolates collected soils of almond, pistachio and fig orchard in the Central Valley of California were tested for their membership to 16 atoxigenic vegetative compatibility groups(VCGs), including YV36, the V...

Clarifying the relationship between nonradiologists' financial interest in imaging and their utilization of imaging.

PubMed

Bhargavan, Mythreyi; Sunshine, Jonathan H; Hughes, Danny R

2011-11-01

Several limitations and deficiencies have been identified in existing studies of physician financial interest in imaging that show financial interest is associated with more imaging. We conducted extensive quantitative analysis of seven deficiencies that have been identified. Using Symmetry's Episode Grouper, we created episodes of care from all the 2004-2007 health care claims for a random 5% sample of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. We compared utilization of imaging in nonhospital episodes having a nonradiologist physician who had a financial interest in imaging with utilization in episodes with no such physician. We studied 23 combinations of medical conditions with imaging modalities commonly used for these conditions. Across four different definitions of financial interest and the 23 combinations, the relative probability (risk ratio) of imaging was uniformly higher for episodes of physicians with a financial interest, predominantly at p < 0.001. The mean relative probability was 1.87. This mean was little affected by the definition of financial interest used or the definition of the physician deemed responsible for the imaging. Controlling for patient characteristics, illness severity, and physician specialty likewise had little effect. Physicians who had acquired a financial interest averaged a 49% increase in the odds of imaging relative to physicians who had not. Physicians with a financial interest in an imaging modality used other modalities more than did physicians without a financial interest in the index modality. The Deficit Reduction Act's 2007 payment reductions had little effect. A financial interest in imaging is associated with higher utilization, probably causally. Limiting nonradiologists' financial interest in imaging may be desirable.

Using Online Compound Interest Tools to Improve Financial Literacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hubbard, Edward; Matthews, Percival; Samek, Anya

2016-01-01

The widespread use of personal computing presents the opportunity to design educational materials that can be delivered online, potentially addressing low financial literacy. The authors developed and evaluated three different educational tools focusing on interest compounding. In the authors' laboratory experiment, individuals were randomized to…

Online depression communities: members' interests and perceived benefits.

PubMed

Nimrod, Galit

2013-01-01

Most previous studies on online communities (peer-to-peer support groups) dedicated to people with depression related to members as a homogeneous group, and none examined differences between segments based on psychographic measures. Such segmentation may be most helpful in understanding members' participation patterns and explaining the benefits members gain from participation. This study aimed to explore whether members of online depression communities vary in their interests in issues discussed in the communities, and if so, whether groups with different interests also differ with regard to the benefits gained from participation. The study was based on an online survey of 793 members of 16 online depression communities. Results identified four member groups: concerned about daily living, information seekers, interested in all topics, and relatively less involved. There were very few differences between the groups in background characteristics, participation patterns, and level of depression. However, results indicated significant differences between the groups in perceived benefits, as the interested in all topics reported more "online support" and "offline improvement" than the information seekers and the relatively less involved, and more "offline improvement" than the concerned about daily living. Assuming that the reported interests reflected actual involvement in discussions of different issues, the findings suggest that combining supportive and informative discussions is more beneficial than attending to only one type of discussion, and stress the importance of informative discussions.

Identifying Risk for Acute Kidney Injury in Infants and Children Following Cardiac Arrest.

PubMed

Neumayr, Tara M; Gill, Jeff; Fitzgerald, Julie C; Gazit, Avihu Z; Pineda, Jose A; Berg, Robert A; Dean, J Michael; Moler, Frank W; Doctor, Allan

2017-10-01

Our goal was to identify risk factors for acute kidney injury in children surviving cardiac arrest. Retrospective analysis of a public access dataset. Fifteen children's hospitals associated with the Pediatric Emergency Care Applied Research Network. Two hundred ninety-six subjects between 1 day and 18 years old who experienced in-hospital or out-of-hospital cardiac arrest between July 1, 2003, and December 31, 2004. None. Our primary outcome was development of acute kidney injury as defined by the Acute Kidney Injury Network criteria. An ordinal probit model was developed. We found six critical explanatory variables, including total number of epinephrine doses, postcardiac arrest blood pressure, arrest location, presence of a chronic lung condition, pH, and presence of an abnormal baseline creatinine. Total number of epinephrine doses received as well as rate of epinephrine dosing impacted acute kidney injury risk and severity of acute kidney injury. This study is the first to identify risk factors for acute kidney injury in children after cardiac arrest. Our findings regarding the impact of epinephrine dosing are of particular interest and suggest potential for epinephrine toxicity with regard to acute kidney injury. The ability to identify and potentially modify risk factors for acute kidney injury after cardiac arrest may lead to improved morbidity and mortality in this population.

The Role of Teachers in Facilitating Situational Interest in an Active-Learning Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rotgans, Jerome I.; Schmidt, Henk G.

2011-01-01

The study sought to explore whether interactional teacher characteristics such as social congruence, subject-matter expertise, and cognitive congruence increase situational interest in students. Correlational and path analyses were conducted on a sample of 498 polytechnic students to assess potential differences in situational interest based on…

Proteomic analysis of polyribosomes identifies splicing factors as potential regulators of translation during mitosis.

PubMed

Aviner, Ranen; Hofmann, Sarah; Elman, Tamar; Shenoy, Anjana; Geiger, Tamar; Elkon, Ran; Ehrlich, Marcelo; Elroy-Stein, Orna

2017-06-02

Precise regulation of mRNA translation is critical for proper cell division, but little is known about the factors that mediate it. To identify mRNA-binding proteins that regulate translation during mitosis, we analyzed the composition of polysomes from interphase and mitotic cells using unbiased quantitative mass-spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). We found that mitotic polysomes are enriched with a subset of proteins involved in RNA processing, including alternative splicing and RNA export. To demonstrate that these may indeed be regulators of translation, we focused on heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein C (hnRNP C) as a test case and confirmed that it is recruited to elongating ribosomes during mitosis. Then, using a combination of pulsed SILAC, metabolic labeling and ribosome profiling, we showed that knockdown of hnRNP C affects both global and transcript-specific translation rates and found that hnRNP C is specifically important for translation of mRNAs that encode ribosomal proteins and translation factors. Taken together, our results demonstrate how proteomic analysis of polysomes can provide insight into translation regulation under various cellular conditions of interest and suggest that hnRNP C facilitates production of translation machinery components during mitosis to provide daughter cells with the ability to efficiently synthesize proteins as they enter G1 phase. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

Using eHealth Technologies: Interests, Preferences, and Concerns of Older Adults

PubMed Central

Ware, Patrick; Bartlett, Susan J; Paré, Guy; Symeonidis, Iphigenia; Tannenbaum, Cara; Bartlett, Gillian; Poissant, Lise

2017-01-01

Background The Internet and eHealth technologies represent new opportunities for managing health. Age, sex, socioeconomic status, and current technology use are some of the known factors that influence individuals’ uptake of eHealth; however, relatively little is known about facilitators and barriers to eHealth uptake specific to older adults, particularly as they relate to their experiences in accessing health care. Objective The aim of our study was to explore the interests, preferences, and concerns of older adults in using the Internet and eHealth technologies for managing their health in relation to their experiences with the current health care system. Methods Two focus groups (n=15) were conducted with adults aged 50+ years. Pragmatic thematic analysis using an inductive approach was conducted to identify the interests, preferences, and concerns of using the Internet and eHealth technologies. Results Five themes emerged that include (1) Difficulty in identifying credible and relevant sources of information on the Web; (2) Ownership, access, and responsibility for medical information; (3) Peer communication and support; (4) Opportunities to enhance health care interactions; and (5) Privacy concerns. These findings support the potential value older adults perceive in eHealth technologies, particularly in their ability to provide access to personal health information and facilitate communication between providers and peers living with similar conditions. However, in order to foster acceptance, these technologies will need to provide personal and general health information that is secure, readily accessible, and easily understood. Conclusions Older adults have diverse needs and preferences that, in part, are driven by their experiences and frustrations with the health care system. Results can help inform the design and implementation of technologies to address gaps in care and access to health information for older adults with chronic conditions who may

CPTAC Investigators Identify Rogue Breast Tumor Proteins That Point To Potential Drug Therapies | Office of Cancer Clinical Proteomics Research

Cancer.gov

For patients with difficult-to-treat cancers, doctors increasingly rely on genomic testing of tumors to identify errors in the DNA that indicate a tumor can be targeted by existing therapies. But this approach overlooks another potential marker — rogue proteins — that may be driving cancer cells and also could be targeted with existing treatments.

Curiosity, Interest and Engagement in Technology-Pervasive Learning Environments: A New Research Agenda

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arnone, Marilyn P.; Small, Ruth V.; Chauncey, Sarah A.; McKenna, H. Patricia

2011-01-01

This paper identifies the need for developing new ways to study curiosity in the context of today's pervasive technologies and unprecedented information access. Curiosity is defined in this paper in a way which incorporates the concomitant constructs of interest and engagement. A theoretical model for curiosity, interest and engagement in new…

STEM Learning through Engineering Design: Impact on Middle Secondary Students' Interest towards STEM

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shahali, Edy Hafizan Mohd; Halim, Lilia; Rasul, Mohamad Sattar; Osman, Kamisah; Zulkifeli, Mohd Afendi

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to identify students' changes of (i) interest toward STEM subjects and (ii) interest to pursuing STEM career after participating in non-formal integrated STEM education programme. The programme exposed students with integrated STEM education through project based learning involving the application of five phases…

Changes in Student Science Interest from Elementary to Middle School

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Coutts, Trudi E.

This study is a transcendental phenomenological study that described the experience of students’ interest in science from elementary school through middle school grades and the identification of the factors that increase or decrease interest in science. Numerous researchers have found that interest in science changes among children and the change in interest seems to modulate student motivation, which ultimately leads to fewer children choosing not only science classes in the future but science careers. Research studies have identified numerous factors that affect student interest in science; however, this study incorporated the lived experience of the child and looked at this interest in science through the lens of the child. The study design was a collective cross-case study that was multi-site based. This study utilized a sample of children in fifth grade classes of three different elementary schools, two distinct seventh grade classes of different middle schools, and ninth grade children from one high school in the State of Illinois. The phenomenon was investigated through student interviews. The use of one-on-one semi-structured interviews limited to 45 minutes in length provided the researcher with data of each child’s description of science interest. All interviews were audio- recorded and transcribed verbatim. The data was collected and analyzed in order to identify themes, and finally checked for validity. The most significant findings of this study, and possible factors contributing to science interest in children as they progress from elementary to high school, were those findings relating to hands-on activities, the degree to which a student was challenged, the offering of new versus previously studied topics in the curriculum, the perceived relevance of the curricular materials to personal life, and the empowerment children felt when they were allowed to make choices related to their learning experiences. This study’s possible implications for

Supervision Training, Practices, and Interests of California Site Supervisors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Uellendahl, Gail E.; Tenenbaum, Maya N.

2015-01-01

In this descriptive study, the authors surveyed 220 California school counselor site supervisors of interns about supervision training, practices, and interests. Respondents overwhelmingly (71%) felt unprepared for this role and identified the need for more formal training and support. Results indicate a crucial leadership and advocacy role for…

Stability of vocational interests after recent spinal cord injury.

PubMed

Krause, James S; Clark, Jillian M R

2014-08-01

We sought to identify the stability of vocational interests among persons with spinal cord injury (SCI) first assessed during inpatient rehabilitation. Initial assessments were completed during inpatient rehabilitation an average of 50 days after SCI onset (n = 521). Follow-up measures, collected by mail, were obtained an average of 16.6 months postinjury (n = 190) and 29.1 months postinjury (n = 296). Participants (n = 135) completed all 3 assessments. Participants completed the 1994 Strong Interest Inventory (Campbell, 1971; Harmon, Hansen, Borgen, & Hammer, 1994), Form T317, a 317-item measure of vocational interests. Comparison of scale means across 3 times of measurement indicated significant changes in 2 of 6 general occupational themes (GOT), 8 basic interest scales (BIS), and 2 special scales (leadership style, risk taking/adventure). With 1 exception, a linear trend indicating an increase in reported interests accounted for observed relationships. An age by time interaction occurred with 1 GOT and 3 BIS. The average stability coefficient was 0.61 for the GOT, 0.59 for the BIS, and 0.70 for the special scales. The average coefficients were somewhat lower for the oldest participants. Interests do not appear to be static when first measured during inpatient rehabilitation after SCI. Rather, they evolve with average increases on select themes more compatible with the limitations of SCI. Stability coefficients suggest that interests are likely to change more than indicated in earlier studies.

The implementation of interest-based entrepreneurship curriculum in the Theory of Economics course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Surjanti, J.; Nugrohoseno, D.; Budiono; Musfidah, H.

