The Use of General and Specialized Corpora as Reference Sources for Academic English Writing: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chang, Ji-Yeon

2014-01-01

Corpora have been suggested as valuable sources for teaching English for academic purposes (EAP). Since previous studies have mainly focused on corpus use in classroom settings, more research is needed to reveal how students react to using corpora on their own and what should be provided to help them become autonomous corpus users, considering…

Characterization of reference genes for qPCR analysis in various tissues of the Fujian oyster Crassostrea angulata

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pu, Fei; Yang, Bingye; Ke, Caihuan

2015-07-01

Accurate quantification of transcripts using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) depends on the identification of reliable reference genes for normalization. This study aimed to identify and validate seven reference genes, including actin-2 ( ACT-2), elongation factor 1 alpha ( EF-1α), elongation factor 1 beta ( EF-1β), glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase ( GAPDH), ubiquitin ( UBQ), β-tubulin ( β-TUB), and 18S ribosomal RNA, from Crassostrea angulata, a valuable marine bivalve cultured worldwide. Transcript levels of the candidate reference genes were examined using qPCR analysis and showed differential expression patterns in the mantle, gill, adductor muscle, labial palp, visceral mass, hemolymph and gonad tissues. Quantitative data were analyzed using the geNorm software to assess the expression stability of the candidate reference genes, revealing that β-TUB and UBQ were the most stable genes. The commonly used GAPDH and 18S rRNA showed low stability, making them unsuitable candidates in this system. The expression pattern of the G protein β-subunit gene ( Gβ) across tissue types was also examined and normalized to the expression of each or both of UBQ and β-TUB as internal controls. This revealed consistent trends with all three normalization approaches, thus validating the reliability of UBQ and β-TUB as optimal internal controls. The study provides the first validated reference genes for accurate data normalization in transcript profiling in Crassostrea angulata, which will be indispensable for further functional genomics studies in this economically valuable marine bivalve.

Responses to a questionnaire on networking between OIE Reference Laboratories and OIE Collaborating Centres.

PubMed

Brückner, G K; Linnane, S; Diaz, F; Vallat, B

2007-01-01

Two separate questionnaires were distributed to 20 OIE Collaborating Centres and 160 OIE Reference Laboratories to assess the current status of networking and collaboration among OIE Reference Laboratories and between OIE Reference Laboratories and OIE Collaborating Centres. The questionnaire for the OIE Reference Laboratories contained 7 sections with questions on networking between laboratories, reporting of information, biosecurity quality control, and financing. Emphasis was placed in obtaining information on inter-laboratory relationships and exchange of expertise, training needs and sharing of data and information. The questionnaire for the OIE Collaborating Centres contained six sections with the emphasis on aspects related to awareness of services that can be provided, expertise that could be made available, sharing of information and the relationship with the national veterinary services of the countries concerned. The responses to the questionnaires were collated, categorised and statistically evaluated to allow for tentative inferences on the data provided. Valuable information emanated from the data identifying the current status of networking and indicating possible shortcomings that could be addressed to improve networking.

Health Professionals' Perspectives on Exercise Referral and Physical Activity Promotion in Primary Care: Findings from a Process Evaluation of the National Exercise Referral Scheme in Wales

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Din, Nafees U.; Moore, Graham F.; Murphy, Simon; Wilkinson, Clare; Williams, Nefyn H.

2015-01-01

Background and objectives: Referring clinicians' experiences of exercise referral schemes (ERS) can provide valuable insights into their uptake. However, most qualitative studies focus on patient views only. This paper explores health professionals' perceptions of their role in promoting physical activity and experiences of a National Exercise…

The Origin of Chondrules and Chondrites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sears, Derek W. G.

2005-01-01

Drawing on research from the various scientific disciplines involved, this text summarizes the origin and history of chondrules and chondrites. Including citations to every published paper on the topic, it forms a comprehensive bibliography of the latest research. In addition, extensive illustrations provide a clear visual representation of the scientific theories. The text will be a valuable reference for graduate students and researchers in planetary science, geology and astronomy.

Abortion: Strong's counterexamples fail.

PubMed

Di Nucci, E

2009-05-01

This paper shows that the counterexamples proposed by Strong in 2008 in the Journal of Medical Ethics to Marquis's argument against abortion fail. Strong's basic idea is that there are cases--for example, terminally ill patients--where killing an adult human being is prima facie seriously morally wrong even though that human being is not being deprived of a "valuable future". So Marquis would be wrong in thinking that what is essential about the wrongness of killing an adult human being is that they are being deprived of a valuable future. This paper shows that whichever way the concept of "valuable future" is interpreted, the proposed counterexamples fail: if it is interpreted as "future like ours", the proposed counterexamples have no bearing on Marquis's argument. If the concept is interpreted as referring to the patient's preferences, it must be either conceded that the patients in Strong's scenarios have some valuable future or admitted that killing them is not seriously morally wrong. Finally, if "valuable future" is interpreted as referring to objective standards, one ends up with implausible and unpalatable moral claims.

[SCHWABE Company's patent portfolio of Ginkgo biloba preparation].

PubMed

Liu, Wei; Cheng, Xin-Min; Geng, Dong-Mei; Tan, Wei; Zou, Wen-Jun

2014-09-01

SCHWABE Company in German is the first and largest manufacturer of Ginkgo biloba preparation. The company not only has leading technology in this field, but also protects its own market effectively through the high quality of patent drafting and exactly patent layout. Based on multi-angle analysis for patent portfolio of G. biloba preparation at application time, legal status, globally layout, Chinese layout, the article provides technical reference of research and development of G. biloba, also provides valuable experience of traditonal Chinese medicine patent portfolio layout for Chinese enterprises.

Index to limnological data for southcentral Alaska Lakes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Maurer, M.A.; Woods, P.F.

1987-01-01

South-central Alaska lakes are a valuable natural resource and provide a variety of recreational opportunities to the public. Lakeside development has increased significantly in the past 10 years and several south-central Alaskan lakes have documented pollution problems. Cultural eutrophication, the process by which man-induced nutrient loading to a lake results in large increases in biological productivity, can also produce noxious algae blooms, dissolved oxygen depletion at depth, reduced water transparency, and fish kills. The potential for cultural eutrophication of south-central Alaska lakes prompted the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Water Resources Division and the Alaska Department of Natural Resources-Division of Geological and Geophysical Surveys (ADGGS) to provide lake researchers, managers, and the public with this index of published historical and current limnological references. The purpose of the index is to provide reference to the data which can be used to identify and monitor cultural eutrophication of south-central Alaska lakes. (Lantz-PTT)

Island biodiversity conservation needs palaeoecology.

PubMed

Nogué, Sandra; de Nascimento, Lea; Froyd, Cynthia A; Wilmshurst, Janet M; de Boer, Erik J; Coffey, Emily E D; Whittaker, Robert J; Fernández-Palacios, José María; Willis, Kathy J

2017-06-22

The discovery and colonization of islands by humans has invariably resulted in their widespread ecological transformation. The small and isolated populations of many island taxa, and their evolution in the absence of humans and their introduced taxa, mean that they are particularly vulnerable to human activities. Consequently, even the most degraded islands are a focus for restoration, eradication, and monitoring programmes to protect the remaining endemic and/or relict populations. Here, we build a framework that incorporates an assessment of the degree of change from multiple baseline reference periods using long-term ecological data. The use of multiple reference points may provide information on both the variability of natural systems and responses to successive waves of cultural transformation of island ecosystems, involving, for example, the alteration of fire and grazing regimes and the introduction of non-native species. We provide exemplification of how such approaches can provide valuable information for biodiversity conservation managers of island ecosystems.

Implementation of alanine/EPR as transfer dosimetry system in a radiotherapy audit programme in Belgium.

PubMed

Schaeken, B; Cuypers, R; Lelie, S; Schroeyers, W; Schreurs, S; Janssens, H; Verellen, D

2011-04-01

A measurement procedure based on alanine/electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) dosimetry was implemented successfully providing simple, stable, and accurate dose-to-water (D(w)) measurements. The correspondence between alanine and ionization chamber measurements in reference conditions was excellent. Alanine/EMR dosimetry might be a valuable alternative to thermoluminescent (TLD) and ionization chamber based measuring procedures in radiotherapy audits. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Research on Ratio of Dosage of Drugs in Traditional Chinese Prescriptions by Data Mining.

PubMed

Yu, Xing-Wen; Gong, Qing-Yue; Hu, Kong-Fa; Mao, Wen-Jing; Zhang, Wei-Ming

2017-01-01

Maximizing the effectiveness of prescriptions and minimizing adverse effects of drugs is a key component of the health care of patients. In the practice of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), it is important to provide clinicians a reference for dosing of prescribed drugs. The traditional Cheng-Church biclustering algorithm (CC) is optimized and the data of TCM prescription dose is analyzed by using the optimization algorithm. Based on an analysis of 212 prescriptions related to TCM treatment of kidney diseases, the study generated 87 prescription dose quantum matrices and each sub-matrix represents the referential value of the doses of drugs in different recipes. The optimized CC algorithm can effectively eliminate the interference of zero in the original dose matrix of TCM prescriptions and avoid zero appearing in output sub-matrix. This results in the ability to effectively analyze the reference value of drugs in different prescriptions related to kidney diseases, so as to provide valuable reference for clinicians to use drugs rationally.

Lightweight design and analysis of automobile wheel based on bending and radial loads

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jiang, X.; Lyu, R.; Fukushima, Y.; Otake, M.; Ju, D. Y.

2018-06-01

Lightweighting of automobile vehicle is a significant application trends, using magnesium alloy wheels is a valuable way. This article discusses design of a new model of automobile wheel. Then bending test and radial test finite element model were established. Considering three different materials namely magnesium alloy, aluminium alloy and steel, the stress and strain performances of each material can be obtained. Through evaluating and analyzing model in bending test and radial test, we obtained the reasonable and superior results for magnesium alloy wheel. The results of the equivalent stress and deformation were compared, the magnesium alloy wheel practicality has been confirmed. This research predicts the reliability of the structural design, some valuable references are provided for the design and development of magnesium alloy wheel.

Safety Assurances at Space Test Centres: Lessons Learned

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Alarcon Ruiz, Raul; O'Neil, Sean; Valls, Rafel Prades

2010-09-01

The European Space Agency’s(ESA) experts in quality, cleanliness and contamination control, safety, test facilities and test methods have accumulated valuable experience during the performance of dedicated audits of space test centres in Europe over a period of 10 years. This paper is limited to a summary of the safety findings and provides a valuable reference to the lessons learned, identifying opportunities for improvement in the areas of risk prevention measures associated to the safety of all test centre personnel, the test specimen, the test facilities and associated infrastructure. Through the analysis of the audit results the authors present what are the main lessons learned, and conclude how an effective safety management system will contribute to successful test campaigns and have a positive impact on the cost and schedule of space projects.

Solutions to Challenges Facing a University Digital Library and Press

PubMed Central

D'Alessandro, Michael P.; Galvin, Jeffrey R.; Colbert, Stephana I.; D'Alessandro, Donna M.; Choi, Teresa A.; Aker, Brian D.; Carlson, William S.; Pelzer, Gay D.

2000-01-01

During the creation of a university digital library and press intended to serve as a medical reference and education tool for health care providers and their patients, six distinct and complex digital publishing challenges were encountered. Over nine years, through a multidisciplinary approach, solutions were devised to the challenges of digital content ownership, management, mirroring, translation, interactions with users, and archiving. The result is a unique, author-owned, internationally mirrored, university digital library and press that serves as an authoritative medical reference and education tool for users around the world. The purpose of this paper is to share the valuable digital publishing lessons learned and outline the challenges facing university digital libraries and presses. PMID:10833161

Quasi-reference electrodes in confined electrochemical cells can result in in situ production of metallic nanoparticles.

PubMed

Perera, Rukshan T; Rosenstein, Jacob K

2018-01-31

Nanoscale working electrodes and miniaturized electroanalytical devices are valuable platforms to probe molecular phenomena and perform chemical analyses. However, the inherent close distance of metallic electrodes integrated into a small volume of electrolyte can complicate classical electroanalytical techniques. In this study, we use a scanning nanopipette contact probe as a model miniaturized electrochemical cell to demonstrate measurable side effects of the reaction occurring at a quasi-reference electrode. We provide evidence for in situ generation of nanoparticles in the absence of any electroactive species and we critically analyze the origin, nucleation, dissolution and dynamic behavior of these nanoparticles as they appear at the working electrode. It is crucial to recognize the implications of using quasi-reference electrodes in confined electrochemical cells, in order to accurately interpret the results of nanoscale electrochemical experiments.

Natural plant chemicals: source of industrial and medicinal materials

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

Balandrin, M.F.; Klocke, J.A.; Wurtele, E.S.

1985-01-01

Many higher plants produce economically important organic compounds such as oils, resins, tannins, natural rubber, gums, waxes, dyes, flavors and fragrances, pharmaceuticals, and pesticides. However, most species of higher plants have never been described, much less surveyed for chemical or biologically active constituents, and new sources of commercially valuable materials remain to be discovered. Advances in biotechnology, particularly methods for culturing plants cells and tissues, should provide new means for the commercial processing of even rare plants and the chemicals they produce. These new technologies will extend and enhance the usefulness of plants as renewable resources of valuable chemicals. Inmore » the future, biologically active plant-derived chemicals can be expected to play an increasingly significant role in the commercial development of new products for regulating plant growth and for insect and weed control. 65 references.« less

External RNA Controls Consortium Beta Version Update.

PubMed

Lee, Hangnoh; Pine, P Scott; McDaniel, Jennifer; Salit, Marc; Oliver, Brian

2016-01-01

Spike-in RNAs are valuable controls for a variety of gene expression measurements. The External RNA Controls Consortium developed test sets that were used in a number of published reports. Here we provide an authoritative table that summarizes, updates, and corrects errors in the test version that ultimately resulted in the certified Standard Reference Material 2374. We have noted existence of anti-sense RNA controls in the material, corrected sub-pool memberships, and commented on control RNAs that displayed inconsistent behavior.

Applications and theory of electrokinetic enrichment in micro-nanofluidic chips.

PubMed

Chen, Xueye; Zhang, Shuai; Zhang, Lei; Yao, Zhen; Chen, Xiaodong; Zheng, Yue; Liu, Yanlin

2017-09-01

This review reports the progress on the recent development of electrokinetic enrichment in micro-nanofluidic chips. The governing equations of electrokinetic enrichment in micro-nanofluidic chips are given. Various enrichment applications including protein analysis, DNA analysis, bacteria analysis, viruses analysis and cell analysis are illustrated and discussed. The advantages and difficulties of each enrichment method are expatiated. This paper will provide a particularly convenient and valuable reference to those who intend to research the electrokinetic enrichment based on micro-nanofluidic chips.

RNA-seq reveals more consistent reference genes for gene expression studies in human non-melanoma skin cancers

PubMed Central

Tan, Jean-Marie; Payne, Elizabeth J.; Lin, Lynlee L.; Sinnya, Sudipta; Raphael, Anthony P.; Lambie, Duncan; Frazer, Ian H.; Dinger, Marcel E.; Soyer, H. Peter

2017-01-01

Identification of appropriate reference genes (RGs) is critical to accurate data interpretation in quantitative real-time PCR (qPCR) experiments. In this study, we have utilised next generation RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) to analyse the transcriptome of a panel of non-melanoma skin cancer lesions, identifying genes that are consistently expressed across all samples. Genes encoding ribosomal proteins were amongst the most stable in this dataset. Validation of this RNA-seq data was examined using qPCR to confirm the suitability of a set of highly stable genes for use as qPCR RGs. These genes will provide a valuable resource for the normalisation of qPCR data for the analysis of non-melanoma skin cancer. PMID:28852586

Recommendations for designing and conducting veterinary clinical pathology biologic variation studies.

PubMed

Freeman, Kathleen P; Baral, Randolph M; Dhand, Navneet K; Nielsen, Søren Saxmose; Jensen, Asger L

2017-06-01

The recent creation of a veterinary clinical pathology biologic variation website has highlighted the need to provide recommendations for future studies of biologic variation in animals in order to help standardize and improve the quality of published information and to facilitate review and selection of publications as standard references. The following recommendations are provided in the format and order commonly found in veterinary publications. A checklist is provided to aid in planning, implementing, and evaluating veterinary studies on biologic variation (Appendix S1). These recommendations provide a valuable resource for clinicians, laboratorians, and researchers interested in conducting studies of biologic variation and in determining the quality of studies of biologic variation in veterinary laboratory testing. © 2017 American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology.

Magnetic resonance imaging of the pediatric neck: an overview.

PubMed

Shekdar, Karuna V; Mirsky, David M; Kazahaya, Ken; Bilaniuk, Larissa T

2012-08-01

Evaluation of neck lesions in the pediatric population can be a diagnostic challenge, for which magnetic resonance (MR) imaging is extremely valuable. This article provides an overview of the value and utility of MR imaging in the evaluation of pediatric neck lesions, addressing what the referring clinician requires from the radiologist. Concise descriptions and illustrations of MR imaging findings of commonly encountered pathologic entities in the pediatric neck, including abnormalities of the branchial apparatus, thyroglossal duct anomalies, and neoplastic processes, are given. An approach to establishing a differential diagnosis is provided, and critical points of information are summarized. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Reasoning algebraically with IT: A cognitive perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mok, Ida; Johnson, David

2000-12-01

The focus of this paper is on the implications of key findings and theoretical positions from social psychology and cognitive developmental psychology (Piagetian/neo-Piagetian) for the use of IT tools to support learning in algebra. Particular reference is made to the research of the UK Cognitive Acceleration through Mathematics Education (CAME) project. The feasibility of the CAME model in the exploration of mathematical relationships supported by graphics calculators was addressed in a small-scale study in Hong Kong. The research provides evidence that, with appropriate mediation, cognitive conflict can be utilised to provide valuable appropriate for students to engage in increasingly higher levels of mathematical thinking.

The Tracking Meteogram, an AWIPS II Tool for Time-Series Analysis

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Burks, Jason Eric; Sperow, Ken

2015-01-01

A new tool has been developed for the National Weather Service (NWS) Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) II through collaboration between NASA's Short-term Prediction Research and Transition (SPoRT) and the NWS Meteorological Development Laboratory (MDL). Referred to as the "Tracking Meteogram", the tool aids NWS forecasters in assessing meteorological parameters associated with moving phenomena. The tool aids forecasters in severe weather situations by providing valuable satellite and radar derived trends such as cloud top cooling rates, radial velocity couplets, reflectivity, and information from ground-based lightning networks. The Tracking Meteogram tool also aids in synoptic and mesoscale analysis by tracking parameters such as the deepening of surface low pressure systems, changes in surface or upper air temperature, and other properties. The tool provides a valuable new functionality and demonstrates the flexibility and extensibility of the NWS AWIPS II architecture. In 2014, the operational impact of the tool was formally evaluated through participation in the NOAA/NWS Operations Proving Ground (OPG), a risk reduction activity to assess performance and operational impact of new forecasting concepts, tools, and applications. Performance of the Tracking Meteogram Tool during the OPG assessment confirmed that it will be a valuable asset to the operational forecasters. This presentation reviews development of the Tracking Meteogram tool, performance and feedback acquired during the OPG activity, and future goals for continued support and extension to other application areas.

Improvements to the gridding of precipitation data across Europe under the E-OBS scheme

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cornes, Richard; van den Besselaar, Else; Jones, Phil; van der Schrier, Gerard; Verver, Ge

2016-04-01

Gridded precipitation data are a valuable resource for analyzing past variations and trends in the hydroclimate. Such data also provide a reference against which model simulations may be driven, compared and/or adjusted. The E-OBS precipitation dataset is widely used for such analyses across Europe, and is particularly valuable since it provides a spatially complete, daily field across the European domain. In this analysis, improvements to the E-OBS precipitation dataset will be presented that aim to provide a more reliable estimate of grid-box precipitation values, particularly in mountainous areas and in regions with a relative sparsity of input station data. The established three-stage E-OBS gridding scheme is retained, whereby monthly precipitation totals are gridded using a thin-plate spline; daily anomalies are gridded using indicator kriging; and the final dataset is produced by multiplying the two grids. The current analysis focuses on improving the monthly thin-plate spline, which has overall control on the final daily dataset. The results from different techniques are compared and the influence on the final daily data is assessed by comparing the data against gridded country-wide datasets produced by various National Meteorological Services

Canine and feline hematology reference values for the ADVIA 120 hematology system.

PubMed

Moritz, Andreas; Fickenscher, Yvonne; Meyer, Karin; Failing, Klaus; Weiss, Douglas J

2004-01-01

The ADVIA 120 is a laser-based hematology analyzer with software applications for animal species. Accurate reference values would be useful for the assessment of new hematologic parameters and for interlaboratory comparisons. The goal of this study was to establish reference intervals for CBC results and new parameters for RBC morphology, reticulocytes, and platelets in healthy dogs and cats using the ADVIA 120 hematology system. The ADVIA 120, with multispecies software (version 1.107-MS), was used to analyze whole blood samples from clinically healthy dogs (n=46) and cats (n=61). Data distribution was determined and reference intervals were calculated as 2.5 to 97.5 percentiles and 25 to 75 percentiles. Most data showed Gaussian or log-normal distribution. The numbers of RBCs falling outside the normocytic-normochromic range were slightly higher in cats than in dogs. Both dogs and cats had reticulocytes with low, medium, and high absorbance. Mean numbers of large platelets and platelet clumps were higher in cats compared with dogs. Reference intervals obtained on the ADVIA 120 provide valuable baseline information for assessing new hematologic parameters and for interlaboratory comparisons. Differences compared with previously published reference values can be attributed largely to differences in methodology.

Technologies That Assess the Location of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Loveday, Adam; Sherar, Lauren B; Sanders, James P; Sanderson, Paul W; Esliger, Dale W

2015-08-05

The location in which physical activity and sedentary behavior are performed can provide valuable behavioral information, both in isolation and synergistically with other areas of physical activity and sedentary behavior research. Global positioning systems (GPS) have been used in physical activity research to identify outdoor location; however, while GPS can receive signals in certain indoor environments, it is not able to provide room- or subroom-level location. On average, adults spend a high proportion of their time indoors. A measure of indoor location would, therefore, provide valuable behavioral information. This systematic review sought to identify and critique technology which has been or could be used to assess the location of physical activity and sedentary behavior. To identify published research papers, four electronic databases were searched using key terms built around behavior, technology, and location. To be eligible for inclusion, papers were required to be published in English and describe a wearable or portable technology or device capable of measuring location. Searches were performed up to February 4, 2015. This was supplemented by backward and forward reference searching. In an attempt to include novel devices which may not yet have made their way into the published research, searches were also performed using three Internet search engines. Specialized software was used to download search results and thus mitigate the potential pitfalls of changing search algorithms. A total of 188 research papers met the inclusion criteria. Global positioning systems were the most widely used location technology in the published research, followed by wearable cameras, and radio-frequency identification. Internet search engines identified 81 global positioning systems, 35 real-time locating systems, and 21 wearable cameras. Real-time locating systems determine the indoor location of a wearable tag via the known location of reference nodes. Although the type of reference node and location determination method varies between manufacturers, Wi-Fi appears to be the most popular method. The addition of location information to existing measures of physical activity and sedentary behavior will provide important behavioral information.

Technologies That Assess the Location of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Sherar, Lauren B; Sanders, James P; Sanderson, Paul W; Esliger, Dale W

2015-01-01

Background The location in which physical activity and sedentary behavior are performed can provide valuable behavioral information, both in isolation and synergistically with other areas of physical activity and sedentary behavior research. Global positioning systems (GPS) have been used in physical activity research to identify outdoor location; however, while GPS can receive signals in certain indoor environments, it is not able to provide room- or subroom-level location. On average, adults spend a high proportion of their time indoors. A measure of indoor location would, therefore, provide valuable behavioral information. Objective This systematic review sought to identify and critique technology which has been or could be used to assess the location of physical activity and sedentary behavior. Methods To identify published research papers, four electronic databases were searched using key terms built around behavior, technology, and location. To be eligible for inclusion, papers were required to be published in English and describe a wearable or portable technology or device capable of measuring location. Searches were performed up to February 4, 2015. This was supplemented by backward and forward reference searching. In an attempt to include novel devices which may not yet have made their way into the published research, searches were also performed using three Internet search engines. Specialized software was used to download search results and thus mitigate the potential pitfalls of changing search algorithms. Results A total of 188 research papers met the inclusion criteria. Global positioning systems were the most widely used location technology in the published research, followed by wearable cameras, and radio-frequency identification. Internet search engines identified 81 global positioning systems, 35 real-time locating systems, and 21 wearable cameras. Real-time locating systems determine the indoor location of a wearable tag via the known location of reference nodes. Although the type of reference node and location determination method varies between manufacturers, Wi-Fi appears to be the most popular method. Conclusions The addition of location information to existing measures of physical activity and sedentary behavior will provide important behavioral information. PMID:26245157

Immunosuppressant discovery from Tripterygium wilfordii Hook f: the novel triptolide analog (5R)-5-hydroxytriptolide (LLDT-8)

PubMed Central

Tang, Wei; Zuo, Jian-ping

2012-01-01

The Chinese traditional herb Tripterygium wilfordii Hook f (TwHF) has been widely used in the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. Over the past few decades, great efforts have been made to explore modern preparations of TwHF with higher efficacy, solubility, and lower toxicity. In this study, we reviewed several examples both of naturally occurring compounds and their derivatives in TwHF, and summarized the preclinical evaluations with regard to autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. All of the candidate compounds described herein have been or are currently in clinical trials. Although some studies encountered problems, the data still provided valuable references for future studies. (5R)-5-hydroxytriptolide (LLDT-8, Leitengshu) is a novel triptolide derivative with potent immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory activities developed at Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica. Indeed, a Phase I clinical trial for this compound has been completed in rheumatoid arthritis patients. The results will provide the basis for the further exploration of this ancient herb and encourage the research and development of valuable traditional Chinese medicine. PMID:22922344

The CIRCORT database: Reference ranges and seasonal changes in diurnal salivary cortisol derived from a meta-dataset comprised of 15 field studies

PubMed Central

Miller, Robert; Stalder, Tobias; Jarczok, Marc; Almeida, David M.; Badrick, Ellena; Bartels, Meike; Boomsma, Dorret I.; Coe, Christopher L.; Dekker, Marieke C. J.; Donzella, Bonny; Fischer, Joachim E.; Gunnar, Megan R.; Kumari, Meena; Lederbogen, Florian; Oldehinkel, Albertine J.; Power, Christine; Rosmalen, Judith G.; Ryff, Carol D.; Subramanian, S V; Tiemeier, Henning; Watamura, Sarah E.; Kirschbaum, Clemens

2016-01-01

Diurnal salivary cortisol profiles are valuable indicators of adrenocortical functioning in epidemiological research and clinical practice. However, normative reference values derived from a large number of participants and across a wide age range are still missing. To fill this gap, data were compiled from 15 independently conducted field studies with a total of 104,623 salivary cortisol samples obtained from 18,698 unselected individuals (mean age: 48.3 years, age range: 0.5 to 98.5 years, 39% females). Besides providing a descriptive analysis of the complete dataset, we also performed mixed-effects growth curve modeling of diurnal salivary cortisol (i.e., 1 to 16 hours after awakening). Cortisol decreased significantly across the day and was influenced by both, age and sex. Intriguingly, we also found a pronounced impact of sampling season with elevated diurnal cortisol in spring and decreased levels in autumn. However, the majority of variance was accounted for by between-participant and between-study variance components. Based on these analyses, reference ranges (LC/MS-MS calibrated) for cortisol concentrations in saliva were derived for different times across the day, with more specific reference ranges generated for males and females in different age categories. This integrative summary provides important reference values on salivary cortisol to aid basic scientists and clinicians in interpreting deviations from the normal diurnal cycle. PMID:27448524

Physician awareness of enhanced prenatal services for medicaid-insured pregnant women.

PubMed

Raffo, Jennifer E; Gary, Monica; Forde, Gareth K; Meghea, Cristian I; Roman, Lee Anne

2014-01-01

Medicaid enhanced prenatal service (EPS) programs, including care coordination, were developed to improve birth outcomes for low-income pregnant women. In Michigan, less than a third of eligible pregnant women are enrolled in services. Physician or medical clinics provide referrals to community-based EPS. The objective of this study was to examine physician knowledge and perceptions of EPS. A cross-sectional survey of obstetric providers was conducted in 2009. A questionnaire was created to assess understanding of the EPS program. The study was conducted in an urban Michigan community. Participants included a convenience sample (N = 56) of community Obstetrics and Gynecology attending physicians and resident physicians within a single, large health system. Outcome measures included knowledge of the program and patient participation, referral practices, perceptions of the program, value for patients and providers, appropriateness of physicians to provide program referrals, and barriers to referring. Findings indicated that most physicians (84%) had little familiarity with EPS, 60% did not personally refer to EPS, 54% did not know whether other office staff referred to EPS, and 65% were unaware whether their patients received EPS. Yet, more than 90% of physicians reported that EPS would benefit their patients and believed that it was appropriate for them to refer all their eligible patients. Further efforts should be made to better understand how physicians and EPS providers could function together on behalf of patients. Statewide Medicaid-sponsored EPS programs could serve as a valuable patient and physician resource for psychosocial risk screening, care management, education, and referral support if better utilized.

New train of thought in troubleshooting of modern automobiles

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chen, Zhaojun

2018-03-01

With the rapid development of social economy in our country, the car has also been popularized more and more widely. In order to ensure the normal running of the car, it is very important to make proper maintenance and safeguard measures. To achieve the effective enhancement of the quality of vehicle maintenance, we must be able to accurately determine the vehicle fault with the shortest possible time. This article focuses on the new ideas of modern vehicle troubleshooting carried out related research, analysis, hoping to provide some valuable reference to the staff.

Misdirection – Past, Present, and the Future

PubMed Central

Kuhn, Gustav; Martinez, Luis M.

2012-01-01

Misdirection refers to the magician’s ability to manipulate people’s attention, thoughts, and memory. It has been argued that some of the techniques used by magicians to orchestrate people’s attention and awareness may provide valuable insights into human cognition. In this paper we review the scientific, as well as some of the magic literature on misdirection. We focus on four main points: (1) the magician’s concept of misdirection, (2) the paradigms used to study misdirection scientifically, (3) review of the current scientific findings, and (4) future directions. PMID:22232587

Demystifying liver iron concentration measurements with MRI.

PubMed

Henninger, B

2018-06-01

This Editorial comment refers to the article: Non-invasive measurement of liver iron concentration using 3-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging: validation against biopsy. D'Assignies G, et al. Eur Radiol Nov 2017. • MRI is a widely accepted reliable tool to determine liver iron concentration. • MRI cannot measure iron directly, it needs calibration. • Calibration curves for 3.0T are rare in the literature. • The study by d'Assignies et al. provides valuable information on this topic. • Evaluation of liver iron overload should no longer be restricted to experts.

Proteome reference maps of Medicago truncatula embryogenic cell cultures generated from single protoplasts.

PubMed

Imin, Nijat; De Jong, Femke; Mathesius, Ulrike; van Noorden, Giel; Saeed, Nasir A; Wang, Xin-Ding; Rose, Ray J; Rolfe, Barry G

2004-07-01

Using a combination of two-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) protein mapping and mass spectrometry (MS) analysis, we have established proteome reference maps of Medicago truncatula embryogenic tissue culture cells. The cultures were generated from single protoplasts, which provided a relatively homogeneous cell population. We used these to analyze protein expression at the globular stages of somatic embryogenesis, which is the earliest morphogenetic embryonic stage. Over 3000 proteins could reproducibly be resolved over a pI range of 4-11. Three hundred and twelve protein spots were extracted from colloidal Coomassie Blue-stained 2-DE gels and analyzed by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight MS analysis and tandem MS sequencing. This enabled the identification of 169 protein spots representing 128 unique gene products using a publicly available expressed sequence tag database and the MASCOT search engine. These reference maps will be valuable for the investigation of the molecular events which occur during somatic embryogenesis in M. truncatula. The proteome reference maps and supplementary materials will be available and updated for public access at http://semele.anu.edu.au/.

Moorea BIOCODE barcode library as a tool for understanding predator-prey interactions: insights into the diet of common predatory coral reef fishes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Leray, M.; Boehm, J. T.; Mills, S. C.; Meyer, C. P.

2012-06-01

Identifying species involved in consumer-resource interactions is one of the main limitations in the construction of food webs. DNA barcoding of prey items in predator guts provides a valuable tool for characterizing trophic interactions, but the method relies on the availability of reference sequences to which prey sequences can be matched. In this study, we demonstrate that the COI sequence library of the Moorea BIOCODE project, an ecosystem-level barcode initiative, enables the identification of a large proportion of semi-digested fish, crustacean and mollusks found in the guts of three Hawkfish and two Squirrelfish species. While most prey remains lacked diagnostic morphological characters, 94% of the prey found in 67 fishes had >98% sequence similarity with BIOCODE reference sequences. Using this species-level prey identification, we demonstrate how DNA barcoding can provide insights into resource partitioning, predator feeding behaviors and the consequences of predation on ecosystem function.

In-vivo gingival sulcus imaging using full-range, complex-conjugate-free, endoscopic spectral domain optical coherence tomography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Yong; Zhang, Kang; Yi, WonJin; Kang, Jin U.

2012-01-01

Frequent monitoring of gingival sulcus will provide valuable information for judging the presence and severity of periodontal disease. Optical coherence tomography, as a 3D high resolution high speed imaging modality is able to provide information for pocket depth, gum contour, gum texture, gum recession simultaneously. A handheld forward-viewing miniature resonant fiber-scanning probe was developed for in-vivo gingival sulcus imaging. The fiber cantilever driven by magnetic force vibrates at resonant frequency. A synchronized linear phase-modulation was applied in the reference arm by the galvanometer-driven reference mirror. Full-range, complex-conjugate-free, real-time endoscopic SD-OCT was achieved by accelerating the data process using graphics processing unit. Preliminary results showed a real-time in-vivo imaging at 33 fps with an imaging range of lateral 2 mm by depth 3 mm. Gap between the tooth and gum area was clearly visualized. Further quantification analysis of the gingival sulcus will be performed on the image acquired.

Research in Biomaterials and Tissue Engineering: Achievements and perspectives.

PubMed

Ventre, Maurizio; Causa, Filippo; Netti, Paolo A; Pietrabissa, Riccardo

2015-01-01

Research on biomaterials and related subjects has been active in Italy. Starting from the very first examples of biomaterials and biomedical devices, Italian researchers have always provided valuable scientific contributions. This trend has steadily increased. To provide a rough estimate of this, it is sufficient to search PubMed, a free search engine accessing primarily the MEDLINE database of references and abstracts on life sciences and biomedical topics, with the keywords "biomaterials" or "tissue engineering" and sort the results by affiliation. Again, even though this is a crude estimate, the results speak for themselves, as Italy is the third European country, in terms of publications, with an astonishing 3,700 products in the last decade.

References for Haplotype Imputation in the Big Data Era

PubMed Central

Li, Wenzhi; Xu, Wei; Li, Qiling; Ma, Li; Song, Qing

2016-01-01

Imputation is a powerful in silico approach to fill in those missing values in the big datasets. This process requires a reference panel, which is a collection of big data from which the missing information can be extracted and imputed. Haplotype imputation requires ethnicity-matched references; a mismatched reference panel will significantly reduce the quality of imputation. However, currently existing big datasets cover only a small number of ethnicities, there is a lack of ethnicity-matched references for many ethnic populations in the world, which has hampered the data imputation of haplotypes and its downstream applications. To solve this issue, several approaches have been proposed and explored, including the mixed reference panel, the internal reference panel and genotype-converted reference panel. This review article provides the information and comparison between these approaches. Increasing evidence showed that not just one or two genetic elements dictate the gene activity and functions; instead, cis-interactions of multiple elements dictate gene activity. Cis-interactions require the interacting elements to be on the same chromosome molecule, therefore, haplotype analysis is essential for the investigation of cis-interactions among multiple genetic variants at different loci, and appears to be especially important for studying the common diseases. It will be valuable in a wide spectrum of applications from academic research, to clinical diagnosis, prevention, treatment, and pharmaceutical industry. PMID:27274952

Superior Cross-Species Reference Genes: A Blueberry Case Study

PubMed Central

Die, Jose V.; Rowland, Lisa J.

2013-01-01

The advent of affordable Next Generation Sequencing technologies has had major impact on studies of many crop species, where access to genomic technologies and genome-scale data sets has been extremely limited until now. The recent development of genomic resources in blueberry will enable the application of high throughput gene expression approaches that should relatively quickly increase our understanding of blueberry physiology. These studies, however, require a highly accurate and robust workflow and make necessary the identification of reference genes with high expression stability for correct target gene normalization. To create a set of superior reference genes for blueberry expression analyses, we mined a publicly available transcriptome data set from blueberry for orthologs to a set of Arabidopsis genes that showed the most stable expression in a developmental series. In total, the expression stability of 13 putative reference genes was evaluated by qPCR and a set of new references with high stability values across a developmental series in fruits and floral buds of blueberry were identified. We also demonstrated the need to use at least two, preferably three, reference genes to avoid inconsistencies in results, even when superior reference genes are used. The new references identified here provide a valuable resource for accurate normalization of gene expression in Vaccinium spp. and may be useful for other members of the Ericaceae family as well. PMID:24058469

CCSDS SOIS Subnetwork Services: A First Reference Implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gunes-Lasnet, S.; Notebaert, O.; Farges, P.-Y.; Fowell, S.

2008-08-01

The CCSDS SOIS working groups are developing a range of standards for spacecraft onboard interfaces with the intention of promoting reuse of hardware and software designs across a range of missions while enabling interoperability of onboard systems from diverse sources. The CCSDS SOIS working groups released in June 2007 their red books for both Subnetwork and application support layers. In order to allow the verification of these recommended standards and to pave the way for future implementation onboard spacecrafts, it is essential for these standards to be prototyped on a representative spacecraft platform, to provide valuable feed back to the SOIS working group. A first reference implementation of both Subnetwork and Application Support SOIS services over SpaceWire and Mil-Std-1553 bus is thus being realised by SciSys Ltd and Astrium under an ESA contract.

On the connection between multigrid and cyclic reduction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Merriam, M. L.

1984-01-01

A technique is shown whereby it is possible to relate a particular multigrid process to cyclic reduction using purely mathematical arguments. This technique suggest methods for solving Poisson's equation in 1-, 2-, or 3-dimensions with Dirichlet or Neumann boundary conditions. In one dimension the method is exact and, in fact, reduces to cyclic reduction. This provides a valuable reference point for understanding multigrid techniques. The particular multigrid process analyzed is referred to here as Approximate Cyclic Reduction (ACR) and is one of a class known as Multigrid Reduction methods in the literature. It involves one approximation with a known error term. It is possible to relate the error term in this approximation with certain eigenvector components of the error. These are sharply reduced in amplitude by classical relaxation techniques. The approximation can thus be made a very good one.

The CIRCORT database: Reference ranges and seasonal changes in diurnal salivary cortisol derived from a meta-dataset comprised of 15 field studies.

PubMed

Miller, Robert; Stalder, Tobias; Jarczok, Marc; Almeida, David M; Badrick, Ellena; Bartels, Meike; Boomsma, Dorret I; Coe, Christopher L; Dekker, Marieke C J; Donzella, Bonny; Fischer, Joachim E; Gunnar, Megan R; Kumari, Meena; Lederbogen, Florian; Power, Christine; Ryff, Carol D; Subramanian, S V; Tiemeier, Henning; Watamura, Sarah E; Kirschbaum, Clemens

2016-11-01

Diurnal salivary cortisol profiles are valuable indicators of adrenocortical functioning in epidemiological research and clinical practice. However, normative reference values derived from a large number of participants and across a wide age range are still missing. To fill this gap, data were compiled from 15 independently conducted field studies with a total of 104,623 salivary cortisol samples obtained from 18,698 unselected individuals (mean age: 48.3 years, age range: 0.5-98.5 years, 39% females). Besides providing a descriptive analysis of the complete dataset, we also performed mixed-effects growth curve modeling of diurnal salivary cortisol (i.e., 1-16h after awakening). Cortisol decreased significantly across the day and was influenced by both, age and sex. Intriguingly, we also found a pronounced impact of sampling season with elevated diurnal cortisol in spring and decreased levels in autumn. However, the majority of variance was accounted for by between-participant and between-study variance components. Based on these analyses, reference ranges (LC/MS-MS calibrated) for cortisol concentrations in saliva were derived for different times across the day, with more specific reference ranges generated for males and females in different age categories. This integrative summary provides important reference values on salivary cortisol to aid basic scientists and clinicians in interpreting deviations from the normal diurnal cycle. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Audience response made easy: using personal digital assistants as a classroom polling tool.

PubMed

Menon, Anil S; Moffett, Shannon; Enriquez, Melissa; Martinez, Miriam M; Dev, Parvati; Grappone, Todd

2004-01-01

Both teachers and students benefit from an interactive classroom. The teacher receives valuable input about effectiveness, student interest, and comprehension, whereas student participation, active learning, and enjoyment of the class are enhanced. Cost and deployment have limited the use of existing audience response systems, allowing anonymous linking of teachers and students in the classroom. These limitations can be circumvented, however, by use of personal digital assistants (PDAs), which are cheaper and widely used by students. In this study, the authors equipped a summer histology class of 12 students with PDAs and wireless Bluetooth cards to allow access to a central server. Teachers displayed questions in multiple-choice format as a Web page on the server and students responded with their PDAs, a process referred to as polling. Responses were immediately compiled, analyzed, and displayed. End-of-class survey results indicated that students were enthusiastic about the polling tool. The surveys also provided technical feedback that will be valuable in streamlining future trials.

Audience Response Made Easy: Using Personal Digital Assistants as a Classroom Polling Tool

PubMed Central

Menon, Anil S.; Moffett, Shannon; Enriquez, Melissa; Martinez, Miriam M.; Dev, Parvati; Grappone, Todd

2004-01-01

Both teachers and students benefit from an interactive classroom. The teacher receives valuable input about effectiveness, student interest, and comprehension, whereas student participation, active learning, and enjoyment of the class are enhanced. Cost and deployment have limited the use of existing audience response systems, allowing anonymous linking of teachers and students in the classroom. These limitations can be circumvented, however, by use of personal digital assistants (PDAs), which are cheaper and widely used by students. In this study, the authors equipped a summer histology class of 12 students with PDAs and wireless Bluetooth cards to allow access to a central server. Teachers displayed questions in multiple-choice format as a Web page on the server and students responded with their PDAs, a process referred to as polling. Responses were immediately compiled, analyzed, and displayed. End-of-class survey results indicated that students were enthusiastic about the polling tool. The surveys also provided technical feedback that will be valuable in streamlining future trials. PMID:14764615

The Role of Virtual Reference in Library Web Site Design: A Qualitative Source for Usage Data

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Powers, Amanda Clay; Shedd, Julie; Hill, Clay

2011-01-01

Gathering qualitative information about usage behavior of library Web sites is a time-consuming process requiring the active participation of patron communities. Libraries that collect virtual reference transcripts, however, hold valuable data regarding how the library Web site is used that could benefit Web designers. An analysis of virtual…

Evaluation of reference genes for quantitative RT-PCR in Lolium temulentum under abiotic stress

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Lolium temulentum is a valuable model grass species for the study of stress in forage and turf grasses. Gene expression analysis by quantitative real time RT-PCR relies on the use of proper internal standards. The aim of this study was to identify and evaluate reference genes for use in real-time q...

A review on management of spent lithium ion batteries and strategy for resource recycling of all components from them.

PubMed

Zhang, Wenxuan; Xu, Chengjian; He, Wenzhi; Li, Guangming; Huang, Juwen

2018-02-01

The wide use of lithium ion batteries (LIBs) has brought great numbers of discarded LIBs, which has become a common problem facing the world. In view of the deleterious effects of spent LIBs on the environment and the contained valuable materials that can be reused, much effort in many countries has been made to manage waste LIBs, and many technologies have been developed to recycle waste LIBs and eliminate environmental risks. As a review article, this paper introduces the situation of waste LIB management in some developed countries and in China, and reviews separation technologies of electrode components and refining technologies of LiCoO 2 and graphite. Based on the analysis of these recycling technologies and the structure and components characteristics of the whole LIB, this paper presents a recycling strategy for all components from obsolete LIBs, including discharge, dismantling, and classification, separation of electrode components and refining of LiCoO 2 /graphite. This paper is intended to provide a valuable reference for the management, scientific research, and industrial implementation on spent LIBs recycling, to recycle all valuable components and reduce the environmental pollution, so as to realize the win-win situation of economic and environmental benefits.

Development of a computerized intervertebral motion analysis of the cervical spine for clinical application.

PubMed

Piché, Mathieu; Benoît, Pierre; Lambert, Julie; Barrette, Virginie; Grondin, Emmanuelle; Martel, Julie; Paré, Amélie; Cardin, André

2007-01-01

The objective of this study was to develop a measurement method that could be implemented in chiropractic for the evaluation of angular and translational intervertebral motion of the cervical spine. Flexion-extension radiographs were digitized with a scanner at a ratio of 1:1 and imported into a software, allowing segmental motion measurements. The measurements were obtained by selecting the most anteroinferior point and the most posteroinferior point of a vertebral body (anterior and posterior arch, respectively, for C1), with the origin of the reference frame set at the most posteroinferior point of the vertebral body below. The same procedure was performed for both the flexion and extension radiographs, and the coordinates of the 2 points were used to calculate the angular movement and the translation between the 2 vertebrae. This method provides a measure of intervertebral angular and translational movement. It uses a different reference frame for each joint instead of the same reference frame for all joints and thus provides a measure of motion in the plane of each articulation. The calculated values obtained are comparable to other studies on intervertebral motion and support further development to validate the method. The present study proposes a computerized procedure to evaluate intervertebral motion of the cervical spine. This procedure needs to be validated with a reliability study but could provide a valuable tool for doctors of chiropractic and further spinal research.

Vulnerability of island tropical montane cloud forests to climate change, with special reference to East Maui, Hawaii

USGS Publications Warehouse

Loope, Lloyd L.; Giambelluca, Thomas W.

1998-01-01

Island tropical montane cloud forests may be among the most sensitive of the world's ecosystems to global climate change. Measurements in and above a montane cloud forest on East Maui, Hawaii, document steep microclimatic gradients. Relatively small climate-driven shifts in patterns of atmospheric circulation are likely to trigger major local changes in rainfall, cloud cover, and humidity. Increased interannual variability in precipitation and hurricane incidence would provide additional stresses on island biota that are highly vulnerable to disturbance-related invasion of non-native species. Because of the exceptional sensitivity of these microclimates and forests to change, they may provide valuable ‘listening posts’ for detecting the onset of human-induced global climate change.

World data centre for microorganisms: an information infrastructure to explore and utilize preserved microbial strains worldwide

PubMed Central

Wu, Linhuan; Sun, Qinglan; Desmeth, Philippe; Sugawara, Hideaki; Xu, Zhenghong; McCluskey, Kevin; Smith, David; Alexander, Vasilenko; Lima, Nelson; Ohkuma, Moriya; Robert, Vincent; Zhou, Yuguang; Li, Jianhui; Fan, Guomei; Ingsriswang, Supawadee; Ozerskaya, Svetlana; Ma, Juncai

2017-01-01

The World Data Centre for Microorganisms (WDCM) was established 50 years ago as the data center of the World Federation for Culture Collections (WFCC)—Microbial Resource Center (MIRCEN). WDCM aims to provide integrated information services using big data technology for microbial resource centers and microbiologists all over the world. Here, we provide an overview of WDCM including all of its integrated services. Culture Collections Information Worldwide (CCINFO) provides metadata information on 708 culture collections from 72 countries and regions. Global Catalogue of Microorganism (GCM) gathers strain catalogue information and provides a data retrieval, analysis, and visualization system of microbial resources. Currently, GCM includes >368 000 strains from 103 culture collections in 43 countries and regions. Analyzer of Bioresource Citation (ABC) is a data mining tool extracting strain related publications, patents, nucleotide sequences and genome information from public data sources to form a knowledge base. Reference Strain Catalogue (RSC) maintains a database of strains listed in International Standards Organization (ISO) and other international or regional standards. RSC allocates a unique identifier to strains recommended for use in diagnosis and quality control, and hence serves as a valuable cross-platform reference. WDCM provides free access to all these services at www.wdcm.org. PMID:28053166

A de novo transcriptome and valid reference genes for quantitative real-time PCR in Colaphellus bowringi.

PubMed

Tan, Qian-Qian; Zhu, Li; Li, Yi; Liu, Wen; Ma, Wei-Hua; Lei, Chao-Liang; Wang, Xiao-Ping

2015-01-01

The cabbage beetle Colaphellus bowringi Baly is a serious insect pest of crucifers and undergoes reproductive diapause in soil. An understanding of the molecular mechanisms of diapause regulation, insecticide resistance, and other physiological processes is helpful for developing new management strategies for this beetle. However, the lack of genomic information and valid reference genes limits knowledge on the molecular bases of these physiological processes in this species. Using Illumina sequencing, we obtained more than 57 million sequence reads derived from C. bowringi, which were assembled into 39,390 unique sequences. A Clusters of Orthologous Groups classification was obtained for 9,048 of these sequences, covering 25 categories, and 16,951 were assigned to 255 Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathways. Eleven candidate reference gene sequences from the transcriptome were then identified through reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction. Among these candidate genes, EF1α, ACT1, and RPL19 proved to be the most stable reference genes for different reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction experiments in C. bowringi. Conversely, aTUB and GAPDH were the least stable reference genes. The abundant putative C. bowringi transcript sequences reported enrich the genomic resources of this beetle. Importantly, the larger number of gene sequences and valid reference genes provide a valuable platform for future gene expression studies, especially with regard to exploring the molecular mechanisms of different physiological processes in this species.

Selection and validation of suitable reference genes for miRNA expression normalization by quantitative RT-PCR in citrus somatic embryogenic and adult tissues.

PubMed

Kou, Shu-Jun; Wu, Xiao-Meng; Liu, Zheng; Liu, Yuan-Long; Xu, Qiang; Guo, Wen-Wu

2012-12-01

miRNAs have recently been reported to modulate somatic embryogenesis (SE), a key pathway of plant regeneration in vitro. For expression level detection and subsequent function dissection of miRNAs in certain biological processes, qRT-PCR is one of the most effective and sensitive techniques, for which suitable reference gene selection is a prerequisite. In this study, three miRNAs and eight non-coding RNAs (ncRNA) were selected as reference candidates, and their expression stability was inspected in developing citrus SE tissues cultured at 20, 25, and 30 °C. Stability of the eight non-miRNA ncRNAs was further validated in five adult tissues without temperature treatment. The best single reference gene for SE tissues was snoR14 or snoRD25, while for the adult tissues the best one was U4; although they were not as stable as the optimal multiple references snoR14 + U6 for SE tissues and snoR14 + U5 for adult tissues. For expression normalization of less abundant miRNAs in SE tissues, miR3954 was assessed as a viable reference. Single reference gene snoR14 outperformed multiple references for the overall SE and adult tissues. As one of the pioneer systematic studies on reference gene identification for plant miRNA normalization, this study benefits future exploration on miRNA function in citrus and provides valuable information for similar studies in other higher plants. Three miRNAs and eight non-coding RNAs were tested as reference candidates on developing citrus SE tissues. Best single references snoR14 or snoRD25 and optimal multiple references snoR14 + U6, snoR14 + U5 were identified.

Measurement of Thermal Radiation Properties of Solids

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Richmond, J. C. (Editor)

1963-01-01

The overall objectives of the Symposium were to afford (1) an opportunity for workers in the field to describe the equipment and procedures currently in use for measuring thermal radiation properties of solids, (2) an opportunity for constructive criticism of the material presented, and (3) an open forum for discussion of mutual problems. It was also the hope of the sponsors that the published proceedings of the Symposium would serve as a valuable reference on measurement techniques for evaluating thermal radiation properties of solids, partic.ularly for those with limited experience in the field. Because of the strong dependence of emitted flux upon temperature, the program committee thought it advisable to devote the first session to a discussion of the problems of temperature measurement. All of the papers in Session I were presented at the request of and upon topics suggested by the Committee. Because of time and space limitations, it, was impossible to consider all temperature measurement problems that might arise--the objective was rather to call to the attention of the reader some of the problems that might be encountered, and to provide references that might provide solutions.

Integrative Analysis of Porcine microRNAome during Skeletal Muscle Development

PubMed Central

Qin, Lijun; Chen, Yaosheng; Liu, Xiaohong; Ye, Sanxing; Yu, Kaifan; Huang, Zheng; Yu, Jingwei; Zhou, Xingyu; Chen, Hu; Mo, Delin

2013-01-01

Pig is an important agricultural animal for meat production and provides a valuable model for many human diseases. Functional studies have demonstrated that microRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles in almost all aspects of skeletal muscle development and disease pathogenesis. To investigate the miRNAs involved in regulating different periods of skeletal muscle development, we herein performed a comprehensive research for porcine microRNAome (miRNAome) during 10 skeletal muscle developmental stages including 35, 49, 63, 77, 91 dpc (days post coitum) and 2, 28, 90, 120, 180 dpn (days postnatal) using Solexa sequencing technology. Our results extend the repertoire of pig miRNAome to 247 known miRNAs processed from 210 pre-miRNAs and 297 candidate novel miRNAs through comparison with known miRNAs in the miRBase. Expression analysis of the 15 most abundant miRNAs in every library indicated that functional miRNAome may be smaller and tend to be highly expressed. A series of muscle-related miRNAs summarized in our study present different patterns between myofibers formation phase and muscle maturation phase, providing valuable reference for investigation of functional miRNAs during skeletal muscle development. Analysis of temporal profiles of miRNA expression identifies 18 novel candidate myogenic miRNAs in pig, which might provide new insight into regulation mechanism mediated by miRNAs underlying muscle development. PMID:24039761

A structural SVM approach for reference parsing.

PubMed

Zhang, Xiaoli; Zou, Jie; Le, Daniel X; Thoma, George R

2011-06-09

Automated extraction of bibliographic data, such as article titles, author names, abstracts, and references is essential to the affordable creation of large citation databases. References, typically appearing at the end of journal articles, can also provide valuable information for extracting other bibliographic data. Therefore, parsing individual reference to extract author, title, journal, year, etc. is sometimes a necessary preprocessing step in building citation-indexing systems. The regular structure in references enables us to consider reference parsing a sequence learning problem and to study structural Support Vector Machine (structural SVM), a newly developed structured learning algorithm on parsing references. In this study, we implemented structural SVM and used two types of contextual features to compare structural SVM with conventional SVM. Both methods achieve above 98% token classification accuracy and above 95% overall chunk-level accuracy for reference parsing. We also compared SVM and structural SVM to Conditional Random Field (CRF). The experimental results show that structural SVM and CRF achieve similar accuracies at token- and chunk-levels. When only basic observation features are used for each token, structural SVM achieves higher performance compared to SVM since it utilizes the contextual label features. However, when the contextual observation features from neighboring tokens are combined, SVM performance improves greatly, and is close to that of structural SVM after adding the second order contextual observation features. The comparison of these two methods with CRF using the same set of binary features show that both structural SVM and CRF perform better than SVM, indicating their stronger sequence learning ability in reference parsing.

From Workshop to the Web: Reflections on the Journey in Producing Vidcasts to Enhance Student Learning

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shapiro, Angela; Johnston, Aidan

As part of its evolving e-learning programme, the pedagogic value of vidcasts is currently being explored at Glasgow Caledonian University. The vidcasts are accessible on the internet and embedded links refer back to the Effective Learning Service's website to offer users the option of additional clarification if necessary. They aim to encourage and enhance students' learning in higher education, particularly in relation to academic writing. The vidcasts have been available for use during academic year 2009/2010 and have been accessed by over 1,000 individuals. Research on their use is ongoing and has provided valuable data for future developments.

Electrotransformation and clonal isolation of Rickettsia species

PubMed Central

Riley, Sean P; Macaluso, Kevin R; Martinez, Juan J

2015-01-01

Genetic manipulation of obligate intracellular bacteria of the genus Rickettsia is currently undergoing a rapid period of change. The development of viable genetic tools, including replicative plasmids, transposons, homologous recombination, fluorescent protein-encoding genes, and antibiotic selectable markers has provided the impetus for future research development. This unit is designed to coalesce the basic methods pertaining to creation of genetically modified Rickettsia. The unit describes a series of methods, from inserting exogenous DNA into Rickettsia to the final isolation of genetically modified bacterial clones. Researchers working towards genetic manipulation of Rickettsia or similar obligate intracellular bacteria will find these protocols to be a valuable reference. PMID:26528784

The U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center (USDFRC) Condensed Tannin NMR Database.

PubMed

Zeller, Wayne E; Schatz, Paul F

2017-06-28

This Perspective describes a solution-state NMR database for flavan-3-ol monomers and condensed tannin dimers through tetramers obtained from the literature to 2015, containing data searchable by structure, molecular formula, degrees of polymerization, and 1 H and 13 C chemical shifts of the condensed tannins. Citations for all literature references are provided and should serve as valuable resource for scientists working in the field of condensed tannin research. The database will be periodically updated as additional information becomes available, typically on a yearly basis and is available for use, free of charge, from the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center (USDFRC) Website.

Measures to restore metallurgical mine wasteland using ecological restoration technologies: A case study at Longnan Rare Earth Mine

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rao, Yunzhang; Gu, Ruizhi; Guo, Ruikai; Zhang, Xueyan

2017-01-01

Whereas mining activities produce the raw materials that are crucial to economic growth, such activities leave extensive scarring on the land, contributing to the waste of valuable land resources and upsetting the ecological environment. The aim of this study is therefore to investigate various ecological technologies to restore metallurgical mine wastelands. These technologies include measures such as soil amelioration, vegetation restoration, different vegetation planting patterns, and engineering technologies. The Longnan Rare Earth Mine in the Jiangxi Province of China is used as the case study. The ecological restoration process provides a favourable reference for the restoration of a metallurgical mine wasteland.

Accurate Determination of the Dynamical Polarizability of Dysprosium

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ravensbergen, C.; Corre, V.; Soave, E.; Kreyer, M.; Tzanova, S.; Kirilov, E.; Grimm, R.

2018-06-01

We report a measurement of the dynamical polarizability of dysprosium atoms in their electronic ground state at the optical wavelength of 1064 nm, which is of particular interest for laser trapping experiments. Our method is based on collective oscillations in an optical dipole trap, and reaches unprecedented accuracy and precision by comparison with an alkali atom (potassium) as a reference species. We obtain values of 184.4(2.4) and 1.7(6) a.u. for the scalar and tensor polarizability, respectively. Our experiments have reached a level that permits meaningful tests of current theoretical descriptions and provides valuable information for future experiments utilizing the intriguing properties of heavy lanthanide atoms.

PV_LIB Toolbox

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

2012-09-11

While an organized source of reference information on PV performance modeling is certainly valuable, there is nothing to match the availability of actual examples of modeling algorithms being used in practice. To meet this need, Sandia has developed a PV performance modeling toolbox (PV_LIB) for Matlab. It contains a set of well-documented, open source functions and example scripts showing the functions being used in practical examples. This toolbox is meant to help make the multi-step process of modeling a PV system more transparent and provide the means for model users to validate and understand the models they use and ormore » develop. It is fully integrated into Matlab's help and documentation utilities. The PV_LIB Toolbox provides more than 30 functions that are sorted into four categories« less

Diagnosis and treatment for obstructive sleep apnea: Fundamental and clinical knowledge in obstructive sleep apnea.

PubMed

Shigemoto, Shuji; Shigeta, Yuko; Nejima, Jun; Ogawa, Takumi; Matsuka, Yoshizo; Clark, Glenn T

2015-07-01

This review article covers the diagnosis and treatment of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) from a dental perspective. It addresses the issue of when and how to screen for and then, if indicated, refer the patient for a more comprehensive. Our focus in this article was on identifying current unanswered questions that relevant to OSA problems that dental scientists have to pursue and on providing valuable information on that problems, consequently the previous studies which investigated or reviewed the diagnosis and treatment of OSA were included. In addition, we included studies on jaw movements during sleep and on the use of a lateral cephalometric film related to the diagnosis and treatment of OSA. The role of portable sleep monitoring devices versus full laboratory polysomnography is discussed. This review also describes what is known about the efficacy of mandibular advancement devices and when and how they fit in to a treatment program for a patient with obstructive sleep apnea. Finally some basic research is presented on jaw movements during sleep and how a lateral cephalometric film can be used to assess the changes of the airway with body posture and head posture. This article provides the valuable suggestions for the clinical questions in the diagnosis and treatment of OSA. Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Compositional evaluation of selected agro-industrial wastes as valuable sources for the recovery of complex carbohydrates.

PubMed

Vojvodić, Aleksandra; Komes, Draženka; Vovk, Irena; Belščak-Cvitanović, Ana; Bušić, Arijana

2016-11-01

Re-utilization of various agro-industrial wastes is of growing importance from many aspects. Considering the variety and complexity of such materials, compositional data and compliant methodology is still undergoing many updates and improvements. Present study evaluated sugar beet pulp (SBP), walnut shell (WS), cocoa bean husk (CBH), onion peel (OP) and pea pods (PP) as potentially valuable materials for carbohydrate recovery. Macrocomponent analyses revealed carbohydrate fraction as the most abundant, dominating in dietary fibres. Upon complete acid hydrolysis of sample alcohol insoluble residues, developed procedures of high performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with 3-methyl-1-phenyl-2-pyrazolin-5-one pre-column derivatization (PMP-derivatization) were used for carbohydrate monomeric composition determination. HPTLC exhibited good qualitative features useful for multi-sample rapid analysis, while HPLC superior separation and quantification characteristics. Distinctive monomeric patterns were obtained among samples. OP, SBP and CBH, due to the high galacturonic acid content (20.81%, 13.96% and 6.90% dry matter basis, respectively), may be regarded as pectin sources, while WS and PP as materials abundant in xylan-rich hemicellulose (total xylan content 15.53%, 9.63% dry matter basis, respectively). Present study provides new and valuable compositional data for different plant residual materials and a reference for the application of established methodology. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pediatric primary care providers' perspectives regarding hospital discharge communication: a mixed methods analysis.

PubMed

Leyenaar, JoAnna K; Bergert, Lora; Mallory, Leah A; Engel, Richard; Rassbach, Caroline; Shen, Mark; Woehrlen, Tess; Cooperberg, David; Coghlin, Daniel

2015-01-01

Effective communication between inpatient and outpatient providers may mitigate risks of adverse events associated with hospital discharge. However, there is an absence of pediatric literature defining effective discharge communication strategies at both freestanding children's hospitals and general hospitals. The objectives of this study were to assess associations between pediatric primary care providers' (PCPs) reported receipt of discharge communication and referral hospital type, and to describe PCPs' perspectives regarding effective discharge communication and areas for improvement. We administered a questionnaire to PCPs referring to 16 pediatric hospital medicine programs nationally. Multivariable models were developed to assess associations between referral hospital type and receipt and completeness of discharge communication. Open-ended questions asked respondents to describe effective strategies and areas requiring improvement regarding discharge communication. Conventional qualitative content analysis was performed to identify emergent themes. Responses were received from 201 PCPs, for a response rate of 63%. Although there were no differences between referral hospital type and PCP-reported receipt of discharge communication (relative risk 1.61, 95% confidence interval 0.97-2.67), PCPs referring to general hospitals more frequently reported completeness of discharge communication relative to those referring to freestanding children's hospitals (relative risk 1.78, 95% confidence interval 1.26-2.51). Analysis of free text responses yielded 4 major themes: 1) structured discharge communication, 2) direct personal communication, 3) reliability and timeliness of communication, and 4) communication for effective postdischarge care. This study highlights potential differences in the experiences of PCPs referring to general hospitals and freestanding children's hospitals, and presents valuable contextual data for future quality improvement initiatives. Copyright © 2015 Academic Pediatric Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Systematic reviews in the field of nutrition

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Systematic reviews are valuable tools for staying abreast of evolving nutrition and aging -related topics, formulating dietary guidelines, establishing nutrient reference intakes, formulating clinical practice guidance, evaluating health claims, and setting research agendas. Basic steps of conductin...

Normative Bone Mineral Density Z-Scores for Canadians Aged 16 to 24 Years: The Canadian Multicenter Osteoporosis Study

PubMed Central

Zhou, Wei; Langsetmo, Lisa; Berger, Claudie; Adachi, Jonathan D.; Papaioannou, Alexandra; Ioannidis, George; Webber, Colin; Atkinson, Stephanie A.; Olszynski, Wojciech P.; Brown, Jacques P.; Hanley, David A.; Josse, Robert; Kreiger, Nancy; Prior, Jerilynn; Kaiser, Stephanie; Kirkland, Susan; Goltzman, David; Davison, Kenneth Shawn

2016-01-01

The objectives of the study were to develop bone mineral density (BMD) reference norms and BMD Z-scores at various skeletal sites, to determine whether prior fracture and/or asthma were related to BMD, and to assess possible geographic variation of BMD among Canadian youth aged 16–24 yr. Z-Scores were defined as the number of standard deviations from the mean BMD of a healthy population of the same age, race, and sex. Z-Scores were calculated using the reference sample defined as Canadian Caucasian participants without asthma or prior fracture. Reference standards were created for lumbar spine (L1–L4), femoral neck, total hip, and greater trochanter, by each year of age (16–24 yr), and by sex. The Z-score norms were developed for groups noted earlier. Mean Z-scores between the asthma or fracture subgroups compared with the mean Z-scores in the reference sample were not different. There were minor differences in mean BMD across different Canadian geographic regions. This study provides age, sex, and skeletal site-specific Caucasian reference norms and formulae for the calculation of BMD Z-scores for Canadian youth aged 16–24 yr. This information will be valuable to help to identify individuals with clinically meaningful low BMD. PMID:20554232

Strengthening your ties to referring physicians through RIS/PACS integration.

PubMed

Worthy, Susan; Rounds, Karla C; Soloway, Connie B

2003-01-01

Many imaging centers are turning to technology solutions to increase refering physician satisfaction, implementing such enhancements as automated report distribution, picture archiving and communications system (PACS), radiology information systems (RIS), and web-based results access. However, without seamless integration, these technology investments don't address the challenge at its core: convenient and reliable, two-way communication and interaction with referring physicians. In an integrated RIS/PACS solution, patient tracking in the RIS and PACS study status are logged and available to users. The time of the patient's registration at the imaging center, the exam start and completion time, the patient's departure time from the imaging center, and results status are all tracked and logged. An integrated RIS/PACS solution provides additional support to the radiologist, a critical factor that can improve the turnaround time of results to referring physicians. The RIS/PACS enhances the interpretation by providing the patient's history, which gives the radiologist additional insight and decreases the likelihood of missing a diagnostic element. In a tightly integrated RIS/PACS solution, results information is more complete. Physicians can view reports with associated images selected by the radiologist. They will also have full order information and complete imaging history including prior reports and images. Referring physicians can access and view images and exam notes at the same time that the radiologist is interpreting the exam. Without the benefit of an integrated RIS/PACS system, the referring physician would have to wait for the signed transcription to be released. In a seamlessly integrated solution, film-tracking modules within the RIS are fused with digital imaging workflow in the PACS. Users can see at a glance if a historical exam is available on film and benefit when a complete study history--both film-based and digital--is presented with the current case. It is up to the imaging center to market the benefits of reduced errors, reduced turnaround times, and a higher level of service to referring physician community, and encourage them to take advantage of the convenience it provides. The savvy imaging center will also regard the integrated RIS/PACS as a valuable marketing tool for use in attracting radiologists.

Deep whole-genome sequencing of 90 Han Chinese genomes.

PubMed

Lan, Tianming; Lin, Haoxiang; Zhu, Wenjuan; Laurent, Tellier Christian Asker Melchior; Yang, Mengcheng; Liu, Xin; Wang, Jun; Wang, Jian; Yang, Huanming; Xu, Xun; Guo, Xiaosen

2017-09-01

Next-generation sequencing provides a high-resolution insight into human genetic information. However, the focus of previous studies has primarily been on low-coverage data due to the high cost of sequencing. Although the 1000 Genomes Project and the Haplotype Reference Consortium have both provided powerful reference panels for imputation, low-frequency and novel variants remain difficult to discover and call with accuracy on the basis of low-coverage data. Deep sequencing provides an optimal solution for the problem of these low-frequency and novel variants. Although whole-exome sequencing is also a viable choice for exome regions, it cannot account for noncoding regions, sometimes resulting in the absence of important, causal variants. For Han Chinese populations, the majority of variants have been discovered based upon low-coverage data from the 1000 Genomes Project. However, high-coverage, whole-genome sequencing data are limited for any population, and a large amount of low-frequency, population-specific variants remain uncharacterized. We have performed whole-genome sequencing at a high depth (∼×80) of 90 unrelated individuals of Chinese ancestry, collected from the 1000 Genomes Project samples, including 45 Northern Han Chinese and 45 Southern Han Chinese samples. Eighty-three of these 90 have been sequenced by the 1000 Genomes Project. We have identified 12 568 804 single nucleotide polymorphisms, 2 074 210 short InDels, and 26 142 structural variations from these 90 samples. Compared to the Han Chinese data from the 1000 Genomes Project, we have found 7 000 629 novel variants with low frequency (defined as minor allele frequency < 5%), including 5 813 503 single nucleotide polymorphisms, 1 169 199 InDels, and 17 927 structural variants. Using deep sequencing data, we have built a greatly expanded spectrum of genetic variation for the Han Chinese genome. Compared to the 1000 Genomes Project, these Han Chinese deep sequencing data enhance the characterization of a large number of low-frequency, novel variants. This will be a valuable resource for promoting Chinese genetics research and medical development. Additionally, it will provide a valuable supplement to the 1000 Genomes Project, as well as to other human genome projects. © The Authors 2017. Published by Oxford University Press.

Progress in Magnetospheric Physics: 1983-86 (Paper 7R0217)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Schulz, Michael

1987-04-01

It has been a distinct pleasure, as well as an educational experience, to have served as associate editor for magnetospheric physics on this quadrennial report to IUGG. Fourteen authors and eighteen referees have done their utmost, despite the pressure of firm deadlines and the constraint of severe page limits, to make the magnetospheric report (consisting of the ten papers that follow) a valuable resource for the international space-research community. Users of this report are encouraged to cite not only the original references found pertinent to their research but also the IUGG review article(s) in which those original references were compiled. Authors of the ten review articles that follow were asked to compile fairly complete lists of relevant papers based on work performed at institutions in the United States and published between late 1982 and late 1986. Additional papers could be cited in the interest of providing context or perspective. Review authors were not required to mention in text every article included in their reference lists. The reader should attach no stigma, however, to the omission of any paper from either the text or the reference list of an IUGG review article. Any omission may have been an oversight, or it may have been necessary for the flow or balance of a particular review.

Identification of Reference Genes for Normalizing Quantitative Real-Time PCR in Urechis unicinctus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bai, Yajiao; Zhou, Di; Wei, Maokai; Xie, Yueyang; Gao, Beibei; Qin, Zhenkui; Zhang, Zhifeng

2018-06-01

The reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR) has become one of the most important techniques of studying gene expression. A set of valid reference genes are essential for the accurate normalization of data. In this study, five candidate genes were analyzed with geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper and ΔCt methods to identify the genes stably expressed in echiuran Urechis unicinctus, an important commercial marine benthic worm, under abiotic (sulfide stress) and normal (adult tissues, embryos and larvae at different development stages) conditions. The comprehensive results indicated that the expression of TBP was the most stable at sulfide stress and in developmental process, while the expression of EF- 1- α was the most stable at sulfide stress and in various tissues. TBP and EF- 1- α were recommended as a suitable reference gene combination to accurately normalize the expression of target genes at sulfide stress; and EF- 1- α, TBP and TUB were considered as a potential reference gene combination for normalizing the expression of target genes in different tissues. No suitable gene combination was obtained among these five candidate genes for normalizing the expression of target genes for developmental process of U. unicinctus. Our results provided a valuable support for quantifying gene expression using RT-qPCR in U. unicinctus.

Sex disparities in tuberculosis suspect evaluation: a cross-sectional analysis in rural Uganda.

PubMed

Miller, C R; Davis, J L; Katamba, A; Sserwanga, A; Kakeeto, S; Kizito, F; Cattamanchi, A

2013-04-01

Six primary health care centers in rural Uganda. To compare the quality of tuberculosis (TB) evaluation for men and women presenting to primary health care facilities in high-burden settings. Cross-sectional study using indicators derived from the International Standards of Tuberculosis Care (ISTC) to compare the quality of TB evaluation services provided to men and women. Of 161 230 patient visits between January 2009 and December 2010, 112 329 (69.7%) were women. We considered 3308 (2.1%) patients with cough ≥2 weeks as TB suspects, of whom 1871 (56.6%) were women. Female TB suspects were less likely to be referred for sputum smear examination (45.9% vs. 61.6%, P < 0.001), to complete sputum smear examination if referred (73.7% vs. 78.3%, P = 0.024) and to receive comprehensive evaluation and care as defined by the ISTC (33.0% vs. 45.6%, P < 0.001). After adjusting for age, clinic site and visit date, women remained less likely to be referred for sputum smear examination (risk ratio [RR] 0.81, 95%CI 0.74-0.89, P < 0.001) and to receive ISTC-recommended care (RR 0.79, 95%CI 0.72-0.86, P < 0.001). Strategies to ensure that women receive appropriate TB evaluation could provide a valuable opportunity for increasing case detection while also promoting equitable and universal access to care.

THE RARE EARTH ELEMENTS THULIUM AND PROMETHIUM BECOME TECHNICALLY VALUABLE

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

Kogan, B.I.

1957-01-01

A survey of non-Slavic (mainly American) literature on thulium and promethium is given. Their preparation, propenties, and uses are considered. Thulium is used in flow detection, and promethium is used in miniature batteries. 20 references. (TCO)

The Asian arowana (Scleropages formosus) genome provides new insights into the evolution of an early lineage of teleosts

PubMed Central

Bian, Chao; Hu, Yinchang; Ravi, Vydianathan; Kuznetsova, Inna S.; Shen, Xueyan; Mu, Xidong; Sun, Ying; You, Xinxin; Li, Jia; Li, Xiaofeng; Qiu, Ying; Tay, Boon-Hui; Thevasagayam, Natascha May; Komissarov, Aleksey S.; Trifonov, Vladimir; Kabilov, Marsel; Tupikin, Alexey; Luo, Jianren; Liu, Yi; Song, Hongmei; Liu, Chao; Wang, Xuejie; Gu, Dangen; Yang, Yexin; Li, Wujiao; Polgar, Gianluca; Fan, Guangyi; Zeng, Peng; Zhang, He; Xiong, Zijun; Tang, Zhujing; Peng, Chao; Ruan, Zhiqiang; Yu, Hui; Chen, Jieming; Fan, Mingjun; Huang, Yu; Wang, Min; Zhao, Xiaomeng; Hu, Guojun; Yang, Huanming; Wang, Jian; Wang, Jun; Xu, Xun; Song, Linsheng; Xu, Gangchun; Xu, Pao; Xu, Junmin; O’Brien, Stephen J.; Orbán, László; Venkatesh, Byrappa; Shi, Qiong

2016-01-01

The Asian arowana (Scleropages formosus), one of the world’s most expensive cultivated ornamental fishes, is an endangered species. It represents an ancient lineage of teleosts: the Osteoglossomorpha. Here, we provide a high-quality chromosome-level reference genome of a female golden-variety arowana using a combination of deep shotgun sequencing and high-resolution linkage mapping. In addition, we have also generated two draft genome assemblies for the red and green varieties. Phylogenomic analysis supports a sister group relationship between Osteoglossomorpha (bonytongues) and Elopomorpha (eels and relatives), with the two clades together forming a sister group of Clupeocephala which includes all the remaining teleosts. The arowana genome retains the full complement of eight Hox clusters unlike the African butterfly fish (Pantodon buchholzi), another bonytongue fish, which possess only five Hox clusters. Differential gene expression among three varieties provides insights into the genetic basis of colour variation. A potential heterogametic sex chromosome is identified in the female arowana karyotype, suggesting that the sex is determined by a ZW/ZZ sex chromosomal system. The high-quality reference genome of the golden arowana and the draft assemblies of the red and green varieties are valuable resources for understanding the biology, adaptation and behaviour of Asian arowanas. PMID:27089831

Defining suitable reference genes for RT-qPCR analysis on human sertoli cells after 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) exposure.