2018-01-01

College and university are educational institutions and they should be able to design entrepreneurship program in order to strengthen creativity and innovation. Potential grown-up citizens potential is the main problem of national development solved through the role of universities by reconstructing the curriculum based on 2016 Indonesian National Curriculum Framework. The interest of building entrepreneurship becomes the work of all elements which one of them is a university. Reconstructing interest-based entrepreneurship curriculum is the first step to construct characterized economic. Economics lecturers have a responsibility to develop the curriculum. This study aimed to explore the interest in entrepreneurship used to develop the contextual learning using problem-based learning (PBL) method that refers to Universitas Negeri Surabaya’s motto “Growing with character” and integrated into 2016 Indonesian National Curriculum Framework. This study was qualitative explorative. The subjects of the study are 86 students in their first semester. The objective of the study was curriculum development interest-based entrepreneurship in the theory of economics course. The results of the study showed that the interest-based entrepreneurship curriculum was able to reach the targeted learning outcome as well as to create a product in the culinary and services project in Wonorejo mangrove forest according to students’ interests.

A Matter of Interest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Scott, Paul

2009-01-01

In these days of financial turmoil, there is greater interest in depositing one's money in the bank--at least one might hope for greater interest. Banks and various trusts pay compound interest at regular intervals: this means that interest is paid not only on the original sum deposited, but also on previous interest payments. This article…

Identifying significant environmental features using feature recognition.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2015-10-01

The Department of Environmental Analysis at the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet has expressed an interest in feature-recognition capability because it may help analysts identify environmentally sensitive features in the landscape, : including those r...

Integrating text mining, data mining, and network analysis for identifying genetic breast cancer trends.

PubMed

Jurca, Gabriela; Addam, Omar; Aksac, Alper; Gao, Shang; Özyer, Tansel; Demetrick, Douglas; Alhajj, Reda

2016-04-26

Breast cancer is a serious disease which affects many women and may lead to death. It has received considerable attention from the research community. Thus, biomedical researchers aim to find genetic biomarkers indicative of the disease. Novel biomarkers can be elucidated from the existing literature. However, the vast amount of scientific publications on breast cancer make this a daunting task. This paper presents a framework which investigates existing literature data for informative discoveries. It integrates text mining and social network analysis in order to identify new potential biomarkers for breast cancer. We utilized PubMed for the testing. We investigated gene-gene interactions, as well as novel interactions such as gene-year, gene-country, and abstract-country to find out how the discoveries varied over time and how overlapping/diverse are the discoveries and the interest of various research groups in different countries. Interesting trends have been identified and discussed, e.g., different genes are highlighted in relationship to different countries though the various genes were found to share functionality. Some text analysis based results have been validated against results from other tools that predict gene-gene relations and gene functions.

A protocol for identifying suitable biomarkers to assess fish health: A systematic review

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Background Biomarkers have been used extensively to provide the connection between external levels of contaminant exposure, internal levels of tissue contamination, and early adverse effects in organisms. Objectives To present a three-step protocol for identifying suitable biomarkers to assess fish health in coastal and marine ecosystems, using Gladstone Harbour (Australia) as a case study. Methods Prior to applying our protocol, clear working definitions for biomarkers were developed to ensure consistency with the global literature on fish health assessment. First, contaminants of concern were identified based on the presence of point and diffuse sources of pollution and available monitoring data for the ecosystem of interest. Second, suitable fish species were identified using fisheries dependent and independent data, and prioritised based on potential pathways of exposure to the contaminants of concern. Finally, a systematic and critical literature review was conducted on the use of biomarkers to assess the health of fish exposed to the contaminants of concern. Results/Discussion We present clear working definitions for bioaccumulation markers, biomarkers of exposure, biomarkers of effect and biomarkers of susceptibility. Based on emission and concentration information, seven metals were identified as contaminants of concern for Gladstone Harbour. Twenty out of 232 fish species were abundant enough to be potentially suitable for biomarker studies; five of these were prioritised based on potential pathways of exposure and susceptibility to metals. The literature search on biomarkers yielded 5,035 articles, of which 151met the inclusion criteria. Based on our review, the most suitable biomarkers include bioaccumulation markers, biomarkers of exposure (CYP1A, EROD, SOD, LPOX, HSP, MT, DNA strand breaks, micronuclei, apoptosis), and biomarkers of effect (histopathology, TAG:ST). Conclusion Our protocol outlines a clear pathway to identify suitable biomarkers to

Monitoring International Interest in Transnational Academic Mobility to Australia

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hopkins, John L.

2011-01-01

This research examines the issue of transnational academic mobility of academic staff looking at potential moves to higher education institutions in Australia. By establishing a web-based portal, attracting interested parties from around the world with information about Australian universities and subsequent career opportunities, web analytics are…

Science Interests in Preschool Boys and Girls: Relations to Later Self-Concept and Science Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leibham, Mary Beth; Alexander, Joyce M.; Johnson, Kathy E.

2013-01-01

Although young children display various types of interests, little is known regarding the potential impact of these interests on subsequent learning and development. Of particular importance is the question of whether or not children's early interests are instrumental in their later academic achievement. The current study fills this gap in the…

RNAi phenotype profiling of kinases identifies potential therapeutic targets in Ewing's sarcoma.

PubMed

Arora, Shilpi; Gonzales, Irma M; Hagelstrom, R Tanner; Beaudry, Christian; Choudhary, Ashish; Sima, Chao; Tibes, Raoul; Mousses, Spyro; Azorsa, David O

2010-08-18

Ewing's sarcomas are aggressive musculoskeletal tumors occurring most frequently in the long and flat bones as a solitary lesion mostly during the teen-age years of life. With current treatments, significant number of patients relapse and survival is poor for those with metastatic disease. As part of novel target discovery in Ewing's sarcoma, we applied RNAi mediated phenotypic profiling to identify kinase targets involved in growth and survival of Ewing's sarcoma cells. Four Ewing's sarcoma cell lines TC-32, TC-71, SK-ES-1 and RD-ES were tested in high throughput-RNAi screens using a siRNA library targeting 572 kinases. Knockdown of 25 siRNAs reduced the growth of all four Ewing's sarcoma cell lines in replicate screens. Of these, 16 siRNA were specific and reduced proliferation of Ewing's sarcoma cells as compared to normal fibroblasts. Secondary validation and preliminary mechanistic studies highlighted the kinases STK10 and TNK2 as having important roles in growth and survival of Ewing's sarcoma cells. Furthermore, knockdown of STK10 and TNK2 by siRNA showed increased apoptosis. In summary, RNAi-based phenotypic profiling proved to be a powerful gene target discovery strategy, leading to successful identification and validation of STK10 and TNK2 as two novel potential therapeutic targets for Ewing's sarcoma.

Component analysis of somatosensory evoked potentials for identifying spinal cord injury location.

PubMed

Wang, Yazhou; Li, Guangsheng; Luk, Keith D K; Hu, Yong

2017-05-24

This study aims to determine whether the time-frequency components (TFCs) of somatosensory evoked potentials (SEPs) can be used to identify the specific location of a compressive spinal cord injury using a classification technique. Waveforms of SEPs after compressive injuries at various locations (C4, C5 and C6) in rat spinal cords were decomposed into a series of TFCs using a high-resolution time-frequency analysis method. A classification method based on support vector machine (SVM) was applied to the distributions of these TFCs among different pathological locations. The difference among injury locations manifests itself in different categories of SEP TFCs. High-energy TFCs of normal-state SEPs have significantly higher power and frequency than those of injury-state SEPs. The location of C5 is characterized by a unique distribution pattern of middle-energy TFCs. The difference between C4 and C6 is evidenced by the distribution pattern of low-energy TFCs. The proposed classification method based on SEP TFCs offers a discrimination accuracy of 80.2%. In this study, meaningful information contained in various SEP components was investigated and used to propose a new application of SEPs for identification of the location of pathological changes in the cervical spinal cord.

Using Situational Interest to Enhance Individual Interest and Science-Related Behaviours

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, David; Dixon, Jeanette; Archer, Jennifer

2017-01-01

Situational interest is a relatively transient reaction to highly stimulating factors in the immediate environment, whereas individual interest is a relatively long-term preference for a particular subject or activity. It has been proposed that regular experiences of situational interest in a subject may eventually lead to the development of…

Conflicts of interest in medicine: taking diversity seriously.

PubMed

Williams, Jane; Mayes, Christopher; Komesaroff, Paul; Kerridge, Ian; Lipworth, Wendy

2017-07-01

Conflicts of interest (COI) are considered ubiquitous in many healthcare arrangements, 1 but there is disagreement on how COI should be defined, whether non-financial conflicts deserve attention and the relationship between COI and harm. We conducted a study of Australian healthcare professionals and students to gain a better understanding of the way that COI are understood in practice. In this paper, we outline an empirically derived taxonomy of the understanding of, and attitudes towards, COI. We carried out 25 semistructured interviews with clinicians working in several fields across Australia and held six focus group discussions with medical students in New South Wales. Interviewees and focus groups followed similar question routes investigating participants' understanding of COI and views of management. All data were compared and analysed using a matrix of pre-determined questions. There were, broadly, two views of COI: that COI were potentially harmful and morally compromising and another that saw COI as less serious and easily managed through existing structures. Definitions of COI varied widely and were both financial and non-financial. Causes of COI were, variously, systemic, individual and/or relational. Some participants associated COI with moral wrongdoing, and a variety of potential harms was identified. Views on how COI should be managed were similarly varied. We found considerable heterogeneity in how COI are understood in practice. This has implications for management systems that are currently in place, and we suggest a more sophisticated system for considering and mitigating COI. © 2017 Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

How can we enhance girls' interest in scientific topics?

PubMed

Kerger, Sylvie; Martin, Romain; Brunner, Martin

2011-12-01

Girls are considerably less interested in scientific subjects than boys. One reason may be that scientific subjects are considered to be genuinely masculine. Thus, being interested in science may threaten the self-perception of girls as well as the femininity of their self-image. If scientific topics that are considered to be stereotypically feminine were chosen, however, this potential threat might be overcome which, in turn, might lead to an increase in girls' interest in science. This hypothesis was empirically tested by means of two studies. Participants were 294 (Study 1) and 190 (Study 2) Grade 8 to Grade 9 students. Gender differences in students' interest in masculine and feminine topics were investigated for a range of scientific concepts (Study 1) as well as for a given scientific concept (Study 2) for four scientific subjects (i.e., biology, physics, information technology, and statistics), respectively. Both studies indicated that the mean level of girls' scientific interest was higher when scientific concepts were presented in the context of feminine topics and boys' level of scientific interests was higher when scientific concepts were presented in the context of masculine topics. Girls' interest in science could be substantially increased by presenting scientific concepts in the context of feminine topics. Gender differences as well as individual differences in the level of interest in scientific topics may be taken into account by creating learning environments in which students could select the context in which a certain scientific concept is embedded. ©2011 The British Psychological Society.

How do incentives lead to deception in advisor-client interactions? Explicit and implicit strategies of self-interested deception.

PubMed

Mackinger, Barbara; Jonas, Eva

2012-01-01

When confronted with important questions we like to rely on the advice of experts. However, uncertainty can occur regarding advisors' motivation to pursue self-interest and deceive the client. This can especially occur when the advisor has the possibility to receive an incentive by recommending a certain alternative. We investigated how the possibility to pursue self-interest led to explicit strategic behavior (bias in recommendation and transfer of information) and to implicit strategic behavior (bias in information processing: evaluation and memory). In Study 1 explicit strategic behavior could be identified: self-interested advisors recommended more often the self-serving alternative and transferred more self-interested biased information to their client compared to the advisor without specific interest. Also deception through implicit strategic behavior was identified: self-interested advisors biased the evaluation of information less in favor of the client compared to the control group. Self-interested advisors also remembered conflicting information regarding their self-interest worse compared to advisors without self-interest. In Study 2 beside self-interest we assessed accountability which interacted with self-interest and increased the bias: when accountability was high advisor's self-interest led to higher explicit strategic behavior (less transfer of conflicting information), and to higher implicit strategic behavior (devaluated and remembered less conflicting information). Both studies identified implicit strategic behavior as mediator which can explain the relation between self-interest and explicit strategic behavior. Results of both studies suggest that self-interested advisors use explicit and implicit strategic behavior to receive an incentive. Thus, advisors do not only consciously inform their clients "self-interested," but they are influenced unconsciously by biased information processing - a tendency which even increased with high

Interest in Health Behavior Intervention Delivery Modalities Among Cancer Survivors: A Cross-Sectional Study

PubMed Central

Basen-Engquist, Karen; Cox, Matthew G; Lyons, Elizabeth J; Carmack, Cindy L; Blalock, Janice A; Demark-Wahnefried, Wendy

2016-01-01

Background Effective, broad-reaching channels are important for the delivery of health behavior interventions in order to meet the needs of the growing population of cancer survivors in the United States. New technology presents opportunities to increase the reach of health behavior change interventions and therefore their overall impact. However, evidence suggests that older adults may be slower in their adoption of these technologies than the general population. Survivors’ interest for more traditional channels of delivery (eg, clinic) versus new technology-based channels (eg, smartphones) may depend on a variety of factors, including demographics, current health status, and the behavior requiring intervention. Objective The aim of this study was to determine the factors that predict cancer survivors’ interest in new technology-based health behavior intervention modalities versus traditional modalities. Methods Surveys were mailed to 1871 survivors of breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer. Participants’ demographics, diet and physical activity behaviors, interest in health behavior interventions, and interest in intervention delivery modalities were collected. Using path analysis, we explored the relationship between four intervention modality variables (ie, clinic, telephone, computer, and smartphone) and potential predictors of modality interest. Results In total, 1053 respondents to the survey (56.3% response rate); 847 provided complete data for this analysis. Delivery channel interest was highest for computer-based interventions (236/847, 27.9% very/extremely interested) and lowest for smartphone–based interventions (73/847, 8.6%), with interest in clinic-based (147/847, 17.3%) and telephone-delivered (143/847, 16.9%) falling in between. Use of other technology platforms, such as Web cameras and social networking sites, was positively predictive of interest in technology-based delivery channels. Older survivors were less likely to report interest

A GIS-based approach for identifying potential runoff harvesting sites in the Thukela River basin, South Africa

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

de Winnaar, G.; Jewitt, G. P. W.; Horan, M.