PubMed

Ribeiro, Mariana Antunes; dos Reis, Mariana Bisarro; de Moraes, Leonardo Nazário; Briton-Jones, Christine; Rainho, Cláudia Aparecida; Scarano, Wellerson Rodrigo

2014-11-01

Quantitative real-time RT-PCR (qPCR) has proven to be a valuable molecular technique to quantify gene expression. There are few studies in the literature that describe suitable reference genes to normalize gene expression data. Studies of transcriptionally disruptive toxins, like tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD), require careful consideration of reference genes. The present study was designed to validate potential reference genes in human Sertoli cells after exposure to TCDD. 32 candidate reference genes were analyzed to determine their applicability. geNorm and NormFinder softwares were used to obtain an estimation of the expression stability of the 32 genes and to identify the most suitable genes for qPCR data normalization.

Furfural production in biphasic media using an acidic ionic liquid as a catalyst.

PubMed

Peleteiro, Susana; Santos, Valentín; Parajó, Juan C

2016-11-20

Ionic liquids are valuable tools for biorefineries. This study provides an experimental assessment on the utilization of an acidic ionic liquid (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate) as a catalyst for furfural production in water/solvent media. The substrates employed in experiments were commercial xylose (employed as a reference compound) or hemicellulosic saccharides obtained by hydrothermal processing of Eucalyptus globulus wood (which were employed as produced, after membrane concentration or after freeze-drying). A variety of reaction conditions (defined by temperature, reaction time and type of organic solvent) were considered. The possibility of recycling the catalyst was assessed in selected experiments. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Advancing Absolute Calibration for JWST and Other Applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rieke, George; Bohlin, Ralph; Boyajian, Tabetha; Carey, Sean; Casagrande, Luca; Deustua, Susana; Gordon, Karl; Kraemer, Kathleen; Marengo, Massimo; Schlawin, Everett; Su, Kate; Sloan, Greg; Volk, Kevin

2017-10-01

We propose to exploit the unique optical stability of the Spitzer telescope, along with that of IRAC, to (1) transfer the accurate absolute calibration obtained with MSX on very bright stars directly to two reference stars within the dynamic range of the JWST imagers (and of other modern instrumentation); (2) establish a second accurate absolute calibration based on the absolutely calibrated spectrum of the sun, transferred onto the astronomical system via alpha Cen A; and (3) provide accurate infrared measurements for the 11 (of 15) highest priority stars with no such data but with accurate interferometrically measured diameters, allowing us to optimize determinations of effective temperatures using the infrared flux method and thus to extend the accurate absolute calibration spectrally. This program is integral to plans for an accurate absolute calibration of JWST and will also provide a valuable Spitzer legacy.

Shadowing emergency medicine residents by medical education specialists to provide feedback on non-medical knowledge-based ACGME sub-competencies.

PubMed

Waterbrook, Anna L; Spear Ellinwood, Karen C; Pritchard, T Gail; Bertels, Karen; Johnson, Ariel C; Min, Alice; Stoneking, Lisa R

2018-01-01

Non-medical knowledge-based sub-competencies (multitasking, professionalism, accountability, patient-centered communication, and team management) are challenging for a supervising emergency medicine (EM) physician to evaluate in real-time on shift while also managing a busy emergency department (ED). This study examines residents' perceptions of having a medical education specialist shadow and evaluate their nonmedical knowledge skills. Medical education specialists shadowed postgraduate year 1 and postgraduate year 2 EM residents during an ED shift once per academic year. In an attempt to increase meaningful feedback to the residents, these specialists evaluated resident performance in selected non-medical knowledge-based Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) sub-competencies and provided residents with direct, real-time feedback, followed by a written evaluation sent via email. Evaluations provided specific references to examples of behaviors observed during the shift and connected these back to ACGME competencies and milestones. Twelve residents participated in this shadow experience (six post graduate year 1 and six postgraduate year 2). Two residents emailed the medical education specialists ahead of the scheduled shadow shift requesting specific feedback. When queried, five residents voluntarily requested their feedback to be included in their formal biannual review. Residents received milestone scores and narrative feedback on the non-medical knowledge-based ACGME sub-competencies and indicated the shadow experience and subsequent feedback were valuable. Medical education specialists who observe residents over the course of an entire shift and evaluate non-medical knowledge-based skills are perceived by EM residents to provide meaningful feedback and add valuable information for the biannual review process.

GNSS Radio Occultation Excess Phase Processing with Integrated Uncertainty Estimation for Thermodynamic Cal/Val of Passive Atmospheric Sounders and Climate Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Innerkofler, J.; Pock, C.; Kirchengast, G.; Schwaerz, M.; Jaeggi, A.; Andres, Y.; Marquardt, C.; Hunt, D.; Schreiner, W. S.; Schwarz, J.

2017-12-01

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) radio occultation (RO) is a highly valuable satellite remote sensing technique for atmospheric and climate sciences, including calibration and validation (cal/val) of passive sounding instruments such as radiometers. It is providing accurate and precise measurements in the troposphere and stratosphere regions with global coverage, long-term stability, and virtually all-weather capability since 2001. For fully exploiting the potential of RO data as a cal/val reference and climate data record, uncertainties attributed to the data need to be assessed. Here we focus on the atmospheric excess phase data, based on the raw occultation tracking and orbit data, and its integrated uncertainty estimation within the new Reference Occultation Processing System (rOPS) developed at the WEGC. These excess phases correspond to integrated refractivity, proportional to pressure/temperature and water vapor, and are therefore highly valuable reference data for thermodynamic cal/val of passive (radiometric) sounder data. In order to enable high accuracy of the excess phase profiles, accurate orbit positions and velocities as well as clock estimates of the GNSS transmitter satellites and RO receiver satellites are determined using the Bernese and Napeos orbit determination software packages. We find orbit uncertainty estimates of about 5 cm (position) / 0.05 mm/s (velocity) for daily orbits for the MetOp, GRACE, and CHAMP RO missions, and decreased uncertainty estimates near 20 cm (position) / 0.2 mm/s (velocity) for the COSMIC RO mission. The strict evaluation and quality control of the position, velocity, and clock accuracies of the daily LEO and GNSS orbits assure smallest achievable uncertainties in the excess phase data. We compared the excess phase profiles from WEGC against profiles from EUMETSAT and UCAR. Results show good agreement in line with the estimated uncertainties, with millimetric differences in the upper stratosphere and mesosphere and centimetric differences in the troposphere, where the excess phases amount to beyond 100 m. This underlines the potential for a new fundamental cal/val reference and climate data record based on atmospheric excess phases from RO, given their narrow uncertainty and independence from background data.

Computed tomography and cross-sectional anatomy of the metatarsus and digits of the one-humped camel (Camelus dromedarius) and buffalo ( Bos bubalis).

PubMed

El-Shafey, A; Kassab, A

2013-04-01

The purpose of the present study was to provide a detailed computed tomography (CT) and cross-sectional anatomic reference of the normal metatarsus and digits for the camel and buffalo, as well as to compare between metatarsus and digits in these animals to outstand a basis for diagnosis of their diseases. Advantages, including depiction of detailed cross-sectional anatomy, improved contrast resolution and computer reformatting, make it a potentially valuable diagnostic technique. The hind limbs of 12 healthy adult camel and buffalo were used. Clinically relevant anatomic structures were identified and labelled at each level in the corresponding images (CT and anatomic slices). CT images were used to identify the bony and soft tissue structures of the metatarsus and digits. The knowledge of normal anatomy of the camel and buffalo metatarsus and digits would serve as initial reference to the evaluation of CT images in these species. © 2012 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Inquiry-Based Approach to a Carbohydrate Analysis Experiment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Senkbeil, Edward G.

1999-01-01

The analysis of an unknown carbohydrate in an inquiry-based learning format has proven to be a valuable and interesting undergraduate biochemistry laboratory experiment. Students are given a list of carbohydrates and a list of references for carbohydrate analysis. The references contain a variety of well-characterized wet chemistry and instrumental techniques for carbohydrate identification, but the students must develop an appropriate sequential protocol for unknown identification. The students are required to provide a list of chemicals and procedures and a flow chart for identification before the lab. During the 3-hour laboratory period, they utilize their accumulated information and knowledge to classify and identify their unknown. Advantages of the inquiry-based format are (i) students must be well prepared in advance to be successful in the laboratory, (ii) students feel a sense of accomplishment in both designing and carrying out a successful experiment, and (iii) the carbohydrate background information digested by the students significantly decreases the amount of lecture time required for this topic.

KAT: a K-mer analysis toolkit to quality control NGS datasets and genome assemblies.

PubMed

Mapleson, Daniel; Garcia Accinelli, Gonzalo; Kettleborough, George; Wright, Jonathan; Clavijo, Bernardo J

2017-02-15

De novo assembly of whole genome shotgun (WGS) next-generation sequencing (NGS) data benefits from high-quality input with high coverage. However, in practice, determining the quality and quantity of useful reads quickly and in a reference-free manner is not trivial. Gaining a better understanding of the WGS data, and how that data is utilized by assemblers, provides useful insights that can inform the assembly process and result in better assemblies. We present the K-mer Analysis Toolkit (KAT): a multi-purpose software toolkit for reference-free quality control (QC) of WGS reads and de novo genome assemblies, primarily via their k-mer frequencies and GC composition. KAT enables users to assess levels of errors, bias and contamination at various stages of the assembly process. In this paper we highlight KAT's ability to provide valuable insights into assembly composition and quality of genome assemblies through pairwise comparison of k-mers present in both input reads and the assemblies. KAT is available under the GPLv3 license at: https://github.com/TGAC/KAT . bernardo.clavijo@earlham.ac.uk. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Toward standardized reporting for a cohort study on functioning: The Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort Study.

PubMed

Prodinger, Birgit; Ballert, Carolina S; Brach, Mirjam; Brinkhof, Martin W G; Cieza, Alarcos; Hug, Kerstin; Jordan, Xavier; Post, Marcel W M; Scheel-Sailer, Anke; Schubert, Martin; Tennant, Alan; Stucki, Gerold

2016-02-01

Functioning is an important outcome to measure in cohort studies. Clear and operational outcomes are needed to judge the quality of a cohort study. This paper outlines guiding principles for reporting functioning in cohort studies and addresses some outstanding issues. Principles of how to standardize reporting of data from a cohort study on functioning, by deriving scores that are most useful for further statistical analysis and reporting, are outlined. The Swiss Spinal Cord Injury Cohort Study Community Survey serves as a case in point to provide a practical application of these principles. Development of reporting scores must be conceptually coherent and metrically sound. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) can serve as the frame of reference for this, with its categories serving as reference units for reporting. To derive a score for further statistical analysis and reporting, items measuring a single latent trait must be invariant across groups. The Rasch measurement model is well suited to test these assumptions. Our approach is a valuable guide for researchers and clinicians, as it fosters comparability of data, strengthens the comprehensiveness of scope, and provides invariant, interval-scaled data for further statistical analyses of functioning.

Applying ecological function in environmental decision making

EPA Science Inventory

The Final ecosystem goods and services (FEGS) concept has become increasingly valuable for identifying and evaluating important trade-offs in estuarine management, yet the translation of FEGS science into policy is limited by a need for meaningful reference points. A research pr...

Identification of "Known Unknowns" Utilizing Accurate Mass Data and ChemSpider

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Little, James L.; Williams, Antony J.; Pshenichnov, Alexey; Tkachenko, Valery

2012-01-01

In many cases, an unknown to an investigator is actually known in the chemical literature, a reference database, or an internet resource. We refer to these types of compounds as "known unknowns." ChemSpider is a very valuable internet database of known compounds useful in the identification of these types of compounds in commercial, environmental, forensic, and natural product samples. The database contains over 26 million entries from hundreds of data sources and is provided as a free resource to the community. Accurate mass mass spectrometry data is used to query the database by either elemental composition or a monoisotopic mass. Searching by elemental composition is the preferred approach. However, it is often difficult to determine a unique elemental composition for compounds with molecular weights greater than 600 Da. In these cases, searching by the monoisotopic mass is advantageous. In either case, the search results are refined by sorting the number of references associated with each compound in descending order. This raises the most useful candidates to the top of the list for further evaluation. These approaches were shown to be successful in identifying "known unknowns" noted in our laboratory and for compounds of interest to others.

A reference radiosonde system for climate and weather research: IHOP experience

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Junhong; Hock, Terry F.; Lauritsen, Dean; Cole, Harold L.; Beierle, Kathryn; Chamberlain, Ned; Parsons, David B.; Carlson, David J.

2003-04-01

Global radiosonde data are required by meteorological analysis centers for initializing numerical prediction models for weather forecasting, and represent an increasingly valuable resource for studies of climate change and in the development, calibration and validation of retrieval techniques for atmospheric temperature and water vapor profiles from satellite. Unfortunately, the usefulness of radiosonde data is limited by sensor accuracy, by data reporting practices, and by the fact that sonde and sensor types vary by location and with time. Numerous studies and reports have called for a reference sonde to serve as a transfer standard to compare and connect data from past, present and future sonde systems. We are working on developing a reference radiosonde system at the Atmospheric Technology Division (ATD) at NCAR. The reference radiosonde system will carry the best sensors, have a flexible infrastructure to host multiple and different user-provided sensors and will be recoverable to reduce costs. The first version of the reference radiosonde system was deployed in the Oklahoma panhandle and Dodge City, KS (NWS radiosonde site) during the International H2O Project (IHOP_2002). A total of sixteen reference sondes were launched during IHOP either with Vaisala RS80 or Sippican (VIZ) radiosondes. The humidity data from the reference humidity sensor (Snow White, SW) are compared with Vaisala and VIZ data. The comparisons show that (a) VIZ carbon hygristor fails to respond to humidity changes in the upper troposphere, (b) the carbon hygristor inside the reference sonde has slower response than that inside NWS VIZ sonde, (c) Vaisala RS80-H agrees with SW very well in the middle and lower troposphere, and (d) SW can detect cirrus clouds near the tropopause and possibly estimate their ice water content (IWC). The climate impacts of these results are also discussed.

Charting the Territory: Interdisciplinary Studies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eason, Douglas O.

Although enrollment in interdisciplinary studies is increasing in the two-year college, much remains to be done in defining and planning interdisciplinary programs. A valuable distinction can be made between interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary studies. The first refers to exploring significant relationships between or among unrelated…

Created mangrove wetlands store belowground carbon and surface elevation change enables them to adjust to sea-level rise.

PubMed

Krauss, Ken W; Cormier, Nicole; Osland, Michael J; Kirwan, Matthew L; Stagg, Camille L; Nestlerode, Janet A; Russell, Marc J; From, Andrew S; Spivak, Amanda C; Dantin, Darrin D; Harvey, James E; Almario, Alejandro E

2017-04-21

Mangrove wetlands provide ecosystem services for millions of people, most prominently by providing storm protection, food and fodder. Mangrove wetlands are also valuable ecosystems for promoting carbon (C) sequestration and storage. However, loss of mangrove wetlands and these ecosystem services are a global concern, prompting the restoration and creation of mangrove wetlands as a potential solution. Here, we investigate soil surface elevation change, and its components, in created mangrove wetlands over a 25 year developmental gradient. All created mangrove wetlands were exceeding current relative sea-level rise rates (2.6 mm yr -1 ), with surface elevation change of 4.2-11.0 mm yr -1 compared with 1.5-7.2 mm yr -1 for nearby reference mangroves. While mangrove wetlands store C persistently in roots/soils, storage capacity is most valuable if maintained with future sea-level rise. Through empirical modeling, we discovered that properly designed creation projects may not only yield enhanced C storage, but also can facilitate wetland persistence perennially under current rates of sea-level rise and, for most sites, for over a century with projected medium accelerations in sea-level rise (IPCC RCP 6.0). Only the fastest projected accelerations in sea-level rise (IPCC RCP 8.5) led to widespread submergence and potential loss of stored C for created mangrove wetlands before 2100.

Created mangrove wetlands store belowground carbon and surface elevation change enables them to adjust to sea-level rise

USGS Publications Warehouse

Krauss, Ken W.; Cormier, Nicole; Osland, Michael J.; Kirwan, Matthew L.; Stagg, Camille L.; Nestlerode, Janet A.; Russell, Marc J.; From, Andrew; Spivak, Amanda C.; Dantin, Darrin D.; Harvey, James E.; Almario, Alejandro E.

2017-01-01

Mangrove wetlands provide ecosystem services for millions of people, most prominently by providing storm protection, food and fodder. Mangrove wetlands are also valuable ecosystems for promoting carbon (C) sequestration and storage. However, loss of mangrove wetlands and these ecosystem services are a global concern, prompting the restoration and creation of mangrove wetlands as a potential solution. Here, we investigate soil surface elevation change, and its components, in created mangrove wetlands over a 25 year developmental gradient. All created mangrove wetlands were exceeding current relative sea-level rise rates (2.6 mm yr−1), with surface elevation change of 4.2–11.0 mm yr−1 compared with 1.5–7.2 mm yr−1 for nearby reference mangroves. While mangrove wetlands store C persistently in roots/soils, storage capacity is most valuable if maintained with future sea-level rise. Through empirical modeling, we discovered that properly designed creation projects may not only yield enhanced C storage, but also can facilitate wetland persistence perennially under current rates of sea-level rise and, for most sites, for over a century with projected medium accelerations in sea-level rise (IPCC RCP 6.0). Only the fastest projected accelerations in sea-level rise (IPCC RCP 8.5) led to widespread submergence and potential loss of stored C for created mangrove wetlands before 2100.

Control of the repeatability of high frequency multibeam echosounder backscatter by using natural reference areas

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roche, Marc; Degrendele, Koen; Vrignaud, Christophe; Loyer, Sophie; Le Bas, Tim; Augustin, Jean-Marie; Lurton, Xavier

2018-06-01

The increased use of backscatter measurements in time series for environmental monitoring necessitates the comparability of individual results. With the current lack of pre-calibrated multibeam echosounder systems for absolute backscatter measurement, a pragmatic solution is the use of natural reference areas for ensuring regular assessment of the backscatter measurement repeatability. This method mainly relies on the assumption of a sufficiently stable reference area regarding its backscatter signature. The aptitude of a natural area to provide a stable and uniform backscatter response must be carefully considered and demonstrated by a sufficiently long time-series of measurements. Furthermore, this approach requires a strict control of the acquisition and processing parameters. If all these conditions are met, stability check and relative calibration of a system are possible by comparison with the averaged backscatter values for the area. Based on a common multibeam echosounder and sampling campaign completed by available bathymetric and backscatter time series, the suitability as a backscatter reference area of three different candidates was evaluated. Two among them, Carré Renard and Kwinte, prove to be excellent choices, while the third one, Western Solent, lacks sufficient data over time, but remains a valuable candidate. The case studies and the available backscatter data on these areas prove the applicability of this method. The expansion of the number of commonly used reference areas and the growth of the number of multibeam echosounder controlled thereon could greatly contribute to the further development of quantitative applications based on multibeam echosounder backscatter measurements.

Guiding Students through the Writing Process.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleming, Margaret, Ed.

1982-01-01

A variety of process-oriented writing instruction strategies are presented in this focused journal issue. Article titles and authors are as follows: (1) "Central Reference to the Rescue" (Rod Kessler); (2)"Brainstorming: A Heuristic that Works" (Frank C. Cronin); (3) "Brainstorming: A Valuable Supplemental Technique for…

Coding the Eggen Cards (Poster abstract)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Silvis, G.

2014-06-01

(Abstract only) A look at the Eggen Portal for accessing the Eggen cards. And a call for volunteers to help code the cards: 100,000 cards must be looked at and their star references identified and coded into the database for this to be a valuable resource.

1982 International Symposium on Fault-Tolerant Computing (FTCS-12) Preprints.

DTIC Science & Technology

1982-04-01

fixed figure. This is a big refered to as full weight generators. Circuit NM2 advantage for those applications where the circuits in Fig.2 is a two...codes _ 20__A_ very attractive for practical applications . -- : 12 S1 I--- SACKNOWLEDGMENTS --(2 This work Was supported in part by a research S261-1...Grant --I MCS-790864. The author wishes to thank Professor -: E. J. McCluskey and Professor J. F. Wakerly for their valuable comments. REFERENCES i

A Circular Dichroism Reference Database for Membrane Proteins

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

Wallace,B.; Wien, F.; Stone, T.

2006-01-01

Membrane proteins are a major product of most genomes and the target of a large number of current pharmaceuticals, yet little information exists on their structures because of the difficulty of crystallising them; hence for the most part they have been excluded from structural genomics programme targets. Furthermore, even methods such as circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy which seek to define secondary structure have not been fully exploited because of technical limitations to their interpretation for membrane embedded proteins. Empirical analyses of circular dichroism (CD) spectra are valuable for providing information on secondary structures of proteins. However, the accuracy of themore » results depends on the appropriateness of the reference databases used in the analyses. Membrane proteins have different spectral characteristics than do soluble proteins as a result of the low dielectric constants of membrane bilayers relative to those of aqueous solutions (Chen & Wallace (1997) Biophys. Chem. 65:65-74). To date, no CD reference database exists exclusively for the analysis of membrane proteins, and hence empirical analyses based on current reference databases derived from soluble proteins are not adequate for accurate analyses of membrane protein secondary structures (Wallace et al (2003) Prot. Sci. 12:875-884). We have therefore created a new reference database of CD spectra of integral membrane proteins whose crystal structures have been determined. To date it contains more than 20 proteins, and spans the range of secondary structures from mostly helical to mostly sheet proteins. This reference database should enable more accurate secondary structure determinations of membrane embedded proteins and will become one of the reference database options in the CD calculation server DICHROWEB (Whitmore & Wallace (2004) NAR 32:W668-673).« less

Identification of Appropriate Reference Genes for Normalization of miRNA Expression in Grafted Watermelon Plants under Different Nutrient Stresses

PubMed Central

Wu, Weifang; Deng, Qin; Shi, Pibiao; Yang, Jinghua; Hu, Zhongyuan; Zhang, Mingfang

2016-01-01

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a globally important crop belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. The grafting technique is commonly used to improve its tolerance to stress, as well as to enhance its nutrient uptake and utilization. It is believed that miRNA is most likely involved in its nutrient-starvation response as a graft-transportable signal. The quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction is the preferred method for miRNA functional analysis, in which reliable reference genes for normalization are crucial to ensure the accuracy. The purpose of this study was to select appropriate reference genes in scion (watermelon) and rootstocks (squash and bottle gourd) of grafted watermelon plants under normal growth conditions and nutrient stresses (nitrogen and phosphorus starvation). Under nutrient starvation, geNorm identified miR167c and miR167f as two most stable genes in both watermelon leaves and squash roots. miR166b was recommended by both geNorm and NormFinder as the best reference in bottle gourd roots under nutrient limitation. Expression of a new Cucurbitaceae miRNA, miR85, was used to validate the reliability of candidate reference genes under nutrient starvation. Moreover, by comparing several target genes expression in qRT-PCR analysis with those in RNA-seq data, miR166b and miR167c were proved to be the most suitable reference genes to normalize miRNA expression under normal growth condition in scion and rootstock tissues, respectively. This study represents the first comprehensive survey of the stability of miRNA reference genes in Cucurbitaceae and provides valuable information for investigating more accurate miRNA expression involving grafted watermelon plants. PMID:27749935

Identification of Appropriate Reference Genes for Normalization of miRNA Expression in Grafted Watermelon Plants under Different Nutrient Stresses.

PubMed

Wu, Weifang; Deng, Qin; Shi, Pibiao; Yang, Jinghua; Hu, Zhongyuan; Zhang, Mingfang

2016-01-01

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) is a globally important crop belonging to the family Cucurbitaceae. The grafting technique is commonly used to improve its tolerance to stress, as well as to enhance its nutrient uptake and utilization. It is believed that miRNA is most likely involved in its nutrient-starvation response as a graft-transportable signal. The quantitative real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction is the preferred method for miRNA functional analysis, in which reliable reference genes for normalization are crucial to ensure the accuracy. The purpose of this study was to select appropriate reference genes in scion (watermelon) and rootstocks (squash and bottle gourd) of grafted watermelon plants under normal growth conditions and nutrient stresses (nitrogen and phosphorus starvation). Under nutrient starvation, geNorm identified miR167c and miR167f as two most stable genes in both watermelon leaves and squash roots. miR166b was recommended by both geNorm and NormFinder as the best reference in bottle gourd roots under nutrient limitation. Expression of a new Cucurbitaceae miRNA, miR85, was used to validate the reliability of candidate reference genes under nutrient starvation. Moreover, by comparing several target genes expression in qRT-PCR analysis with those in RNA-seq data, miR166b and miR167c were proved to be the most suitable reference genes to normalize miRNA expression under normal growth condition in scion and rootstock tissues, respectively. This study represents the first comprehensive survey of the stability of miRNA reference genes in Cucurbitaceae and provides valuable information for investigating more accurate miRNA expression involving grafted watermelon plants.

Global estimates of shark catches using trade records from commercial markets.

PubMed

Clarke, Shelley C; McAllister, Murdoch K; Milner-Gulland, E J; Kirkwood, G P; Michielsens, Catherine G J; Agnew, David J; Pikitch, Ellen K; Nakano, Hideki; Shivji, Mahmood S

2006-10-01

Despite growing concerns about overexploitation of sharks, lack of accurate, species-specific harvest data often hampers quantitative stock assessment. In such cases, trade studies can provide insights into exploitation unavailable from traditional monitoring. We applied Bayesian statistical methods to trade data in combination with genetic identification to estimate by species, the annual number of globally traded shark fins, the most commercially valuable product from a group of species often unrecorded in harvest statistics. Our results provide the first fishery-independent estimate of the scale of shark catches worldwide and indicate that shark biomass in the fin trade is three to four times higher than shark catch figures reported in the only global data base. Comparison of our estimates to approximated stock assessment reference points for one of the most commonly traded species, blue shark, suggests that current trade volumes in numbers of sharks are close to or possibly exceeding the maximum sustainable yield levels.

Teach Astronomy: An Educational Resource for Formal and Informal Learners

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Impey, Chris David

2018-01-01

Teach Astronomy is an educational resource, available in the form of a user-friendly, platform-agnostic website. Ideal for college-level, introductory astronomy courses, Teach Astronomy can be a valuable reference for astronomers at all levels, especially informal learners. Over the past year, multiple changes have been made to the infrastructure behind Teach Astronomy to provide high availability to our tens of thousands of monthly, unique users, as well as fostering in new features. Teach Astronomy contains interactive tools which supplement the free textbook, such as a Quiz Tool with real-time feedback. The site also provides a searchable collection of Chris Impey’s responses to questions frequently asked by our users. The developers and educators behind Teach Astronomy are working to create an environment which encourages astronomy students of all levels to continue to increase their knowledge and help others learn.

Haemonchus contortus: Genome Structure, Organization and Comparative Genomics.

PubMed

Laing, R; Martinelli, A; Tracey, A; Holroyd, N; Gilleard, J S; Cotton, J A

2016-01-01

One of the first genome sequencing projects for a parasitic nematode was that for Haemonchus contortus. The open access data from the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute provided a valuable early resource for the research community, particularly for the identification of specific genes and genetic markers. Later, a second sequencing project was initiated by the University of Melbourne, and the two draft genome sequences for H. contortus were published back-to-back in 2013. There is a pressing need for long-range genomic information for genetic mapping, population genetics and functional genomic studies, so we are continuing to improve the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute assembly to provide a finished reference genome for H. contortus. This review describes this process, compares the H. contortus genome assemblies with draft genomes from other members of the strongylid group and discusses future directions for parasite genomics using the H. contortus model. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

DNA-Based Methods in the Immunohematology Reference Laboratory

PubMed Central

Denomme, Gregory A

2010-01-01

Although hemagglutination serves the immunohematology reference laboratory well, when used alone, it has limited capability to resolve complex problems. This overview discusses how molecular approaches can be used in the immunohematology reference laboratory. In order to apply molecular approaches to immunohematology, knowledge of genes, DNA-based methods, and the molecular bases of blood groups are required. When applied correctly, DNA-based methods can predict blood groups to resolve ABO/Rh discrepancies, identify variant alleles, and screen donors for antigen-negative units. DNA-based testing in immunohematology is a valuable tool used to resolve blood group incompatibilities and to support patients in their transfusion needs. PMID:21257350

Sex disparities in tuberculosis suspect evaluation: a cross-sectional analysis in rural Uganda

PubMed Central

Miller, C. R.; Davis, J. L.; Katamba, A.; Sserwanga, A.; Kakeeto, S.; Kizito, F.; Cattamanchi, A.

2013-01-01

SUMMARY SETTING Six primary health care centers in rural Uganda. OBJECTIVE To compare the quality of tuberculosis (TB) evaluation for men and women presenting to primary health care facilities in high-burden settings. DESIGN Cross-sectional study using indicators derived from the International Standards of Tuberculosis Care (ISTC) to compare the quality of TB evaluation services provided to men and women. RESULTS Of 161 230 patient visits between January 2009 and December 2010, 112 329 (69.7%) were women. We considered 3308 (2.1%) patients with cough ≥ 2 weeks as TB suspects, of whom 1871 (56.6%) were women. Female TB suspects were less likely to be referred for sputum smear examination (45.9% vs. 61.6%, P < 0.001), to complete sputum smear examination if referred (73.7% vs. 78.3%, P = 0.024) and to receive comprehensive evaluation and care as defined by the ISTC (33.0% vs. 45.6%, P < 0.001). After adjusting for age, clinic site and visit date, women remained less likely to be referred for sputum smear examination (risk ratio [RR] 0.81, 95%CI 0.74–0.89, P < 0.001) and to receive ISTC-recommended care (RR 0.79, 95%CI 0.72–0.86, P < 0.001). CONCLUSION Strategies to ensure that women receive appropriate TB evaluation could provide a valuable opportunity for increasing case detection while also promoting equitable and universal access to care. PMID:23485382

Side Streams of Plant Food Processing As a Source of Valuable Compounds: Selected Examples.

PubMed

Schieber, Andreas

2017-02-28

Industrial processing of plant-derived raw materials generates enormous amounts of by-products. On one hand, these by-products constitute a serious disposal issue because they often emerge seasonally and are prone to microbial decay. On the other hand, they are an abundant source of valuable compounds, in particular secondary plant metabolites and cell wall materials, which may be recovered and used to functionalize foods and replace synthetic additives with ingredients of natural origin. This review covers 150 references and presents select studies performed between 2001 and 2016 on the recovery, characterization, and application of valuable constituents from grape pomace, apple pomace, potato peels, tomato pomace, carrot pomace, onion peels, by-products of citrus, mango, banana, and pineapple processing, side streams of olive oil production, and cereal by-products. The criteria used were economic importance, amounts generated, relevance of side streams as a source of valuable compounds, and reviews already published. Despite a plethora of studies carried out on the utilization of side streams, relatively few processes have yet found industrial application.

Populating a Control Point Database: A cooperative effort between the USGS, Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center and the Grand Canyon Youth Organization

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, K. M.; Fritzinger, C.; Wharton, E.

2004-12-01

The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center measures the effects of Glen Canyon Dam operations on the resources along the Colorado River from Glen Canyon Dam to Lake Mead in support of the Grand Canyon Adaptive Management Program. Control points are integral for geo-referencing the myriad of data collected in the Grand Canyon including aerial photography, topographic and bathymetric data used for classification and change-detection analysis of physical, biologic and cultural resources. The survey department has compiled a list of 870 control points installed by various organizations needing to establish a consistent reference for data collected at field sites along the 240 mile stretch of Colorado River in the Grand Canyon. This list is the foundation for the Control Point Database established primarily for researchers, to locate control points and independently geo-reference collected field data. The database has the potential to be a valuable mapping tool for assisting researchers to easily locate a control point and reduce the occurrance of unknowingly installing new control points within close proximity of an existing control point. The database is missing photographs and accurate site description information. Current site descriptions do not accurately define the location of the point but refer to the project that used the point, or some other interesting fact associated with the point. The Grand Canyon Monitoring and Research Center (GCMRC) resolved this problem by turning the data collection effort into an educational exercise for the participants of the Grand Canyon Youth organization. Grand Canyon Youth is a non-profit organization providing experiential education for middle and high school aged youth. GCMRC and the Grand Canyon Youth formed a partnership where GCMRC provided the logistical support, equipment, and training to conduct the field work, and the Grand Canyon Youth provided the time and personnel to complete the field work. Two data collection efforts were conducted during the 2004 summer allowing 40 youth the opportunity to contribute valuable information to the Control Point Database. This information included: verification of point existence, photographs, accurate site descriptions concisely describing the location of the point, how to reach the point, the specific point location and detailed bearings to visible and obvious land marks. The youth learned to locate themselves and find the points using 1:1000 airphotos, write detailed site descriptions, take bearings with a compass, measure vertical and horizontal distances, and use a digital camera. The youth found information for 252 control points (29% of the total points).

Towards mild metal-catalyzed C-H bond activation.

PubMed

Wencel-Delord, Joanna; Dröge, Thomas; Liu, Fan; Glorius, Frank

2011-09-01

Functionalizing traditionally inert carbon-hydrogen bonds represents a powerful transformation in organic synthesis, providing new entries to valuable structural motifs and improving the overall synthetic efficiency. C-H bond activation, however, often necessitates harsh reaction conditions that result in functional group incompatibilities and limited substrate scope. An understanding of the reaction mechanism and rational design of experimental conditions have led to significant improvement in both selectivity and applicability. This critical review summarizes and discusses endeavours towards the development of mild C-H activation methods and wishes to trigger more research towards this goal. In addition, we examine select examples in complex natural product synthesis to demonstrate the synthetic utility of mild C-H functionalization (84 references). This journal is © The Royal Society of Chemistry 2011

A contemporary psychoanalytic model of countertransference.

PubMed

Gabbard, G O

2001-08-01

Over the last 100 years, countertransference has evolved from a narrow construct referring to the analyst's transference to the patient to a jointly created phenomenon that is ever-present in the psychotherapeutic situation. In recent years, a myriad of theoretical perspectives have begun to converge around the view that countertransference is partly determined by the therapist's preexisting internal object world and partly influenced by feelings induced by the patient. Countertransference is now regarded as inevitable, and minor enactments of countertransference may provide valuable information about what is being recreated in the therapist-patient dyad. Self-disclosure of countertransference may be useful in some situations, but the sharing of some feelings will overwhelm patients and burden them in a way that may be destructive to the therapeutic process.

Integrating traditional Chinese medicine into mainstream healthcare system in Hong Kong, China-A model of integrative medicine in the HKU-SZ Hospital.

PubMed

Lao, Lixing; Ning, Zhipeng

2015-11-01

The European Congress for Integrative Medicine 2015 Global Summit on Integrative Medicine and Healthcare in Greater Copenhagen has successfully promoted integrative medicine to the public once again. Integrative medicine, which is called the art and science of healthcare by Nordic Integrative Medicine, has been widely used in the world. In Hong Kong, integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine, which is also known as the Chinese version of integrative medicine, provides a valuable reference for the development of integrative medicine in the world. In this article, we introduce the development of traditional Chinese medicine in Hong Kong and an integrated traditional Chinese and Western medicine model in the University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital.

SEASONAL VARIATION IN LYSOSOMAL DESTABILIZATION IN OYSTERS, CRASSOSTREA VIRGINICA. (R826201)

EPA Science Inventory

Lysosomal destabilization assays have been used as valuable biomarkers of pollutant exposures in a variety of bivalve and fish species. The responses of oysters, Crassostrea virginica, deployed at and native to various reference and degraded sites were evaluated for lys...

Frame of Reference: Special Collections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goetsch, Lori A.

2010-01-01

Rare, distinctive, unique--academic libraries are exploring new ways to describe and define what they've traditionally called special collections: incunabula, manuscripts, rare books, cultural artifacts and more. These valuable, historically important, and often one-of-a-kind artifacts can be a treasure trove for scholars and students. Technology…

An evaluation of lithographed forest stereograms.

Treesearch

David A. Bernstein

1961-01-01

Aerial photo stereograms are valuable for showing neophyte photo interpreters the stereoscopic appearance of common objects and conditions. They are also useful for instruction in measuring heights, horizontal distances, and angles on photos. Collections of stereograms of known conditions are worthwhile reference material for interpretation work in unknown areas.

Linear LIDAR versus Geiger-mode LIDAR: impact on data properties and data quality

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ullrich, A.; Pfennigbauer, M.

2016-05-01

LIDAR has become the inevitable technology to provide accurate 3D data fast and reliably even in adverse measurement situations and harsh environments. It provides highly accurate point clouds with a significant number of additional valuable attributes per point. LIDAR systems based on Geiger-mode avalanche photo diode arrays, also called single photon avalanche photo diode arrays, earlier employed for military applications, now seek to enter the commercial market of 3D data acquisition, advertising higher point acquisition speeds from longer ranges compared to conventional techniques. Publications pointing out the advantages of these new systems refer to the other category of LIDAR as "linear LIDAR", as the prime receiver element for detecting the laser echo pulses - avalanche photo diodes - are used in a linear mode of operation. We analyze the differences between the two LIDAR technologies and the fundamental differences in the data they provide. The limitations imposed by physics on both approaches to LIDAR are also addressed and advantages of linear LIDAR over the photon counting approach are discussed.

The development of differential inductors using double air-bridge structure based on integrated passive device technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Yang; Yao, Zhao; Fu, Xiao-Qian; Li, Zhi-Ming; Shan, Fu-Kai; Wang, Cong

2017-05-01

Recently, integrated passive devices have become increasingly popular; inductor realization, in particular, offers interesting high performance for RF modules and systems. In this paper, a development of differential inductor fabricated by integrated passive devices technology using a double air-bridge structure is presented. A study of the model development of the differential inductor is first demonstrated. In this model section, a segment box analysis method is applied to provide a clear presentation of the differential inductor. Compared with other work that only shows a brief description of the process, the integrated passive devices process used to fabricate the inductor in this study is elaborated on. Finally, a characterization of differential inductors with different physical layout parameters is illustrated based on inductance and quality factors, which provides a valuable reference for realizing high performance. The proposed work provides a good solution for the design, fabrication and practical application of RF modules and systems.

The Brain/MINDS 3D digital marmoset brain atlas

PubMed Central

Woodward, Alexander; Hashikawa, Tsutomu; Maeda, Masahide; Kaneko, Takaaki; Hikishima, Keigo; Iriki, Atsushi; Okano, Hideyuki; Yamaguchi, Yoko

2018-01-01

We present a new 3D digital brain atlas of the non-human primate, common marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus), with MRI and coregistered Nissl histology data. To the best of our knowledge this is the first comprehensive digital 3D brain atlas of the common marmoset having normalized multi-modal data, cortical and sub-cortical segmentation, and in a common file format (NIfTI). The atlas can be registered to new data, is useful for connectomics, functional studies, simulation and as a reference. The atlas was based on previously published work but we provide several critical improvements to make this release valuable for researchers. Nissl histology images were processed to remove illumination and shape artifacts and then normalized to the MRI data. Brain region segmentation is provided for both hemispheres. The data is in the NIfTI format making it easy to integrate into neuroscience pipelines, whereas the previous atlas was in an inaccessible file format. We also provide cortical, mid-cortical and white matter boundary segmentations useful for visualization and analysis. PMID:29437168

Postcranial skeletal anatomy of the holotype and referred specimens of Buitreraptor gonzalezorum Makovicky, Apesteguía and Agnolín 2005 (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae), from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia.

PubMed

Gianechini, Federico A; Makovicky, Peter J; Apesteguía, Sebastián; Cerda, Ignacio

2018-01-01

Here we provide a detailed description of the postcranial skeleton of the holotype and referred specimens of Buitreraptor gonzalezorum . This taxon was recovered as an unenlagiine dromaeosaurid in several recent phylogenetic studies and is the best represented Gondwanan dromaeosaurid discovered to date. It was preliminarily described in a brief article, but a detailed account of its osteology is emerging in recent works. The holotype is the most complete specimen yet found, so an exhaustive description of it provides much valuable anatomical information. The holotype and referred specimens preserve the axial skeleton, pectoral and pelvic girdles, and both fore- and hindlimbs. Diagnostic postcranial characters of this taxon include: anterior cervical centra exceeding the posterior limit of neural arch; eighth and ninth cervical vertebral centra with lateroventral tubercles; pneumatic foramina only in anteriormost dorsals; middle and posterior caudal centra with a complex of shallow ridges on lateral surfaces; pneumatic furcula with two pneumatic foramina on the ventral surface; scapular blade transversely expanded at mid-length; well-projected flexor process on distal end of the humerus; dorsal rim of the ilium laterally everted; and concave dorsal rim of the postacetabular iliac blade. A paleohistological study of limb bones shows that the holotype represents an earlier ontogenetic stage than one of the referred specimens (MPCA 238), which correlates with the fusion of the last sacral vertebra to the rest of the sacrum in MPCA 238. A revised phylogenetic analysis recovered Buitreraptor as an unenlagiine dromaeosaurid, in agreement with previous works. The phylogenetic implications of the unenlagiine synapomorphies and other characters, such as the specialized pedal digit II and the distal ginglymus on metatarsal II, are discussed within the evolutionary framework of Paraves.

Postcranial skeletal anatomy of the holotype and referred specimens of Buitreraptor gonzalezorum Makovicky, Apesteguía and Agnolín 2005 (Theropoda, Dromaeosauridae), from the Late Cretaceous of Patagonia

PubMed Central

2018-01-01

Here we provide a detailed description of the postcranial skeleton of the holotype and referred specimens of Buitreraptor gonzalezorum. This taxon was recovered as an unenlagiine dromaeosaurid in several recent phylogenetic studies and is the best represented Gondwanan dromaeosaurid discovered to date. It was preliminarily described in a brief article, but a detailed account of its osteology is emerging in recent works. The holotype is the most complete specimen yet found, so an exhaustive description of it provides much valuable anatomical information. The holotype and referred specimens preserve the axial skeleton, pectoral and pelvic girdles, and both fore- and hindlimbs. Diagnostic postcranial characters of this taxon include: anterior cervical centra exceeding the posterior limit of neural arch; eighth and ninth cervical vertebral centra with lateroventral tubercles; pneumatic foramina only in anteriormost dorsals; middle and posterior caudal centra with a complex of shallow ridges on lateral surfaces; pneumatic furcula with two pneumatic foramina on the ventral surface; scapular blade transversely expanded at mid-length; well-projected flexor process on distal end of the humerus; dorsal rim of the ilium laterally everted; and concave dorsal rim of the postacetabular iliac blade. A paleohistological study of limb bones shows that the holotype represents an earlier ontogenetic stage than one of the referred specimens (MPCA 238), which correlates with the fusion of the last sacral vertebra to the rest of the sacrum in MPCA 238. A revised phylogenetic analysis recovered Buitreraptor as an unenlagiine dromaeosaurid, in agreement with previous works. The phylogenetic implications of the unenlagiine synapomorphies and other characters, such as the specialized pedal digit II and the distal ginglymus on metatarsal II, are discussed within the evolutionary framework of Paraves. PMID:29607264

Shadowing emergency medicine residents by medical education specialists to provide feedback on non-medical knowledge-based ACGME sub-competencies

PubMed Central

Waterbrook, Anna L; Spear Ellinwood, Karen C; Pritchard, T Gail; Bertels, Karen; Johnson, Ariel C; Min, Alice; Stoneking, Lisa R

2018-01-01

Objective Non-medical knowledge-based sub-competencies (multitasking, professionalism, accountability, patient-centered communication, and team management) are challenging for a supervising emergency medicine (EM) physician to evaluate in real-time on shift while also managing a busy emergency department (ED). This study examines residents’ perceptions of having a medical education specialist shadow and evaluate their nonmedical knowledge skills. Methods Medical education specialists shadowed postgraduate year 1 and postgraduate year 2 EM residents during an ED shift once per academic year. In an attempt to increase meaningful feedback to the residents, these specialists evaluated resident performance in selected non-medical knowledge-based Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) sub-competencies and provided residents with direct, real-time feedback, followed by a written evaluation sent via email. Evaluations provided specific references to examples of behaviors observed during the shift and connected these back to ACGME competencies and milestones. Results Twelve residents participated in this shadow experience (six post graduate year 1 and six postgraduate year 2). Two residents emailed the medical education specialists ahead of the scheduled shadow shift requesting specific feedback. When queried, five residents voluntarily requested their feedback to be included in their formal biannual review. Residents received milestone scores and narrative feedback on the non-medical knowledge-based ACGME sub-competencies and indicated the shadow experience and subsequent feedback were valuable. Conclusion Medical education specialists who observe residents over the course of an entire shift and evaluate non-medical knowledge-based skills are perceived by EM residents to provide meaningful feedback and add valuable information for the biannual review process. PMID:29765259

Understanding evaluation of learning support in mathematics and statistics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

MacGillivray, Helen; Croft, Tony

2011-03-01

With rapid and continuing growth of learning support initiatives in mathematics and statistics found in many parts of the world, and with the likelihood that this trend will continue, there is a need to ensure that robust and coherent measures are in place to evaluate the effectiveness of these initiatives. The nature of learning support brings challenges for measurement and analysis of its effects. After briefly reviewing the purpose, rationale for, and extent of current provision, this article provides a framework for those working in learning support to think about how their efforts can be evaluated. It provides references and specific examples of how workers in this field are collecting, analysing and reporting their findings. The framework is used to structure evaluation in terms of usage of facilities, resources and services provided, and also in terms of improvements in performance of the students and staff who engage with them. Very recent developments have started to address the effects of learning support on the development of deeper approaches to learning, the affective domain and the development of communities of practice of both learners and teachers. This article intends to be a stimulus to those who work in mathematics and statistics support to gather even richer, more valuable, forms of data. It provides a 'toolkit' for those interested in evaluation of learning support and closes by referring to an on-line resource being developed to archive the growing body of evidence.

Medico-legal issues in radiological consultation.

PubMed

Mozumdar, Biswita C; Jones, Gary

2003-01-01

Providers increasingly use radiological services for diagnosis and treatment. Both the referring physician and the radiological consultant can contribute to efficient and effective consultation, and direct interaction may facilitate the process further. Furthermore, inadequate communication can influence poor patient outcome. We examine the roles and responsibilities of referring physicians and consultant radiologists, and present a malpractice case, Townsend v. Turk 218 Cal. App. 3d 278 (1990), to identify medico-legal issues in radiological consultation. Important issues are implied by the Townsend case. First, it is the clinician's responsibility to include clinical information that is appropriate and adequate. Further, the radiologist is a valuable resource in the selection of the optimal procedure, provided that he or she is aware of the patient's history. The second issue discussed by the court represents a possibly more pervasive problem. The interaction between a consulting radiologist--indeed any specialist--and a treating physician is subject to difficulties caused by different conceptions of professional boundaries. The position taken by the court in the Townsend case is consistent with the traditional view that a consulting radiologist has an attenuated duty to the patient. It also would seem to receive at least some support from the language contained in the current revision of the ACR Standard for Communication: Diagnostic Radiology, effective Jan. 1, 2002: ...The referring physician or healthcare provider also shares in the responsibility of obtaining results of imaging studies they have ordered. Despite the result of the Townsend case and the current formulation of the ACR Standards, however, radiologists face risks of litigation. Indeed, the emerging trend in radiological consultation is the direct communication of results to the patient. It is clear that improved communication between radiologists and referring physicians is both desirable and imperative. Clinico-radiological encounters yield additional clinical information and guide the decision-making process. In the Townsend case, direct interaction would have resolved ambiguity.

Introduction: Self-Regulation of Learning in Postsecondary Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bembenutty, Hefer

2011-01-01

Self-regulation of learning occupies a fundamental place in postsecondary education. "Self-regulation of learning" refers to learners' beliefs about their capability to engage in appropriate actions, thoughts, feelings, and behaviors in order to pursue valuable academic goals while self-monitoring and self-reflecting on their progress toward goal…

Water budgets of two forested watersheds in South Carolina

Treesearch

Ge Sun; Jianbiao Lu; David L. Gartner; Masato Miwa; Carl C. Trettin

2000-01-01

Wetland protection, restoration and management require detail information of the water budgets for a particular system. Relatively undisturbed systems with long-term hydrologic records are extremely valuable for developing reference wetlands and detecting effects of management. Two forested flatwoods watersheds in the lower coastal plain of South Carolina have been...

Concepts in Activities and Discourses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Greeno, James G.

2012-01-01

The articles in this special issue make valuable contributions toward a scientific understanding of concepts that is broader than the traditional view that has focused on categorizing by individuals. I propose considering concepts for categorization as a special case of concepts. At their clearest, they can be referred to as "formal concepts," or…

National and State Writing Tests: The Writing Process Betrayed

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schuster, Edgar H.

2004-01-01

State academic standards broadly support the writing process, including the planning (prewriting), drafting, revising, editing, and publishing (sharing) stages. There is also widespread recognition that a valuable part of the process is conferencing, either between teacher and student, student and student (often referred to as peer feedback), or…

Botulism in 2 urban dogs

PubMed Central

Uriarte, Ane; Thibaud, Jean-Laurent; Blot, Stéphane

2010-01-01

Two dogs from the same owner were referred for ascending weakness and paresis of 2 to 3 days duration. Electromyography and electroneurography determined that there were normal F-waves, decreased compound action potential, and decreased activity on repetitive nerve stimulation. These findings were valuable in diagnosing botulism in the dogs. PMID:21197207

The Documentation of Current Affairs in Public Libraries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Smith, Gerry M.

1971-01-01

Current affairs phenomena are inadequately treated by the mass media. Primary materials produced by pressure groups is a valuable complement. Larger public libraries could perform a useful service in making some of the material more widely available. This article explains why and how it should be done. (2 references) (Author/NH)

General practitioner access to gastroscopy: is 'censorship' valuable?

PubMed

Mourad, F H; Taylor, T M; Fairclough, P D; Farthing, M J

1998-04-01

An audit was carried out on the activities of a one stop clinic where patients referred by GPs for endoscopy are first interviewed by a gastroenterologist, directly before the procedure. Such a barrier to open access endoscopy did not seem to reduce the workload or the rate of normal examinations.

Experts and Media: different agenda on the Amatrice seismic sequence

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Musacchio, G.; Piangiamore, G. L.

2016-12-01

In the frame of a dialogical approach to science communication, we challenge here the paradigm for which issues that experts consider valuable are not in the Media's agenda. We studied the way Media addressed the Amatrice 2016 sequence and discuss news story-telling. Data include news published since the beginning the seismic sequence, but only selected days have been analyzed in detail. Our analysis inquires IF and HOW the media pivot discussion between prevention and resignation. We quantify the occurrence of specific indicators in the text of in-print and in the headlines of on-line articles and derive a statistic distribution. We set indicators to explore WHO does the journalist refers to (the source), WHAT is considered to be newsworthiness and who is actually the journalist trying to give VOICE to. In assessing newsworthiness we break down the WHAT into three main categories, which we think of major interest to understand natural disasters icons in the Media, in the first days of occurrence. They are: Scientific Coverage, Risk Reduction Issues and Earthquake Damage. First results show that Media do think valuable to provide their public with an in-depth scientific coverage and refers to authoritative sources. As time goes by, and aftershocks Magnitude decreases, a more reflexive thinking is triggered; news stories include more risk reduction indicators than damage. Although memory of past earthquakes is always part of the story, only one month after the main shock risk reduction disappears from the media's agenda. We also explored the level of public engagement in risk reduction and found out that Media (in Italy) still seem not believe that citizens should be active part of the debate upon their own safety.

One service, many voices: enhancing consumer participation in a primary health service for multicultural women.

PubMed

Lee, Susan K; Thompson, Sandra C; Amorin-Woods, Deisy

2009-01-01

Consumer participation in primary health care is important in providing quality consumer-focused care, but challenging when working with disadvantaged groups of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Women's Health Services (WHS) works with women from over 60 different nationalities, including many newly arrived migrants and refugees. New arrivals access a wide range of WHS programmes including medical services, counselling, information, community talks and workshops, referral, and outreach, but few ethnic women attended the alcohol and other drug (AOD) services offered by the organisation. To establish an active consumer reference group to assist understanding and reducing the barriers to AOD services for a heterogeneous disadvantaged group that includes individuals from different cultural, language and educational backgrounds. Leaning heavily on experiences from the mental health field, WHS overcame many practical and philosophical considerations which included: agreeing upon the purpose of the group and how it would operate within the structure of the organisation; the level of English language required by participants for the group to function; issues of resourcing the group; and ensuring an appropriate, workable demographic mix in terms of age, language, and migration experiences. The process and the outcome of establishing a consumer reference group (CRG) in a primary healthcare setting has been valuable for consumers' and health service providers within the organisation.

Does routine psychosocial screening improve referral to psychosocial care providers and patient-radiotherapist communication? A cluster randomized controlled trial.

PubMed

Braeken, Anna P B M; Lechner, Lilian; Eekers, Daniëlle B P; Houben, Ruud M A; van Gils, Francis C J M; Ambergen, Ton; Kempen, Gertrudis I J M

2013-11-01

This study tests whether using a screening instrument improves referral to psychosocial care providers (e.g. psychologist) and facilitates patient-radiotherapist communication. A cluster randomized controlled trial was used. Fourteen radiotherapists were randomly allocated to the experimental or control group and 568 of their patients received care in accordance with the group to which their radiotherapist was allocated. Patients in the experimental group were asked to complete a screening instrument before and at the end of the radiation treatment period. All patients were requested to complete questionnaires concerning patient-physician communication after the first consultation and concerning psychosocial care 3 and 12 months post-intervention. Patients who completed the screening instrument were referred to social workers at an earlier stage than patients who did not (P<0.01). No effects were observed for numbers of referred patients, or for improved patient-radiotherapist communication. Our results suggest that a simple screening procedure can be valuable for the timely treatment of psychosocial problems in patients. Future efforts should be directed at appropriate timing of screening and enhancing physicians' awareness regarding the importance of identifying, discussing and treating psychosocial problems in cancer patients. Psychosocial screening can be enhanced by effective radiotherapist-patient communication. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Computed Tomography of the Normal Bovine Tarsus.

PubMed

Hagag, U; Tawfiek, M; Brehm, W; Gerlach, K

2016-12-01

The objective of this study was to provide a detailed multiplanar computed tomographic (CT) anatomic reference for the bovine tarsus. The tarsal regions from twelve healthy adult cow cadavers were scanned in both soft and bone windows via a 16-slice multidetector CT scanner. Tarsi were frozen at -20 o C and sectioned to 10-mm-thick slices in transverse, dorsal and sagittal planes respecting the imaging protocol. The frozen sections were cleaned and then photographed. Anatomic structures were identified, labelled and compared with the corresponding CT images. The sagittal plane was indispensable for evaluation of bone contours, the dorsal plane was valuable in examination of the collateral ligaments, and both were beneficial for assessment of the tarsal joint articulations. CT images allowed excellent delineation between the cortex and medulla of bones, and the trabecular structure was clearly depicted. The tarsal soft tissues showed variable shades of grey, and the synovial fluid was the lowest attenuated structure. This study provided full assessment of the clinically relevant anatomic structures of the bovine tarsal joint. This technique may be of value when results from other diagnostic imaging techniques are indecisive. Images presented in this study should serve as a basic CT reference and assist in the interpretation of various bovine tarsal pathology. © 2016 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

Candidate Reference Genes Selection and Application for RT-qPCR Analysis in Kenaf with Cytoplasmic Male Sterility Background

PubMed Central

Zhou, Bujin; Chen, Peng; Khan, Aziz; Zhao, Yanhong; Chen, Lihong; Liu, Dongmei; Liao, Xiaofang; Kong, Xiangjun; Zhou, Ruiyang

2017-01-01

Cytoplasmic male sterility (CMS) is a maternally inherited trait that results in the production of dysfunctional pollen. Based on reliable reference gene-normalized real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) data, examining gene expression profile can provide valuable information on the molecular mechanism of kenaf CMS. However, studies have not been conducted regarding selection of reference genes for normalizing RT-qPCR data in the CMS and maintainer lines of kenaf crop. Therefore, we studied 10 candidate reference genes (ACT3, ELF1A, G6PD, PEPKR1, TUB, TUA, CYP, GAPDH, H3, and 18S) to assess their expression stability at three stages of pollen development in CMS line 722A and maintainer line 722B of kenaf. Five computational statistical approaches (GeNorm, NormFinder, ΔCt, BestKeeper, and RefFinder) were used to evaluate the expression stability levels of these genes. According to RefFinder and GeNorm, the combination of TUB, CYP, and PEPKR1 was identified as an internal control for the accurate normalization across all sample set, which was further confirmed by validating the expression of HcPDIL5-2a. Furthermore, the combination of TUB, CYP, and PEPKR1 was used to differentiate the expression pattern of five mitochondria F1F0-ATPase subunit genes (atp1, atp4, atp6, atp8, and atp9) by RT-qPCR during pollen development in CMS line 722A and maintainer line 722B. We found that atp1, atp6, and atp9 exhibited significantly different expression patterns during pollen development in line 722A compared with line 722B. This is the first systematic study of reference genes selection for CMS and will provide useful information for future research on the gene expressions and molecular mechanisms underlying CMS in kenaf. PMID:28919905

De novo-based transcriptome profiling of male-sterile and fertile watermelon lines

PubMed Central

Seo, Minseok; Jang, Yoon Jeong; Sim, Tae Yong; Cho, Seoae; Han, Sang-Wook

2017-01-01

The whole-genome sequence of watermelon (Citrullus lanatus (Thunb.) Matsum. & Nakai), a valuable horticultural crop worldwide, was released in 2013. Here, we compared a de novo-based approach (DBA) to a reference-based approach (RBA) using RNA-seq data, to aid in efforts to improve the annotation of the watermelon reference genome and to obtain biological insight into male-sterility in watermelon. We applied these techniques to available data from two watermelon lines: the male-sterile line DAH3615-MS and the male-fertile line DAH3615. Using DBA, we newly annotated 855 watermelon transcripts, and found gene functional clusters predicted to be related to stimulus responses, nucleic acid binding, transmembrane transport, homeostasis, and Golgi/vesicles. Among the DBA-annotated transcripts, 138 de novo-exclusive differentially-expressed genes (DEDEGs) related to male sterility were detected. Out of 33 randomly selected newly annotated transcripts and DEDEGs, 32 were validated by RT-qPCR. This study demonstrates the usefulness and reliability of the de novo transcriptome assembly in watermelon, and provides new insights for researchers exploring transcriptional blueprints with regard to the male sterility. PMID:29095876

HuH-7 reference genome profile: complex karyotype composed of massive loss of heterozygosity.

PubMed

Kasai, Fumio; Hirayama, Noriko; Ozawa, Midori; Satoh, Motonobu; Kohara, Arihiro

2018-05-17

Human cell lines represent a valuable resource as in vitro experimental models. A hepatoma cell line, HuH-7 (JCRB0403), has been used extensively in various research fields and a number of studies using this line have been published continuously since it was established in 1982. However, an accurate genome profile, which can be served as a reliable reference, has not been available. In this study, we performed M-FISH, SNP microarray and amplicon sequencing to characterize the cell line. Single cell analysis of metaphases revealed a high level of heterogeneity with a mode of 60 chromosomes. Cytogenetic results demonstrated chromosome abnormalities involving every chromosome in addition to a massive loss of heterozygosity, which accounts for 55.3% of the genome, consistent with the homozygous variants seen in the sequence analysis. We provide empirical data that the HuH-7 cell line is composed of highly heterogeneous cell populations, suggesting that besides cell line authentication, the quality of cell lines needs to be taken into consideration in the future use of tumor cell lines.

The biomedical piglet: establishing reference intervals for haematology and clinical chemistry parameters of two age groups with and without iron supplementation.

PubMed

Ventrella, Domenico; Dondi, Francesco; Barone, Francesca; Serafini, Federica; Elmi, Alberto; Giunti, Massimo; Romagnoli, Noemi; Forni, Monica; Bacci, Maria L

2017-01-17

The similarities between swine and humans in physiological and genomic patterns, and the great correlation in size and anatomy, make pigs extremely useful in preclinical studies. New-born piglets can represent a model for congenital and genetic diseases in new-born children. It is known that piglets may have significant differences in clinicopathological results compared to adult pigs. Therefore, adult laboratory reference intervals cannot be applied to piglets. The aim of this study was to compare haematological and chemical variables in piglets of two ages and determinate age-related reference intervals for commercial hybrid young pigs. Blood samples were collected under general anaesthesia from 130 animals divided into five- (P5) and 30- (P30) day-old piglets. Only P30 animals were treated with parenteral iron after birth. Samples were analysed using automated haematology (ADVIA 2120) and chemistry analysers, and age-related reference intervals were calculated. Significant higher values of RBC, Hb and HCT were observed in P30 animals when compared to P5, with an opposite trend for MCV. These results were associated with a reduction of the RBC regeneration process and the thrombopoietic response. The TSAT and TIBC were significantly higher in P30 compared to P5; however, piglets remained iron deficient compared to adult reference intervals reported previously. In conclusion, this paper emphasises the high variability occurring in clinicopathological variables between new-born and 30-day-old pigs, and between piglets and adult pigs. This study provides valuable reference data for piglets at precise ages and could be used in the future as historical control improving the Reduction in animal experiments, as suggested by the 3Rs principle.

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.

Definitive Characterization of CA 19-9 in Resectable Pancreatic Cancer Using a Reference Set of Serum and Plasma Specimens.

PubMed

Haab, Brian B; Huang, Ying; Balasenthil, Seetharaman; Partyka, Katie; Tang, Huiyuan; Anderson, Michelle; Allen, Peter; Sasson, Aaron; Zeh, Herbert; Kaul, Karen; Kletter, Doron; Ge, Shaokui; Bern, Marshall; Kwon, Richard; Blasutig, Ivan; Srivastava, Sudhir; Frazier, Marsha L; Sen, Subrata; Hollingsworth, Michael A; Rinaudo, Jo Ann; Killary, Ann M; Brand, Randall E

2015-01-01

The validation of candidate biomarkers often is hampered by the lack of a reliable means of assessing and comparing performance. We present here a reference set of serum and plasma samples to facilitate the validation of biomarkers for resectable pancreatic cancer. The reference set includes a large cohort of stage I-II pancreatic cancer patients, recruited from 5 different institutions, and relevant control groups. We characterized the performance of the current best serological biomarker for pancreatic cancer, CA 19-9, using plasma samples from the reference set to provide a benchmark for future biomarker studies and to further our knowledge of CA 19-9 in early-stage pancreatic cancer and the control groups. CA 19-9 distinguished pancreatic cancers from the healthy and chronic pancreatitis groups with an average sensitivity and specificity of 70-74%, similar to previous studies using all stages of pancreatic cancer. Chronic pancreatitis patients did not show CA 19-9 elevations, but patients with benign biliary obstruction had elevations nearly as high as the cancer patients. We gained additional information about the biomarker by comparing two distinct assays. The two CA 9-9 assays agreed well in overall performance but diverged in measurements of individual samples, potentially due to subtle differences in antibody specificity as revealed by glycan array analysis. Thus, the reference set promises be a valuable resource for biomarker validation and comparison, and the CA 19-9 data presented here will be useful for benchmarking and for exploring relationships to CA 19-9.

Definitive Characterization of CA 19-9 in Resectable Pancreatic Cancer Using a Reference Set of Serum and Plasma Specimens

PubMed Central

Haab, Brian B.; Huang, Ying; Balasenthil, Seetharaman; Partyka, Katie; Tang, Huiyuan; Anderson, Michelle; Allen, Peter; Sasson, Aaron; Zeh, Herbert; Kaul, Karen; Kletter, Doron; Ge, Shaokui; Bern, Marshall; Kwon, Richard; Blasutig, Ivan; Srivastava, Sudhir; Frazier, Marsha L.; Sen, Subrata; Hollingsworth, Michael A.; Rinaudo, Jo Ann; Killary, Ann M.; Brand, Randall E.

2015-01-01

The validation of candidate biomarkers often is hampered by the lack of a reliable means of assessing and comparing performance. We present here a reference set of serum and plasma samples to facilitate the validation of biomarkers for resectable pancreatic cancer. The reference set includes a large cohort of stage I-II pancreatic cancer patients, recruited from 5 different institutions, and relevant control groups. We characterized the performance of the current best serological biomarker for pancreatic cancer, CA 19–9, using plasma samples from the reference set to provide a benchmark for future biomarker studies and to further our knowledge of CA 19–9 in early-stage pancreatic cancer and the control groups. CA 19–9 distinguished pancreatic cancers from the healthy and chronic pancreatitis groups with an average sensitivity and specificity of 70–74%, similar to previous studies using all stages of pancreatic cancer. Chronic pancreatitis patients did not show CA 19–9 elevations, but patients with benign biliary obstruction had elevations nearly as high as the cancer patients. We gained additional information about the biomarker by comparing two distinct assays. The two CA 9–9 assays agreed well in overall performance but diverged in measurements of individual samples, potentially due to subtle differences in antibody specificity as revealed by glycan array analysis. Thus, the reference set promises be a valuable resource for biomarker validation and comparison, and the CA 19–9 data presented here will be useful for benchmarking and for exploring relationships to CA 19–9. PMID:26431551

Physical Growth of the Shuar: Height, Weight, and BMI References for an Indigenous Amazonian Population

PubMed Central

URLACHER, SAMUEL S.; BLACKWELL, AARON D.; LIEBERT, MELISSA A.; MADIMENOS, FELICIA C.; CEPON-ROBINS, TARA J.; GILDNER, THERESA E.; SNODGRASS, J. JOSH; SUGIYAMA, LAWRENCE S.

2015-01-01

Objectives Information concerning physical growth among small-scale populations remains limited, yet such data are critical to local health efforts and to foster basic understandings of human life history and variation in childhood development. Using a large dataset and robust modeling methods, this study aims to describe growth from birth to adulthood among the indigenous Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador. Methods Mixed-longitudinal measures of height, weight, and BMI were collected from Shuar participants (n = 2,463; age 0–29 years). Centile growth curves and tables were created for each anthropometric variable of interest using GAMLSS. Pseudo-velocity and LMS curves were generated to further investigate Shuar patterns of growth and to facilitate comparison with U.S. CDC and multinational WHO growth references. Results The Shuar are small throughout life and exhibit complex patterns of growth that differ substantially from those of international references. Similar to other Amazonians, Shuar growth in weight compares more favorably to references than growth in height, resulting in BMI curves that approximate international medians. Several additional characteristics of Shuar development are noteworthy, including large observed variation in body size early in life, significant infant growth faltering, extended male growth into adulthood, and a markedly early female pubertal growth spurt in height. Phenotypic plasticity and genetic selection in response to local environmental factors may explain many of these patterns. Conclusions Providing a detailed reference of growth for the Shuar and other Amazonian populations, this study possesses direct clinical application and affords valuable insight into childhood health and the ecology of human growth. PMID:26126793

Teachers Talking about Writing Assessment: Valuable Professional Learning?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reid, Lesley

2007-01-01

This article argues that the engagement of teachers in collaborative discussions about assessment can provide a fruitful context for valuable professional learning. It is of interest to those who provide Continuous Professional Development (CPD) opportunities for teachers and teachers themselves. It looks particularly at the value of writing…

Using Holland's Theory To Analyze Labor Market Data.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Reed, Corey

Some career theorists and other professionals have warned about dramatic shifts in the economy and implications for changes needed in career services and theory. This paper proposes that Hollands person-environment model (1997) is a valuable frame of reference for career counselors and instructors to use with clients and students in interpreting…

Improving the soil moisture data record of the U.S. Climate Reference Network (USCRN) and Soil Climate Analysis Network (SCAN)

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Soil moisture estimates are valuable for hydrologic modeling, drought prediction and management, climate change analysis, and agricultural decision support. However, in situ measurements of soil moisture have only become available within the past few decades with additional sensors being installed ...

Supervising and Supporting Student Nurses in Clinical Placements: The Peer Support Initiative.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aston, Liz; Molassiotis, Alexander

2003-01-01

A program in which senior nursing students (n=31) supported junior students (n=27) in clinical placements was evaluated. Peer support was considered valuable, but both groups desired more preparation for their roles. Seniors felt their teaching and mentoring skills were enhanced. Juniors reduced anxiety about placements. (Contains 26 references.)…

IMPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH FOR TEACHING TYPEWRITING. DELTA PI EPSILON RESEARCH BULLETIN 2.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

WEST, LEONARD J.

INTERPRETATIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS BELIEVED TO BE SOUNDLY SUPPORTED BY RESEARCH, ARE PRESENTED IN THIS NONTECHNICAL REPORT. THE MATERIAL SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY USEFUL IN METHODS COURSES AND SHOULD BE A VALUABLE REFERENCE FOR TEACHERS OF TYPEWRITING. STUDENTS SHOULD NOT PRACTICE ON ISOLATED LETTER SEQUENCES OR ON A LIMITED VOCABULARY. WITH RESPECT…

Life Science Teachers' Discourse on Assessment: A Valuable Insight into the Variable Conceptions of Assessment in Higher Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halinen, Katrianna; Ruohoniemi, Mirja; Katajavuori, Nina; Virtanen, Viivi

2014-01-01

Teachers' conceptions of teaching, including assessment practices, are substantial in directing student learning. Our article refers to assessment at tertiary level biological education. We studied life science (more specifically microbiology-related) teachers' assessment discourse describing how they understood assessment as part of their…

Knowledge Value Added (KVA) Methodology as a Tool for Measuring the Utilization of Knowledge Assets Aboard Marine Corps Installations

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-06-01

make better technology investment decisions. C. FOLLOW-ON RESEARCH POTENTIAL Like most assets, knowledge is only valuable if it can be transmuted ...CID Agent Sexual Assault Investigations Training E5 5 Conduct preliminary investigation on referable cases 5811 Basic Military Police Intelligence In

Online Learning: E-Learning Fast, Cheap, and Good

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piskurich, George M.

2006-01-01

There is a variation of e-learning, used mainly in academic settings, that can be a valuable intervention tool for the performance technologist. It is often referred to as online learning. In the performance improvement field, this term is often used interchangeably with synchronous e-learning, but there are some major differences between these…

Academic Delay of Gratification and Academic Achievement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bembenutty, Hefer

2011-01-01

The ability to delay gratification is the cornerstone of all academic achievement and education. It is by delaying gratification that learners can pursue long-term academic and career goals. In general, "delay of gratification" refers to an individual's ability to forgo immediate rewards for the sake of more valuable ones later (Mischel, 1996).…

Sustaining Learning through Academic Delay of Gratification: Choice and Strategy.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bembenutty, Hefer; Karabenick, Stuart A.

Academic delay of gratification (ADOG) refers to students' postponement of immediately available opportunities to satisfy impulses in favor of pursuing academic goals that are temporally remote but ostensibly more valuable. This important form of self-regulation was studied among college students to determine how it serves to sustain effort over…

Identifying Stable Reference Genes for qRT-PCR Normalisation in Gene Expression Studies of Narrow-Leafed Lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.).

PubMed

Taylor, Candy M; Jost, Ricarda; Erskine, William; Nelson, Matthew N

2016-01-01

Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) is currently one of the most popular, high-throughput and sensitive technologies available for quantifying gene expression. Its accurate application depends heavily upon normalisation of gene-of-interest data with reference genes that are uniformly expressed under experimental conditions. The aim of this study was to provide the first validation of reference genes for Lupinus angustifolius (narrow-leafed lupin, a significant grain legume crop) using a selection of seven genes previously trialed as reference genes for the model legume, Medicago truncatula. In a preliminary evaluation, the seven candidate reference genes were assessed on the basis of primer specificity for their respective targeted region, PCR amplification efficiency, and ability to discriminate between cDNA and gDNA. Following this assessment, expression of the three most promising candidates [Ubiquitin C (UBC), Helicase (HEL), and Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB)] was evaluated using the NormFinder and RefFinder statistical algorithms in two narrow-leafed lupin lines, both with and without vernalisation treatment, and across seven organ types (cotyledons, stem, leaves, shoot apical meristem, flowers, pods and roots) encompassing three developmental stages. UBC was consistently identified as the most stable candidate and has sufficiently uniform expression that it may be used as a sole reference gene under the experimental conditions tested here. However, as organ type and developmental stage were associated with greater variability in relative expression, it is recommended using UBC and HEL as a pair to achieve optimal normalisation. These results highlight the importance of rigorously assessing candidate reference genes for each species across a diverse range of organs and developmental stages. With emerging technologies, such as RNAseq, and the completion of valuable transcriptome data sets, it is possible that other potentially more suitable reference genes will be identified for this species in future.

Identifying Stable Reference Genes for qRT-PCR Normalisation in Gene Expression Studies of Narrow-Leafed Lupin (Lupinus angustifolius L.)

PubMed Central

Erskine, William; Nelson, Matthew N.

2016-01-01

Quantitative Reverse Transcription PCR (qRT-PCR) is currently one of the most popular, high-throughput and sensitive technologies available for quantifying gene expression. Its accurate application depends heavily upon normalisation of gene-of-interest data with reference genes that are uniformly expressed under experimental conditions. The aim of this study was to provide the first validation of reference genes for Lupinus angustifolius (narrow-leafed lupin, a significant grain legume crop) using a selection of seven genes previously trialed as reference genes for the model legume, Medicago truncatula. In a preliminary evaluation, the seven candidate reference genes were assessed on the basis of primer specificity for their respective targeted region, PCR amplification efficiency, and ability to discriminate between cDNA and gDNA. Following this assessment, expression of the three most promising candidates [Ubiquitin C (UBC), Helicase (HEL), and Polypyrimidine tract-binding protein (PTB)] was evaluated using the NormFinder and RefFinder statistical algorithms in two narrow-leafed lupin lines, both with and without vernalisation treatment, and across seven organ types (cotyledons, stem, leaves, shoot apical meristem, flowers, pods and roots) encompassing three developmental stages. UBC was consistently identified as the most stable candidate and has sufficiently uniform expression that it may be used as a sole reference gene under the experimental conditions tested here. However, as organ type and developmental stage were associated with greater variability in relative expression, it is recommended using UBC and HEL as a pair to achieve optimal normalisation. These results highlight the importance of rigorously assessing candidate reference genes for each species across a diverse range of organs and developmental stages. With emerging technologies, such as RNAseq, and the completion of valuable transcriptome data sets, it is possible that other potentially more suitable reference genes will be identified for this species in future. PMID:26872362

Identification of suitable reference genes for quantitative gene expression analysis in rat adipose stromal cells induced to trilineage differentiation.