Water scarce countries such as South Africa are subject to various hydrological constraints which can often be attributed to poor rainfall partitioning, particularly within resource poor farming communities that are reliant on rainfed agriculture. Recent initiatives to address this have shifted focus to explore more efficient alternatives to water supply and the recognition of numerous opportunities to implement runoff harvesting as a means to supplement water availability. However, increasing the implementation of runoff harvesting, without encountering unintended impacts on downstream hydrological and ecological systems, requires better understanding of the hydrologic and environmental impacts at catchment scale. In this paper the representation of spatial variations in landscape characteristics such as soil, land use, rainfall and slope information is shown to be an important step in identifying potential runoff harvesting sites, after which modelling the hydrological response in catchments where extensive runoff harvesting is being considered can be performed and likely impacts assessed. Geographic information systems (GIS) was utilised as an integrating tool to store, analyse and manage spatial information and when linked to hydrological response models, provided a rational means to facilitate decision making by providing catchment level identification, planning and assessment of runoff harvesting sites as illustrated by a case study at the Potshini catchment, a small sub-catchment in the Thukela River basin, South Africa. Through the linked GIS, potential runoff harvesting sites are identified relative to areas that concentrate runoff and where the stored water will be appropriately distributed. Based on GIS analysis it was found that 17% percent of the Potshini catchment area has a high potential for generating surface runoff, whereas an analysis of all factors which influence the location of such systems, shows that 18% is highly suitable for runoff

Identifying the impact of social determinants of health on disease rates using correlation analysis of area-based summary information.

PubMed

Song, Ruiguang; Hall, H Irene; Harrison, Kathleen McDavid; Sharpe, Tanya Telfair; Lin, Lillian S; Dean, Hazel D

2011-01-01

We developed a statistical tool that brings together standard, accessible, and well-understood analytic approaches and uses area-based information and other publicly available data to identify social determinants of health (SDH) that significantly affect the morbidity of a specific disease. We specified AIDS as the disease of interest and used data from the American Community Survey and the National HIV Surveillance System. Morbidity and socioeconomic variables in the two data systems were linked through geographic areas that can be identified in both systems. Correlation and partial correlation coefficients were used to measure the impact of socioeconomic factors on AIDS diagnosis rates in certain geographic areas. We developed an easily explained approach that can be used by a data analyst with access to publicly available datasets and standard statistical software to identify the impact of SDH. We found that the AIDS diagnosis rate was highly correlated with the distribution of race/ethnicity, population density, and marital status in an area. The impact of poverty, education level, and unemployment depended on other SDH variables. Area-based measures of socioeconomic variables can be used to identify risk factors associated with a disease of interest. When correlation analysis is used to identify risk factors, potential confounding from other variables must be taken into account.

Evolutionary analysis of vision genes identifies potential drivers of visual differences between giraffe and okapi

PubMed Central

Agaba, Morris; Cavener, Douglas R.

2017-01-01

Background The capacity of visually oriented species to perceive and respond to visual signal is integral to their evolutionary success. Giraffes are closely related to okapi, but the two species have broad range of phenotypic differences including their visual capacities. Vision studies rank giraffe’s visual acuity higher than all other artiodactyls despite sharing similar vision ecological determinants with many of them. The extent to which the giraffe’s unique visual capacity and its difference with okapi is reflected by changes in their vision genes is not understood. Methods The recent availability of giraffe and okapi genomes provided opportunity to identify giraffe and okapi vision genes. Multiple strategies were employed to identify thirty-six candidate mammalian vision genes in giraffe and okapi genomes. Quantification of selection pressure was performed by a combination of branch-site tests of positive selection and clade models of selection divergence through comparing giraffe and okapi vision genes and orthologous sequences from other mammals. Results Signatures of selection were identified in key genes that could potentially underlie giraffe and okapi visual adaptations. Importantly, some genes that contribute to optical transparency of the eye and those that are critical in light signaling pathway were found to show signatures of adaptive evolution or selection divergence. Comparison between giraffe and other ruminants identifies significant selection divergence in CRYAA and OPN1LW. Significant selection divergence was identified in SAG while positive selection was detected in LUM when okapi is compared with ruminants and other mammals. Sequence analysis of OPN1LW showed that at least one of the sites known to affect spectral sensitivity of the red pigment is uniquely divergent between giraffe and other ruminants. Discussion By taking a systemic approach to gene function in vision, the results provide the first molecular clues associated with

Evolutionary analysis of vision genes identifies potential drivers of visual differences between giraffe and okapi.

PubMed

Ishengoma, Edson; Agaba, Morris; Cavener, Douglas R

2017-01-01

The capacity of visually oriented species to perceive and respond to visual signal is integral to their evolutionary success. Giraffes are closely related to okapi, but the two species have broad range of phenotypic differences including their visual capacities. Vision studies rank giraffe's visual acuity higher than all other artiodactyls despite sharing similar vision ecological determinants with many of them. The extent to which the giraffe's unique visual capacity and its difference with okapi is reflected by changes in their vision genes is not understood. The recent availability of giraffe and okapi genomes provided opportunity to identify giraffe and okapi vision genes. Multiple strategies were employed to identify thirty-six candidate mammalian vision genes in giraffe and okapi genomes. Quantification of selection pressure was performed by a combination of branch-site tests of positive selection and clade models of selection divergence through comparing giraffe and okapi vision genes and orthologous sequences from other mammals. Signatures of selection were identified in key genes that could potentially underlie giraffe and okapi visual adaptations. Importantly, some genes that contribute to optical transparency of the eye and those that are critical in light signaling pathway were found to show signatures of adaptive evolution or selection divergence. Comparison between giraffe and other ruminants identifies significant selection divergence in CRYAA and OPN1LW . Significant selection divergence was identified in SAG while positive selection was detected in LUM when okapi is compared with ruminants and other mammals. Sequence analysis of OPN1LW showed that at least one of the sites known to affect spectral sensitivity of the red pigment is uniquely divergent between giraffe and other ruminants. By taking a systemic approach to gene function in vision, the results provide the first molecular clues associated with giraffe and okapi vision adaptations. At

Identifying High Potential Well Targets with 3D Seismic and Mineralogy

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

Mellors, R. J.

2015-10-30

Seismic reflection the primary tool used in petroleum exploration and production, but use in geothermal exploration is less standard, in part due to cost but also due to the challenges in identifying the highly-permeable zones essential for economic hydrothermal systems [e.g. Louie et al., 2011; Majer, 2003]. Newer technology, such as wireless sensors and low-cost high performance computing, has helped reduce the cost and effort needed to conduct 3D surveys. The second difficulty, identifying permeable zones, has been less tractable so far. Here we report on the use of seismic attributes from a 3D seismic survey to identify and mapmore » permeable zones in a hydrothermal area.« less

Men with sexual interest in transvestites, transsexuals, and she-males.

PubMed

Blanchard, R; Collins, P I

1993-09-01

This study was a preliminary exploration of gynandromorphophilia, that is, sexual interest in cross-dressed or anatomically feminized men. Subjects were male subscribers to a voice mail system devoted to personal advertisements for sexual or romantic partners. These comprised 51 gynandromorphophiles who sought cross-dressers, transvestites, transsexuals, or she-males for such relationships, 37 gynandromorphophilic cross-dressers who identified themselves as cross-dressers and sought similar men, and 31 residual cross-dressers who sought masculine or unspecified male partners. Analysis of advertisement content suggested that gynandromorphophilia constitutes a distinct erotic interest.

Identifying 2 prenylflavanones as potential hepatotoxic compounds in the ethanol extract of Sophora flavescens.

PubMed

Yu, Qianqian; Cheng, Nengneng; Ni, Xiaojun

2013-11-01

Zhixue capsule is a prescription for hemorrhoid commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine. This drug was recalled by the State Food and Drug Administration in 2008 because of severe adverse hepatic reactions. Zhixue capsule is composed of ethanol extracts of Cortex Dictamni (ECD) and Sophora flavescens (ESF). In our preliminary study, we observed the hepatotoxic effects of ESF on rat primary hepatocytes. However, ECD did not exhibit hepatotoxicity at the same concentration range. In this study, ESF was evaluated for its potential hepatotoxic effects on rats. Bioassay-guided isolation was used to identify the material basis for hepatotoxicity. Treatment with 1.25 g/kg and 2.5 g/kg ESF significantly elevated the alanine aminotransferase and aspartate aminotransferase levels in the serum. The changes in the levels of transaminases were supported by the remarkable fatty degeneration of liver histopathology. Further investigations using bioassay-guided isolation and analysis indicated that prenylated flavanones accounted for the positive hepatotoxic results. Two isolated compounds were identified, kurarinone and sophoraflavanone G, using nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectrometry techniques. These compounds have potent toxic effects on primary rat hepatocytes (with IC50 values of 29.9 μM and 16.5 μM) and human HL-7702 liver cells (with IC50 values of 48.2 μM and 40.3 μM), respectively. Consequently, the hepatotoxic constituents of S. flavescens were determined to be prenylated flavanones, kurarinone, and sophoraflavanone G. © 2013 Institute of Food Technologists®

Protecting subjects, preserving trust, promoting progress I: policy and guidelines for the oversight of individual financial interests in human subjects research.

PubMed

2003-02-01

In December 2001, the AAMC Task Force on Financial Conflicts of Interest in Clinical Research released this report, the first of two (both published in this issue of Academic Medicine). This report focuses on gaps in existing federal financial disclosure regulations of individual conflicts of interests, finding that additional scrutiny is recommended in two areas: human subjects research and privately sponsored research. The task force suggests that when potential conflicts exist, a conflicts of interest committee should apply a rebuttable presumption against engaging in human subjects research. The task force recommends that the circumstances giving rise to the presumption against the proposed activity be balanced against compelling circumstances in favor of the conduct of the research. The AAMC task force delineates core principles to guide institutional policy development. First, an institution should regard all significant financial interests in human subjects research as requiring close scrutiny. Second, in the event of compelling circumstances, an individual holding a significant financial interest may be permitted to conduct the research. Whether circumstances are deemed compelling will depend in each case upon the nature of the science, the nature of the interest, how closely the interest is related to the research, and the degree to which the interest may be affected by the research. Four other core principles for development of institutional policies are identified in the report, pertaining to reporting, monitoring, management of conflicts, and accountability.

SOCIODEMOGRAPHIC DATA USED FOR IDENTIFYING ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Due to unique social and demographic characteristics, various segments of the population may experience exposures different from those of the general population, which, in many cases, may be greater. When risk assessments do not characterize subsets of the general population, the populations that may experience the greatest risk remain unidentified. When such populations are not identified, the social and demographic data relevant to these populations is not considered when preparing exposure estimates, which can underestimate exposure and risk estimates for at-risk populations. Thus, it is necessary for risk or exposure assessors characterizing a diverse population, to first identify and then enumerate certain groups within the general population who are at risk for greater contaminant exposures. The document entitled Sociodemographic Data Used for Identifying Potentially Highly Exposed Populations (also referred to as the Highly Exposed Populations document), assists assessors in identifying and enumerating potentially highly exposed populations. This document presents data relating to factors which potentially impact an individual or group's exposure to environmental contaminants based on activity patterns (how time is spent), microenvironments (locations where time is spent), and other socio-demographic data such as age, gender, race and economic status. Populations potentially more exposed to various chemicals of concern, relative to the general population

SWATH-based proteomics identified carbonic anhydrase 2 as a potential diagnosis biomarker for nasopharyngeal carcinoma

PubMed Central

Luo, Yanzhang; Mok, Tin Seak; Lin, Xiuxian; Zhang, Wanling; Cui, Yizhi; Guo, Jiahui; Chen, Xing; Zhang, Tao; Wang, Tong

2017-01-01

Nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) is a serious threat to public health, and the biomarker discovery is of urgent needs. The data-independent mode (DIA) based sequential window acquisition of all theoretical fragment-ion spectra (SWATH) mass spectrometry (MS) has been proved to be precise in protein quantitation and efficient for cancer biomarker researches. In this study, we performed the first SWATH-MS analysis comparing the NPC and normal tissues. Spike-in stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (super-SILAC) MS was used as a shotgun reference. We identified and quantified 1414 proteins across all SWATH-MS analyses. We found that SWATH-MS had a unique feature to preferentially detect proteins with smaller molecular weights than either super-SILAC MS or human proteome background. With SWATH-MS, 29 significant differentially express proteins (DEPs) were identified. Among them, carbonic anhydrase 2 (CA2) was selected for further validation per novelty, MS quality and other supporting rationale. With the tissue microarray analysis, we found that CA2 had an AUC of 0.94 in differentiating NPC from normal tissue samples. In conclusion, SWATH-MS has unique features in proteome analysis, and it leads to the identification of CA2 as a potentially new diagnostic biomarker for NPC. PMID:28117408

Financial conflicts of interest in biomedical human subject research.

PubMed

Goldstein, Nathan

2006-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to examine the past, present and future of financial conflict of interest regulation in biomedical human subject testing. Part I will briefly review the forces giving rise to the current controversy. Part II will examine the more influential ethical codes on human subject testing and argue that they are inconclusive on the subject of financial conflicts of interest. Part III will examine the various regulations now in place and identify their serious flaws. Part IV will critique the leading proposals for reform. The Conclusion will synthesize the best features of the various proposals for reform and suggest improvements left unaddressed by these proposals.

An Assessment of Educational Interests of Women over 60.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

De Jong, Shirley

Educational interests of women aged 60 and over were studied, and a correlation between the respondents' ages, educational levels, marital status, as well as the number and types of educational topics they chose was investigated. The subjects' preferences as to selected program design questions were also identified. One hundred current members of…

Eco-Efficient Process Improvement at the Early Development Stage: Identifying Environmental and Economic Process Hotspots for Synergetic Improvement Potential.

PubMed

Piccinno, Fabiano; Hischier, Roland; Seeger, Stefan; Som, Claudia

2018-05-15

We present here a new eco-efficiency process-improvement method to highlight combined environmental and costs hotspots of the production process of new material at a very early development stage. Production-specific and scaled-up results for life cycle assessment (LCA) and production costs are combined in a new analysis to identify synergetic improvement potentials and trade-offs, setting goals for the eco-design of new processes. The identified hotspots and bottlenecks will help users to focus on the relevant steps for improvements from an eco-efficiency perspective and potentially reduce their associated environmental impacts and production costs. Our method is illustrated with a case study of nanocellulose. The results indicate that the production route should start with carrot pomace, use heat and solvent recovery, and deactivate the enzymes with bleach instead of heat. To further improve the process, the results show that focus should be laid on the carrier polymer, sodium alginate, and the production of the GripX coating. Overall, the method shows that the underlying LCA scale-up framework is valuable for purposes beyond conventional LCA studies and is applicable at a very early stage to provide researchers with a better understanding of their production process.

How Do Incentives Lead to Deception in Advisor–Client Interactions? Explicit and Implicit Strategies of Self-Interested Deception

PubMed Central

Mackinger, Barbara; Jonas, Eva

2012-01-01

When confronted with important questions we like to rely on the advice of experts. However, uncertainty can occur regarding advisors’ motivation to pursue self-interest and deceive the client. This can especially occur when the advisor has the possibility to receive an incentive by recommending a certain alternative. We investigated how the possibility to pursue self-interest led to explicit strategic behavior (bias in recommendation and transfer of information) and to implicit strategic behavior (bias in information processing: evaluation and memory). In Study 1 explicit strategic behavior could be identified: self-interested advisors recommended more often the self-serving alternative and transferred more self-interested biased information to their client compared to the advisor without specific interest. Also deception through implicit strategic behavior was identified: self-interested advisors biased the evaluation of information less in favor of the client compared to the control group. Self-interested advisors also remembered conflicting information regarding their self-interest worse compared to advisors without self-interest. In Study 2 beside self-interest we assessed accountability which interacted with self-interest and increased the bias: when accountability was high advisor’s self-interest led to higher explicit strategic behavior (less transfer of conflicting information), and to higher implicit strategic behavior (devaluated and remembered less conflicting information). Both studies identified implicit strategic behavior as mediator which can explain the relation between self-interest and explicit strategic behavior. Results of both studies suggest that self-interested advisors use explicit and implicit strategic behavior to receive an incentive. Thus, advisors do not only consciously inform their clients “self-interested,” but they are influenced unconsciously by biased information processing – a tendency which even increased with high

The therapeutic potential of cannabinoids for movement disorders.

PubMed

Kluger, Benzi; Triolo, Piera; Jones, Wallace; Jankovic, Joseph

2015-03-01

There is growing interest in the therapeutic potential of marijuana (cannabis) and cannabinoid-based chemicals within the medical community and, particularly, for neurological conditions. This interest is driven both by changes in the legal status of cannabis in many areas and increasing research into the roles of endocannabinoids within the central nervous system and their potential as symptomatic and/or neuroprotective therapies. We review basic science as well as preclinical and clinical studies on the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids specifically as it relates to movement disorders. The pharmacology of cannabis is complex, with over 60 neuroactive chemicals identified to date. The endocannabinoid system modulates neurotransmission involved in motor function, particularly within the basal ganglia. Preclinical research in animal models of several movement disorders have shown variable evidence for symptomatic benefits, but more consistently suggest potential neuroprotective effects in several animal models of Parkinson's (PD) and Huntington's disease (HD). Clinical observations and clinical trials of cannabinoid-based therapies suggests a possible benefit of cannabinoids for tics and probably no benefit for tremor in multiple sclerosis or dyskinesias or motor symptoms in PD. Data are insufficient to draw conclusions regarding HD, dystonia, or ataxia and nonexistent for myoclonus or RLS. Despite the widespread publicity about the medical benefits of cannabinoids, further preclinical and clinical research is needed to better characterize the pharmacological, physiological, and therapeutic effects of this class of drugs in movement disorders. © 2015 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

The Therapeutic Potential of Cannabinoids for Movement Disorders

PubMed Central

Kluger, Benzi; Triolo, Piera; Jones, Wallace; Jankovic, Joseph

2014-01-01

Background There is growing interest in the therapeutic potential of marijuana (cannabis) and cannabinoid-based chemicals within the medical community and particularly for neurologic conditions. This interest is driven both by changes in the legal status of cannabis in many areas and increasing research into the roles of endocannabinoids within the central nervous system and their potential as symptomatic and/or neuroprotective therapies. We review basic science, preclinical and clinical studies on the therapeutic potential of cannabinoids specifically as it relates to movement disorders. Results The pharmacology of cannabis is complex with over 60 neuroactive chemicals identified to date. The endocannabinoid system modulates neurotransmission involved in motor function, particularly within the basal ganglia. Preclinical research in animal models of several movement disorders have shown variable evidence for symptomatic benefits but more consistently suggest potential neuroprotective effects in several animal models of Parkinson’s (PD) and Huntington’s disease (HD). Clinical observations and clinical trials of cannabinoid-based therapies suggests a possible benefit of cannabinoids for tics and probably no benefit for tremor in multiple sclerosis or dyskinesias or motor symptoms in PD. Data are insufficient to draw conclusions regarding HD, dystonia or ataxia and nonexistent for myoclonus or restless legs syndrome. Conclusions Despite the widespread publicity about the medical benefits of cannabinoids, further preclinical and clinical research is needed to better characterize the pharmacological, physiological and therapeutic effects of this class of drugs in movement disorders. PMID:25649017

21 CFR 54.5 - Agency evaluation of financial interests.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... covered clinical study in an application to determine the impact of any disclosed financial interests on the reliability of the study. FDA may consider both the size and nature of a disclosed financial... steps that have been taken to minimize the potential for bias. (b) Effect of study design. In assessing...

21 CFR 54.5 - Agency evaluation of financial interests.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... covered clinical study in an application to determine the impact of any disclosed financial interests on the reliability of the study. FDA may consider both the size and nature of a disclosed financial... steps that have been taken to minimize the potential for bias. (b) Effect of study design. In assessing...

Orientation-dependent potential of mean force for protein folding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mukherjee, Arnab; Bhimalapuram, Prabhakar; Bagchi, Biman

2005-07-01

We present a solvent-implicit minimalistic model potential among the amino acid residues of proteins, obtained by using the known native structures [deposited in the Protein Data Bank (PDB)]. In this model, the amino acid side chains are represented by a single ellipsoidal site, defined by the group of atoms about the center of mass of the side chain. These ellipsoidal sites interact with other sites through an orientation-dependent interaction potential which we construct in the following fashion. First, the site-site potential of mean force (PMF) between heavy atoms is calculated [following F. Melo and E. Feytsman, J. Mol. Biol. 267, 207 (1997)] from statistics of their distance separation obtained from crystal structures. These site-site potentials are then used to calculate the distance and the orientation-dependent potential between side chains of all the amino acid residues (AAR). The distance and orientation dependencies show several interesting results. For example, we find that the PMF between two hydrophobic AARs, such as phenylalanine, is strongly attractive at short distances (after the obvious repulsive region at very short separation) and is characterized by a deep minimum, for specific orientations. For the interaction between two hydrophilic AARs, such a deep minimum is absent and in addition, the potential interestingly reveals the combined effect of polar (charge) and hydrophobic interactions among some of these AARs. The effectiveness of our potential has been tested by calculating the Z-scores for a large set of proteins. The calculated Z-scores show high negative values for most of them, signifying the success of the potential to identify the native structure from among a large number of its decoy states.

Interest Assessment. ERIC Digest.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hansen, Jo-Ida C.

The assessment of interests through the use of interest inventories is big business in the field of testing today. The assessment of interests originally developed as an outgrowth of efforts in education and in industry to supplement special and general abilities information about individuals. Interest inventories used today differ from early…

Results of an Assessment to Identify Potential Barriers to Sustainable Agriculture on American Indian Reservations in the Western United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Singletary, Loretta; Emm, Staci; Brummer, Fara Ann; Hill, George C.; Lewis, Steve; Hebb, Vicki

2016-01-01

Purpose: This paper reports the results of survey research conducted with tribal producers between 2011 and 2012 on 19 of the largest American Indian reservations in Idaho, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, and Washington. The purpose of the research was to identify potential barriers to sustainable agriculture on reservation lands. This…

An integrative strategy to identify the entire protein coding potential of prokaryotic genomes by proteogenomics.

PubMed

Omasits, Ulrich; Varadarajan, Adithi R; Schmid, Michael; Goetze, Sandra; Melidis, Damianos; Bourqui, Marc; Nikolayeva, Olga; Québatte, Maxime; Patrignani, Andrea; Dehio, Christoph; Frey, Juerg E; Robinson, Mark D; Wollscheid, Bernd; Ahrens, Christian H

2017-12-01

Accurate annotation of all protein-coding sequences (CDSs) is an essential prerequisite to fully exploit the rapidly growing repertoire of completely sequenced prokaryotic genomes. However, large discrepancies among the number of CDSs annotated by different resources, missed functional short open reading frames (sORFs), and overprediction of spurious ORFs represent serious limitations. Our strategy toward accurate and complete genome annotation consolidates CDSs from multiple reference annotation resources, ab initio gene prediction algorithms and in silico ORFs (a modified six-frame translation considering alternative start codons) in an integrated proteogenomics database (iPtgxDB) that covers the entire protein-coding potential of a prokaryotic genome. By extending the PeptideClassifier concept of unambiguous peptides for prokaryotes, close to 95% of the identifiable peptides imply one distinct protein, largely simplifying downstream analysis. Searching a comprehensive Bartonella henselae proteomics data set against such an iPtgxDB allowed us to unambiguously identify novel ORFs uniquely predicted by each resource, including lipoproteins, differentially expressed and membrane-localized proteins, novel start sites and wrongly annotated pseudogenes. Most novelties were confirmed by targeted, parallel reaction monitoring mass spectrometry, including unique ORFs and single amino acid variations (SAAVs) identified in a re-sequenced laboratory strain that are not present in its reference genome. We demonstrate the general applicability of our strategy for genomes with varying GC content and distinct taxonomic origin. We release iPtgxDBs for B. henselae , Bradyrhizobium diazoefficiens and Escherichia coli and the software to generate both proteogenomics search databases and integrated annotation files that can be viewed in a genome browser for any prokaryote. © 2017 Omasits et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

Analysis of Readability and Interest of Marketing Education Textbooks: Implications for Special Needs Learners.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jones, Karen H.; And Others

1993-01-01

The readability, reading ease, interest level, and writing style of 20 current textbooks in secondary marketing education were evaluated. Readability formulas consistently identified lower reading levels for special needs education, human interest scores were not very reliable information sources, and writing style was also a weak variable. (JOW)

An interest in fame: confirming the measurement and empirical conceptualization of fame interest.