PubMed

Santos, Bruno Paiva Dos; da Costa Diesel, Luciana Fraga; da Silva Meirelles, Lindolfo; Nardi, Nance Beyer; Camassola, Melissa

2016-12-15

This study was designed to (i) identify stable reference genes for the analysis of gene expression during in vitro differentiation of rat adipose stromal cells (rASCs), (ii) recommend stable genes for individual treatment conditions, and (iii) validate these genes by comparison with normalization results from stable and unstable reference genes. On the basis of a literature review, eight genes were selected: Actb, B2m, Hprt1, Ppia, Rplp0, Rpl13a, Rpl5, and Ywhaz. Genes were ranked according to their stability under different culture conditions as assessed using GenNorm, NormFinder, and RefFinder algorithms. Although the employed algorithms returned different rankings, the most frequently top-ranked genes were: B2m and/or Ppia for all 28day treatments (ALL28); Ppia and Hprt1 (adipogenic differentiation; A28), B2m (chondrogenic differentiation; C28), Rpl5 (controls maintained in complete culture medium; CCM), Rplp0 (osteogenic differentiation for 3days; O3), Rpl13a and Actb (osteogenic differentiation for 7days; O7), Rplp0 and Ppia (osteogenic differentiation for 14days; O14), Hprt1 and Ppia (osteogenic differentiation for 28days; O28), as well as Actb (all osteogenesis time points combined; ALLOSTEO). The obtained results indicate that the performance of reference genes depends on the differentiation protocol and on the analysis time, thus providing valuable information for the design of RT-PCR experiments. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Limitations of commonly used internal controls for real-time RT-PCR analysis of renal epithelial-mesenchymal cell transition.

PubMed

Elberg, Gerard; Elberg, Dorit; Logan, Charlotte J; Chen, Lijuan; Turman, Martin A

2006-01-01

Progressive renal fibrotic disease is accompanied by the massive accumulation of myofibroblasts as defined by alpha smooth muscle actin (alphaSMA) expression. We quantitated gene expression using real-time RT-PCR analysis during conversion of primary cultured human renal tubular cells (RTC) to myofibroblasts after treatment with transforming growth factor-beta1 (TGF-beta1). We report herein the limitations of commonly used reference genes for mRNA quantitation. We determined the expression of alphaSMA and megakaryoblastic leukemia-1 (MKL1), a transcriptional regulator of alphaSMA, by quantitative real-time PCR using three common internal controls, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH), cyclophilin A and 18S rRNA. Expression of GAPDH mRNA and cyclophilin A mRNA, and to a lesser extent, 18S rRNA levels varied over time in culture and with exposure to TGF-beta1. Thus, depending on which reference gene was used, TGF-beta1 appeared to have different effects on expression of MKL1 and alphaSMA. RTC converting to myofibroblasts in primary culture is a valuable system to study renal fibrosis in humans. However, variability in expression of reference genes with TGF-beta1 treatment illustrates the need to validate mRNA quantitation with multiple reference genes to provide accurate interpretation of fibrosis studies in the absence of a universal internal standard for mRNA expression. 2006 S. Karger AG, Basel.

A Foundation for Enterprise Imaging: HIMSS-SIIM Collaborative White Paper.

PubMed

Roth, Christopher J; Lannum, Louis M; Persons, Kenneth R

2016-10-01

Care providers today routinely obtain valuable clinical multimedia with mobile devices, scope cameras, ultrasound, and many other modalities at the point of care. Image capture and storage workflows may be heterogeneous across an enterprise, and as a result, they often are not well incorporated in the electronic health record. Enterprise Imaging refers to a set of strategies, initiatives, and workflows implemented across a healthcare enterprise to consistently and optimally capture, index, manage, store, distribute, view, exchange, and analyze all clinical imaging and multimedia content to enhance the electronic health record. This paper is intended to introduce Enterprise Imaging as an important initiative to clinical and informatics leadership, and outline its key elements of governance, strategy, infrastructure, common multimedia content, acquisition workflows, enterprise image viewers, and image exchange services.

Adolescent Shin Pain.

PubMed

Korsh, Jeremy; Matijakovich, Douglas; Gatt, Charles

2017-01-01

Shin pain is a common complaint in adolescent athletes. The term "shin splints" has historically been applied to these patients. Shin splints, more often than not, refers to a stress reaction of the tibia from overuse. Overuse injuries occur when repetitive microtrauma to the bone exceeds the biologic healing potential. Diagnosis is based on typical history and physical examination findings. Plain radiographs and advanced imaging are rarely necessary but can provide valuable prognostic information. Treatment consists of adequate rest and exercise modification. Time to return to sport depends on injury location and severity. Stress fractures have long-term implications on bone health, so modifiable risk factors should be addressed. It is important for primary care physicians to understand the significance of these injuries. [Pediatr Ann. 2017;46(1):e29-e32.]. Copyright 2017, SLACK Incorporated.

Anti-inflammatory and antioxidative effects of Camellia oleifera Abel components.

PubMed

Xiao, Xiaomei; He, Liangmei; Chen, Yayun; Wu, Longhuo; Wang, Lin; Liu, Zhiping

2017-11-01

Camellia oleifera Abel is a member of Camellia, and its seeds are used to extract Camellia oil, which is generally used as cooking oil in the south of China. Camellia oil consists of unsaturated fatty acids, tea polyphenol, squalene, saponin, carrot element and vitamins, etc. The seed remains after oil extraction of C. oleifera Abel are by-products of oil production, named as Camellia oil cake. Its extracts contain bioactive compounds including sasanquasaponin, flavonoid and tannin. Major components from Camellia oil and its cake have been shown to have anti-inflammatory, antioxidative, antimicrobial and antitumor activities. In this review, we will summarize the latest advance in the studies on anti-inflammatory or antioxidative effects of C. oleifera products, thus providing valuable reference for the future research and development of C. oleifera Abel.

Power requirements for the first lunar outpost (FLO)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Cataldo, Robert L.; Bozek, John M.

1993-01-01

NASA's Exploration Program Office is currently developing a preliminary reference mission description that lays the framework from which the nation can return to the Moon by the end of the decade. The First Lunar Outpost is the initial phase of establishing a permanent presence on the Moon and the next step of sending humans to Mars. Many systems required for missions to Mars will be verified on the Moon, while still accomplishing valuable lunar science and in-situ resource utilization (ISRU). Some of FLO's major accomplishments will be long duration habitation, extended surface roving (both piloted and teleoperated) and a suite of science experiments, including lunar resources extraction. Of equal challenge will be to provide long life, reliable power sources to meet the needs of a lunar mission.

Quantitative gene expression analysis in Caenorhabditis elegans using single molecule RNA FISH.

PubMed

Bolková, Jitka; Lanctôt, Christian

2016-04-01

Advances in fluorescent probe design and synthesis have allowed the uniform in situ labeling of individual RNA molecules. In a technique referred to as single molecule RNA FISH (smRNA FISH), the labeled RNA molecules can be imaged as diffraction-limited spots and counted using image analysis algorithms. Single RNA counting has provided valuable insights into the process of gene regulation. This microscopy-based method has often revealed a high cell-to-cell variability in expression levels, which has in turn led to a growing interest in investigating the biological significance of gene expression noise. Here we describe the application of the smRNA FISH technique to samples of Caenorhabditis elegans, a well-characterized model organism. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

[Research and development strategies in classical herbal formulae].

PubMed

Chen, Chang; Cheng, Jin-Tang; Liu, An

2017-05-01

As an outstanding representative of traditional Chinese medicine prescription, classical herbal formulae are the essence of traditional Chinese medicine great treasure. To support the development of classical herbal formulae, the state and relevant administrative departments have successively promulgated the relevant encouraged policies.But some key issues of classic herbal formulae in the development process have not reached a unified consensus and standard, and these problems were discussed in depth here.The authors discussed the registration requirements of classical herbal formulae, proposed the screening specific indicators of classical herbal formulae, determination basis of prescription and dosage,screening method of production process, and the basic principle of clinical localization, in order to bring out valuable opinions and provide a reference for classical herbal formulae development and policy formulation. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Telescopic Topics: The Impact of Student-Created Podcasts in a Large, General Education Course

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kraal, E. R.

2014-12-01

Large, general education courses are important to the geoscience community. These courses serve as valuable recruiting tools for future geoscience majors because over 55% of geoscience students select their major in the first two years of college (Wilson, 2013). These courses can have many challenges such as large class sizes, limited (or no) laboratory time and facilities, little financial resource support, non-permanent faculty, and a variety of student abilities and needs. High impact practices, such as writing courses, student research, and community service can be difficult to integrate into large, non-major courses. Student-produced audio (e. g. podcasts) provide one approach to providing high impact practices within these courses. Other researchers have found student produced audio to be effective at transmitting content, integrating place based experiences, and building community connections within the students. Here I present the implementation of student-created audio within a large (100+), general education course (AST 30 - Mission to the Planets) over the last 4 years called 'Telescopic Topics.' Activities scaffold the students through the semester where they select a topic on planetary science, work with the science reference librarian, visit the writing center, and record their podcast at campus student radio station. The top podcasts are then aired on the campus radio station during the news broadcasts through a rotating series. Surveys of student experiences find that student find the activity valuable and engaging. Students reported feeling less intimidated by the science content and more connected to the subject matter. In addition, it provides many of them with their first introduction to and use of the university library and associated campus resources.

ASSESSING REFERRALS AND IMPROVING INFORMATION AVAILABILITY FOR CONSULTATIONS IN AN ACADEMIC ENDOCRINOLOGY CLINIC.

PubMed

Hendrickson, Chase D; Saini, Saumya; Pothuloori, Avin; Mecchella, John N

2017-02-01

Outpatient specialty consultations rely on the timeliness and completeness of referral information to facilitate a valuable patient-specialist interaction. This project aimed to increase essential diagnostic information availability at the initial consultation for patients referred for common endocrine conditions frequently lacking such data-diabetes mellitus, thyroid nodule, thyrotoxicosis, and hypercalcemia. At an endocrinology clinic at an academic medical center in rural New England, providers see several thousand new patients annually, the majority of whom are referred by providers external to the clinic's healthcare system. Through consensus, endocrinology clinic providers agreed on the two or three data elements essential for a meaningful initial consultation for each. A quality improvement team employed a planned series of interventions based on previously published methods and an innovative approach: dissemination of a referral guideline, an assessment of referral adequacy in the endocrinology clinic workflow, coupled with focused requests for missing items, and a pre-visit lab appointment. Between April 2015 and March 2016, 762 referrals were reviewed. At baseline for the four conditions, referrals contained all essential elements only 27.5% (22 of 80) of the time. Over a 7-month period, the team implemented the interventions, with subsequent referrals containing all essential elements increasing to 75.5% (P<.0001), largely attributable to the pre-visit lab appointment. Incoming referrals that lack essential information are a significant problem in specialty care and may adversely affect patient experience, provider satisfaction, and clinic efficiency. Improvement may require innovative approaches, such as the potentially transferable and generalizable ones employed here. DHMC = Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center EHR = electronic health record PDSA = Plan-Do-Study-Act.

WE-AB-BRA-01: 3D-2D Image Registration for Target Localization in Spine Surgery: Comparison of Similarity Metrics Against Robustness to Content Mismatch

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

De Silva, T; Ketcha, M; Siewerdsen, J H

Purpose: In image-guided spine surgery, mapping 3D preoperative images to 2D intraoperative images via 3D-2D registration can provide valuable assistance in target localization. However, the presence of surgical instrumentation, hardware implants, and soft-tissue resection/displacement causes mismatches in image content, confounding existing registration methods. Manual/semi-automatic methods to mask such extraneous content is time consuming, user-dependent, error prone, and disruptive to clinical workflow. We developed and evaluated 2 novel similarity metrics within a robust registration framework to overcome such challenges in target localization. Methods: An IRB-approved retrospective study in 19 spine surgery patients included 19 preoperative 3D CT images and 50 intraoperativemore » mobile radiographs in cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine regions. A neuroradiologist provided truth definition of vertebral positions in CT and radiography. 3D-2D registration was performed using the CMA-ES optimizer with 4 gradient-based image similarity metrics: (1) gradient information (GI); (2) gradient correlation (GC); (3) a novel variant referred to as gradient orientation (GO); and (4) a second variant referred to as truncated gradient correlation (TGC). Registration accuracy was evaluated in terms of the projection distance error (PDE) of the vertebral levels. Results: Conventional similarity metrics were susceptible to gross registration error and failure modes associated with the presence of surgical instrumentation: for GI, the median PDE and interquartile range was 33.0±43.6 mm; similarly for GC, PDE = 23.0±92.6 mm respectively. The robust metrics GO and TGC, on the other hand, demonstrated major improvement in PDE (7.6 ±9.4 mm and 8.1± 18.1 mm, respectively) and elimination of gross failure modes. Conclusion: The proposed GO and TGC similarity measures improve registration accuracy and robustness to gross failure in the presence of strong image content mismatch. Such registration capability could offer valuable assistance in target localization without disruption of clinical workflow. G. Kleinszig and S. Vogt are employees of Siemens Healthcare.« less

Guide to Louisiana's ground-water resources

USGS Publications Warehouse

Stuart, C.G.; Knochenmus, D.D.; McGee, B.D.

1994-01-01

Ground water is one of the most valuable and abundant natural resources of Louisiana. Of the 4-.4 million people who live in the State, 61 percent use ground water as a source for drinking water. Most industrial and rural users and half of the irrigation users in the State rely on ground water. Quantity, however, is not the only aspect that makes ground water so valuable; quality also is important for its use. In most areas, little or no water treatment is required for drinking water and industrial purposes. Knowledge of Louisiana's ground-water resources is needed to ensure proper development and protection of this valuable resource. This report is designed to inform citizens about the availability and quality of ground water in Louisiana. It is not intended as a technical reference; rather, it is a guide to ground water and the significant role this resource plays in the state. Most of the ground water that is used in the State is withdrawn from 13 aquifers and aquifer systems: the Cockfield, Sparta, and Carrizo-Wilcox aquifersin northern Louisiana; Chicot aquifer system, Evangeline aquifer, Jasper aquifer system, and Catahoula aquifer in central and southwestern Louisiana; the Chicot equivalent, Evangeline equivalent, and Jasper equivalent aquifer systems in southeastern Louisiana; and the MississippiRiver alluvial, Red River alluvial, and upland terrace aquifers that are statewide. Ground water is affected by man's activities on the land surface, and the major ground-water concerns in Louisiana are: (1) contamination from surface disposal of hazardous waste, agricultural chemicals, and petroleum products; (2) contamination from surface wastes and saltwater through abandoned wells; (3) saltwater encroachment; and (4) local overdevelopment. Information about ground water in Louisiana is extensive and available to the public. Several State and Federal agencies provide published and unpublished material upon request.

Unlicensed Assistive Personnel: Their Role on the School Health Services Team. Position Statement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rose, Kathleen C.; Disney, Jody; Andresen, Kathleen; Tuck, Christine; Porter, Jessica; Bobo, Nicole

2015-01-01

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that, where laws permit, unlicensed assistive personnel (UAP) can have valuable and necessary roles as assistants to school nurses. It is the professional responsibility of the registered professional school nurse (herein after referred to as school nurse) to identify UAP in…

List of type specimens deposited since 1998 in the United States Department of Agriculture Nematode Collection, Beltsville, Maryland

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The United States Department of Agriculture Nematode Collection (USDANC) is one of the largest and most valuable in existence and includes millions of specimens housed in over 39,800 permanent slides and 9,300 vials. This Collection preserves type specimens of nematodes to serve as a reference for i...

Dual Language Development and Disorders: A Handbook on Bilingualism and Second Language Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Genesee, Fred; Paradis, Johanne; Crago, Martha B.

2004-01-01

This book dispels many myths about dual language development and answers key questions that might arise as you work with children and their parents. Student profiles, definitions of key terms, and "clinical implications" sections for selected chapters make this a valuable reference for in-practice SLPs and educators, an accessible resource for…

Why Some School Subjects Have a Higher Status than Others: The Epistemology of the Traditional Curriculum Hierarchy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bleazby, Jennifer

2015-01-01

Inherent in most school curricula is some sort of curriculum hierarchy--that is, an assumption that some school subjects are more valuable than others. This paper examines the epistemological assumptions that underpin one such curriculum hierarchy, which I refer to as "the traditional curriculum hierarchy". It is a pervasive and…

Has Socioeconomic Development Reduced the English Divide? A Statistical Analysis of Access to English Skills in Japan

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Terasawa, Takunori

2017-01-01

As English skills are being increasingly perceived as valuable human capital, an awareness of inequitable access to the acquisition of this "profitable" language has developed. Although this allegedly unequal access, which can be referred to as the "English divide", is a matter of concern to applied linguists, little research…

Characterizing Communicative Development in Children Referred for Autism Spectrum Disorders Using the MacArthur-Bates Communicative Development Inventory (CDI)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Luyster, Rhiannon; Lopez, Kristina; Lord, Catherine

2007-01-01

Characterizing early communicative development in children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is valuable for understanding profiles of ability in this population. The current investigation was modeled on Charman, Drew, Baird & Baird (2003b). Analyses explored parent report of early vocabulary, non-verbal communication, functional object use and…

Development of Public Immortal Mapping Populations, Molecular Markers and Linkage Maps for Rapid Cycling Brassica rapa and B. oleracea

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

In this study we describe public immortal mapping populations of self-compatible lines, molecular markers, and linkage maps for Brassica rapa and B. oleracea. We propose that these resources are valuable reference tools for the Brassica community. The B. rapa population consists of 150 recombinant...

Nursing Delegation to Unlicensed Assistive Personnel in the School Setting. Position Statement. Revised

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cagginello, Joan; Blackborow, Mary; Porter, Jessica; Disney, Jody; Andresen, Kathleen; Tuck, Christine

2014-01-01

It is the position of the National Association of School Nurses (NASN) that the delegation of nursing tasks in the school setting can be a valuable tool for the registered professional school nurse (hereinafter referred to as school nurse), when based on the nursing definition of delegation (American Nurses Association [ANA], 2012) and in…

Inverting the Object of Study: Recalibrating the Frame of Reference in Study Abroad Experiences

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Palmer, Norris W.

2015-01-01

This essay is concerned with study abroad experiences as opportunities for student cognitive development, using the interpretive lens of educational psychologist William G. Perry. A standard and often valuable assignment in courses on world religions is a site visit to a religious institution in one's local area. This may concretize otherwise…

Using language models to identify relevant new information in inpatient clinical notes.

PubMed

Zhang, Rui; Pakhomov, Serguei V; Lee, Janet T; Melton, Genevieve B

2014-01-01

Redundant information in clinical notes within electronic health record (EHR) systems is ubiquitous and may negatively impact the use of these notes by clinicians, and, potentially, the efficiency of patient care delivery. Automated methods to identify redundant versus relevant new information may provide a valuable tool for clinicians to better synthesize patient information and navigate to clinically important details. In this study, we investigated the use of language models for identification of new information in inpatient notes, and evaluated our methods using expert-derived reference standards. The best method achieved precision of 0.743, recall of 0.832 and F1-measure of 0.784. The average proportion of redundant information was similar between inpatient and outpatient progress notes (76.6% (SD=17.3%) and 76.7% (SD=14.0%), respectively). Advanced practice providers tended to have higher rates of redundancy in their notes compared to physicians. Future investigation includes the addition of semantic components and visualization of new information.

Using Language Models to Identify Relevant New Information in Inpatient Clinical Notes

PubMed Central

Zhang, Rui; Pakhomov, Serguei V.; Lee, Janet T.; Melton, Genevieve B.

2014-01-01

Redundant information in clinical notes within electronic health record (EHR) systems is ubiquitous and may negatively impact the use of these notes by clinicians, and, potentially, the efficiency of patient care delivery. Automated methods to identify redundant versus relevant new information may provide a valuable tool for clinicians to better synthesize patient information and navigate to clinically important details. In this study, we investigated the use of language models for identification of new information in inpatient notes, and evaluated our methods using expert-derived reference standards. The best method achieved precision of 0.743, recall of 0.832 and F1-measure of 0.784. The average proportion of redundant information was similar between inpatient and outpatient progress notes (76.6% (SD=17.3%) and 76.7% (SD=14.0%), respectively). Advanced practice providers tended to have higher rates of redundancy in their notes compared to physicians. Future investigation includes the addition of semantic components and visualization of new information. PMID:25954438

Stromal cell-based immunotherapy in transplantation.

PubMed

Charles, Ronald; Lu, Lina; Qian, Shiguang; Fung, John J

2011-12-01

Organs are composed of parenchymal cells that characterize organ function and nonparenchymal cells that are composed of cells in transit, as well as tissue connective tissue, also referred to as tissue stromal cells. It was originally thought that these tissue stromal cells provided only structural and functional support for parenchymal cells and were relatively inert. However, we have come to realize that tissue stromal cells, not restricted to in the thymus and lymphoid organs, also play an active role in modulating the immune system and its response to antigens. The recognition of these elements and the elucidation of their mechanisms of action have provided valuable insight into peripheral immune regulation. Extrapolation of these principles may allow us to utilize their potential for clinical application. In this article, we will summarize a number of tissue stromal elements/cell types that have been shown to induce hyporesponsiveness to transplants. We will also discuss the mechanisms by which these stromal cells create a tolerogenic environment, which in turn results in long-term allograft survival.

Repetitive strain disorder: towards diagnostic criteria.

PubMed Central

Bird, H A; Hill, J

1992-01-01

Thirteen women (mean age 48.2 years; range 25-60 years) all of whom had developed musculoskeletal symptoms during employment in an industrial job with repetitive tasks were referred by their trade unions for adjudication on the cause of symptoms. One had rheumatoid arthritis. A study of the other 12 women provided an opportunity to document the natural history of repetitive strain disorder. Early symptoms of weakness were diffuse but were always relieved by rest. Several months later localisation of symptoms at a tendon, nerve, or enthesis could be predicted from the analysis of the action required in the particular repetitive task. Six of the 12 women required an operation several years later, thus providing histological confirmation of the presence of a lesion. Early loss of grip strength measured by a sphygmomanometer cuff compared with an unaffected control subject and improved by rest may be the most valuable sign in excluding compensation neurosis. The estimated prevalence of repetitive strain disorder defined by these strict criteria was at least 2% in conveyor belt workers. PMID:1417124

Chromosome-scale assembly of the Monopterus genome.

PubMed

Zhao, Xueya; Luo, Majing; Li, Zhigang; Zhong, Pei; Cheng, Yibin; Lai, Fengling; Wang, Xin; Min, Jiumeng; Bai, Mingzhou; Yang, Yulan; Cheng, Hanhua; Zhou, Rongjia

2018-05-01

The teleost fish Monopterus albus is emerging as a new model for biological studies due to its natural sex transition and small genome, in addition to its enormous economic and potential medical value. However, no genomic information for the Monopterus is currently available. Here, we sequenced and de novo assembled the genome of M. albus and report the de novochromosome assembly by FISH walking assisted by conserved synteny (Cafs). Using Cafs, 328 scaffolds were assembled into 12 chromosomes, which covered genomic sequences of 555 Mb, accounting for 81.3% of the sequences assembled in scaffolds (∼689 Mb). A total of 18 ,660 genes were mapped on the chromosomes and showed a nonrandom distribution along chromosomes. We report the first reference genome of the Monopterus and provide an efficient Cafs strategy for a de novo chromosome-level assembly of the Monopterus genome, which provides a valuable resource, not only for further studies in genetics, evolution, and development, particularly sex determination, but also for breed improvement of the species.

Hypothalamic transcriptomes of 99 mouse strains reveal trans eQTL hotspots, splicing QTLs and novel non-coding genes

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

Hasin-Brumshtein, Yehudit; Khan, Arshad H.; Hormozdiari, Farhad

2016-09-13

Previous studies had shown that the integration of genome wide expression profiles, in metabolic tissues, with genetic and phenotypic variance, provided valuable insight into the underlying molecular mechanisms. We used RNA-Seq to characterize hypothalamic transcriptome in 99 inbred strains of mice from the Hybrid Mouse Diversity Panel (HMDP), a reference resource population for cardiovascular and metabolic traits. We report numerous novel transcripts supported by proteomic analyses, as well as novel non coding RNAs. High resolution genetic mapping of transcript levels in HMDP, reveals bothlocalandtransexpression Quantitative Trait Loci (eQTLs) demonstrating 2transeQTL 'hotspots' associated with expression of hundreds of genes. We alsomore » report thousands of alternative splicing events regulated by genetic variants. Finally, comparison with about 150 metabolic and cardiovascular traits revealed many highly significant associations. Our data provide a rich resource for understanding the many physiologic functions mediated by the hypothalamus and their genetic regulation.« less

International global network of fiducial stations: Scientific and implementation issues

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

1991-11-01

In this report, an ad hoc panel of the National Research Council's Committee on Geodesy, Board of Earth Sciences and Resources (1) evaluates the scientific importance of a global network of fiducial sites, monitored very precisely, using a combination of surface- and space-geodetic techniques; (2) examines strategies for implementing and operating such a network; and (3) assesses whether such a network would provide a suitable global infrastructure for geodetic and other geophysical systems of the next century. The panel concludes that a global network of fiducial sites would be a valuable tool for addressing global change issues and play a critical role in providing a reference frame for scientific Earth missions. The panel suggests that existing global networks be integrated and anticipates that such a network would grow from about 30 to the ultimate size of about 200 fiducial sites. It is noted that such a global network will provide a long-term infrastructure for geodetic and geophysical studies. The panel expects that these fiducial sites would evolve into terrestrial observatories or laboratories that would permit more comprehensive studies of the Earth than those now possible.

International global network of fiducial stations: Scientific and implementation issues

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1991-01-01

In this report, an ad hoc panel of the National Research Council's Committee on Geodesy, Board of Earth Sciences and Resources (1) evaluates the scientific importance of a global network of fiducial sites, monitored very precisely, using a combination of surface- and space-geodetic techniques; (2) examines strategies for implementing and operating such a network; and (3) assesses whether such a network would provide a suitable global infrastructure for geodetic and other geophysical systems of the next century. The panel concludes that a global network of fiducial sites would be a valuable tool for addressing global change issues and play a critical role in providing a reference frame for scientific Earth missions. The panel suggests that existing global networks be integrated and anticipates that such a network would grow from about 30 to the ultimate size of about 200 fiducial sites. It is noted that such a global network will provide a long-term infrastructure for geodetic and geophysical studies. The panel expects that these fiducial sites would evolve into terrestrial observatories or laboratories that would permit more comprehensive studies of the Earth than those now possible.

The future of community nursing: Hospital in the Home.

PubMed

Lee, Gerry; Pickstone, Nicola; Facultad, Jose; Titchener, Karen

2017-04-02

With an increasing ageing population who often have multiple long-term conditions, there is a growing need to provide an alternative type of care to the traditional hospital-based model. 'Hospital in the Home' is a model that provides integrated care for patients in their home. The @home service was established in 2013 by Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. The service provides health care in patients' home, supporting early discharge from hospital as well as preventing avoidable admissions and readmissions saving valuable hospital bed days and reducing length of stay. This article describes the service available with the use of a case study of a 78-year-old lady who was referred by the London Ambulance Service with exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This case study highlights the ability to assess, treat and manage an acutely unwell patient with newly diagnosed heart failure in the community without the need for hospitalisation. This type of integrated care model with a multidisciplinary team is a feasible alternative to the traditional models of care in both the acute and community settings.

Analysis of in situ resources for the Soil Moisture Active Passive Validation Experiments in 2015 and 2016

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cosh, M. H.; Jackson, T. J.; Colliander, A.; Bindlish, R.; McKee, L.; Goodrich, D. C.; Prueger, J. H.; Hornbuckle, B. K.; Coopersmith, E. J.; Holifield Collins, C.; Smith, J.

2016-12-01

With the launch of the Soil Moisture Active Passive Mission (SMAP) in 2015, a new era of soil moisture monitoring was begun. Soil moisture is available on a near daily basis at a 36 km resolution for the globe. But this dataset is only as valuable if its products are accurate and reliable. Therefore, in order to demonstrate the accuracy of the soil moisture product, NASA enacted an extensive calibration and validation program with many in situ soil moisture networks contributing data across a variety of landscape regimes. However, not all questions can be answered by these networks. As a result, two intensive field experiments were executed to provide more detailed reference points for calibration and validation. Multi-week field campaigns were conducted in Arizona and Iowa at the USDA Agricultural Research Service Walnut Gulch and South Fork Experimental Watersheds, respectively. Aircraft observations were made to provide a high resolution data product. Soil moisture, soil roughness and vegetation data were collected at high resolution to provide a downscaled dataset to compare against aircraft and satellite estimates.

Certified reference materials for testing of the presence/absence of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin A (SEA) in cheese.

PubMed

Zeleny, Reinhard; Nia, Yacine; Schimmel, Heinz; Mutel, Isabelle; Hennekinne, Jacques-Antoine; Emteborg, Håkan; Charoud-Got, Jean; Auvray, Frédéric

2016-08-01

Staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) account for a substantial number of food-poisoning outbreaks. European legislation (Commission Regulation 1441/2007) stipulates the reference procedure for SE analysis in milk and dairy products, which is based on extraction, dialysis concentration and immunochemical detection using one of two approved assays (VIDAS(®) SET2, Ridascreen(®) SET Total). However, certified reference materials (CRMs) are lacking to support laboratories in performing reliable detection of Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin A (SEA) in relevant matrices at sub-nanogram per gram levels. The certification of a set of three reference materials (blank and two SEA-containing materials) for testing of the presence/absence of SEA in cheese is described. The reference procedure was applied in an intercomparison with 15 laboratories, and results were reported in a qualitative manner (presence or absence of SEA in the sample). No false-negative or false-positive results were obtained. The certified values were stated as diagnostic specificity (blank material) or diagnostic sensitivity (SEA-containing materials) and were 100 % in all cases. Stability studies demonstrated suitable material stability when stored cooled or frozen. An in-house study on the recovery of SEA in the cheese materials using a double-sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) revealed comparable recovery values of around 45 % at the two spiking levels and in both the SEA-containing CRMs as well as blank CRM freshly spiked prior to analysis. The values were also comparable over time and among different analysts. The materials provide valuable support to laboratories for method validation and method performance verification and will increase the reliability of measuring SEA in cheese.

Physical growth of the shuar: Height, Weight, and BMI references for an indigenous amazonian population.

PubMed

Urlacher, Samuel S; Blackwell, Aaron D; Liebert, Melissa A; Madimenos, Felicia C; Cepon-Robins, Tara J; Gildner, Theresa E; Snodgrass, J Josh; Sugiyama, Lawrence S

2016-01-01

Information concerning physical growth among small-scale populations remains limited, yet such data are critical to local health efforts and to foster basic understandings of human life history and variation in childhood development. Using a large dataset and robust modeling methods, this study aims to describe growth from birth to adulthood among the indigenous Shuar of Amazonian Ecuador. Mixed-longitudinal measures of height, weight, and body mass index (BMI) were collected from Shuar participants (n = 2,463; age: 0-29 years). Centile growth curves and tables were created for each anthropometric variable of interest using Generalized Additive Models for Location, Scale, and Shape (GAMLSS). Pseudo-velocity and Lambda-Mu-Sigma curves were generated to further investigate Shuar patterns of growth and to facilitate comparison with United States Center for Disease Control and Prevention and multinational World Health Organization growth references. The Shuar are small throughout life and exhibit complex patterns of growth that differ substantially from those of international references. Similar to other Amazonians, Shuar growth in weight compares more favorably to references than growth in height, resulting in BMI curves that approximate international medians. Several additional characteristics of Shuar development are noteworthy, including large observed variation in body size early in life, significant infant growth faltering, extended male growth into adulthood, and a markedly early female pubertal growth spurt in height. Phenotypic plasticity and genetic selection in response to local environmental factors may explain many of these patterns. Providing a detailed reference of growth for the Shuar and other Amazonian populations, this study possesses direct clinical application and affords valuable insight into childhood health and the ecology of human growth. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Image registration with auto-mapped control volumes

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

Schreibmann, Eduard; Xing Lei

2006-04-15

Many image registration algorithms rely on the use of homologous control points on the two input image sets to be registered. In reality, the interactive identification of the control points on both images is tedious, difficult, and often a source of error. We propose a two-step algorithm to automatically identify homologous regions that are used as a priori information during the image registration procedure. First, a number of small control volumes having distinct anatomical features are identified on the model image in a somewhat arbitrary fashion. Instead of attempting to find their correspondences in the reference image through user interaction,more » in the proposed method, each of the control regions is mapped to the corresponding part of the reference image by using an automated image registration algorithm. A normalized cross-correlation (NCC) function or mutual information was used as the auto-mapping metric and a limited memory Broyden-Fletcher-Goldfarb-Shanno algorithm (L-BFGS) was employed to optimize the function to find the optimal mapping. For rigid registration, the transformation parameters of the system are obtained by averaging that derived from the individual control volumes. In our deformable calculation, the mapped control volumes are treated as the nodes or control points with known positions on the two images. If the number of control volumes is not enough to cover the whole image to be registered, additional nodes are placed on the model image and then located on the reference image in a manner similar to the conventional BSpline deformable calculation. For deformable registration, the established correspondence by the auto-mapped control volumes provides valuable guidance for the registration calculation and greatly reduces the dimensionality of the problem. The performance of the two-step registrations was applied to three rigid registration cases (two PET-CT registrations and a brain MRI-CT registration) and one deformable registration of inhale and exhale phases of a lung 4D CT. Algorithm convergence was confirmed by starting the registration calculations from a large number of initial transformation parameters. An accuracy of {approx}2 mm was achieved for both deformable and rigid registration. The proposed image registration method greatly reduces the complexity involved in the determination of homologous control points and allows us to minimize the subjectivity and uncertainty associated with the current manual interactive approach. Patient studies have indicated that the two-step registration technique is fast, reliable, and provides a valuable tool to facilitate both rigid and nonrigid image registrations.« less

Transcriptome sequencing of different narrow-leafed lupin tissue types provides a comprehensive uni-gene assembly and extensive gene-based molecular markers

PubMed Central

Kamphuis, Lars G; Hane, James K; Nelson, Matthew N; Gao, Lingling; Atkins, Craig A; Singh, Karam B

2015-01-01

Narrow-leafed lupin (NLL; Lupinus angustifolius L.) is an important grain legume crop that is valuable for sustainable farming and is becoming recognized as a human health food. NLL breeding is directed at improving grain production, disease resistance, drought tolerance and health benefits. However, genetic and genomic studies have been hindered by a lack of extensive genomic resources for the species. Here, the generation, de novo assembly and annotation of transcriptome datasets derived from five different NLL tissue types of the reference accession cv. Tanjil are described. The Tanjil transcriptome was compared to transcriptomes of an early domesticated cv. Unicrop, a wild accession P27255, as well as accession 83A:476, together being the founding parents of two recombinant inbred line (RIL) populations. In silico predictions for transcriptome-derived gene-based length and SNP polymorphic markers were conducted and corroborated using a survey assembly sequence for NLL cv. Tanjil. This yielded extensive indel and SNP polymorphic markers for the two RIL populations. A total of 335 transcriptome-derived markers and 66 BAC-end sequence-derived markers were evaluated, and 275 polymorphic markers were selected to genotype the reference NLL 83A:476 × P27255 RIL population. This significantly improved the completeness, marker density and quality of the reference NLL genetic map. PMID:25060816

Analysis of the basic science section of the orthopaedic in-training examination.

PubMed

Sheibani-Rad, Shahin; Arnoczky, Steven Paul; Walter, Norman E

2012-08-01

Since 1963, the Orthopaedic In-Training Examination (OITE) has been administered to orthopedic residents to assess residents' knowledge and measure the quality of teaching within individual programs. The OITE currently consists of 275 questions divided among 12 domains. This study analyzed all OITE basic science questions between 2006 and 2010. The following data were recorded: number of questions, question taxonomy, category of question, type of imaging modality, and recommended journal and book references. Between 2006 and 2010, the basic science section constituted 12.2% of the OITE. The assessment of taxonomy classification showed that recall-type questions were the most common, at 81.4%. Imaging modalities typically involved questions on radiographs and constituted 6.2% of the OITE basic science section. The majority of questions were basic science questions (eg, genetics, cell replication, and bone metabolism), with an average of 26.4 questions per year. The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery (American Volume) and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons' Orthopaedic Basic Science were the most commonly and consistently cited journal and review book, respectively. This study provides the first review of the question content and recommended references of the OITE basic science section. This information will provide orthopedic trainees, orthopedic residency programs, and the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons Evaluation Committee valuable information related to improving residents' knowledge and performance and optimizing basic science educational curricula. Copyright 2012, SLACK Incorporated.