PubMed

Maltby, John

2010-08-01

The following paper introduces and develops the conceptualization of Fame Interest. Study 1 (N=1,978), through the use of factor analysis techniques, introduces the Fame Interest Scale which comprises six dimensions of Fame Interest (intensity, vulnerability, celebrity life-style, drive, perceived suitability, and altruistic) with evidence for the reliability and validity of the scale. Study 2 (N=376) examined the relationship between an interest in fame and measures of the five-factor model of personality, narcissism, self-esteem, curiosity, attachment style and perceived family, and peer and media influence. From this second study four findings emerge; (1) Fame Interest typified by a perceived suitability and intensity for a celebrity life-style was associated with perceived family, peer and media influence, (2) Fame Interest that arises from a vulnerability is a reflection of neuroticism, low self-esteem, and problematic attachments, (3) Fame Interest for altruistic reasons is associated with agreeableness, and (4) Fame Interest that reflects an overall drive is associated with conscientiousness.

The Relationship among Leisure Interests, Personality Traits, Affect, and Mood

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilkinson, Todd J.; Hansen, Jo-Ida C.

2006-01-01

The present study examined relationships between leisure interests and the Big Five personality traits, positive and negative affect, and moods. Regression analysis identified particular personality but not mood or affect variables as significant predictors of leisure factor scores. Further exploration through factor analysis revealed factor…

The Near-Earth Object Human Space Flight Accessible Targets Study (NHATS) List of Near-Earth Asteroids: Identifying Potential Targets for Future Exploration

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Abell, Paul A.; Barbee, B. W.; Mink, R. G.; Alberding, C. M.; Adamo, D. R.; Mazanek, D. D.; Johnson, L. N.; Yeomans, D. K.; Chodas, P. W.; Chamberlin, A. B.;

Interest-Based Curriculum for House Care Services: House Cares.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Natchitoches Parish School Board, LA.

The 11-unit curriculum guide for house care services, a Federally sponsored project, is designed to help students identify interests and develop skills associated with house care services. Two introductory units deal with the world of work and the total area of house care services. The following unit topics are: sanitation and safety; equipment;…

Identifying potential sources of Sudan I contamination in Capsicum fruits over its growth period.

PubMed

Wu, Naiying; Gao, Wei; Zhou, Li; Lian, Yunhe; Li, Fengfei; Han, Wenjie

2015-04-15

Sudan dyes in spices are often assumed to arise from cross-contamination or malicious addition. Here, experiments were carried out to identify the potential source of Sudan I-IV in Capsicum fruits through investigation of their contents in native Capsicum tissues, soils and associated agronomic materials. Sudan II-IV was not detected in any of the tested samples. Sudan I was found in almost all samples except for the mulching film. Sudan I concentrations decreased from stems to leaves and then to fruits or roots. Sudan I levels in soils were significantly elevated by vegetation treatment. These results exclude the possibility of soil as the main source for Sudan I contamination in Capsicum fruits. Further study found out pesticide and fertilizer constitutes the major source of Sudan I contamination. This work represents a preliminary step for a detailed Sudan I assessment to support Capsicum management and protection in the studied region. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Use of a latency-based demand assessment to identify potential demands for functional analyses.

PubMed

Call, Nathan A; Miller, Sarah J; Mintz, Joslyn Cynkus; Mevers, Joanna Lomas; Scheithauer, Mindy C; Eshelman, Julie E; Beavers, Gracie A

2016-12-01

Unlike potential tangible positive reinforcers, which are typically identified for inclusion in functional analyses empirically using preference assessments, demands are most often selected arbitrarily or based on caregiver report. The present study evaluated the use of a demand assessment with 12 participants who exhibited escape-maintained problem behavior. Participants were exposed to 10 demands, with aversiveness measured by average latency to the first instance of problem behavior. In subsequent functional analyses, results of a demand condition that included the demand with the shortest latency to problem behavior resulted in identification of an escape function for 11 of the participants. In contrast, a demand condition that included the demand with the longest latency resulted in identification of an escape function for only 5 participants. The implication of these findings is that for the remaining 7 participants, selection of the demand for the functional analysis without using the results of the demand assessment could have produced a false-negative finding. © 2016 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Identifying Potential Mechanisms Enabling Acidophily in the Ammonia-Oxidizing Archaeon "Candidatus Nitrosotalea devanaterra".

PubMed

Lehtovirta-Morley, Laura E; Sayavedra-Soto, Luis A; Gallois, Nicolas; Schouten, Stefan; Stein, Lisa Y; Prosser, James I; Nicol, Graeme W

2016-05-01

Ammonia oxidation is the first and rate-limiting step in nitrification and is dominated by two distinct groups of microorganisms in soil: ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA) and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB). AOA are often more abundant than AOB and dominate activity in acid soils. The mechanism of ammonia oxidation under acidic conditions has been a long-standing paradox. While high rates of ammonia oxidation are frequently measured in acid soils, cultivated ammonia oxidizers grew only at near-neutral pH when grown in standard laboratory culture. Although a number of mechanisms have been demonstrated to enable neutrophilic AOB growth at low pH in the laboratory, these have not been demonstrated in soil, and the recent cultivation of the obligately acidophilic ammonia oxidizer "Candidatus Nitrosotalea devanaterra" provides a more parsimonious explanation for the observed high rates of activity. Analysis of the sequenced genome, transcriptional activity, and lipid content of "Ca Nitrosotalea devanaterra" reveals that previously proposed mechanisms used by AOB for growth at low pH are not essential for archaeal ammonia oxidation in acidic environments. Instead, the genome indicates that "Ca Nitrosotalea devanaterra" contains genes encoding both a predicted high-affinity substrate acquisition system and potential pH homeostasis mechanisms absent in neutrophilic AOA. Analysis of mRNA revealed that candidate genes encoding the proposed homeostasis mechanisms were all expressed during acidophilic growth, and lipid profiling by high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (HPLC-MS) demonstrated that the membrane lipids of "Ca Nitrosotalea devanaterra" were not dominated by crenarchaeol, as found in neutrophilic AOA. This study for the first time describes a genome of an obligately acidophilic ammonia oxidizer and identifies potential mechanisms enabling this unique phenotype for future biochemical characterization. Copyright © 2016 Lehtovirta-Morley et al.

Identifying Potentially Hazardous Co-orbiting Material of Known NEOs Using Magnetic Signatures Produced in Destructive Collisions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lai, Hairong; Russell, Christopher; Jia, Yingdong; Wei, Hanying; Connors, Martin

2015-04-01

It is estimated that over 99% of near-Earth objects (NEOs) with diameters of about tens of meters are undiscovered. However, simulations show that they result in the most damage per year. Many of these bodies, produced in non-destructive collisions with larger well-characterized NEOs, are co-orbiting with their parent objects. Thereafter, scattering will occur due to gravitational perturbations when the co-orbiters have close encounters to any planets. Such gravitational scattering may not affect the orbits of the parent body. Therefore "safe" NEOs which have negligible impact probability with the Earth may be accompanied by potentially hazardous co-orbiting material. Those co-orbitals do reveal their existence in collisions with meteoroids, which are numerous and can be as small as tens of centimeters in diameter. Clouds of fine dust/gas particles released in such collisions become charged after generation and interact coherently with the solar wind electromagnetically. The interplanetary magnetic field is then perturbed. The resultant structures have been called interplanetary field enhancements (IFEs). They are readily identified when they pass spacecraft equipped with magnetometers. Although the co-orbitals responsible for the IFEs were disrupted in collisions, they are valid samples of the remaining co-orbiting material. Therefore, we can use IFEs to identify the spatial and mass distribution of such co-orbitals. With statistical studies of IFE occurrence, we identified asteroid 2201 Oljato and asteroid 138175 to have such co-orbiting material. The mass of the co-orbitals can be inferred by combining the results from observations and MHD simulations. Multi-spacecraft simultaneous observations measure the dimensions of the magnetic perturbations and the forces lifting them away from the Sun, while multi-fluid simulations give the accelerations of the perturbations. In summary, our technique not only helps us to identify which NEOs are accompanied by hazardous

Uncovering multiple pathways to substance use: a comparison of methods for identifying population subgroups.

PubMed

Dierker, Lisa; Rose, Jennifer; Tan, Xianming; Li, Runze

2010-12-01

This paper describes and compares a selection of available modeling techniques for identifying homogeneous population subgroups in the interest of informing targeted substance use intervention. We present a nontechnical review of the common and unique features of three methods: (a) trajectory analysis, (b) functional hierarchical linear modeling (FHLM), and (c) decision tree methods. Differences among the techniques are described, including required data features, strengths and limitations in terms of the flexibility with which outcomes and predictors can be modeled, and the potential of each technique for helping to inform the selection of targets and timing of substance intervention programs.

Specialisation versus special interest - the Australian podiatry experience.

PubMed

Davies, Ainslie; Bennett, Paul; Nancarrow, Susan; Cuesta-Vargas, Antonio

2015-01-01

Ensuring efficient and effective delivery of health care to an ageing population has been a major driver for a review of the health workforce in Australia. As part of this process a National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) has evolved with one goal being to improve workforce flexibility within a nationally consistent model of governance. In addition to increased flexibility, there have been discussions about maintaining standards and the role of specialisation. This study aims to explore the association between practitioners' self-perceptions about their special interest in musculoskeletal, diabetes related and podopaediatric foot care and the actual podiatry services they deliver in Australia. A cross sectional on-line survey was administered on behalf of the Australasian Podiatry Council and its' state based member associations. Self-reported data were collected over a 3-week interval and captured information about the practitioners by gender, years of clinical experience, area of work by state, work setting, and location. For those participants that identified with an area of special interest or specialty, further questions were asked regarding support for the area of special interest through education, and activities performed in treating patients in the week prior to survey completion. Queensland University of Technology Human Research Ethics approval was sought and confirmed exemption from review. 218 podiatrists participated in the survey. Participants were predominately female and worked in private practices. The largest area of personal interest by the podiatrists was related to the field of musculoskeletal podiatry (n = 65), followed closely by diabetes foot care (n = 61), and a third area identified was in the management of podopaediatric conditions (n = 26). Health workforce reform in Australia is in part being managed by the federal government with a goal to meet the health care needs of Australians into the future. The

Vocational Interests and Performance: A Quantitative Summary of Over 60 Years of Research.

PubMed

Nye, Christopher D; Su, Rong; Rounds, James; Drasgow, Fritz

2012-07-01

Despite early claims that vocational interests could be used to distinguish successful workers and superior students from their peers, interest measures are generally ignored in the employee selection literature. Nevertheless, theoretical descriptions of vocational interests from vocational and educational psychology have proposed that interest constructs should be related to performance and persistence in work and academic settings. Moreover, on the basis of Holland's (1959, 1997) theoretical predictions, congruence indices, which quantify the degree of similarity or person-environment fit between individuals and their occupations, should be more strongly related to performance than interest scores alone. Using a comprehensive review of the interest literature that spans more than 60 years of research, a meta-analysis was conducted to examine the veracity of these claims. A literature search identified 60 studies and approximately 568 correlations that addressed the relationship between interests and performance. Results showed that interests are indeed related to performance and persistence in work and academic contexts. In addition, the correlations between congruence indices and performance were stronger than for interest scores alone. Thus, consistent with interest theory, the fit between individuals and their environment was more predictive of performance than interest alone. © The Author(s) 2012.

Structure-Guided Lead Optimization of Triazolopyrimidine-Ring Substituents Identifies Potent Plasmodium falciparum Dihydroorotate Dehydrogenase Inhibitors with Clinical Candidate Potential

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

Coteron, Jose M.; Marco, Maria; Esquivias, Jorge

2012-02-27

Drug therapy is the mainstay of antimalarial therapy, yet current drugs are threatened by the development of resistance. In an effort to identify new potential antimalarials, we have undertaken a lead optimization program around our previously identified triazolopyrimidine-based series of Plasmodium falciparum dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (PfDHODH) inhibitors. The X-ray structure of PfDHODH was used to inform the medicinal chemistry program allowing the identification of a potent and selective inhibitor (DSM265) that acts through DHODH inhibition to kill both sensitive and drug resistant strains of the parasite. This compound has similar potency to chloroquine in the humanized SCID mouse P. falciparum model,more » can be synthesized by a simple route, and rodent pharmacokinetic studies demonstrated it has excellent oral bioavailability, a long half-life and low clearance. These studies have identified the first candidate in the triazolopyrimidine series to meet previously established progression criteria for efficacy and ADME properties, justifying further development of this compound toward clinical candidate status.« less

Potential High-Temperature Shape-Memory Alloys Identified in the Ti(Ni,Pt) System

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Noebe, Ronald D.; Biles, Tiffany A.; Garg, Anita; Nathal, Michael V.