Multiple cytokines are involved in the early events leading to the Alzheimer’s disease pathology

PubMed Central

Wilberding, Akiko; Morimoto, Kaori; Satoh, Haruhisa; Harano, Keiko; Harano, Teruo; Arita, Seizaburo; Tooyama, Ikuo; Konishi, Yoshihiro

2009-01-01

It is likely that neuroinflammation begins well before detectable cognitive impairment in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) occurs. Clarifying the alterations occurring prior to the clinical manifestation of overt AD dementia may provide valuable insight into the early diagnosis and management of AD. Herein, to address the issue that neuroinflammation precedes development of AD pathology, we analyzed cytokine expression profiles of the brain, with focus on non-demented control patients with increasing AD pathology, referred to as high pathology control (HPC) cases, who provide an intermediate subset between AD and normal control cases referred to as low pathology control (LPC) cases. With a semi-quantitative analysis of cytokine mRNA, among 15 cytokines and their related molecules tested, we found the involvement of eight: interleukin-1(IL-1) receptor antagonist (IL-1ra), IL-1 converting enzyme (ICE), IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α, macrophage-colony stimulating factor (M-CSF) and transforming growth factor (TGF) β1 during the development from LPC to HPC, while decreases in IL-1ra, IL-8, MCP-1 and TNFα, and an increase in TACE were implicated in the later development from HPC to AD. These findings indicate that neuroinflammation precedes the clinical manifestation of overt dementia, rather than being involved at the later stages of AD. PMID:22586434

The Agassiz’s desert tortoise genome provides a resource for the conservation of a threatened species

PubMed Central

Tollis, Marc; DeNardo, Dale F.; Cornelius, John A.; Dolby, Greer A.; Edwards, Taylor; Henen, Brian T.; Karl, Alice E.; Murphy, Robert W.

2017-01-01

Agassiz’s desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is a long-lived species native to the Mojave Desert and is listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act. To aid conservation efforts for preserving the genetic diversity of this species, we generated a whole genome reference sequence with an annotation based on deep transcriptome sequences of adult skeletal muscle, lung, brain, and blood. The draft genome assembly for G. agassizii has a scaffold N50 length of 252 kbp and a total length of 2.4 Gbp. Genome annotation reveals 20,172 protein-coding genes in the G. agassizii assembly, and that gene structure is more similar to chicken than other turtles. We provide a series of comparative analyses demonstrating (1) that turtles are among the slowest-evolving genome-enabled reptiles, (2) amino acid changes in genes controlling desert tortoise traits such as shell development, longevity and osmoregulation, and (3) fixed variants across the Gopherus species complex in genes related to desert adaptations, including circadian rhythm and innate immune response. This G. agassizii genome reference and annotation is the first such resource for any tortoise, and will serve as a foundation for future analysis of the genetic basis of adaptations to the desert environment, allow for investigation into genomic factors affecting tortoise health, disease and longevity, and serve as a valuable resource for additional studies in this species complex. PMID:28562605

The Agassiz's desert tortoise genome provides a resource for the conservation of a threatened species.

PubMed

Tollis, Marc; DeNardo, Dale F; Cornelius, John A; Dolby, Greer A; Edwards, Taylor; Henen, Brian T; Karl, Alice E; Murphy, Robert W; Kusumi, Kenro

2017-01-01

Agassiz's desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) is a long-lived species native to the Mojave Desert and is listed as threatened under the US Endangered Species Act. To aid conservation efforts for preserving the genetic diversity of this species, we generated a whole genome reference sequence with an annotation based on deep transcriptome sequences of adult skeletal muscle, lung, brain, and blood. The draft genome assembly for G. agassizii has a scaffold N50 length of 252 kbp and a total length of 2.4 Gbp. Genome annotation reveals 20,172 protein-coding genes in the G. agassizii assembly, and that gene structure is more similar to chicken than other turtles. We provide a series of comparative analyses demonstrating (1) that turtles are among the slowest-evolving genome-enabled reptiles, (2) amino acid changes in genes controlling desert tortoise traits such as shell development, longevity and osmoregulation, and (3) fixed variants across the Gopherus species complex in genes related to desert adaptations, including circadian rhythm and innate immune response. This G. agassizii genome reference and annotation is the first such resource for any tortoise, and will serve as a foundation for future analysis of the genetic basis of adaptations to the desert environment, allow for investigation into genomic factors affecting tortoise health, disease and longevity, and serve as a valuable resource for additional studies in this species complex.

Factors associated with Medicare beneficiary complaints about quality of care.

PubMed

Harrington, C; Merrill, S; Newman, J

2001-01-01

This article examines the number and types of formal complaints about quality of care that were made by Medicare beneficiaries and submitted to the California Peer Review Organization (PRO) during the period July 1, 1995-December 30, 1996. Logistic regression models were used to analyze the complaints in terms of sociodemographic factors, enabling factors (income and health maintenance organization [HMO] membership), diagnoses, and primary service providers. The complaint rate was found to be very low, and only 13% of complaints were confirmed by the PRO. HMO members and members receiving physician care and outpatient/emergency room care were more likely to complain about denials of or delays in services or the failure to be referred to specialists than were members in fee-for-service plans and those receiving other types of provider care. Complaints about poor nursing care were associated with receiving skilled nursing/rehabilitation care. Complaints about care that resulted in injury were associated with the denial of care, failure to be referred to a specialist, poor medical care, and poor communications. Complaints about care that led to disability were associated with medical errors, whereas those that led to death were associated with misdiagnosis and premature hospital discharge. It would be valuable for PROs to focus their complaint review efforts on common types of complaints in different settings. A review of PRO procedures should be undertaken to understand why so few complaints are submitted and confirmed.

FINDbase: a relational database recording frequencies of genetic defects leading to inherited disorders worldwide.

PubMed

van Baal, Sjozef; Kaimakis, Polynikis; Phommarinh, Manyphong; Koumbi, Daphne; Cuppens, Harry; Riccardino, Francesca; Macek, Milan; Scriver, Charles R; Patrinos, George P

2007-01-01

Frequency of INherited Disorders database (FINDbase) (http://www.findbase.org) is a relational database, derived from the ETHNOS software, recording frequencies of causative mutations leading to inherited disorders worldwide. Database records include the population and ethnic group, the disorder name and the related gene, accompanied by links to any corresponding locus-specific mutation database, to the respective Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man entries and the mutation together with its frequency in that population. The initial information is derived from the published literature, locus-specific databases and genetic disease consortia. FINDbase offers a user-friendly query interface, providing instant access to the list and frequencies of the different mutations. Query outputs can be either in a table or graphical format, accompanied by reference(s) on the data source. Registered users from three different groups, namely administrator, national coordinator and curator, are responsible for database curation and/or data entry/correction online via a password-protected interface. Databaseaccess is free of charge and there are no registration requirements for data querying. FINDbase provides a simple, web-based system for population-based mutation data collection and retrieval and can serve not only as a valuable online tool for molecular genetic testing of inherited disorders but also as a non-profit model for sustainable database funding, in the form of a 'database-journal'.

Around the World in 1,475 Salmonella Geo-serotypes

PubMed Central

Le Hello, Simon; de Jong, Birgitta; Rolfhamre, Per; Faensen, Daniel; Weill, François-Xavier; Giesecke, Johan

2016-01-01

It’s easy to remember Salmonella serotypes names, isn’t it? Surely, this is because the naming system of Salmonella serotypes is by far the most scientist friendly. Traditionally, most Salmonella serotypes have been named after geographic locations. We decided to explore the geographic locations to which Salmonella serotypes refer and describe some unexpected twists in the naming scheme. We found that 93% (n = 1,475) of the 1,585 serotypes could be categorized as geo-serotypes; that is, the name refers to a geographic location. The 3 countries with the most geo-serotypes are Germany, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Other serotype names refer to the name of a person, animal, tribe, or food item or are a composite of symptoms and host. The Salmonella serotypes naming scheme has had a valuable effect on public health microbiology, and in the current era of fast development of whole-genome sequencing, it should remain a reference.

Evaluation of the streamgage network for estimating streamflow statistics at ungaged sites in Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River Basin in Pennsylvania and New York

USGS Publications Warehouse

Sloto, Ronald A.; Stuckey, Marla H.; Hoffman, Scott A.

2017-05-10

The current (2015) streamgage network in Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River Basin in Pennsylvania and New York was evaluated in order to design a network that would meet the hydrologic needs of many partners and serve a variety of purposes and interests, including estimation of streamflow statistics at ungaged sites. This study was done by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection and the Susquehanna River Basin Commission. The study area includes the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River Basin in Pennsylvania and New York. For this study, 229 streamgages were identified as reference streamgages that could be used to represent ungaged watersheds. Criteria for a reference streamgage are a minimum of 10 years of continuous record, minimally altered streamflow, and a drainage area less than 1,500 square miles. Some of the reference streamgages have been discontinued but provide historical hydrologic information valuable in the determination of streamflow characteristics of ungaged watersheds. Watersheds in the study area not adequately represented by a reference streamgage were identified by examining a range of basin characteristics, the extent of geographic coverage, and the strength of estimated streamflow correlations between gaged and ungaged sites.Basin characteristics were determined for the reference streamgage watersheds and the 1,662 12-digit hydrologic unit code (HUC12) subwatersheds in Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River Basin using a geographic information system (GIS) spatial analysis and nationally available GIS datasets. Basin characteristics selected for this study include drainage area, mean basin elevation, mean basin slope, percentage of urbanized area, percentage of forested area, percentage of carbonate bedrock, mean annual precipitation, and soil thickness. A GIS spatial analysis was used to identify HUC12 subwatersheds outside the range of basin characteristics of the reference streamgages. There were 320 HUC12 subwatersheds, or 19 percent of the study area, with basin characteristics outside the range represented by the reference streamgage watersheds.A GIS spatial analysis was used to identify geographic gaps in the streamgage network. For each streamgage, a watershed area, called the gage statistical area (GSA), was delineated. The GSA shows the drainage area within a specific drainage-area ratio of the streamgage for transfer of streamflow statistics from that streamgage to ungaged sites on the valid statistical reach of the GSA for a streamgage. In Pennsylvania, a drainage-area ratio of 0.33–3 times the drainage area of the ungaged site was found to perform as well as, if not better than, more traditional ratios such as 0.5–1.5 (or 2) for transfer of selected streamflow statistics. A total of 1,102 HUC12 subwatersheds, or 66 percent of the study area, are outside the GSA for a reference streamgage.The USGS Baseline Streamflow Estimator (BaSE) program was used to determine how well HUC12 subwatersheds outside the streamgage GSAs are represented by the reference streamgage network in Pennsylvania, based on estimated streamflow correlation. The centroid of each HUC12 subwatershed was run through the BaSE program to determine the reference streamgage with the highest estimated streamflow correlation. There were 929 HUC12 subwatersheds in Pennsylvania, or 56 percent of the State, with an estimated correlation coefficient less than 0.96.The results from the basin characteristic, geographic, and streamflow correlation analyses were combined to identify 1,405 HUC12 subwatersheds in Pennsylvania and the Susquehanna River Basin in Pennsylvania and New York that lack a representative reference, based on at least one identified gap. Of the 1,405 HUC12 subwatersheds, 139 exhibited all three gaps, indicating a 8-percent gap in the reference streamgage network.Streamgages in areas with similar hydrologic characteristics and in close proximity to one another can potentially provide similar information (termed streamgages with high substitution potential). Streamgages were considered to have a high substitution potential with a nearby streamgage(s) if (1) the streamflow correlation coefficient was equal to or greater than 0.96, (2) the streamgages had 10 years of concurrent record, and (3) the streamgages are in the same watershed within the GSA of the streamgage. Seventy-four current (2015) streamgages with high substitution potential with at least one other streamgage were identified in the study area. Although these identified streamgages have a high substitution potential, they provide valuable streamflow information to a stakeholder. Selected primary uses of these streamgages were identified to determine the overall need for an individual streamgage.

The return map: tracking product teams.

PubMed

House, C H; Price, R L

1991-01-01

With a new product, time is now more valuable than money. The costs of conceiving and designing a product are less important to its ultimate success than timeliness to market. One of the most important ways to speed up product development is through interfunctional teamwork. The "Return Map," developed at Hewlett-Packard, provides a way for people from different functions to triangulate on the product development process as a whole. It graphically represents the contributions of all team members to the moment when a project breaks even. It forces the team to estimate and re-estimate the time it will take to perform critical tasks, so that products can get out fast. It subjects the team to the only discipline that works, namely, self-discipline. The map is, in effect, a graph representing time and money, where the time line is divided into three phases: investigation, development, and manufacturing and sales. Meanwhile, costs are plotted against time--as are revenues when they are realized after manufacturing release. Within these points of reference, four novel metrics emerge: Break-Even-Time, Time-to-Market, Break-Even-After-Release, and the Return Factor. All metrics are estimated at the beginning of a project to determine its feasibility, then they are tracked carefully while the project evolves to determine its success. Missed forecasts are inevitable, but managers who punish employees for missing their marks will only encourage them to estimate conservatively, thus building slack into a system meant to eliminate slack. Estimates are a team responsibility, and deviations provide valuable information that spurs continuous investigation and improvement.

Polymerase chain reaction-based identification of clinically relevant Pasteurellaceae isolated from cats and dogs in Poland.

PubMed

Król, Jaroslaw; Bania, Jacek; Florek, Magdalena; Pliszczak-Król, Aleksandra; Staroniewicz, Zdzislaw

2011-05-01

A set of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assays for identification of the most important Pasteurellaceae species encountered in cats and dogs were developed. Primers for Pasteurella multocida were designed to detect a fragment of the kmt, a gene encoding the outer-membrane protein. Primers specific to Pasteurella canis, Pasteurella dagmatis, and Pasteurella stomatis were based on the manganese-dependent superoxide dismutase gene (sodA) and those specific to [Haemophilus] haemoglobinophilus on species-specific sequences of the 16S ribosomal RNA gene. All the primers were tested on respective reference and control strains and applied to the identification of 47 canine and feline field isolates of Pasteurellaceae. The PCR assays were shown to be species specific, providing a valuable supplement to phenotypic identification of species within this group of bacteria. © 2011 The Author(s)

GIS-Based Suitability Model for Assessment of Forest Biomass Energy Potential in a Region of Portugal

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Quinta-Nova, Luis; Fernandez, Paulo; Pedro, Nuno

2017-12-01

This work focuses on developed a decision support system based on multicriteria spatial analysis to assess the potential for generation of biomass residues from forestry sources in a region of Portugal (Beira Baixa). A set of environmental, economic and social criteria was defined, evaluated and weighted in the context of Saaty’s analytic hierarchies. The best alternatives were obtained after applying Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). The model was applied to the central region of Portugal where forest and agriculture are the most representative land uses. Finally, sensitivity analysis of the set of factors and their associated weights was performed to test the robustness of the model. The proposed evaluation model provides a valuable reference for decision makers in establishing a standardized means of selecting the optimal location for new biomass plants.

The imaging 3.0 informatics scorecard.

PubMed

Kohli, Marc; Dreyer, Keith J; Geis, J Raymond

2015-04-01

Imaging 3.0 is a radiology community initiative to empower radiologists to create and demonstrate value for their patients, referring physicians, and health systems. In image-guided health care, radiologists contribute to the entire health care process, well before and after the actual examination, and out to the point at which they guide clinical decisions and affect patient outcome. Because imaging is so pervasive, radiologists who adopt Imaging 3.0 concepts in their practice can help their health care systems provide consistently high-quality care at reduced cost. By doing this, radiologists become more valuable in the new health care setting. The authors describe how informatics is critical to embracing Imaging 3.0 and present a scorecard that can be used to gauge a radiology group's informatics resources and capabilities. Copyright © 2015 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparison of critical methods developed for fatty acid analysis: A review.

PubMed

Wu, Zhuona; Zhang, Qi; Li, Ning; Pu, Yiqiong; Wang, Bing; Zhang, Tong

2017-01-01

Fatty acids are important nutritional substances and metabolites in living organisms. These acids are abundant in Chinese herbs, such as Brucea javanica, Notopterygium forbesii, Isatis tinctoria, Astragalus membranaceus, and Aconitum szechenyianum. This review illustrates the types of fatty acids and their significant roles in the human body. Many analytical methods are used for the qualitative and quantitative evaluation of fatty acids. Some of the methods used to analyze fatty acids in more than 30 kinds of plants, drugs, and other samples are presented in this paper. These analytical methods include gas chromatography, liquid chromatography, near-infrared spectroscopy, and NMR spectroscopy. The advantages and disadvantages of these techniques are described and compared. This review provides a valuable reference for establishing methods for fatty acid determination. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

Hemipteran Mitochondrial Genomes: Features, Structures and Implications for Phylogeny

PubMed Central

Wang, Yuan; Chen, Jing; Jiang, Li-Yun; Qiao, Ge-Xia

2015-01-01

The study of Hemipteran mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) began with the Chagas disease vector, Triatoma dimidiata, in 2001. At present, 90 complete Hemipteran mitogenomes have been sequenced and annotated. This review examines the history of Hemipteran mitogenomes research and summarizes the main features of them including genome organization, nucleotide composition, protein-coding genes, tRNAs and rRNAs, and non-coding regions. Special attention is given to the comparative analysis of repeat regions. Gene rearrangements are an additional data type for a few families, and most mitogenomes are arranged in the same order to the proposed ancestral insect. We also discuss and provide insights on the phylogenetic analyses of a variety of taxonomic levels. This review is expected to further expand our understanding of research in this field and serve as a valuable reference resource. PMID:26039239

UnCover on the Web: search hints and applications in library environments.

PubMed

Galpern, N F; Albert, K M

1997-01-01

Among the huge maze of resources available on the Internet, UnCoverWeb stands out as a valuable tool for medical libraries. This up-to-date, free-access, multidisciplinary database of periodical references is searched through an easy-to-learn graphical user interface that is a welcome improvement over the telnet version. This article reviews the basic and advanced search techniques for UnCoverWeb, as well as providing information on the document delivery functions and table of contents alerting service called Reveal. UnCover's currency is evaluated and compared with other current awareness resources. System deficiencies are discussed, with the conclusion that although UnCoverWeb lacks the sophisticated features of many commercial database search services, it is nonetheless a useful addition to the repertoire of information sources available in a library.

Design and analysis of an electromagnetic turnout for the superconducting Maglev system

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Y. J.; Dai, Q.; Zhang, Y.; Wang, H.; Chen, Z.; Sun, R. X.; Zheng, J.; Deng, C. Y.; Deng, Z. G.

2016-09-01

Turnout is a crucial track junction device of the ground rail transportation system. For high temperature superconducting (HTS) Maglev system, the permanent magnet guideway (PMG) makes the strong magnetic force existing between rail segments, which may cause moving difficulties and increase the operation cost when switching a PMG. In this paper, a non-mechanical 'Y' shaped Halbach-type electromagnetic turnout was proposed. By replacing the PMs with electromagnets, the turnout can guide the maglev vehicle running into another PMG by simply controlling the current direction of electromagnets. The material and structure parameters of the electromagnets were optimized by simulation. The results show that the optimized electromagnet can keep the magnetic field above it as strong as the PMs', meanwhile feasible for design and manufacture. This work provides valuable references for the future design in non-mechanical PMG turnout.

Factors affecting professional ethics in nursing practice in Iran: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Dehghani, Ali; Mosalanejad, Leili; Dehghan-Nayeri, Nahid

2015-09-09

Professional ethics refers to the use of logical and consistent communication, knowledge, clinical skills, emotions and values in nursing practice. This study aimed to explore and describe factors that affect professional ethics in nursing practice in Iran. This qualitative study was conducted using conventional content analysis approach. Thirty nurses with at least 5 years of experience participated in the study; they were selected using purposive sampling. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. After encoding and classifying the data, five major categories were identified: individual character and responsibility, communication challenges, organizational preconditions, support systems, educational and cultural development. Awareness of professional ethics and its contributing factors could help nurses and healthcare professionals provide better services for patients. At the same time, such understanding would be valuable for educational administrators for effective planning and management.

Archaeoastronomical Information in the Study of Cremation Necropolis: Preliminary Study

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Mejuto, J.; Cerde, M. L.; Rodríguez, C.

2009-08-01

This work remarks the significance that archaeoastronomical studies have for archaeological research. These studies provide us data about the perception that ancient societies had about astronomical events and how these facts were added to their religious and ideological world. Thus, archaeoastronomy become a valuable source of information when aimed to solve any question involving the ancient societies. We take as reference in this work some of the Late Bronze Age{'}s cremation necropolis, representatives of usually called Urnfields, to check if their design can be related to some celestial phenomena: Can Bech de Baix (Gerona), Can Pitieu-Can Roqueta(Barcelona), Molá (Tarragona), Can Missert (Tarragona), Les Obagues (Tarragona), La Colomina (Lleida) and La Torraza (Navarra). Likewise a new standard in archaeological excavations maps is proposed. This will allow getting the information more available and improving further studies.

Research on pyrolysis behavior of Camellia sinensis branches via the Discrete Distributed Activation Energy Model.

PubMed

Zhou, Bingliang; Zhou, Jianbin; Zhang, Qisheng

2017-10-01

This study aims at investigating the pyrolysis behavior of Camellia sinensis branches by the Discrete Distributed Activation Energy Model (DAEM) and thermogravimetric experiments. Then the Discrete DAEM method is used to describe pyrolysis process of Camellia sinensis branches dominated by 12 characterized reactions. The decomposition mechanism of Camellia sinensis branches and interaction with components are observed. And the reaction at 350.77°C is a significant boundary of the first and second reaction range. The pyrolysis process of Camellia sinensis branches at the heating rate of 10,000°C/min is predicted and provides valuable references for gasification or combustion. The relationship and function between four typical indexes and heating rates from 10 to 10,000°C/min are revealed. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Translational genomics for plant breeding with the genome sequence explosion.

PubMed

Kang, Yang Jae; Lee, Taeyoung; Lee, Jayern; Shim, Sangrea; Jeong, Haneul; Satyawan, Dani; Kim, Moon Young; Lee, Suk-Ha

2016-04-01

The use of next-generation sequencers and advanced genotyping technologies has propelled the field of plant genomics in model crops and plants and enhanced the discovery of hidden bridges between genotypes and phenotypes. The newly generated reference sequences of unstudied minor plants can be annotated by the knowledge of model plants via translational genomics approaches. Here, we reviewed the strategies of translational genomics and suggested perspectives on the current databases of genomic resources and the database structures of translated information on the new genome. As a draft picture of phenotypic annotation, translational genomics on newly sequenced plants will provide valuable assistance for breeders and researchers who are interested in genetic studies. © 2015 The Authors. Plant Biotechnology Journal published by Society for Experimental Biology and The Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Aerodynamic and Aerothermal TPS Instrumentation Reference Guide

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Woollard, Bryce A.; Braun, Robert D.; Bose, Deepack

2016-01-01

The hypersonic regime of planetary entry combines the most severe environments that an entry vehicle will encounter with the greatest amount of uncertainty as to the events unfolding during that time period. This combination generally leads to conservatism in the design of an entry vehicle, specifically that of the thermal protection system (TPS). Each planetary entry provides a valuable aerodynamic and aerothermal testing opportunity; the utilization of this opportunity is paramount in better understanding how a specific entry vehicle responds to the demands of the hypersonic entry environment. Previous efforts have been made to instrument entry vehicles in order to collect data during the entry period and reconstruct the corresponding vehicle response. The purpose of this paper is to cumulatively document past TPS instrumentation designs for applicable planetary missions, as well as to list pertinent results and any explainable shortcomings.

Saponins from sea cucumber and their biological activities.

PubMed

Zhao, Yingcai; Xue, Changhu; Zhang, Tiantian; Wang, YuMing

2018-06-22

Sea cucumbers, belonging to the phylum Echinodermata, have been valued for centuries as a nutritious and functional food with various bioactivities. Sea cucumbers can produce highly active substances, notably saponins, the main secondary metabolites, which are the basis of their chemical defense. The saponins are mostly triterpene glycosides with triterpenes or steroid in aglycone, which possess multiple biological properties including anti-tumor, hypolipidemic activity, improvement of nonalcoholic fatty liver, inhibition of fat accumulation, anti-hyperuricemia, promotion of bone marrow hematopoiesis, anti-hypertension, etc. Sea cucumber saponins have received attention due to their rich sources, low toxicity, high efficiency, and few side effects. This review summarizes current research on the structure and activities of sea cucumber saponins based on the physiological and pharmacological activities from source, experimental models, efficacy and mechanisms, which may provide a valuable reference for the development of sea cucumber saponins.

Development of WAIS-III General Ability Index Minus WMS-III memory discrepancy scores.

PubMed

Lange, Rael T; Chelune, Gordon J; Tulsky, David S

2006-09-01

Analysis of the discrepancy between intellectual functioning and memory ability has received some support as a useful means for evaluating memory impairment. In recent additions to Wechlser scale interpretation, the WAIS-III General Ability Index (GAI) and the WMS-III Delayed Memory Index (DMI) were developed. The purpose of this investigation is to develop base rate data for GAI-IMI, GAI-GMI, and GAI-DMI discrepancy scores using data from the WAIS-III/WMS-III standardization sample (weighted N = 1250). Base rate tables were developed using the predicted-difference method and two simple-difference methods (i.e., stratified and non-stratified). These tables provide valuable data for clinical reference purposes to determine the frequency of GAI-IMI, GAI-GMI, and GAI-DMI discrepancy scores in the WAIS-III/WMS-III standardization sample.

Impacts of suppressing guide on information spreading

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xu, Jinghong; Zhang, Lin; Ma, Baojun; Wu, Ye

2016-02-01

It is quite common that guides are introduced to suppress the information spreading in modern society for different purposes. In this paper, an agent-based model is established to quantitatively analyze the impacts of suppressing guides on information spreading. We find that the spreading threshold depends on the attractiveness of the information and the topology of the social network with no suppressing guides at all. Usually, one would expect that the existence of suppressing guides in the spreading procedure may result in less diffusion of information within the overall network. However, we find that sometimes the opposite is true: the manipulating nodes of suppressing guides may lead to more extensive information spreading when there are audiences with the reversal mind. These results can provide valuable theoretical references to public opinion guidance on various information, e.g., rumor or news spreading.

Draft Genome Sequence of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus Strain P23, a Plant Growth-Promoting Bacterium of Duckweed

PubMed Central

Hosoyama, Akira; Yamazoe, Atsushi; Morikawa, Masaaki

2015-01-01

Acinetobacter calcoaceticus strain P23 is a plant growth-promoting bacterium, which was isolated from the surface of duckweed. We report here the draft genome sequence of strain P23. The genome data will serve as a valuable reference for understanding the molecular mechanism of plant growth promotion in aquatic plants. PMID:25720680

Making Data Work Harder: OCLC Shows How Data Mined from Systems like WorldCat Can Add Value for Librarians and Users

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lavoie, Brian; Dempsey, Lorcan; Connaway, Lynn Silipigni

2006-01-01

If librarians want to improve their visibility and value in the increasingly crowded digital information spaces, where users expect good results without expending much time or effort, they must learn to repurpose data to create added value. Since librarians already possess valuable data sources, like circulation statistics, reference transactions,…

Expressing support for designation of September 2009 as "Gospel Music Heritage Month" and honoring gospel music for its valuable and longstanding contributions to the culture of the United States.

THOMAS, 111th Congress

Rep. Jackson-Lee, Sheila [D-TX-18

2009-01-08

Senate - 08/03/2009 Received in the Senate and Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. (All Actions) Tracker: This bill has the status Passed HouseHere are the steps for Status of Legislation:

Interventions following hearing screening in adults: a systematic descriptive review.

PubMed

Pronk, Marieke; Kramer, Sophia E; Davis, Adrian C; Stephens, Dafydd; Smith, Pauline A; Thodi, Chryssoula; Anteunis, Lucien J C; Parazzini, Marta; Grandori, Ferdinando

2011-09-01

Adult hearing screening may be a solution to the under-diagnosis and under-treatment of hearing loss in adults. Limited use and satisfaction with hearing aids indicate that consideration of alternative interventions following hearing screening may be needed. The primary aim of this study is to provide an overview of all intervention types that have been offered to adult (≥ 18 years) screen-failures. Systematic literature review. Articles were identified through systematic searches in PubMed, EMBASE, Cinahl, the Cochrane Library, private libraries, and through reference checking. Of the initial 3027 papers obtained from the searches, a total of 37 were found to be eligible. The great majority of the screening programmes (i.e. 26) referred screen-failures to a hearing specialist without further rehabilitation being specified. Most of the others (i.e. seven) led to the provision of hearing aids. Four studies offered alternative interventions comprising communication programme elements (e.g. speechreading, hearing tactics) or advice on environmental aids. Interventions following hearing screening generally comprised referral to a hearing specialist or hearing aid rehabilitation. Some programmes offered alternative rehabilitation options. These may be valuable as an addition to or replacement of hearing aid rehabilitation. It is recommended that this be addressed in future research.

Assembly of the Lactuca sativa, L. cv. Tizian draft genome sequence reveals differences within major resistance complex 1 as compared to the cv. Salinas reference genome.

PubMed

Verwaaijen, Bart; Wibberg, Daniel; Nelkner, Johanna; Gordin, Miriam; Rupp, Oliver; Winkler, Anika; Bremges, Andreas; Blom, Jochen; Grosch, Rita; Pühler, Alfred; Schlüter, Andreas

2018-02-10

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa, L.) is an important annual plant of the family Asteraceae (Compositae). The commercial lettuce cultivar Tizian has been used in various scientific studies investigating the interaction of the plant with phytopathogens or biological control agents. Here, we present the de novo draft genome sequencing and gene prediction for this specific cultivar derived from transcriptome sequence data. The assembled scaffolds amount to a size of 2.22 Gb. Based on RNAseq data, 31,112 transcript isoforms were identified. Functional predictions for these transcripts were determined within the GenDBE annotation platform. Comparison with the cv. Salinas reference genome revealed a high degree of sequence similarity on genome and transcriptome levels, with an average amino acid identity of 99%. Furthermore, it was observed that two large regions are either missing or are highly divergent within the cv. Tizian genome compared to cv. Salinas. One of these regions covers the major resistance complex 1 region of cv. Salinas. The cv. Tizian draft genome sequence provides a valuable resource for future functional and transcriptome analyses focused on this lettuce cultivar. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Spectroscopy applied to feed additives of the European Union Reference Laboratory: a valuable tool for traceability.

PubMed

Omar, Jone; Slowikowski, Boleslaw; Boix, Ana; von Holst, Christoph

2017-08-01

Feed additives need to be authorised to be placed on the market according to Regulation (EU) No. 1831/2003. Next to laying down the procedural requirements, the regulation creates the European Union Reference Laboratory for Feed Additives (EURL-FA) and requires that applicants send samples to the EURL-FA. Once authorised, the characteristics of the marketed feed additives should correspond to those deposited in the sample bank of the EURL-FA. For this purpose, the submitted samples were subjected to near-infrared (NIR) and Raman spectroscopy for spectral characterisation. These techniques have the valuable potential of characterising the feed additives in a non-destructive manner without any complicated sample preparation. This paper describes the capability of spectroscopy for a rapid characterisation of products to establish whether specific authorisation criteria are met. This study is based on the analysis of feed additive samples from different categories and functional groups, namely products containing (1) selenium, (2) zinc and manganese, (3) vitamins and (4) essential oils such as oregano and thyme oil. The use of chemometrics turned out to be crucial, especially in cases where the differentiation of spectra by visual inspection was very difficult.

Development of a portable wireless system for bipolar concentric ECG recording

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prats-Boluda, G.; Ye-Lin, Y.; Bueno Barrachina, J. M.; Senent, E.; Rodriguez de Sanabria, R.; Garcia-Casado, J.

2015-07-01

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the biggest cause of deaths worldwide. ECG monitoring is a key tool for early diagnosis of CVDs. Conventional monitors use monopolar electrodes resulting in poor spatial resolution surface recordings and requiring extensive wiring. High-spatial resolution surface electrocardiographic recordings provide valuable information for the diagnosis of a wide range of cardiac abnormalities, including infarction and arrhythmia. The aim of this work was to develop and test a wireless recording system for acquiring high spatial resolution ECG signals, based on a flexible tripolar concentric electrode (TCE) without cable wiring or external reference electrode which would make more comnfortable its use in clinical practice. For this, a portable, wireless sensor node for analogue conditioning, digitalization and transmission of a bipolar concentric ECG signal (BC-ECG) using a TCE and a Mason-likar Lead-I ECG (ML-Lead-I ECG) signal was developed. Experimental results from a total of 32 healthy volunteers showed that the ECG fiducial points in the BC-ECG signals, recorded with external and internal reference electrode, are consistent with those of simultaneous ML-Lead-I ECG. No statistically significant difference was found in either signal amplitude or morphology, regardless of the reference electrode used, being the signal-to-noise similar to that of ML-Lead-I ECG. Furthermore, it has been observed that BC-ECG signals contain information that could not available in conventional records, specially related to atria activity. The proposed wireless sensor node provides non-invasive high-local resolution ECG signals using only a TCE without additional wiring, which would have great potential in medical diagnosis of diseases such as atrial or ventricular fibrillations or arrhythmias that currently require invasive diagnostic procedures (catheterization).

Known-component 3D-2D registration for quality assurance of spine surgery pedicle screw placement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Uneri, A.; De Silva, T.; Stayman, J. W.; Kleinszig, G.; Vogt, S.; Khanna, A. J.; Gokaslan, Z. L.; Wolinsky, J.-P.; Siewerdsen, J. H.

2015-10-01

A 3D-2D image registration method is presented that exploits knowledge of interventional devices (e.g. K-wires or spine screws—referred to as ‘known components’) to extend the functionality of intraoperative radiography/fluoroscopy by providing quantitative measurement and quality assurance (QA) of the surgical product. The known-component registration (KC-Reg) algorithm uses robust 3D-2D registration combined with 3D component models of surgical devices known to be present in intraoperative 2D radiographs. Component models were investigated that vary in fidelity from simple parametric models (e.g. approximation of a screw as a simple cylinder, referred to as ‘parametrically-known’ component [pKC] registration) to precise models based on device-specific CAD drawings (referred to as ‘exactly-known’ component [eKC] registration). 3D-2D registration from three intraoperative radiographs was solved using the covariance matrix adaptation evolution strategy (CMA-ES) to maximize image-gradient similarity, relating device placement relative to 3D preoperative CT of the patient. Spine phantom and cadaver studies were conducted to evaluate registration accuracy and demonstrate QA of the surgical product by verification of the type of devices delivered and conformance within the ‘acceptance window’ of the spinal pedicle. Pedicle screws were successfully registered to radiographs acquired from a mobile C-arm, providing TRE 1-4 mm and  <5° using simple parametric (pKC) models, further improved to  <1 mm and  <1° using eKC registration. Using advanced pKC models, screws that did not match the device models specified in the surgical plan were detected with an accuracy of  >99%. Visualization of registered devices relative to surgical planning and the pedicle acceptance window provided potentially valuable QA of the surgical product and reliable detection of pedicle screw breach. 3D-2D registration combined with 3D models of known surgical devices offers a novel method for intraoperative QA. The method provides a near-real-time independent check against pedicle breach, facilitating revision within the same procedure if necessary and providing more rigorous verification of the surgical product.

A transgressive Santonian-Campanian boundary sequence revisited - High resolution planktonic and benthic foraminifera stratigraphy of the Schattau section, Northern Calcareous Alps.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wolfgring, Erik; Wagreich, Michael; Summesberger, Herbert; Kroh, Andreas

2016-04-01

The Schattau section is part of the Austrian Gosau Group, Northern Calcareous Alps. We record a Santonian to early Campanian transgressive sequence. Previous investigations already provide a biostratigraphic framework; a multidisciplinary study to reveal the local stratigraphy and palaeoenvironmental properties: Planktonic foraminifera, calcareous nannoplankton, ammonite, echinoid and crinoid biostratigraphy data suggest a Santonian to earliest Campanian age for this section (see Wagreich et al., 2009). This work aims at a high resolution assessment of foraminiferal assemblages recorded from a time interval that has undergone significant palaeoenvironmental changes. The Santonian Hochmoos Formation, with the Sandkalkbank Member representing it's topmost subunit, is overlain by the Santonian to Campanian Bibereck Formation. While The Hochmoos Formation records a shallowing succession that finds the Sandkalkbank Member (representing very shallow conditions, sometimes sub aerial exposure) at its top. The overlying Bibereck Formation records a distinct deepening trend displaying increasingly marine, neritic to outer neritic conditions. The stratigraphically older subunits of the Schattau sections are characterised by abundant larger benthic foraminifera (Nummofallotia cretacea), miliolid foraminifera (Quinqueloculina spp, Spiroloculina fassistomata) as well as rotaliid foraminifera (Hoeglundia spp., Gavellina spp.). The Sandkalkbank member marks the end of the shallow water sequence recorded from foraminifera assemblages at the Schattau section. Up section communities are characterised by increasing share of planktonic foraminifera. Biostratigraphic marker fossils like Dicarinella asymetrica and Sigalia sp. (decoratissima?) were identified and indicate a Santonian age for the Bibereck Formation. The appearance of Globotruncanita elevata and disappearance of D. asymetrica and Sigalia sp. Suggests an early Campanian age for the topmost part of the Schattau section. Tubular and bi- and triserial agglutinated foraminifera (e.g. Ammobaculites spp., Dorothia spp., Gaudryina spp., Tritaxia spp.) as well as spiral calcareous benthic foraminifera (Gavellinella spp., Lenticulina spp.) are recorded in the younger deposits at the Schattau section (in the Bibereck Formation). Developments in benthic foraminiferal taxa do not only seem to provide valuable information on palaeoenvironmental properties. The succession of certain benthic taxa (e.g.. Gavellinella spp.) provides valuable data on local benthic foraminiferal biostratigraphy which is particularly valuable if environmental factors inhibit the occurrence of planktonic foraminiferal markers. References: Wagreich, M., Summesberger, H., Kroh, A., 2010. Late Santonian bioevents in the Schattau section, Gosau Group of Austria - implications for the Santonian - Campanian boundary stratigraphy. Cretaceous Research, 31, 2, 181-191

Structural Characterization of Ginsenosides from Flower Buds of Panax ginseng by RRLC-Q-TOF MS.