2004-01-01

"Shape memory" is a unique property of certain alloys that, when deformed (within certain strain limits) at low temperatures, will remember and recover to their original predeformed shape upon heating. It occurs when an alloy is deformed in the low-temperature martensitic phase and is then heated above its transformation temperature back to an austenitic state. As the material passes through this solid-state phase transformation on heating, it also recovers its original shape. This behavior is widely exploited, near room temperature, in commercially available NiTi alloys for connectors, couplings, valves, actuators, stents, and other medical and dental devices. In addition, there are limitless applications in the aerospace, automotive, chemical processing, and many other industries for materials that exhibit this type of shape-memory behavior at higher temperatures. But for high temperatures, there are currently no commercial shape-memory alloys. Although there are significant challenges to the development of high-temperature shape-memory alloys, at the NASA Glenn Research Center we have identified a series of alloy compositions in the Ti-Ni-Pt system that show great promise as potential high-temperature shape-memory materials.

Study of the combinatorial impact of empathy and emotion on the processing of conflicts of interest with the event-related potential technique.

PubMed

He, Xiaoli; Zhang, Ni

2017-01-01

Studies have found that empathy is important in moral development and violence suppression, and emotion also affects empathy. However, the combinatorial effect of emotion and empathy on the processing of conflicts is not known. A total of 44 undergraduate students (23 in low-empathy group and 21 in high-empathy group) were enrolled in this study. They were subjected to positive, negative, and neutral emotion evoking, as well as conflicting or nonconflicting proposals. Event-related potential technology was used to study the combinatorial effects of empathy and emotion on the processing of conflict of interest. We found that under the influence of a positive emotion, both low- and high-empathy groups exhibited lower rejection rates. In the context of conflict, individuals in the high-empathy group showed fewer refusals under positive emotion. In the low-empathy group, there was no significant difference between responses to different emotions, but conflicting proposals induced more negative medial frontal negativity than nonconflicting proposals. Individuals in the low-empathy group showed different late positive potentials when responding to different types of proposals under both neutral and negative emotions, whereas those in the high-empathy group only showed different late positive potentials responding to different types of proposals under negative emotion. Our results indicate that under positive emotion, individuals with low empathy show less difference in processing either conflicting or nonconflicting proposals, whereas under negative emotion, individuals with high empathy show enhanced motivation toward nonconflicting proposals.

Interest Inventory. [Includes Academic Interest Measure, Pupil Activity Inventory, and Semantic Differential].

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA. Harvard Project Physics.

This Interest Inventory contains three inventories: Academic Interest Measure (AIM), Pupil Activity Inventory (PAI), and Semantic Differential test (SD). The AIM measures six subscales of academic interests; the PAI measures non-school activities in science; and the SD measures attitudes toward science and physics. The inventories are designed for…

Microsaccades and interest areas during free-viewing sport task.

PubMed

Piras, Alessandro; Raffi, Milena; Perazzolo, Monica; Malagoli Lanzoni, Ivan; Squatrito, Salvatore

2017-09-18

Microsaccades are important fixation eye movements for visual scene perception. Compared to novices, athletes make fewer fixations of longer duration toward limited interest areas crucial for action prediction. Thus, our aim was to study the microsaccade features during those fixations. Gaze behaviour of expert and novice table tennis players was recorder during a task in which subjects were instructed to predict the direction of the ball after the opponent's throw. Three interest areas from the opponent's body and one from the ball trajectory were identified. We analysed correctness of predictions, fixations, microsaccades and saccades to estimate the relationship between eye movements toward interest areas and success in the task. Compared to novices, experts fixated more on hand-racket during forehand and on trunk during backhand drive technique. Longer fixations on hand-racket and trunk were associated with higher microsaccade rate with a narrower directional distribution of them. It probably means that athletes focused their gaze on these small areas, suggesting enhanced attention mainly to them, and fewer consideration for the surrounding regions. We can assume that microsaccade rate and average direction could be related to the salience of interest areas during performance.

Rational and random mutagenesis of firefly luciferase to identify an efficient emitter of red bioluminescence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Branchini, Bruce R.; Southworth, Tara L.; Khattak, Neelum F.; Murtiashaw, Martha H.; Fleet, Sarah E.

2004-06-01

Firefly luciferase, which emits yellow-green (557 nm) light, and the corresponding cDNA have been used successfully as a bioluminescence reporter of gene expression. One particularly exciting application is in the area of in vivo bioluminescence imaging. Our interest is in developing improved reagents by identifying Photinus pyralis luciferase mutants that efficiently emit red bioluminescence. In this way, the proven advantages of the P. pyralis protein can be combined with the potential advantages of a red-shifted emitter. Using site-directed mutagenesis techniques, we have identified many mutants emitting red bioluminescence. Unfortunately, these enzymes generally have significantly decreased bioluminescence activity. Interestingly, we discovered a mutation, Ile351Ala, that produced a moderate 16 nm red-shift, while maintaining excellent bioluminescence activity. We then undertook a random mutagenesis approach to identify luciferase mutants that emit further red-shifted bioluminescence with minimal loss of activity. Libraries of mutants were created using an error-prone PCR method and the Ile351Ala luciferase mutant as the template DNA. The libraries were screened by in vivo bacterial assays and the promising mutants were purified to enable accurate determination of bioluminescence emission spectra and total bioluminescence activity. We will report the characterization results, including the identification of the randomly altered amino acids, of several mutants that catalyze bioluminescence with emission maxima of approximately 600 nm.

Visual Indicators on Vaccine Boxes as Early Warning Tools to Identify Potential Freeze Damage.

PubMed

Angoff, Ronald; Wood, Jillian; Chernock, Maria C; Tipping, Diane

2015-07-01

The aim of this study was to determine whether the use of visual freeze indicators on vaccines would assist health care providers in identifying vaccines that may have been exposed to potentially damaging temperatures. Twenty-seven sites in Connecticut involved in the Vaccine for Children Program participated. In addition to standard procedures, visual freeze indicators (FREEZEmarker ® L; Temptime Corporation, Morris Plains, NJ) were affixed to each box of vaccine that required refrigeration but must not be frozen. Temperatures were monitored twice daily. During the 24 weeks, all 27 sites experienced triggered visual freeze indicator events in 40 of the 45 refrigerators. A total of 66 triggered freeze indicator events occurred in all 4 types of refrigerators used. Only 1 of the freeze events was identified by a temperature-monitoring device. Temperatures recorded on vaccine data logs before freeze indicator events were within the 35°F to 46°F (2°C to 8°C) range in all but 1 instance. A total of 46,954 doses of freeze-sensitive vaccine were stored at the time of a visual freeze indicator event. Triggered visual freeze indicators were found on boxes containing 6566 doses (14.0% of total doses). Of all doses stored, 14,323 doses (30.5%) were of highly freeze-sensitive vaccine; 1789 of these doses (12.5%) had triggered indicators on the boxes. Visual freeze indicators are useful in the early identification of freeze events involving vaccines. Consideration should be given to including these devices as a component of the temperature-monitoring system for vaccines.

Health Behavior Interests of Adolescents with Unhealthy Diet and Exercise: Implications for Weight Management

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Thunfors, Peter; Collins, Bradley N.; Hanlon, Alexandra L.

2009-01-01

This study sought to determine individual factors that may influence adolescents' interests in various health behaviors and, by extension, their potential interest in programs that promote healthy lifestyles and reduce obesity. The sample consisted of 737 rural Pennsylvania (United States) middle and high school students not involved in either…

Preclinical evaluation of potential therapeutic targets in dedifferentiated liposarcoma.

PubMed

Hanes, Robert; Grad, Iwona; Lorenz, Susanne; Stratford, Eva W; Munthe, Else; Reddy, Chilamakuri Chandra Sekhar; Meza-Zepeda, Leonardo A; Myklebost, Ola

2016-08-23

Sarcomas are rare cancers with limited treatment options. Patients are generally treated by chemotherapy and/or radiotherapy in combination with surgery, and would benefit from new personalized approaches. In this study we demonstrate the potential of combining personal genomic characterization of patient tumors to identify targetable mutations with in vitro testing of specific drugs in patient-derived cell lines. We have analyzed three metastases from a patient with high-grade metastatic dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS) by exome and transcriptome sequencing as well as DNA copy number analysis. Genomic aberrations of several potentially targetable genes, including amplification of KITLG and FRS2, in addition to amplification of CDK4 and MDM2, characteristic of this disease, were identified. We evaluated the efficacy of drugs targeting these aberrations or the corresponding signaling pathways in a cell line derived from the patient. Interestingly, the pan-FGFR inhibitor NVP-BGJ398, which targets FGFR upstream of FRS2, strongly inhibited cell proliferation in vitro and induced an accumulation of cells into the G0 phase of the cell cycle. This study indicates that FGFR inhibitors have therapeutic potential in the treatment of DDLPS with amplified FRS2.

Conflict of Interest Arises as Concern in Standards Push

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zehr, Mary Ann

2009-01-01

A respected literacy-research organization is asking that a process be put in place to make more transparent potential conflicts of interest that writers of the common national academic standards might have, and to address them. The Literacy Research Association sent a letter Oct. 21 to the groups overseeing the development of common standards…

Identifying high risk medications causing potential drug-drug interactions in outpatients: A prescription database study based on an online surveillance system.

PubMed

Toivo, T M; Mikkola, J A V; Laine, K; Airaksinen, M

2016-01-01

Drug-drug interactions (DDIs) are a significant cause for adverse drug events (ADEs). DDIs are often predictable and preventable, but their prevention and management require systematic service development. Most DDI studies focus on interaction rates in hospitalized patients. Less is known of DDIs in outpatients, particularly how community pharmacists could contribute to DDI management by applying their surveillance systems for identifying high-risk medications. The study was related to the implementation of the first online DDI surveillance system in Finnish community pharmacies. The goal was to demonstrate how community pharmacies can utilize their prospective surveillance system 1) for identifying high risk medications causing potential DDIs in outpatients, 2) for collaborative service development with local physicians, and 3) for academic risk management research purposes. All DDI alerts given by the online surveillance system were collected during a one-month period in 16 out of 17 University Pharmacy outlets in Finland, covering approximately 10% of the national outpatient prescription volume. The surveillance system was based on the FASS database, which categorizes DDIs into four classes (A-D) according to their clinical significance. Potential drug-drug DDIs were analyzed for 276,891 dispensed community pharmacy prescriptions. Potential DDIs were associated with 10.8%, or 31,110 of these prescriptions. Clinically significant interaction alerts categorized as FASS classes D (most severe, should be avoided) and C (clinically significant but controllable) were associated with 0.5% and 7.0% of the prescriptions, respectively. Methotrexate and warfarin had the highest risk of causing potentially serious (class D) interactions. These interaction alerts were most frequently between methotrexate and NSAIDs and warfarin and NSAIDs. In general, NSAIDs were the most commonly interacting drugs in this study. This study demonstrates that community pharmacies can actively

Determinants of small business interest in offering a wellness program to their employees.

PubMed

Divine, Richard L

2005-01-01

Data from a survey of small business managers were analyzed in order to identify the main determinants of how interested they were in offering a wellness program to their employees. The results indicate that interest in offering a wellness program is more a function of perceived effectiveness than it is related to the issue of whether the benefits these programs provide are relevant to the needs of small businesses. The results also suggest that humanitarian motives have a greater influence on small business interest in wellness than do financial motives.

Drug sensitivity profiling identifies potential therapies for lymphoproliferative disorders with overactive JAK/STAT3 signaling

PubMed Central

Kuusanmäki, Heikki; Dufva, Olli; Parri, Elina; van Adrichem, Arjan J.; Rajala, Hanna; Majumder, Muntasir M.; Yadav, Bhagwan; Parsons, Alun; Chan, Wing C.; Wennerberg, Krister; Mustjoki, Satu; Heckman, Caroline A.

2017-01-01

Constitutive JAK/STAT3 signaling contributes to disease progression in many lymphoproliferative disorders. Recent genetic analyses have revealed gain-of-function STAT3 mutations in lymphoid cancers leading to hyperactivation of STAT3, which may represent a potential therapeutic target. Using a functional reporter assay, we screened 306 compounds with selective activity against various target molecules to identify drugs capable of inhibiting the cellular activity of STAT3. Top hits were further validated with additional models including STAT3-mutated natural killer (NK)-cell leukemia/lymphoma cell lines and primary large granular lymphocytic (LGL) leukemia cells to assess their ability to inhibit STAT3 phosphorylation and STAT3 dependent cell viability. We identified JAK, mTOR, Hsp90 and CDK inhibitors as potent inhibitors of both WT and mutant STAT3 activity. The Hsp90 inhibitor luminespib was highly effective at reducing the viability of mutant STAT3 NK cell lines and LGL leukemia patient samples. Luminespib decreased the phosphorylation of mutant STAT3 at Y705, whereas JAK1/JAK2 inhibitor ruxolitinib had reduced efficacy on mutant STAT3 phosphorylation. Additionally, combinations involving Hsp90, JAK and mTOR inhibitors were more effective at reducing cell viability than single agents. Our findings show alternative approaches to inhibit STAT3 activity and suggest Hsp90 as a therapeutic target in lymphoproliferative disorders with constitutively active STAT3. PMID:29228628

Proteomic analysis of first trimester maternal serum to identify candidate biomarkers potentially predictive of spontaneous preterm birth.

PubMed

D'Silva, Arlene M; Hyett, Jon A; Coorssen, Jens R

2018-04-30

Spontaneous preterm birth (sPTB) remains a major clinical dilemma; current diagnostics and interventions have not reduced the rate of this serious healthcare burden. This study characterizes differential protein profiles and post-translational modifications (PTMs) in first trimester maternal serum using a refined top-down approach coupling two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2DE) and mass spectrometry (MS) to directly compare subsequent term and preterm labour events and identify marked protein differences. 30 proteoforms were found to be significantly increased or decreased in the sPTB group including 9 phosphoproteins and 11 glycoproteins. Changes occurred in proteins associated with immune and defence responses. We identified protein species that are associated with several clinically relevant biological processes, including interrelated biological networks linked to regulation of the complement cascade and coagulation pathways, immune modulation, metabolic processes and cell signalling. The finding of altered proteoforms in maternal serum from pregnancies that delivered preterm suggests these as potential early biomarkers of sPTB and also possible mediators of the disorder. Identifying changes in protein profiles is critical in the study of cell biology, and disease treatment and prevention. Identifying consistent changes in the maternal serum proteome during early pregnancy, including specific protein PTMs (e.g. phosphorylation, glycosylation), is likely to provide better opportunities for prediction, intervention and prevention of preterm birth. This is the first study to examine first trimester maternal serum using a highly refined top-down proteomic analytical approach based on high resolution 2DE coupled with mass spectrometry to directly compare preterm (<37 weeks) and preterm (≥37 weeks) events and identify select protein differences between these conditions. As such, the data present a promising avenue for translation of biomarker discovery to a

Interest in Health Behavior Intervention Delivery Modalities Among Cancer Survivors: A Cross-Sectional Study.

PubMed

Martin, Emily C; Basen-Engquist, Karen; Cox, Matthew G; Lyons, Elizabeth J; Carmack, Cindy L; Blalock, Janice A; Demark-Wahnefried, Wendy

2016-02-11

Effective, broad-reaching channels are important for the delivery of health behavior interventions in order to meet the needs of the growing population of cancer survivors in the United States. New technology presents opportunities to increase the reach of health behavior change interventions and therefore their overall impact. However, evidence suggests that older adults may be slower in their adoption of these technologies than the general population. Survivors' interest for more traditional channels of delivery (eg, clinic) versus new technology-based channels (eg, smartphones) may depend on a variety of factors, including demographics, current health status, and the behavior requiring intervention. The aim of this study was to determine the factors that predict cancer survivors' interest in new technology-based health behavior intervention modalities versus traditional modalities. Surveys were mailed to 1871 survivors of breast, prostate, and colorectal cancer. Participants' demographics, diet and physical activity behaviors, interest in health behavior interventions, and interest in intervention delivery modalities were collected. Using path analysis, we explored the relationship between four intervention modality variables (ie, clinic, telephone, computer, and smartphone) and potential predictors of modality interest. In total, 1053 respondents to the survey (56.3% response rate); 847 provided complete data for this analysis. Delivery channel interest was highest for computer-based interventions (236/847, 27.9% very/extremely interested) and lowest for smartphone-based interventions (73/847, 8.6%), with interest in clinic-based (147/847, 17.3%) and telephone-delivered (143/847, 16.9%) falling in between. Use of other technology platforms, such as Web cameras and social networking sites, was positively predictive of interest in technology-based delivery channels. Older survivors were less likely to report interest in smartphone-based diet interventions

Retention Rates - Renewed Interest but Whose Interest is Being Served?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Longden, Bernard

2002-01-01

Explores the increased level of interest in retention rates among full-time, undergraduate students, considering the interests served by the state, universities and colleges, and students, and suggesting that as British higher education moves from an elite to a mass system, the elite instincts continue to dominate, working against student…

Identifying Fallacies of Reference in Argumentation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gough, Jim

2009-01-01

The experience of teaching informal logic (sometimes called practical logic) at the introductory level over the last fifteen years has allowed the author the opportunity to identify some interesting problems. These problems have been encountered by students attempting to understand some of the ideas presented in the informal logic course and by…

Field potential soil variability index to identify precision agriculture opportunity

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Precision agriculture (PA) technologies used for identifying and managing within-field variability are not widely used despite decades of advancement. Technological innovations in agronomic tools, such as canopy reflectance or electrical conductivity sensors, have created opportunities to achieve a ...

A case study of the use of a special interest group to enhance interest in public health among undergraduate health science students.

PubMed

Louw, Arauna; Turner, Astrid; Wolvaardt, Liz

2018-01-01

Education and training of undergraduate health science students in public health are insufficient in many parts of the world. This lack is a risk as early interest in specialist training options is a predictor of future training choices. A special interest group (SIG) is one mechanism to engage students, increase awareness and generate interest in public health. The purpose of this case study was to create and study such a group at an African university. An action research study design was used to create and study the SIG. All interested students were invited to participate in the SIG and in the data collection procedures. Data were collected via paper-based and online questionnaires. Records of activities were documented, and a reflective diary was kept by the researcher. Seven SIG meetings were held which were less than planned-some sessions were cancelled due to general student unrest. The composition of the SIG fluctuated, but the core group of 16 students consisted of 12 females (75%) and 4 males (25%). Despite faculty-wide marketing, all the participants were medical students. The most successful marketing strategy was done by two lecturers. A total of 12 participants' motivation (75%) was to learn more about public health. Despite the range of participants being over 4-year groups with varying schedules and commitments, a convenient day and meeting time were identified. The social capital of lecturers was harnessed to invite external guest lecturers as planned field trips proved impractical. At the mid-year point, six students (38%) thought that they would consider public health as a career choice. A decision was made to recruit new members via a seminar, and 37 possible new members were identified in the process. A SIG appears to be an effective strategy to increase public health interest among students. This finding is key in settings with particular health workforce shortages and high burdens of disease. A foundation phase with high levels of academic

Exploratory Investigation of the Effects of Interest-Based Learning on the Development of Young Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dunst, Carl J.; Trivette, Carol M.; Masiello, Tracy

2011-01-01

The influences of child participation in interest-based learning activities on the development of 17 preschoolers with autism was the focus of this brief report. The children's mothers identified their children's interests and the everyday family and community activities that provided opportunities for interest-based learning. Parents then…

Interests, Gender, and Science.

PubMed

Valian, Virginia

2014-03-01

In this commentary on Nye, Su, Rounds, and Drasgow (2012) and Schmidt (2011), I address the value of occupational interest inventories for understanding sex differences in occupational choice and the extent to which occupational interests are malleable. In particular, I argue (a) that some subscales in interest inventories are too heterogeneous to be given a single label and that the labels that are applied to some subscales are inaccurate and misleading; (b) that "things versus people" is an inaccurate and misleading characterization of a dimension that is frequently associated with interest inventories and linked to sex differences; (c) that vocational interests will be valid predictors of job performance primarily in cases in which the job has been held for some time by a diverse group of people and not in cases in which jobholders have been homogeneous; (d) that sex differences in interests are malleable and sensitive to small and subtle environmental cues; and (e) that women's interest in math and science will increase if they have a feeling of belonging and an expectation of success. © The Author(s) 2014.

Binary classification of items of interest in a repeatable process

DOEpatents

Abell, Jeffrey A.; Spicer, John Patrick; Wincek, Michael Anthony; Wang, Hui; Chakraborty, Debejyo

2014-06-24

A system includes host and learning machines in electrical communication with sensors positioned with respect to an item of interest, e.g., a weld, and memory. The host executes instructions from memory to predict a binary quality status of the item. The learning machine receives signals from the sensor(s), identifies candidate features, and extracts features from the candidates that are more predictive of the binary quality status relative to other candidate features. The learning machine maps the extracted features to a dimensional space that includes most of the items from a passing binary class and excludes all or most of the items from a failing binary class. The host also compares the received signals for a subsequent item of interest to the dimensional space to thereby predict, in real time, the binary quality status of the subsequent item of interest.

Patient perspectives on physician conflict of interest in industry-sponsored clinical trials for multiple sclerosis therapeutics.

PubMed

Solomon, Andrew J; Klein, Eran P; Corboy, John R; Bernat, James L

2015-10-01

Pharmaceutical industry financial support of physicians, physician practices, and academic departments involved in multicenter industry-sponsored clinical trials of novel therapeutic agents is a relatively new and infrequently acknowledged source of potential physician conflict of interest. Detailed disclosure of these relationships to study participants is not uniformly a part of informed consent and documentation practices. To understand attitudes of patients with multiple sclerosis concerning disclosure of potential physician-industry conflicts of interest created by clinical trials and how such disclosures may influence study participation An anonymous online instrument was developed. 597 people with multiple sclerosis participated in the study. The study found that detailed disclosure of conflicts of interest is important to potential participants in industry-sponsored clinical trials for multiple sclerosis therapies and that the presence of these conflicts of interest may influence patients' decisions to participate in these studies. Findings from this study support a call for uniform guidelines regarding disclosure of physician-industry relationships to prospective research participants for industry-sponsored clinical trials. © The Author(s), 2015.

Effect of presynaptic membrane potential on electrical vs. chemical synaptic transmission

PubMed Central

Evans, Colin G.; Ludwar, Bjoern Ch.; Kang, Timothy

2011-01-01

The growing realization that electrical coupling is present in the mammalian brain has sparked renewed interest in determining its functional significance and contrasting it with chemical transmission. One question of interest is whether the two types of transmission can be selectively regulated, e.g., if a cell makes both types of connections can electrical transmission occur in the absence of chemical transmission? We explore this issue in an experimentally advantageous preparation. B21, the neuron we study, is an Aplysia sensory neuron involved in feeding that makes electrical and chemical connections with other identified cells. Previously we demonstrated that chemical synaptic transmission is membrane potential dependent. It occurs when B21 is centrally depolarized prior to and during peripheral activation, but does not occur if B21 is peripherally activated at its resting membrane potential. In this article we study effects of membrane potential on electrical transmission. We demonstrate that maximal potentiation occurs in different voltage ranges for the two types of transmission, with potentiation of electrical transmission occurring at more hyperpolarized potentials (i.e., requiring less central depolarization). Furthermore, we describe a physiologically relevant type of stimulus that induces both spiking and an envelope of depolarization in the somatic region of B21. This depolarization does not induce functional chemical synaptic transmission but is comparable to the depolarization needed to maximally potentiate electrical transmission. In this study we therefore characterize a situation in which electrical and chemical transmission can be selectively controlled by membrane potential. PMID:21593394

The Impact of Physics Teachers' Pedagogical Content Knowledge and Motivation on Students' Achievement and Interest

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Keller, Melanie M.; Neumann, Knut; Fischer, Hans E.

2017-01-01

This paper examines students' achievement and interest and the extent to which they are predicted by teacher knowledge and motivation. Student achievement and interest are both considered desirable outcomes of school instruction. Teacher pedagogical content knowledge has been identified a major predictor of student achievement in previous…

Identifying Potential Markets for Behind-the-Meter Battery Energy Storage:

Science.gov Websites

interval (usually 15 minutes) during a billing period. In many cases, these demand charges can account for therefore potential business cases for energy storage-were found in states not typically known for having

[Beyond boredom: the effort to make a patient interesting].

PubMed

Marin, C

2009-02-11

The doctors' emotional reaction towards the patients has an impact on the doctor-patient relationship. This article focuses on a particular emotion, boredom which is evoked by certain patients. By means of a case vignette, this phenomenon is elucidated and confronted with the psycho-analytical concept of "pensée opératoire", and ways are identified to raise the interest in patients.

Identifying factors for optimal development of health-related websites: a delphi study among experts and potential future users.