PubMed

Wu, Wei; Lu, Ziyan; Teng, Yaran; Guo, Yingying; Liu, Shuying

2016-02-01

Ginseng flower bud as a part of Panax ginseng has received much attention as a valuable functional food with medicinal potential. A few studies focused on systematic and comprehensive studies on its major ingredients. This study aims to rapidly characterize ginsenosides in ginseng flower buds and provide scientific basis for developing functional food, exploiting pharmaceutical effects and making full use of ginseng resources. A rapid resolution liquid chromatography coupled with quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (RRLC-Q-TOF-MS) method was developed for rapid qualitative and quantitative analysis of ginsenosides in ginseng flower buds. The compounds were identified by comparing retention time of the reference standards, accurate mass measurement and the fragment ions obtained from RRLC-Q-TOF-MS/MS analyses. A total of 14 kinds of ginsenosides were identified and 5 kinds of malonyl-ginsenosides were first tentatively identified in ginseng flower buds. Ten kinds of main ginsenosides were quantitatively analyzed. The developed RRLC-Q-TOF-MS method was demonstrated as an effective analytical means for rapid characterization of the ginsenosides in flower buds of P. ginseng. The research result is valuable for quality control, assessment of authenticity and stability evaluation of ginseng flower buds. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Punching loan sharks on the nose: effective interventions to reduce financial hardship in New Zealand.

PubMed

Signal, Louise; Lanumata, Tolotea; Bowers, Sharron

2012-08-01

Growth in the high-cost, unregulated fringe lender market (with these lenders commonly referred to as loan sharks) has occurred both internationally and in New Zealand in recent years. The credit practices of loan sharks create financial hardship for many people including Māori, Pacific and low-income New Zealanders. This paper reports on research that explored strategies for reducing the impact of the fringe lender market on Māori, Pacific and low-income New Zealanders. A narrative literature review and 10 key informant interviews were conducted to provide information on how best to intervene to reduce the impact of the fringe lender market for these people. The main interventions identified were: two regulatory approaches, one for capping interest rates and another to create codes of responsible lending; access to safe affordable micro-finance options; financial literacy education; and Pacific cultural change around fa'alavelave, which are the 'obligations' of giving. Protecting consumers from the unsafe practices of fringe lenders requires a combined approach of discouraging the undesirable practices of fringe lenders through regulation and encouraging the growth of safe, affordable micro-finance options. Financial literacy education is a valuable activity for directing consumer attention to the safest options, but in isolation will have limited effect if options are limited. Health promoters have a valuable role to play in implementing these interventions.

E-learning and education in radiology.

PubMed

Pinto, Antonio; Brunese, Luca; Pinto, Fabio; Acampora, Ciro; Romano, Luigia

2011-06-01

To evaluate current applications of e-learning in radiology. A Medline search was performed using PubMed (National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD) for publications discussing the applications of e-learning in radiology. The search strategy employed a single combination of the following terms: (1) e-learning, and (2) education and (3) radiology. This review was limited to human studies and to English-language literature. We reviewed all the titles and subsequent the abstract of 29 articles that appeared pertinent. Additional articles were identified by reviewing the reference lists of relevant papers. Finally, the full text of 38 selected articles was reviewed. Literature data shows that with the constant development of technology and global spread of computer networks, in particular of the Internet, the integration of multimedia and interactivity introduced into electronic publishing has allowed the creation of multimedia applications that provide valuable support for medical teaching and continuing medical education, specifically for radiology. Such technologies are valuable tools for collaboration, interactivity, simulation, and self-testing. However, not everything on the World Wide Web is useful, accurate, or beneficial: the quality and veracity of medical information on the World Wide Web is variable and much time can be wasted as many websites do not meet basic publication standards. E-learning will become an important source of education in radiology. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Comparison of Dissolution Similarity Assessment Methods for Products with Large Variations: f2 Statistics and Model-Independent Multivariate Confidence Region Procedure for Dissolution Profiles of Multiple Oral Products.

PubMed

Yoshida, Hiroyuki; Shibata, Hiroko; Izutsu, Ken-Ichi; Goda, Yukihiro

2017-01-01

The current Japanese Ministry of Health Labour and Welfare (MHLW)'s Guideline for Bioequivalence Studies of Generic Products uses averaged dissolution rates for the assessment of dissolution similarity between test and reference formulations. This study clarifies how the application of model-independent multivariate confidence region procedure (Method B), described in the European Medical Agency and U.S. Food and Drug Administration guidelines, affects similarity outcomes obtained empirically from dissolution profiles with large variations in individual dissolution rates. Sixty-one datasets of dissolution profiles for immediate release, oral generic, and corresponding innovator products that showed large variation in individual dissolution rates in generic products were assessed on their similarity by using the f 2 statistics defined in the MHLW guidelines (MHLW f 2 method) and two different Method B procedures, including a bootstrap method applied with f 2 statistics (BS method) and a multivariate analysis method using the Mahalanobis distance (MV method). The MHLW f 2 and BS methods provided similar dissolution similarities between reference and generic products. Although a small difference in the similarity assessment may be due to the decrease in the lower confidence interval for expected f 2 values derived from the large variation in individual dissolution rates, the MV method provided results different from those obtained through MHLW f 2 and BS methods. Analysis of actual dissolution data for products with large individual variations would provide valuable information towards an enhanced understanding of these methods and their possible incorporation in the MHLW guidelines.

Health care consumers' experiences of information communication technology--a summary of literature.

PubMed

Akesson, Kerstin M; Saveman, Britt-Inger; Nilsson, Gunilla

2007-09-01

There is an increasing interest in reaching consumers directly through the Internet and different telecommunication systems. The most important contacts in health care will always be the face-to-face meetings, but the tools of health informatics can be seen as a means to an end, which is to provide the best possible health care. A variety of applications have been described in different references. To our knowledge there has been no review of a research-based state of the art in the field of consumers' experiences in using different applications in health informatics. According to the benefits in using information communication technology (ICT) as being cost-effective and timesaving it is of great importance to focus on and examine consumers' experiences. It is important that it is user friendly and regarded as valuable and useful. The aim of this study was to describe consumers' subjective experiences of using electronic resources with reference to health and illness. DESIGN AND/OR METHOD: A systematic literature search was performed in databases CINAHL, Medline and Cochrane, as well as a manual search. Retrieved references (n=14) were appraised according to their scientific structure and quality. A broad search was performed in order to find as many different applications as possible. Our primary intention was to identify existing references describing consumers' experiences with ICT. In spite of this broad search few references were found. Twelve references remained and three themes were identified: support and help, education and information, and telecommunication instead of on-site visiting. Consumers felt more confident and empowered, their knowledge increased and their health status improved due to the ICT resources. Lack of face-to-face meetings or privacy did not appear to be a problem. ICT can improve the nurse-patient relationship and augment well-being for consumers. More research is needed to measure consumers' experiences and factors that influence it. 2006 Elsevier Ireland Ltd

Transcriptome characterization of three wild Chinese Vitis uncovers a large number of distinct disease related genes.

PubMed

Jiao, Chen; Gao, Min; Wang, Xiping; Fei, Zhangjun

2015-03-21

Grape is one of the most valuable fruit crops and can serve for both fresh consumption and wine production. Grape cultivars have been selected and evolved to produce high-quality fruits during their domestication over thousands of years. However, current widely planted grape cultivars suffer extensive loss to many diseases while most wild species show resistance to various pathogens. Therefore, a comprehensive evaluation of wild grapes would contribute to the improvement of disease resistance in grape breeding programs. We performed deep transcriptome sequencing of three Chinese wild grapes using the Illumina strand-specific RNA-Seq technology. High quality transcriptomes were assembled de novo and more than 93% transcripts were shared with the reference PN40024 genome. Over 1,600 distinct transcripts, which were absent or highly divergent from sequences in the reference PN40024 genome, were identified in each of the three wild grapes, among which more than 1,000 were potential protein-coding genes. Gene Ontology (GO) and pathway annotations of these distinct genes showed those involved in defense responses and plant secondary metabolisms were highly enriched. More than 87,000 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and 2,000 small insertions or deletions (indels) were identified between each genotype and PN40024, and approximately 20% of the SNPs caused nonsynonymous mutations. Finally, we discovered 100 to 200 highly confident cis-natural antisense transcript (cis-NAT) pairs in each genotype. These transcripts were significantly enriched with genes involved in secondary metabolisms and plant responses to abiotic stresses. The three de novo assembled transcriptomes provide a comprehensive sequence resource for molecular genetic research in grape. The newly discovered genes from wild Vitis, as well as SNPs and small indels we identified, may facilitate future studies on the molecular mechanisms related to valuable traits possessed by these wild Vitis and contribute to the grape breeding programs. Furthermore, we identified hundreds of cis-NAT pairs which showed their potential regulatory roles in secondary metabolism and abiotic stress responses.

A Pilot Study of Using Jazz Warm Up Exercises in Primary School Choir in Hong Kong

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Jason Chi Wai; Lee, Han Wai

2013-01-01

This pilot study is to examine whether it is valuable to implement jazz choral practice in Hong Kong primary school setting. The findings can serve as a reference to explore the possibilities of promoting jazz education in Asian countries or in China. The participants were 70 public primary school students from grade 2 to 5 in Hong Kong. All…

A Bibliography of Literature on Planned or Implemented Automated Library Projects, Part I; Volume 9, World Survey Series.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Patrinostro, Frank S., Comp.; Sanders, Nancy P., Ed.

The primary purposes of this bibliography are to present an overview of published works which relate to the use of new technologies in library operations, to call attention to a number of valuable reference works published on the subject, and to assist librarians and library systems scientists who are engaged in the planning and/or implementation…

Listen to What They Have to Say! Assessing Distance Learners' Satisfaction with Library Services Using a Transactional Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alewine, Michael C.

2012-01-01

This paper examines the evolution and findings of an on-going longitudinal study that is assessing the satisfaction of distance education students with library reference services through the use of a transaction-level survey. The survey's purpose is two-fold: first, it is used to garner valuable input from these students; and second, it also…

Cryobiotechnology of apple (Malus spp.): development, progress and future prospects.

PubMed

Wang, Min-Rui; Chen, Long; Teixeira da Silva, Jaime A; Volk, Gayle M; Wang, Qiao-Chun

2018-05-01

Cryopreservation provides valuable genes for further breeding of elite cultivars, and cryotherapy improves the production of virus-free plants in Malus spp., thus assisting the sustainable development of the apple industry. Apple (Malus spp.) is one of the most economically important temperate fruit crops. Wild Malus genetic resources and existing cultivars provide valuable genes for breeding new elite cultivars and rootstocks through traditional and biotechnological breeding programs. These valuable genes include those resistant to abiotic factors such as drought and salinity, and to biotic factors such as fungi, bacteria and aphids. Over the last three decades, great progress has been made in apple cryobiology, making Malus one of the most extensively studied plant genera with respect to cryopreservation. Explants such as pollen, seeds, in vivo dormant buds, and in vitro shoot tips have all been successfully cryopreserved, and large Malus cryobanks have been established. Cryotherapy has been used for virus eradication, to obtain virus-free apple plants. Cryopreservation provided valuable genes for further breeding of elite cultivars, and cryotherapy improved the production of virus-free plants in Malus spp., thus assisting the sustainable development of the apple industry. This review provides updated and comprehensive information on the development and progress of apple cryopreservation and cryotherapy. Future research will reveal new applications and uses for apple cryopreservation and cryotherapy.

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS, A VALUABLE TOOL IN COMMUNITY-BASED ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION

EPA Science Inventory

A historical analysis of the ecological consequences of development can be a valuable tool in community-based environmental protection. These studies can engage the public in environmental issues and lead to informed decision making. Historical studies provide an understanding of...

Medicine and psychiatry in Western culture: among Ancient Greek myths and modern prejudices.

PubMed

Fornaro, Michele; Clementi, Nicoletta; Fornaro, Pantaleo

2009-01-01

While many ancient cultures contributed to our current knowledge about medicine and psychiatry origins, Ancient Greeks were among the best observers of feelings and moods patients could express toward medicine and toward what today referred as "psychopathology". Myths and religious references were used to explain what elsewhere impossible to understand or easily communicated. Most of ancient myths focus on ambiguous feelings patients could have towards drugs, especially psychotropic ones. Interestingly, such prejudices are common yet today. Recalling ancient findings and descriptions made using myths, should represent a valuable knowledge for modern physicians, especially for psychiatrists, and their patients, with the aim of better understanding each other and therefore achieving a better clinical outcome. The paper explores many human aspects and feelings toward doctors and their cures, referring to ancient myths, focusing on the perception of mental illness.

Nephele: a cloud platform for simplified, standardized and reproducible microbiome data analysis.

PubMed

Weber, Nick; Liou, David; Dommer, Jennifer; MacMenamin, Philip; Quiñones, Mariam; Misner, Ian; Oler, Andrew J; Wan, Joe; Kim, Lewis; Coakley McCarthy, Meghan; Ezeji, Samuel; Noble, Karlynn; Hurt, Darrell E

2018-04-15

Widespread interest in the study of the microbiome has resulted in data proliferation and the development of powerful computational tools. However, many scientific researchers lack the time, training, or infrastructure to work with large datasets or to install and use command line tools. The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has created Nephele, a cloud-based microbiome data analysis platform with standardized pipelines and a simple web interface for transforming raw data into biological insights. Nephele integrates common microbiome analysis tools as well as valuable reference datasets like the healthy human subjects cohort of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP). Nephele is built on the Amazon Web Services cloud, which provides centralized and automated storage and compute capacity, thereby reducing the burden on researchers and their institutions. https://nephele.niaid.nih.gov and https://github.com/niaid/Nephele. darrell.hurt@nih.gov.

Spectrally balanced chromatic landing approach lighting system

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Chase, W. D. (Inventor)

1981-01-01

Red warning lights delineate the runway approach with additional blue lights juxtaposed with the red lights such that the red lights are chromatically balanced. The red/blue point light sources result in the phenomenon that the red lights appear in front of the blue lights with about one and one-half times the diameter of the blue. To a pilot observing these lights along a glide path, those red lights directly below appear to be nearer than the blue lights. For those lights farther away seen in perspective at oblique angles, the red lights appear to be in a position closer to the pilot and hence appear to be above the corresponding blue lights. This produces a very pronounced three dimensional effect referred to as chromostereopsis which provides valuable visual cues to enable the pilot to perceive his actual position above the ground and the actual distance to the runway.

Exploring the Immunopathogenesis of Viral Hemorrhagic Fever in Mice with a Humanized Immune System.

PubMed

Schönrich, Günther; Raftery, Martin J

2017-01-01

Viral hemorrhagic fever (VHF) as a disease entity was first codified in the 1930s by soviet scientists investigating patients suffering from hantavirus infection. The group of hemorrhagic fever viruses (HFVs) has since expanded to include members from at least four different virus families: Arenaviridae, Bunyaviridae, Filoviridae , and Flaviviridae , all enveloped single-stranded RNA viruses. After infection, the natural hosts of HFVs do not develop symptoms, whereas humans can be severely affected. This observation and other evidence from experimental data suggest that the human immune system plays a crucial role in VHF pathogenesis. For this reason mice with a human immune system, referred to here as humanized mice (humice), are valuable tools that provide insight into disease mechanisms and allow for preclinical testing of novel vaccinations approaches as well as antiviral agents. In this article, we review the impact of humice in VHF research.

Broader Autism Phenotype in Siblings of Children with ASD—A Review

PubMed Central

Pisula, Ewa; Ziegart-Sadowska, Karolina

2015-01-01

Although less pronounced, social, cognitive, and personality characteristics associated with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) may be present in people who do not meet ASD diagnostic criteria, especially in first-degree relatives of individuals with ASD. Research on these characteristics, referred to as broader autism phenotype (BAP), provides valuable data on potential expressions of autism-specific deficits in the context of family relations. This paper offers a review of research on BAP in siblings of individuals with ASD, focusing on reports regarding social, communication, and cognitive deficits, published from 1993 to 2014. The studies are divided into two groups based on participants’ age: papers on preschool and older siblings of individuals with ASD; and publications on infants at risk for ASD. On the basis of this review, suggestions are offered for further research and its significance for our understanding of the genetic determinants of autism. PMID:26068453

Gauging the societal impacts of natural disasters using a capability approach.

PubMed

Gardoni, Paolo; Murphy, Colleen

2010-07-01

There is a widely acknowledged need for a single composite index that provides a comprehensive picture of the societal impact of disasters. A composite index combines and logically organizes important information policy-makers need to allocate resources for the recovery from natural disasters; it can also inform hazard mitigation strategies. This paper develops a Disaster Impact Index (DII) to gauge the societal impact of disasters on the basis of the changes in individuals' capabilities. The DII can be interpreted as the disaster impact per capita. Capabilities are dimensions of individual well-being and refer to the genuine opportunities individuals have to achieve valuable states and activities (such as being adequately nourished or being mobile). After discussing the steps required to construct the DII, this article computes and compares the DIIs for two earthquakes of similar magnitude in two societies at different levels of development and of two disasters (earthquake and wind storm) in the same society.

Efficient image data distribution and management with application to web caching architectures

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Han, Keesook J.; Suter, Bruce W.

2003-03-01

We present compact image data structures and associated packet delivery techniques for effective Web caching architectures. Presently, images on a web page are inefficiently stored, using a single image per file. Our approach is to use clustering to merge similar images into a single file in order to exploit the redundancy between images. Our studies indicate that a 30-50% image data size reduction can be achieved by eliminating the redundancies of color indexes. Attached to this file is new metadata to permit an easy extraction of images. This approach will permit a more efficient use of the cache, since a shorter list of cache references will be required. Packet and transmission delays can be reduced by 50% eliminating redundant TCP/IP headers and connection time. Thus, this innovative paradigm for the elimination of redundancy may provide valuable benefits for optimizing packet delivery in IP networks by reducing latency and minimizing the bandwidth requirements.

Nephele: a cloud platform for simplified, standardized and reproducible microbiome data analysis

PubMed Central

Weber, Nick; Liou, David; Dommer, Jennifer; MacMenamin, Philip; Quiñones, Mariam; Misner, Ian; Oler, Andrew J; Wan, Joe; Kim, Lewis; Coakley McCarthy, Meghan; Ezeji, Samuel; Noble, Karlynn; Hurt, Darrell E

2018-01-01

Abstract Motivation Widespread interest in the study of the microbiome has resulted in data proliferation and the development of powerful computational tools. However, many scientific researchers lack the time, training, or infrastructure to work with large datasets or to install and use command line tools. Results The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has created Nephele, a cloud-based microbiome data analysis platform with standardized pipelines and a simple web interface for transforming raw data into biological insights. Nephele integrates common microbiome analysis tools as well as valuable reference datasets like the healthy human subjects cohort of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP). Nephele is built on the Amazon Web Services cloud, which provides centralized and automated storage and compute capacity, thereby reducing the burden on researchers and their institutions. Availability and implementation https://nephele.niaid.nih.gov and https://github.com/niaid/Nephele Contact darrell.hurt@nih.gov PMID:29028892

Longitudinal Analysis of New Information Types in Clinical Notes

PubMed Central

Zhang, Rui; Pakhomov, Serguei; Melton, Genevieve B.

2014-01-01

It is increasingly recognized that redundant information in clinical notes within electronic health record (EHR) systems is ubiquitous, significant, and may negatively impact the secondary use of these notes for research and patient care. We investigated several automated methods to identify redundant versus relevant new information in clinical reports. These methods may provide a valuable approach to extract clinically pertinent information and further improve the accuracy of clinical information extraction systems. In this study, we used UMLS semantic types to extract several types of new information, including problems, medications, and laboratory information. Automatically identified new information highly correlated with manual reference standard annotations. Methods to identify different types of new information can potentially help to build up more robust information extraction systems for clinical researchers as well as aid clinicians and researchers in navigating clinical notes more effectively and quickly identify information pertaining to changes in health states. PMID:25717418

Chemical Oceanography and the Marine Carbon Cycle

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Emerson, Steven; Hedges, John

The principles of chemical oceanography provide insight into the processes regulating the marine carbon cycle. The text offers a background in chemical oceanography and a description of how chemical elements in seawater and ocean sediments are used as tracers of physical, biological, chemical and geological processes in the ocean. The first seven chapters present basic topics of thermodynamics, isotope systematics and carbonate chemistry, and explain the influence of life on ocean chemistry and how it has evolved in the recent (glacial-interglacial) past. This is followed by topics essential to understanding the carbon cycle, including organic geochemistry, air-sea gas exchange, diffusion and reaction kinetics, the marine and atmosphere carbon cycle and diagenesis in marine sediments. Figures are available to download from www.cambridge.org/9780521833134. Ideal as a textbook for upper-level undergraduates and graduates in oceanography, environmental chemistry, geochemistry and earth science and a valuable reference for researchers in oceanography.

Study of seismic response and vibration control of High voltage electrical equipment damper based on TMD

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Chuncheng; Wang, Chongyang; Mao, Long; Zha, Chuanming

2016-11-01

Substation high voltage electrical equipment such as mutual inductor, circuit interrupter, disconnecting switch, etc., has played a key role in maintaining the normal operation of the power system. When the earthquake disaster, the electrical equipment of the porcelain in the transformer substation is the most easily to damage, causing great economic losses. In this paper, using the method of numerical analysis, the establishment of a typical high voltage electrical equipment of three dimensional finite element model, to study the seismic response of a typical SF6 circuit breaker, at the same time, analysis and contrast the installation ring tuned mass damper (TMD damper for short), by changing the damper damping coefficient and the mass block, install annular TMD vibration control effect is studied. The results of the study for guiding the seismic design of high voltage electrical equipment to provide valuable reference.

Preliminary results from BCG and ECG measurements in the heart failure clinic.

PubMed

Giovangrandi, Laurent; Inan, Omer T; Banerjee, Dipanjan; Kovacs, Gregory T A

2012-01-01

We report on the preliminary deployment of a bathroom scale-based ballistocardiogram (BCG) system for the in-hospital monitoring of patients with heart failure. These early trials provided valuable insights into the challenges and opportunities for such monitoring. In particular, the need for robust algorithms and adapted BCG metric is suggested. The system was designed to be robust and user-friendly, with dual ballistocardiogram (BCG) and electrocardiogram (ECG) capabilities. The BCG was measured from a modified bathroom scale, while the ECG (used as timing reference) was measured using dry handlebar electrodes. The signal conditioning and digitization circuits were USB-powered, and data acquisition performed using a netbook. Four patients with a NYHA class III at admission were measured daily for the duration of their treatment at Stanford hospital. A measure of BCG quality, in essence a quantitative implementation of the BCG classes originally defined in the 1950s, is proposed as a practical parameter.

A Reference Proteomic Database of Lactobacillus plantarum CMCC-P0002

PubMed Central

Tian, Wanhong; Yu, Gang; Liu, Xiankai; Wang, Jie; Feng, Erling; Zhang, Xuemin; Chen, Bei; Zeng, Ming; Wang, Hengliang

2011-01-01

Lactobacillus plantarum is a widespread probiotic bacteria found in many fermented food products. In this study, the whole-cell proteins and secretory proteins of L. plantarum were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis method. A total of 434 proteins were identified by tandem mass spectrometry, including a plasmid-encoded hypothetical protein pLP9000_05. The information of first 20 highest abundance proteins was listed for the further genetic manipulation of L. plantarum, such as construction of high-level expressions system. Furthermore, the first interaction map of L. plantarum was established by Blue-Native/SDS-PAGE technique. A heterodimeric complex composed of maltose phosphorylase Map3 and Map2, and two homodimeric complexes composed of Map3 and Map2 respectively, were identified at the same time, indicating the important roles of these proteins. These findings provided valuable information for the further proteomic researches of L. plantarum. PMID:21998671

A predication model for combustion modes of the scramjet-powered aerospace vehicle based on the nonlinear features of the isolator flow field

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yang, Qingchun; Wang, Hongxin; Chetehouna, Khaled; Gascoin, Nicolas

2017-01-01

The supersonic combustion ramjet (scramjet) engine remains the most promising airbreathing engine cycle for hypersonic flight, particularly the high-performance dual-mode scramjet in the range of flight Mach number from 4 to 7, because it can operates under different combustion modes. Isolator is a very key component of the dual-mode scramjet engine. In this paper, nonlinear characteristics of combustion mode transition is theoretically analyzed. The discontinuous sudden changes of static pressure and Mach number are obtained as the mode transition occurs, which emphasizing the importance of predication and control of combustion modes. In this paper, a predication model of different combustion modes is developed based on these these nonlinear features in the isolator flow field. it can provide a valuable reference for control system design of the scramjet-powered aerospace vehicle.

Assessing and forecasting population health: integrating knowledge and beliefs in a comprehensive framework.

PubMed

Van Meijgaard, Jeroen; Fielding, Jonathan E; Kominski, Gerald F

2009-01-01

A comprehensive population health-forecasting model has the potential to interject new and valuable information about the future health status of the population based on current conditions, socioeconomic and demographic trends, and potential changes in policies and programs. Our Health Forecasting Model uses a continuous-time microsimulation framework to simulate individuals' lifetime histories by using birth, risk exposures, disease incidence, and death rates to mark changes in the state of the individual. The model generates a reference forecast of future health in California, including details on physical activity, obesity, coronary heart disease, all-cause mortality, and medical expenditures. We use the model to answer specific research questions, inform debate on important policy issues in public health, support community advocacy, and provide analysis on the long-term impact of proposed changes in policies and programs, thus informing stakeholders at all levels and supporting decisions that can improve the health of populations.

Arynes, diaryliodonium salts and azine N-oxides in transition metal-free electrophilic N-arylation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bugaenko, D. I.; Karchava, A. V.; Yurovskaya, M. A.

2018-03-01

The main approach to the synthesis of aromatic and heteroaromatic amines is based on palladium- and copper-catalyzed N-arylation reactions. Although these methods are highly efficient and provide extensive opportunities for the synthesis of (het)arylamines with various structures and properties, they have some limitations related to the catalysts used and reaction conditions. This review addresses alternative approaches to N-(het)arylation that have been extensively developed in the past decade and are based on the use of arynes, diaryliodonium salts and azine N-oxides as electrophilic (het)arylating agents. Because of mild reaction conditions and no need for catalysts and strong bases, these N-(het)arylation methods are attractive for various synthetic applications and open up new possibilities for the preparation of valuable organic compounds inaccessible via traditional catalytic methods. The attention is focussed on publications of the last decade. The bibliography includes 112 references.

eHXI: A permanently installed, hard x-ray imager for the National Ignition Facility

DOE PAGES

Doppner, T.; Bachmann, B.; Albert, F.; ...

2016-06-14

We have designed and built a multi-pinhole imaging system for high energy x-rays (≥ 50 keV) that is permanently installed in the equatorial plane outside of the target chamber at the National Ignition Facility (NIF). It records absolutely-calibrated, time-integrated x-ray images with the same line-of-sight as the multi-channel, spatially integrating hard x-ray detector FFLEX [McDonald et al., Rev. Sci. Instrum. 75 (2004) 3753], having a side view of indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion (ICF) implosion targets. The equatorial hard x-ray imager (eHXI) has recorded images on the majority of ICF implosion experiments since May 2011. Lastly, eHXI provides valuable information onmore » hot electron distribution in hohlraum experiments, target alignment, potential hohlraum drive asymmetries and serves as a long term reference for the FFLEX diagnostics.« less

DNA microarrays: a powerful genomic tool for biomedical and clinical research

PubMed Central

Trevino, Victor; Falciani, Francesco; Barrera-Saldaña, Hugo A.

2007-01-01

Among the many benefits of the Human Genome Project are new and powerful tools such as the genome-wide hybridization devices referred as microarrays. Initially designed to measure gene transcriptional levels, microarray technologies are now used for comparing other genome features among individuals and their tissues and cells. Results provide valuable information on disease subcategories, disease prognosis, and treatment outcome. Likewise, reveal differences in genetic makeup, regulatory mechanisms and subtle variations are approaching the era of personalized medicine. To understand this powerful tool, its versatility and how it is dramatically changing the molecular approach to biomedical and clinical research, this review describes the technology, its applications, a didactic step-by-step review of a typical microarray protocol, and a real experiment. Finally, it calls the attention of the medical community to integrate multidisciplinary teams, to take advantage of this technology and its expanding applications that in a slide reveals our genetic inheritance and destiny. PMID:17660860

An Atlas of annotations of Hydra vulgaris transcriptome.

PubMed

Evangelista, Daniela; Tripathi, Kumar Parijat; Guarracino, Mario Rosario

2016-09-22

RNA sequencing takes advantage of the Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies for analyzing RNA transcript counts with an excellent accuracy. Trying to interpret this huge amount of data in biological information is still a key issue, reason for which the creation of web-resources useful for their analysis is highly desiderable. Starting from a previous work, Transcriptator, we present the Atlas of Hydra's vulgaris, an extensible web tool in which its complete transcriptome is annotated. In order to provide to the users an advantageous resource that include the whole functional annotated transcriptome of Hydra vulgaris water polyp, we implemented the Atlas web-tool contains 31.988 accesible and downloadable transcripts of this non-reference model organism. Atlas, as a freely available resource, can be considered a valuable tool to rapidly retrieve functional annotation for transcripts differentially expressed in Hydra vulgaris exposed to the distinct experimental treatments. WEB RESOURCE URL: http://www-labgtp.na.icar.cnr.it/Atlas .

Research on Optimization of Pooling System and Its Application in Drug Supply Chain Based on Big Data Analysis

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Reform of drug procurement is being extensively implemented and expanded in China, especially in today's big data environment. However, the pattern of supply mode innovation lags behind procurement improvement. Problems in financial strain and supply break frequently occur, which affect the stability of drug supply. Drug Pooling System is proposed and applied in a few pilot cities to resolve these problems. From the perspective of supply chain, this study analyzes the process of setting important parameters and sets out the tasks of involved parties in a pooling system according to the issues identified in the pilot run. The approach is based on big data analysis and simulation using system dynamic theory and modeling of Vensim software to optimize system performance. This study proposes a theoretical framework to resolve problems and attempts to provide a valuable reference for future application of pooling systems. PMID:28293258

A reliability and mass perspective of SP-100 Stirling cycle lunar-base powerplant designs

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Bloomfield, Harvey S.

1991-01-01

The purpose was to obtain reliability and mass perspectives on selection of space power system conceptual designs based on SP-100 reactor and Stirling cycle power-generation subsystems. The approach taken was to: (1) develop a criterion for an acceptable overall reliability risk as a function of the expected range of emerging technology subsystem unit reliabilities; (2) conduct reliability and mass analyses for a diverse matrix of 800-kWe lunar-base design configurations employing single and multiple powerplants with both full and partial subsystem redundancy combinations; and (3) derive reliability and mass perspectives on selection of conceptual design configurations that meet an acceptable reliability criterion with the minimum system mass increase relative to reference powerplant design. The developed perspectives provided valuable insight into the considerations required to identify and characterize high-reliability and low-mass lunar-base powerplant conceptual design.

Diagnosis of becker muscular dystrophy: Results of Re-analysis of DNA samples.

PubMed

Straathof, Chiara S M; Van Heusden, Dave; Ippel, Pieternella F; Post, Jan G; Voermans, Nicol C; De Visser, Marianne; Brusse, Esther; Van Den Bergen, Janneke C; Van Der Kooi, Anneke J; Verschuuren, Jan J G M; Ginjaar, Hendrika B

2016-01-01

The phenotype of Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) is highly variable, and the disease may be underdiagnosed. We searched for new mutations in the DMD gene in a cohort of previously undiagnosed patients who had been referred in the period 1985-1995. All requests for DNA analysis of the DMD gene in probands with suspected BMD were re-evaluated. If the phenotype was compatible with BMD, and no deletions or duplications were detected, DNA samples were screened for small mutations. In 79 of 185 referrals, no mutation was found. Analysis could be performed on 31 DNA samples. Seven different mutations, including 3 novel ones, were found. Long-term clinical follow-up is described. Refining DNA analysis in previously undiagnosed cases can identify mutations in the DMD gene and provide genetic diagnosis of BMD. A delayed diagnosis can still be valuable for the proband or the relatives of BMD patients. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Database systems for knowledge-based discovery.

PubMed

Jagarlapudi, Sarma A R P; Kishan, K V Radha

2009-01-01

Several database systems have been developed to provide valuable information from the bench chemist to biologist, medical practitioner to pharmaceutical scientist in a structured format. The advent of information technology and computational power enhanced the ability to access large volumes of data in the form of a database where one could do compilation, searching, archiving, analysis, and finally knowledge derivation. Although, data are of variable types the tools used for database creation, searching and retrieval are similar. GVK BIO has been developing databases from publicly available scientific literature in specific areas like medicinal chemistry, clinical research, and mechanism-based toxicity so that the structured databases containing vast data could be used in several areas of research. These databases were classified as reference centric or compound centric depending on the way the database systems were designed. Integration of these databases with knowledge derivation tools would enhance the value of these systems toward better drug design and discovery.

Using baldrige performance excellence program approaches in the pursuit of radiation oncology quality care, patient satisfaction, and workforce commitment.

PubMed

Sternick, Edward S

2011-01-01

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Improvement Act was signed into law in 1987 to advance US business competitiveness and economic growth. Administered by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the Act created the Baldrige National Quality Program, recently renamed the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. The comprehensive analytical approaches referred to as the Baldrige Healthcare Criteria, are very well-suited for the evaluation and sustainable improvement of radiation oncology management and operations. A multidisciplinary self-assessment approach is used for radiotherapy program evaluation and development in order to generate a fact-based, knowledge-driven system for improving quality of care, increasing patient satisfaction, enhancing leadership effectiveness, building employee engagement, and boosting organizational innovation. This methodology also provides a valuable framework for benchmarking an individual radiation oncology practice's operations and results against guidelines defined by accreditation and professional organizations and regulatory agencies.

Anti-alcohol posters in Poland, 1945-1989: diverse meanings, uncertain effects.

PubMed

Gorsky, Martin; Krajewski-Siuda, Krzysztof; Dutka, Wojciech; Berridge, Virginia

2010-11-01

We provide a historical study of the anti-alcohol public health poster in Poland between 1948 and 1990. Our case study illuminates public health policies under communism, with the state as the dominant force in health communication. Poland has a distinctive history of poster art, moving from a Stalinist phase of socialist realism to the diverse styles of the later Polish School. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of 213 posters establishes the major themes and differentiates community approaches, which depict the drinker as a social or political deviant, from those emphasizing individual risk. Medical issues were a minor theme, reflecting public policies geared more toward confinement than treatment. However, Polish School artists used metaphor and ambiguity, and references to the contested cultural symbolism of drink, to complicate and subvert the narrow propaganda intent. Thus, although apparently unsuccessful in restraining overall consumption, these posters offer valuable lessons for policymakers on the use of visual media in health campaigns.

Gene expression profiles in anatomically and functionally distinct regions of the normal aged human brain

PubMed Central

Liang, Winnie S.; Dunckley, Travis; Beach, Thomas G.; Grover, Andrew; Mastroeni, Diego; Walker, Douglas G.; Caselli, Richard J.; Kukull, Walter A.; McKeel, Daniel; Morris, John C.; Hulette, Christine; Schmechel, Donald; Alexander, Gene E.; Reiman, Eric M.; Rogers, Joseph; Stephan, Dietrich A.

2008-01-01

In this article, we have characterized and compared gene expression profiles from laser capture microdissected neurons in six functionally and anatomically distinct regions from clinically and histopathologically normal aged human brains. These regions, which are also known to be differentially vulnerable to the histopathological and metabolic features of Alzheimer’s disease (AD), include the entorhinal cortex and hippocampus (limbic and paralimbic areas vulnerable to early neurofibrillary tangle pathology in AD), posterior cingulate cortex (a paralimbic area vulnerable to early metabolic abnormalities in AD), temporal and prefrontal cortex (unimodal and heteromodal sensory association areas vulnerable to early neuritic plaque pathology in AD), and primary visual cortex (a primary sensory area relatively spared in early AD). These neuronal profiles will provide valuable reference information for future studies of the brain, in normal aging, AD and other neurological and psychiatric disorders. PMID:17077275

Locating grey literature on communication disorders.

PubMed

Shpilko, Inna

2005-01-01

This article provides an overview of selected Web-based resources containing grey literature in the area of communication disorders. It is geared to practitioners, researchers, students, and consumers seeking reliable, freely available scientific information. Grey (or gray) literature has been defined as "that which is produced on all levels of government, academics, business, and industry in print and electronic formats, but which is not controlled by commercial publishers."1 This paper reviews various general reference sources potentially containing grey literature on communication disorders. This review includes identification of the methods specialists in this field use to obtain this valuable, yet often overlooked, literature. Access points and search tools for identifying grey literature on communication disorders are recommended. Commercial databases containing grey literature are not included. Conclusions presented in this article are considered complementary to traditionally published information resources on communication disorders, such as scholarly journals, online databases, etc.

Dodecagonal photonic quasi-crystal fiber with high birefringence.

PubMed

Cai, Weicheng; Liu, Exian; Feng, Bo; Xiao, Wei; Liu, Hongfei; Wang, Ziming; Wang, Shuo; Liang, Taiyuan; Liu, Jianqiang; Liu, Jianjun

2016-10-01

A photonic quasi-crystal fiber (PQF) with high birefringence is proposed. A dodecagonal Stampfli quasi-periodic lattice of air holes constitutes the cladding of the PQF. The PQF maintains the properties of high birefringence and single-mode operation regime in a wide wavelength range from 1.2 to 2.0 μm by optimizing the size of the air holes around the core of the PQF. A birefringence with 3.86×10^-2 can be obtained at 1.31 and 1.55 μm optical telecommunication windows. The birefringence is of the order of 10^-2, which is two orders of magnitude larger than that of the conventional polarization-maintaining fibers and hardly affected by the incident wavelength. The proposed PQF also maintains a high nonlinear coefficient and low confinement loss. Our structure and simulation results are expected to provide a valuable reference and basic data to relative fabrication and experiments.