PubMed

Schneider, Francine; van Osch, Liesbeth; de Vries, Hein

2012-02-14

The Internet has become a popular medium for offering tailored and targeted health promotion programs to the general public. However, suboptimal levels of program use in the target population limit the public health impact of these programs. Optimizing program development is considered as one of the main processes to increase usage rates. To distinguish factors potentially related to optimal development of health-related websites by involving both experts and potential users. By considering and incorporating the opinions of experts and potential users in the development process, involvement in the program is expected to increase, consequently resulting in increased appreciation, lower levels of attrition, and higher levels of sustained use. We conducted a systematic three-round Delphi study through the Internet. Both national and international experts (from the fields of health promotion, health psychology, e-communication, and technical Web design) and potential users were invited via email to participate. During this study an extensive list of factors potentially related to optimal development of health-related websites was identified, by focusing on factors related to layout, general and risk information provision, questionnaire use, additional services, and ease of use. Furthermore, we assessed the extent to which experts and potential users agreed on the importance of these factors. Differences as well as similarities among experts and potentials users were deduced. In total, 20 of 62 contacted experts participated in the first round (32% response rate); 60 of 200 contacted experts (30% response rate) and 210 potential users (95% response rate) completed the second-round questionnaire, and 32 of 60 contacted experts completed the third round (53% response rate). Results revealed important factors consented upon by experts and potential users (eg, ease of use, clear structure, and detailed health information provision), as well as differences regarding

Caregivers' interest in using smokeless tobacco products: Novel methods that may reduce children's exposure to secondhand smoke.

PubMed

Wagener, Theodore L; Tackett, Alayna P; Borrelli, Belinda

2016-10-01

The study examined caregivers' interest in using potentially reduced exposure tobacco products for smoking cessation, reduction, and to help them not smoke in places such as around their child, as all three methods would potentially lead to reduced secondhand smoke exposure for their children. A sample of 136 caregivers completed carbon monoxide testing to assess smoking status and a brief survey. Few caregivers had ever used potentially reduced exposure tobacco products (<1%), but a majority were interested in trying them as means of smoking reduction (54%), to quit/stay quit from smoking (51%), and to help them not smoke around their child or in the home (55%). Caregivers less motivated to quit smoking and with no home smoking ban were more interested in using potentially reduced exposure tobacco products to help them quit/stay quit from smoking (p < .05). © The Author(s) 2015.

The best-interests standard as threshold, ideal, and standard of reasonableness.

PubMed

Kopelman, L M

1997-06-01

The best-interests standard is a widely used ethical, legal, and social basis for policy and decision-making involving children and other incompetent persons. It is under attack, however, as self-defeating, individualistic, unknowable, vague, dangerous, and open to abuse. The author defends this standard by identifying its employment, first, as a threshold for intervention and judgment (as in child abuse and neglect rulings), second, as an ideal to establish policies or prima facie duties, and, third, as a standard of reasonableness. Criticisms of the best-interests standard are reconsidered after clarifying these different meanings.

Profiling of the Tox21 Chemical Collection for Mitochondrial Function to Identify Compounds that Acutely Decrease Mitochondrial Membrane Potential

PubMed Central

Attene-Ramos, Matias S.; Huang, Ruili; Michael, Sam; Witt, Kristine L.; Richard, Ann; Tice, Raymond R.; Simeonov, Anton; Austin, Christopher P.

2014-01-01

Background: Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in the pathogenesis of a variety of disorders including cancer, diabetes, and neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases. Understanding whether different environmental chemicals and druglike molecules impact mitochondrial function represents an initial step in predicting exposure-related toxicity and defining a possible role for such compounds in the onset of various diseases. Objectives: We sought to identify individual chemicals and general structural features associated with changes in mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP). Methods: We used a multiplexed [two end points in one screen; MMP and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) content] quantitative high throughput screening (qHTS) approach combined with informatics tools to screen the Tox21 library of 10,000 compounds (~ 8,300 unique chemicals) at 15 concentrations each in triplicate to identify chemicals and structural features that are associated with changes in MMP in HepG2 cells. Results: Approximately 11% of the compounds (913 unique compounds) decreased MMP after 1 hr of treatment without affecting cell viability (ATP content). In addition, 309 compounds decreased MMP over a concentration range that also produced measurable cytotoxicity [half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) in MMP assay/IC50 in viability assay ≤ 3; p < 0.05]. More than 11% of the structural clusters that constitute the Tox21 library (76 of 651 clusters) were significantly enriched for compounds that decreased the MMP. Conclusions: Our multiplexed qHTS approach allowed us to generate a robust and reliable data set to evaluate the ability of thousands of drugs and environmental compounds to decrease MMP. The use of structure-based clustering analysis allowed us to identify molecular features that are likely responsible for the observed activity. Citation: Attene-Ramos MS, Huang R, Michael S, Witt KL, Richard A, Tice RR, Simeonov A, Austin CP, Xia M. 2015. Profiling of the Tox

48 CFR 952.209-8 - Organizational conflicts of interest-disclosure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... otherwise impaired, or a person has an unfair competitive advantage. (b) An offeror notified that it is the... negotiations or, where individual contracts are negotiated with all firms in the competitive range, it means... or potential conflict of interest or unfair competitive advantage exists with respect to the advisory...

48 CFR 952.209-8 - Organizational conflicts of interest-disclosure.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... otherwise impaired, or a person has an unfair competitive advantage. (b) An offeror notified that it is the... negotiations or, where individual contracts are negotiated with all firms in the competitive range, it means... or potential conflict of interest or unfair competitive advantage exists with respect to the advisory...

Financial Conflicts of Interest in the School Psychology Assessment Literature

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Truscott, Stephen D.; Baumgart, Mary B.; Rogers, Keba M.

2004-01-01

Recent scrutiny of medical and biotechnology research raises serious concerns about the potential for financial conflicts of interest (FCOIs) to bias research, impede the free flow of scientific information, and use scientific journals to influence consumers about the relative qualities of products produced for profit (e.g., pharmaceuticals).…

Littoral lichens as a novel source of potentially bioactive Actinobacteria.

PubMed

Parrot, Delphine; Antony-Babu, Sanjay; Intertaglia, Laurent; Grube, Martin; Tomasi, Sophie; Suzuki, Marcelino T

2015-10-30

Cultivable Actinobacteria are the largest source of microbially derived bioactive molecules. The high demand for novel antibiotics highlights the need for exploring novel sources of these bacteria. Microbial symbioses with sessile macro-organisms, known to contain bioactive compounds likely of bacterial origin, represent an interesting and underexplored source of Actinobacteria. We studied the diversity and potential for bioactive-metabolite production of Actinobacteria associated with two marine lichens (Lichina confinis and L. pygmaea; from intertidal and subtidal zones) and one littoral lichen (Roccella fuciformis; from supratidal zone) from the Brittany coast (France), as well as the terrestrial lichen Collema auriforme (from a riparian zone, Austria). A total of 247 bacterial strains were isolated using two selective media. Isolates were identified and clustered into 101 OTUs (98% identity) including 51 actinobacterial OTUs. The actinobacterial families observed were: Brevibacteriaceae, Cellulomonadaceae, Gordoniaceae, Micrococcaceae, Mycobacteriaceae, Nocardioidaceae, Promicromonosporaceae, Pseudonocardiaceae, Sanguibacteraceae and Streptomycetaceae. Interestingly, the diversity was most influenced by the selective media rather than lichen species or the level of lichen thallus association. The potential for bioactive-metabolite biosynthesis of the isolates was confirmed by screening genes coding for polyketide synthases types I and II. These results show that littoral lichens are a source of diverse potentially bioactive Actinobacteria.

Littoral lichens as a novel source of potentially bioactive Actinobacteria

PubMed Central

Parrot, Delphine; Antony-Babu, Sanjay; Intertaglia, Laurent; Grube, Martin; Tomasi, Sophie; Suzuki, Marcelino T.

2015-01-01

Cultivable Actinobacteria are the largest source of microbially derived bioactive molecules. The high demand for novel antibiotics highlights the need for exploring novel sources of these bacteria. Microbial symbioses with sessile macro-organisms, known to contain bioactive compounds likely of bacterial origin, represent an interesting and underexplored source of Actinobacteria. We studied the diversity and potential for bioactive-metabolite production of Actinobacteria associated with two marine lichens (Lichina confinis and L. pygmaea; from intertidal and subtidal zones) and one littoral lichen (Roccella fuciformis; from supratidal zone) from the Brittany coast (France), as well as the terrestrial lichen Collema auriforme (from a riparian zone, Austria). A total of 247 bacterial strains were isolated using two selective media. Isolates were identified and clustered into 101 OTUs (98% identity) including 51 actinobacterial OTUs. The actinobacterial families observed were: Brevibacteriaceae, Cellulomonadaceae, Gordoniaceae, Micrococcaceae, Mycobacteriaceae, Nocardioidaceae, Promicromonosporaceae, Pseudonocardiaceae, Sanguibacteraceae and Streptomycetaceae. Interestingly, the diversity was most influenced by the selective media rather than lichen species or the level of lichen thallus association. The potential for bioactive-metabolite biosynthesis of the isolates was confirmed by screening genes coding for polyketide synthases types I and II. These results show that littoral lichens are a source of diverse potentially bioactive Actinobacteria. PMID:26514347

10 CFR 7.20 - Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2014-01-01 2014-01-01 false Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests. 7.20 Section 7.20 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ADVISORY COMMITTEES § 7.20 Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests. The Designated Federal...

10 CFR 7.20 - Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

2012-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2012-01-01 2012-01-01 false Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests. 7.20 Section 7.20 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ADVISORY COMMITTEES § 7.20 Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests. The Designated Federal...

10 CFR 7.20 - Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2013-01-01 2013-01-01 false Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests. 7.20 Section 7.20 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ADVISORY COMMITTEES § 7.20 Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests. The Designated Federal...

10 CFR 7.20 - Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2010-01-01 2010-01-01 false Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests. 7.20 Section 7.20 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ADVISORY COMMITTEES § 7.20 Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests. The Designated Federal...

10 CFR 7.20 - Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-01-01

... 10 Energy 1 2011-01-01 2011-01-01 false Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests. 7.20 Section 7.20 Energy NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ADVISORY COMMITTEES § 7.20 Conflict of interest reviews of advisory committee members' outside interests. The Designated Federal...

Identifying tips for intramolecular NC-AFM imaging via in situ fingerprinting

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sang, Hongqian; Jarvis, Samuel P.; Zhou, Zhichao; Sharp, Peter; Moriarty, Philip; Wang, Jianbo; Wang, Yu; Kantorovich, Lev

2014-10-01

A practical experimental strategy is proposed that could potentially enable greater control of the tip apex in non-contact atomic force microscopy experiments. It is based on a preparation of a structure of interest alongside a reference surface reconstruction on the same sample. Our proposed strategy is as follows. Spectroscopy measurements are first performed on the reference surface to identify the tip apex structure using a previously collected database of responses of different tips to this surface. Next, immediately following the tip identification protocol, the surface of interest is studied (imaging, manipulation and/or spectroscopy). The prototype system we choose is the mixed Si(111)-7×7 and surface which can be prepared on the same sample with a controlled ratio of reactive and passivated regions. Using an ``in silico'' approach based on ab initio density functional calculations and a set of tips with varying chemical reactivities, we show how one can perform tip fingerprinting using the Si(111)-7×7 reference surface. Then it is found by examining the imaging of a naphthalene tetracarboxylic diimide (NTCDI) molecule adsorbed on surface that negatively charged tips produce the best intramolecular contrast attributed to the enhancement of repulsive interactions.

26 CFR 1.6049-8 - Interest and original issue discount paid to certain nonresident aliens.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... certain nonresident aliens. 1.6049-8 Section 1.6049-8 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE... § 1.6049-8 Interest and original issue discount paid to certain nonresident aliens. (a) Interest... nonresident alien individual who is a resident of a country that is identified, in an applicable revenue...

Characterizing smoking, cessation services, and quit interest across outpatient substance abuse treatment modalities

PubMed Central

McClure, Erin A.; Acquavita, Shauna P.; Dunn, Kelly E.; Stoller, Kenneth B.; Stitzer, Maxine L.

2013-01-01

The majority of individuals seeking treatment for substance use disorders are cigarette smokers, yet smoking cessation is rarely addressed during treatment. Conducting a detailed smoking-related characterization of substance abuse treatment patients across treatment modalities may facilitate the development of tailored treatment strategies. This study administered a battery of self-report instruments to compare tobacco use, quit attempts, smoking knowledge and attitudes, program services, and interest in quitting among smoking patients enrolled in opioid replacement therapy (ORT) vs. non-opioid replacement (non-ORT). ORT compared with non-ORT participants smoked more heavily, had greater tobacco dependence, and endorsed greater exposure to smoking cessation services at their treatment programs. Favorable attitudes towards cessation during treatment were found within both groups. These data identify several potential clinical targets, most notably including confidence in abstaining and attitudes toward cessation pharmacotherapies that may be addressed by substance abuse treatment clinics. PMID:23988192