Nonlinear Adaptive PID Control for Greenhouse Environment Based on RBF Network

PubMed Central

Zeng, Songwei; Hu, Haigen; Xu, Lihong; Li, Guanghui

2012-01-01

This paper presents a hybrid control strategy, combining Radial Basis Function (RBF) network with conventional proportional, integral, and derivative (PID) controllers, for the greenhouse climate control. A model of nonlinear conservation laws of enthalpy and matter between numerous system variables affecting the greenhouse climate is formulated. RBF network is used to tune and identify all PID gain parameters online and adaptively. The presented Neuro-PID control scheme is validated through simulations of set-point tracking and disturbance rejection. We compare the proposed adaptive online tuning method with the offline tuning scheme that employs Genetic Algorithm (GA) to search the optimal gain parameters. The results show that the proposed strategy has good adaptability, strong robustness and real-time performance while achieving satisfactory control performance for the complex and nonlinear greenhouse climate control system, and it may provide a valuable reference to formulate environmental control strategies for actual application in greenhouse production. PMID:22778587

The Physics of Semiconductors

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brennan, Kevin F.

1999-02-01

Modern fabrication techniques have made it possible to produce semiconductor devices whose dimensions are so small that quantum mechanical effects dominate their behavior. This book describes the key elements of quantum mechanics, statistical mechanics, and solid-state physics that are necessary in understanding these modern semiconductor devices. The author begins with a review of elementary quantum mechanics, and then describes more advanced topics, such as multiple quantum wells. He then disusses equilibrium and nonequilibrium statistical mechanics. Following this introduction, he provides a thorough treatment of solid-state physics, covering electron motion in periodic potentials, electron-phonon interaction, and recombination processes. The final four chapters deal exclusively with real devices, such as semiconductor lasers, photodiodes, flat panel displays, and MOSFETs. The book contains many homework exercises and is suitable as a textbook for electrical engineering, materials science, or physics students taking courses in solid-state device physics. It will also be a valuable reference for practicing engineers in optoelectronics and related areas.

Visualization and automatic detection of defect distribution in GaN atomic structure from sampling Moiré phase.

PubMed

Wang, Qinghua; Ri, Shien; Tsuda, Hiroshi; Kodera, Masako; Suguro, Kyoichi; Miyashita, Naoto

2017-09-19

Quantitative detection of defects in atomic structures is of great significance to evaluating product quality and exploring quality improvement process. In this study, a Fourier transform filtered sampling Moire technique was proposed to visualize and detect defects in atomic arrays in a large field of view. Defect distributions, defect numbers and defect densities could be visually and quantitatively determined from a single atomic structure image at low cost. The effectiveness of the proposed technique was verified from numerical simulations. As an application, the dislocation distributions in a GaN/AlGaN atomic structure in two directions were magnified and displayed in Moire phase maps, and defect locations and densities were detected automatically. The proposed technique is able to provide valuable references to material scientists and engineers by checking the effect of various treatments for defect reduction. © 2017 IOP Publishing Ltd.

A reference proteomic database of Lactobacillus plantarum CMCC-P0002.

PubMed

Zhu, Li; Hu, Wei; Liu, Datao; Tian, Wanhong; Yu, Gang; Liu, Xiankai; Wang, Jie; Feng, Erling; Zhang, Xuemin; Chen, Bei; Zeng, Ming; Wang, Hengliang

2011-01-01

Lactobacillus plantarum is a widespread probiotic bacteria found in many fermented food products. In this study, the whole-cell proteins and secretory proteins of L. plantarum were separated by two-dimensional electrophoresis method. A total of 434 proteins were identified by tandem mass spectrometry, including a plasmid-encoded hypothetical protein pLP9000_05. The information of first 20 highest abundance proteins was listed for the further genetic manipulation of L. plantarum, such as construction of high-level expressions system. Furthermore, the first interaction map of L. plantarum was established by Blue-Native/SDS-PAGE technique. A heterodimeric complex composed of maltose phosphorylase Map3 and Map2, and two homodimeric complexes composed of Map3 and Map2 respectively, were identified at the same time, indicating the important roles of these proteins. These findings provided valuable information for the further proteomic researches of L. plantarum.

A new marine sediment certified reference material (CRM) for the determination of persistent organic contaminants: IAEA-459.

PubMed

Tolosa, Imma; Cassi, Roberto; Huertas, David

2018-04-11

A new marine sediment certified reference material (IAEA 459) with very low concentrations (μg kg -1 ) for a variety of persistent organic contaminants (POPs) listed by the Stockholm Convention, as well as other POPs and priority substances (PSs) listed in many environmental monitoring programs was developed by the IAEA. The sediment material was collected from the Ham River estuary in South Korea, and the assigned final values were derived from robust statistics on the results provided by selected laboratories which demonstrated technical and quality competence, following the guidance given in ISO Guide 35. The robust mean of the laboratory means was assigned as certified values, for those compounds where the assigned value was derived from at least five datasets and its relative expanded uncertainty was less than 40% of the assigned value (most of the values ranging from 8 to 20%). All the datasets were derived from at least two different analytical techniques which have allowed the assignment of certified concentrations for 22 polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) congeners, 6 organochlorinated (OC) pesticides, 5 polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and 18 polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAHs). Mass fractions of compounds that did not fulfill the criteria of certification are considered information values, which include 29 PAHs, 11 PCBs, 16 OC pesticides, and 5 PBDEs. The extensive characterization and associated uncertainties at concentration levels close to the marine sediment quality guidelines will make CRM 459 a valuable matrix reference material for use in marine environmental monitoring programs.

Diagnosis and treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia in a bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis).

PubMed

Nevitt, Benjamin N; Langan, Jennifer N; Adkesson, Michael J; Landolfi, Jennifer A; Wilson, Rand

2014-12-15

Severe lymphocytosis and leukocytosis were detected during examination of a 10-year-old sexually intact male bat-eared fox (Otocyon megalotis) with regionally extensive alopecia. A CBC revealed severe leukocytosis (39,100 leukocytes/μL) and marked lymphocytosis (90%). A blood smear consisted predominantly of intermediate-sized lymphocytes and few large lymphocytes, with mild to moderate nuclear atypia. These findings were highly suggestive of chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL). Cytologic evaluation of bone marrow aspirates revealed no evidence of overt malignancy, with 10% of all cells identified as small to intermediate-sized mature lymphocytes. Treatment with chlorambucil and prednisone administered orally over a 1.8-year period decreased the leukocyte and lymphocyte counts to within reference intervals with no adverse effects. Although repeated flow cytometry revealed evidence of residual disease, the fox remained free of clinical disease, and WBC counts were within reference intervals for this species. At 22 months after initial evaluation, the fox was euthanized because of debilitating arthritis. No evidence of CLL was detected grossly or histologically during necropsy. To the authors' knowledge, this was the first report of CLL in a bat-eared fox and first successful treatment in a nondomestic carnivore. Treatment in accordance with a chemotherapeutic protocol successfully resolved the leukocytosis and lymphocytosis with no serious adverse effects. Description of this fox and the treatment protocol should provide a valuable reference for future cases in this and other nondomestic canine species.

Phosphorus as indicator of magmatic olivine residence time, morphology and growth rate

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sobolev, Alexander; Batanova, Valentina

2015-04-01

Phosphorus is among of slowest elements by diffusion rate in silicate melts and crystals (e.g. Spandler et al, 2007). In the same time it is moderately incompatible to compatible with olivine (Brunet & Chazot, 2001; Grant & Kohn, 2013). This makes phosphorus valuable tracer of olivine crystallization in natural conditions. Indeed, it is shown that natural magmatic olivine crystals commonly posses strong and complicated zoning in phosphorus (Milman-Barris et al, 2008; Welsch et al, 2014). In this paper we intend to review phosphorus behavior in olivine in published experimental and natural olivine studies and present large set of new EPMA data on phosphorus zoning in olivine phenocrysts from MORBs, OIBs, komatiites and kimberlites. We will show that sharp olivine zones enriched in phosphorus by a factor of 10-20 over prediction by equilibrium partition may be due to formation of P-rich boundary layer on the interface of fast growing olivine. This is proved by finding of small-size (normally 10 mkm or less) exceptionally P-rich melt inclusions in olivine, which are otherwise similar in composition to typical melt. These observations could provide potential olivine growth speedometer. We will also demonstrate, that sharp zoning in phosphorus may provide valuable information on the residence time of olivine crystals in different environments: magma chambers and conduits as well as mantle sources. This study has been founded by Russian Science Foundation grant 14-17-00491. References: Spandler, et al, 2007, Nature, v. 447, p. 303-306; Brunet & Chazot, 2001, Chemical Geology, v. 176, p. 51-72; Grant & Kohn, 2013, American Mineralogist, v. 98, p. 1860-1869; Milman-Barris et al, 2008, Contr. Min. Petrol. v. 155, p.739-765; Welsch et al, 2014, Geology, v. 42, p.867-870.

The potential therapeutic value for bereaved relatives participating in research: An exploratory study.

PubMed

Germain, Alison; Mayland, Catriona R; Jack, Barbara A

2016-10-01

Conducting research with the bereaved presents an immediate ethical challenge, as they are undoubtedly a vulnerable group, associated with high levels of distress and susceptible to both physical and mental health issues. A comprehensive understanding of the potential therapeutic benefits for bereaved relatives participating in palliative care research is limited, and therefore the ethics of engaging this group remain questionable. This paper describes a secondary analysis of qualitative data collected in the Care of the Dying Evaluation (CODE) project, examining the experiences of patients who died at home. It explores the motivations and potential benefits for bereaved relatives participating in research with reference to the recently developed concepts in bereavement theory. Cognitive interviews were conducted with 15 bereaved relatives and secondary analysis using a content analysis framework was employed to classify the data. The results center around six recurring concepts identified as adaptive in current bereavement theory: an opportunity to share the narrative accounts of the final hours of their relative's life; a search for sense and meaning in loss; an ongoing bond/attachment with the deceased; altruistic motivations; oscillation between loss and restorative orientations; and a sense of resilience. Overall, the participants found that taking part in the research was valuable and that it could be described as offering therapeutic benefits. The need for bereaved relatives to take part in research studies should be encouraged, as they provide an accurate proxy for the patient's experience of end-of-life care while also providing a valuable account of their own perspective as family member and carer. In addition, we highlight the need for ethics committees to be aware of the potential benefits for bereaved relatives participating in research of this kind.

Multi-scale linkages of winter drought variability to ENSO and the Arctic Oscillation: A case study in Shaanxi, North China

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Zhiyong; Zhang, Xin; Fang, Ruihong

2018-02-01

Understanding the potential connections between climate indices such as the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) and Arctic Oscillation (AO) and drought variability will be beneficial for making reasonable predictions or assumptions about future regional droughts, and provide valuable information to improve water resources planning and design for specific regions of interest. This study is to examine the multi-scale relationships between winter drought variability over Shaanxi (North China) and both ENSO and AO during the period 1960-2009. To accomplish this, we first estimated winter dryness/wetness conditions over Shaanxi based on the self-calibrating Palmer drought severity index (PDSI). Then, we identified the spatiotemporal variability of winter dryness/wetness conditions in the study area by using the empirical orthogonal function (EOF). Two primary sub-regions of winter dryness/wetness conditions across Shaanxi were identified. We further examined the periodical oscillations of dryness/wetness conditions and the multi-scale relationships between dryness/wetness conditions and both ENSO and AO in winter using wavelet analysis. The results indicate that there are inverse multi-scale relations between winter dryness/wetness conditions and ENSO (according to the wavelet coherence) for most of the study area. Moreover, positive multi-scale relations between winter dryness/wetness conditions and AO are mainly observed. The results could be beneficial for making reasonable predictions or assumptions about future regional droughts and provide valuable information to improve water resources planning and design within this study area. In addition to the current study area, this study may also offer a useful reference for other regions worldwide with similar climate conditions.

Fast and accurate genotype imputation in genome-wide association studies through pre-phasing

PubMed Central

Howie, Bryan; Fuchsberger, Christian; Stephens, Matthew; Marchini, Jonathan; Abecasis, Gonçalo R.

2013-01-01

Sequencing efforts, including the 1000 Genomes Project and disease-specific efforts, are producing large collections of haplotypes that can be used for genotype imputation in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Imputing from these reference panels can help identify new risk alleles, but the use of large panels with existing methods imposes a high computational burden. To keep imputation broadly accessible, we introduce a strategy called “pre-phasing” that maintains the accuracy of leading methods while cutting computational costs by orders of magnitude. In brief, we first statistically estimate the haplotypes for each GWAS individual (“pre-phasing”) and then impute missing genotypes into these estimated haplotypes. This reduces the computational cost because: (i) the GWAS samples must be phased only once, whereas standard methods would implicitly re-phase with each reference panel update; (ii) it is much faster to match a phased GWAS haplotype to one reference haplotype than to match unphased GWAS genotypes to a pair of reference haplotypes. This strategy will be particularly valuable for repeated imputation as reference panels evolve. PMID:22820512

Limitations of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis reference genome H37Rv in the detection of virulence-related loci.

PubMed

O'Toole, Ronan F; Gautam, Sanjay S

2017-10-01

The genome sequence of Mycobacterium tuberculosis strain H37Rv is an important and valuable reference point in the study of M. tuberculosis phylogeny, molecular epidemiology, and drug-resistance mutations. However, it is becoming apparent that use of H37Rv as a sole reference genome in analysing clinical isolates presents some limitations to fully investigating M. tuberculosis virulence. Here, we examine the presence of single locus variants and the absence of entire genes in H37Rv with respect to strains that are responsible for cases and outbreaks of tuberculosis. We discuss how these polymorphisms may affect phenotypic properties of H37Rv including pathogenicity. Based on our observations and those of other researchers, we propose that use of a single reference genome, H37Rv, is not sufficient for the detection and characterisation of M. tuberculosis virulence-related loci. We recommend incorporation of genome sequences of other reference strains, in particular, direct clinical isolates, in such analyses in addition to H37Rv. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The use of a virtual reality simulator to explore and understand the impact of Linac mis-calibrations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Beavis, Andrew W.; Ward, James W.

2014-03-01

Purpose: In recent years there has been interest in using Computer Simulation within Medical training. The VERT (Virtual Environment for Radiotherapy Training) system is a Flight Simulator for Radiation Oncology professionals, wherein fundamental concepts, techniques and problematic scenarios can be safely investigated. Methods: The system provides detailed simulations of several Linacs and the ability to display DICOM treatment plans. Patients can be mis-positioned with 'set-up errors' which can be explored visually, dosimetrically and using IGRT. Similarly, a variety of Linac calibration and configuration parameters can be altered manually or randomly via controlled errors in the simulated 3D Linac and its component parts. The implication of these can be investigated by following through a treatment scenario or using QC devices available within a Physics software module. Results: One resultant exercise is a systematic mis-calibration of 'lateral laser height' by 2mm. The offset in patient alignment is easily identified using IGRT and once corrected by reference to the 'in-room monitor'. The dosimetric implication is demonstrated to be 0.4% by setting a dosimetry phantom by the lasers (and ignoring TSD information). Finally, the need for recalibration can be shown by the Laser Alignment Phantom or by reference to the front pointer. Conclusions: The VERT system provides a realistic environment for training and enhancing understanding of radiotherapy concepts and techniques. Linac error conditions can be explored in this context and valuable experience gained in a controlled manner in a compressed period of time.

A Higher Level Classification of All Living Organisms

PubMed Central

Ruggiero, Michael A.; Gordon, Dennis P.; Orrell, Thomas M.; Bailly, Nicolas; Bourgoin, Thierry; Brusca, Richard C.; Cavalier-Smith, Thomas; Guiry, Michael D.; Kirk, Paul M.

2015-01-01

We present a consensus classification of life to embrace the more than 1.6 million species already provided by more than 3,000 taxonomists’ expert opinions in a unified and coherent, hierarchically ranked system known as the Catalogue of Life (CoL). The intent of this collaborative effort is to provide a hierarchical classification serving not only the needs of the CoL’s database providers but also the diverse public-domain user community, most of whom are familiar with the Linnaean conceptual system of ordering taxon relationships. This classification is neither phylogenetic nor evolutionary but instead represents a consensus view that accommodates taxonomic choices and practical compromises among diverse expert opinions, public usages, and conflicting evidence about the boundaries between taxa and the ranks of major taxa, including kingdoms. Certain key issues, some not fully resolved, are addressed in particular. Beyond its immediate use as a management tool for the CoL and ITIS (Integrated Taxonomic Information System), it is immediately valuable as a reference for taxonomic and biodiversity research, as a tool for societal communication, and as a classificatory “backbone” for biodiversity databases, museum collections, libraries, and textbooks. Such a modern comprehensive hierarchy has not previously existed at this level of specificity. PMID:25923521

Transcriptome of interstitial cells of Cajal reveals unique and selective gene signatures

PubMed Central

Park, Paul J.; Fuchs, Robert; Wei, Lai; Jorgensen, Brian G.; Redelman, Doug; Ward, Sean M.; Sanders, Kenton M.

2017-01-01

Transcriptome-scale data can reveal essential clues into understanding the underlying molecular mechanisms behind specific cellular functions and biological processes. Transcriptomics is a continually growing field of research utilized in biomarker discovery. The transcriptomic profile of interstitial cells of Cajal (ICC), which serve as slow-wave electrical pacemakers for gastrointestinal (GI) smooth muscle, has yet to be uncovered. Using copGFP-labeled ICC mice and flow cytometry, we isolated ICC populations from the murine small intestine and colon and obtained their transcriptomes. In analyzing the transcriptome, we identified a unique set of ICC-restricted markers including transcription factors, epigenetic enzymes/regulators, growth factors, receptors, protein kinases/phosphatases, and ion channels/transporters. This analysis provides new and unique insights into the cellular and biological functions of ICC in GI physiology. Additionally, we constructed an interactive ICC genome browser (http://med.unr.edu/physio/transcriptome) based on the UCSC genome database. To our knowledge, this is the first online resource that provides a comprehensive library of all known genetic transcripts expressed in primary ICC. Our genome browser offers a new perspective into the alternative expression of genes in ICC and provides a valuable reference for future functional studies. PMID:28426719

Hip-hop as a resource for understanding the urban context

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brown, Bryan

2010-06-01

This review explores Edmin's "Science education for the hip-hop generation" by documenting how he frames hip-hop as a means to access urban student culture. He argues that hip-hop is more than a mere music genre, but rather a culture that provides young people with ways of connecting to the world. Two primary ideas emerged as central to his work. First, he contends that students develop communal relationships and collective identities based on the common experiences expressed in hip-hop. Second, he identifies how the conscious recognition of institutional oppression serves a central feature in urban schools. Emdin's rich, and personal call for a greater understanding of hip-hop culture provides the text with an unmatched strength. He skillfully uses personal narratives from his own experience as well as quotes and references from hip-hop songs to make the nuances of hip hop transparent to science educators. Conversely, the limitation of this text is found in its unfulfilled promise to provide pragmatic examples of how to engage in a hip-hop based science education. Emdin's work is ultimately valuable as it extends our current knowledge about urban students and hip-hop in meaningful ways.

Fluvial sediment fingerprinting: literature review and annotated bibliography

USGS Publications Warehouse

Williamson, Joyce E.; Haj, Adel E.; Stamm, John F.; Valder, Joshua F.; Prautzch, Vicki L.

2014-01-01

The U.S. Geological Survey has evaluated and adopted various field methods for collecting real-time sediment and nutrient data. These methods have proven to be valuable representations of sediment and nutrient concentrations and loads but are not able to accurately identify specific source areas. Recently, more advanced data collection and analysis techniques have been evaluated that show promise in identifying specific source areas. Application of field methods could include studies of sources of fluvial sediment, otherwise referred to as sediment “fingerprinting.” The identification of sediment is important, in part, because knowing the primary sediment source areas in watersheds ensures that best management practices are incorporated in areas that maximize reductions in sediment loadings. This report provides a literature review and annotated bibliography of existing methodologies applied in the field of fluvial sediment fingerprinting. This literature review provides a bibliography of publications where sediment fingerprinting methods have been used; however, this report is not assumed to provide an exhaustive listing. Selected publications were categorized by methodology with some additional summary information. The information contained in the summary may help researchers select methods better suited to their particular study or study area, and identify methods in need of more testing and application.

Epidemiological tracking and population assignment of the non-clonal bacterium, Burkholderia pseudomallei.

PubMed

Dale, Julia; Price, Erin P; Hornstra, Heidie; Busch, Joseph D; Mayo, Mark; Godoy, Daniel; Wuthiekanun, Vanaporn; Baker, Anthony; Foster, Jeffrey T; Wagner, David M; Tuanyok, Apichai; Warner, Jeffrey; Spratt, Brian G; Peacock, Sharon J; Currie, Bart J; Keim, Paul; Pearson, Talima

2011-12-01

Rapid assignment of bacterial pathogens into predefined populations is an important first step for epidemiological tracking. For clonal species, a single allele can theoretically define a population. For non-clonal species such as Burkholderia pseudomallei, however, shared allelic states between distantly related isolates make it more difficult to identify population defining characteristics. Two distinct B. pseudomallei populations have been previously identified using multilocus sequence typing (MLST). These populations correlate with the major foci of endemicity (Australia and Southeast Asia). Here, we use multiple Bayesian approaches to evaluate the compositional robustness of these populations, and provide assignment results for MLST sequence types (STs). Our goal was to provide a reference for assigning STs to an established population without the need for further computational analyses. We also provide allele frequency results for each population to enable estimation of population assignment even when novel STs are discovered. The ability for humans and potentially contaminated goods to move rapidly across the globe complicates the task of identifying the source of an infection or outbreak. Population genetic dynamics of B. pseudomallei are particularly complicated relative to other bacterial pathogens, but the work here provides the ability for broad scale population assignment. As there is currently no independent empirical measure of successful population assignment, we provide comprehensive analytical details of our comparisons to enable the reader to evaluate the robustness of population designations and assignments as they pertain to individual research questions. Finer scale subdivision and verification of current population compositions will likely be possible with genotyping data that more comprehensively samples the genome. The approach used here may be valuable for other non-clonal pathogens that lack simple group-defining genetic characteristics and provides a rapid reference for epidemiologists wishing to track the origin of infection without the need to compile population data and learn population assignment algorithms.

Assessing students' ability to critically evaluate evidence in an inquiry-based undergraduate laboratory course.

PubMed

Colthorpe, Kay; Mehari Abraha, Hyab; Zimbardi, Kirsten; Ainscough, Louise; Spiers, Jereme G; Chen, Hsiao-Jou Cortina; Lavidis, Nickolas A

2017-03-01

The ability to critically evaluate and use evidence from one's own work or from primary literature is invaluable to any researcher. These skills include the ability to identify strengths and weakness of primary literature, to gauge the impact of research findings on a field, to identify gaps in a field that require more research, and to contextualize findings within a field. This study developed a model to examine undergraduate science students' abilities to critically evaluate and use evidence through an analysis of laboratory reports from control and experimental groups in nonresearch-aligned and research-aligned inquiry-based laboratory classes, respectively, and contrasted these with published scientific research articles. The reports analyzed ( n = 42) showed that students used evidence in a variety of ways, most often referring to literature indirectly, and least commonly highlighting limitations of literature. There were significant positive correlations between grade awarded and the use of references, evidence, and length, but there were no significant differences between control and experimental groups, so data were pooled. The use of evidence in scientific research articles ( n = 7) was similar to student reports except that expert authors were more likely to refer to their own results and cite more references. Analysis showed that students, by the completion of the second year of their undergraduate degree, had expertise approaching that of published authors. These findings demonstrate that it is possible to provide valuable broad-scale undergraduate research experiences to all students in a cohort, giving them exposure to the methods and communication processes of research as well as an opportunity to hone their critical evaluation skills. Copyright © 2017 the American Physiological Society.

Domestication drive the changes of immune and digestive system of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis).

PubMed

Chen, Xiaowen; Wang, Jun; Qian, Long; Gaughan, Sarah; Xiang, Wei; Ai, Tao; Fan, Zhenming; Wang, Chenghui

2017-01-01

Domestication has altered a variety of traits within the Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis), including phenotypic, physiological and behavioral traits of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis). Little is known, however, about the genetic changes between domesticated and wild Eurasian perch. In this study, we assembled a high-quality de novo reference transcriptome and identified differentially expressed genes between wild and domesticated Eurasian perch. A total of 113,709 transcripts were assembled, and 58,380 transcripts were annotated. Transcriptomic comparison revealed 630 differentially expressed genes between domesticated and wild Eurasian perch. Within domesticated Eurasian perch there were 412 genes that were up-regulated including MHCI, MHCII, chia, ighm within immune system development. There were 218 genes including try1, ctrl, ctrb, cela3b, cpa1 and cpb1, which were down-regulated that were associated with digestive processes. Our results indicated domestication drives the changes of immune and digestive system of Eurasian perch. Our study not only provide valuable genetic resources for further studies in Eurasian perch, but also provide novel insights into the genetic basis of physiological changes in Eurasian perch during domestication process.

Optical wavelength selection for portable hemoglobin determination by near-infrared spectroscopy method

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tian, Han; Li, Ming; Wang, Yue; Sheng, Dinggao; Liu, Jun; Zhang, Linna

2017-11-01

Hemoglobin concentration is commonly used in clinical medicine to diagnose anemia, identify bleeding, and manage red blood cell transfusions. The golden standard method for determining hemoglobin concentration in blood requires reagent. Spectral methods were advantageous at fast and non-reagent measurement. However, model calibration with full spectrum is time-consuming. Moreover, it is necessary to use a few variables considering size and cost of instrumentation, especially for a portable biomedical instrument. This study presents different wavelength selection methods for optical wavelengths for total hemoglobin concentration determination in whole blood. The results showed that modelling using only two wavelengths combination (1143 nm, 1298 nm) can keep on the fine predictability with full spectrum. It appears that the proper selection of optical wavelengths can be more effective than using the whole spectra for determination hemoglobin in whole blood. We also discussed the influence of water absorptivity on the wavelength selection. This research provides valuable references for designing portable NIR instruments determining hemoglobin concentration, and may provide some experience for noninvasive hemoglobin measurement by NIR methods.

Photogrammetric Techniques for Paleoanthropological Objects Preserving and Studying

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Knyaz, V. A.; Leybova, N. A.; Galeev, R.; Novikov, M.; Gaboutchian, A. V.

2018-05-01

Paleo-anthropological research has its specificity closely related with studied objects. Their complicated shape arises from anatomical features of human skull and other skeletal bones. The degree of preservation is associated with the fragility of palaeo-anthropological material which usually has high historical and scientific value. The circumstances mentioned above enhance the relevance of photogrammetry implementation in anthropological studies. Thus, such combination of scientific methodologies with up-to-date technology creates a potential for improvement of various stages of palaeo-anthropological studies. This can be referred to accurate documenting of anthropological material and creation of databases accessible for wide range of users, predominantly research scientists and students; preservation of highly valuable samples and possibility of sharing information as 3D images or printed copies, improving co-operation of scientists world-wide; potential for replication of contact anthropometric studies on 3D images or printed copies providing for development of new biometric methods, and etc. This paper presents an approach based on photogrammetric techniques and non-contact measurements, providing technological and methodological development of paleo-anthropological studies, including data capturing, processing and representing.

Studies on betaxanthin profiles of vegetables and fruits from the Chenopodiaceae and Cactaceae.

PubMed

Kugler, Florian; Graneis, Stephan; Stintzing, Florian C; Carle, Reinhold

2007-01-01

The present study provides an update on the betaxanthin (bx) compositions of red and yellow beetroots, yellow-coloured Swiss chard petioles, and yellow-orange cactus pear. Applying RP-HPLC coupled with positive ion electrospray mass spectrometry and by comparison with UV-vis and mass spectrometric characteristics as well as retention times of semi-synthesized reference compounds, 24 betaxanthins were identified in red and yellow beetroot hypocotyls. Twenty-five and thirteen betaxanthins were present in yellow Swiss chard petioles and the cactus pear cultivar 'Gialla', respectively. Ethanolamine-bx and threonine-bx were found to be novel betaxanthins in Chenopodiaceae representatives, which to the best of our knowledge have not been reported as genuine pigments so far. Furthermore, aspartic acid-bx (miraxanthin II), lysine-bx, and methionine-bx, hitherto found in other families, were identified in the Chenopodiaceae for the first time. Additionally, tyrosine-bx (portulacaxanthin II) and tryptophan-bx have not been earlier reported to occur in the Cactaceae. These findings provide valuable phytochemical information and may be useful for a better understanding of the functional properties of betaxanthins in plants.

Measuring body composition in dogs using multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis and dual energy X-ray absorptiometry.

PubMed

Rae, L S; Vankan, D M; Rand, J S; Flickinger, E A; Ward, L C

2016-06-01

Thirty-five healthy, neutered, mixed breed dogs were used to determine the ability of multifrequency bioelectrical impedance analysis (MFBIA) to predict accurately fat-free mass (FFM) in dogs using dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA)-measured FFM as reference. A second aim was to compare MFBIA predictions with morphometric predictions. MFBIA-based predictors provided an accurate measure of FFM, within 1.5% when compared to DXA-derived FFM, in normal weight dogs. FFM estimates were most highly correlated with DXA-measured FFM when the prediction equation included resistance quotient, bodyweight, and body condition score. At the population level, the inclusion of impedance as a predictor variable did not add substantially to the predictive power achieved with morphometric variables alone; in individual dogs, impedance predictors were more valuable than morphometric predictors. These results indicate that, following further validation, MFBIA could provide a useful tool in clinical practice to objectively measure FFM in canine patients and help improve compliance with prevention and treatment programs for obesity in dogs. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

A Framework for Reproducible Latent Fingerprint Enhancements.

PubMed

Carasso, Alfred S

2014-01-01

Photoshop processing of latent fingerprints is the preferred methodology among law enforcement forensic experts, but that appproach is not fully reproducible and may lead to questionable enhancements. Alternative, independent, fully reproducible enhancements, using IDL Histogram Equalization and IDL Adaptive Histogram Equalization, can produce better-defined ridge structures, along with considerable background information. Applying a systematic slow motion smoothing procedure to such IDL enhancements, based on the rapid FFT solution of a Lévy stable fractional diffusion equation, can attenuate background detail while preserving ridge information. The resulting smoothed latent print enhancements are comparable to, but distinct from, forensic Photoshop images suitable for input into automated fingerprint identification systems, (AFIS). In addition, this progressive smoothing procedure can be reexamined by displaying the suite of progressively smoother IDL images. That suite can be stored, providing an audit trail that allows monitoring for possible loss of useful information, in transit to the user-selected optimal image. Such independent and fully reproducible enhancements provide a valuable frame of reference that may be helpful in informing, complementing, and possibly validating the forensic Photoshop methodology.

Quantification of the Early Small-Scale Fishery in the North-Eastern Baltic Sea in the Late 17th Century

PubMed Central

Verliin, Aare; Ojaveer, Henn; Kaju, Katre; Tammiksaar, Erki

2013-01-01

Historical perspectives on fisheries and related human behaviour provide valuable information on fishery resources and their exploitation, helping to more appropriately set management targets and determine relevant reference levels. In this study we analyse historical fisheries and fish trade at the north-eastern Baltic Sea coast in the late 17th century. Local consumption and export together amounted to the annual removal of about 200 tonnes of fish from the nearby sea and freshwater bodies. The fishery was very diverse and exploited altogether one cyclostome and 17 fish species with over 90% of the catch being consumed locally. The exported fish consisted almost entirely of high-valued species with Stockholm (Sweden) being the most important export destination. Due to rich political history and natural features of the region, we suggest that the documented evidence of this small-scale fishery should be considered as the first quantitative summary of exploitation of aquatic living resources in the region and can provide a background for future analyses. PMID:23861914

Domestication drive the changes of immune and digestive system of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis)

PubMed Central

Chen, Xiaowen; Wang, Jun; Qian, Long; Gaughan, Sarah; Xiang, Wei; Ai, Tao; Fan, Zhenming; Wang, Chenghui

2017-01-01

Domestication has altered a variety of traits within the Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis), including phenotypic, physiological and behavioral traits of Eurasian perch (Perca fluviatilis). Little is known, however, about the genetic changes between domesticated and wild Eurasian perch. In this study, we assembled a high-quality de novo reference transcriptome and identified differentially expressed genes between wild and domesticated Eurasian perch. A total of 113,709 transcripts were assembled, and 58,380 transcripts were annotated. Transcriptomic comparison revealed 630 differentially expressed genes between domesticated and wild Eurasian perch. Within domesticated Eurasian perch there were 412 genes that were up-regulated including MHCI, MHCII, chia, ighm within immune system development. There were 218 genes including try1, ctrl, ctrb, cela3b, cpa1 and cpb1, which were down-regulated that were associated with digestive processes. Our results indicated domestication drives the changes of immune and digestive system of Eurasian perch. Our study not only provide valuable genetic resources for further studies in Eurasian perch, but also provide novel insights into the genetic basis of physiological changes in Eurasian perch during domestication process. PMID:28257494

Defect structures induced by high-energy displacement cascades in γ uranium

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

Miao, Yinbin; Beeler, Benjamin; Deo, Chaitanya

Displacement cascade simulations were conducted for the c uranium system based on molecular dynamics. A recently developed modified embedded atom method (MEAM) potential was employed to replicate the atomic interactions while an embedded atom method (EAM) potential was adopted to help characterize the defect structures induced by the displacement cascades. The atomic displacement process was studied by providing primary knock-on atoms (PKAs) with kinetic energies from 1 keV to 50 keV. The influence of the PKA incident direction was examined. The defect structures were analyzed after the systems were fully relaxed. The states of the self-interstitial atoms (SIAs) were categorizedmore » into various types of dumbbells, the crowdion, and the octahedral interstitial. The voids were determined to have a polyhedral shape with {110} facets. The size distribution of the voids was also obtained. The results of this study not only expand the knowledge of the microstructural evolution in irradiated c uranium, but also provide valuable references for the radiation-induced defects in uranium alloy fuels.« less

A Framework for Reproducible Latent Fingerprint Enhancements

PubMed Central

Carasso, Alfred S.

2014-01-01

Photoshop processing1 of latent fingerprints is the preferred methodology among law enforcement forensic experts, but that appproach is not fully reproducible and may lead to questionable enhancements. Alternative, independent, fully reproducible enhancements, using IDL Histogram Equalization and IDL Adaptive Histogram Equalization, can produce better-defined ridge structures, along with considerable background information. Applying a systematic slow motion smoothing procedure to such IDL enhancements, based on the rapid FFT solution of a Lévy stable fractional diffusion equation, can attenuate background detail while preserving ridge information. The resulting smoothed latent print enhancements are comparable to, but distinct from, forensic Photoshop images suitable for input into automated fingerprint identification systems, (AFIS). In addition, this progressive smoothing procedure can be reexamined by displaying the suite of progressively smoother IDL images. That suite can be stored, providing an audit trail that allows monitoring for possible loss of useful information, in transit to the user-selected optimal image. Such independent and fully reproducible enhancements provide a valuable frame of reference that may be helpful in informing, complementing, and possibly validating the forensic Photoshop methodology. PMID:26601028

FMAP: Functional Mapping and Analysis Pipeline for metagenomics and metatranscriptomics studies.

PubMed

Kim, Jiwoong; Kim, Min Soo; Koh, Andrew Y; Xie, Yang; Zhan, Xiaowei

2016-10-10

Given the lack of a complete and comprehensive library of microbial reference genomes, determining the functional profile of diverse microbial communities is challenging. The available functional analysis pipelines lack several key features: (i) an integrated alignment tool, (ii) operon-level analysis, and (iii) the ability to process large datasets. Here we introduce our open-sourced, stand-alone functional analysis pipeline for analyzing whole metagenomic and metatranscriptomic sequencing data, FMAP (Functional Mapping and Analysis Pipeline). FMAP performs alignment, gene family abundance calculations, and statistical analysis (three levels of analyses are provided: differentially-abundant genes, operons and pathways). The resulting output can be easily visualized with heatmaps and functional pathway diagrams. FMAP functional predictions are consistent with currently available functional analysis pipelines. FMAP is a comprehensive tool for providing functional analysis of metagenomic/metatranscriptomic sequencing data. With the added features of integrated alignment, operon-level analysis, and the ability to process large datasets, FMAP will be a valuable addition to the currently available functional analysis toolbox. We believe that this software will be of great value to the wider biology and bioinformatics communities.

Sexpectations: Male College Students' Views about Displayed Sexual References on Females' Social Networking Web Sites

PubMed Central

Moreno, Megan A.; Swanson, Michael J.; Royer, Heather; Roberts, Linda J.

2011-01-01

Study Objective Sexual reference display on a social networking web site (SNS) is associated with self-reported sexual intention; females are more likely to display sexually explicit content on SNSs. The purpose of this study was to investigate male college students' views towards sexual references displayed on publicly available SNSs by females. Design Focus groups Setting One large state university Participants Male college students age 18–23 Interventions All tape recorded data was fully transcribed, then discussed to determine thematic consensus. Main Outcome Measures A trained male facilitator asked participants about views on sexual references displayed on SNSs by female peers and showed examples of sexual references from female's SNS profiles to facilitate discussion. Results A total of 28 heterosexual male participants participated in 7 focus groups. Nearly all participants reported using Facebook to evaluate potential female partners. Three themes emerged from our data. First, participants reported that displays of sexual references on social networking web sites increased sexual expectations. Second, sexual reference display decreased interest in pursuing a dating relationship. Third, SNS data was acknowledged as imperfect but valuable. Conclusion Females who display sexual references on publicly available SNS profiles may be influencing potential partners' sexual expectations and dating intentions. Future research should examine females' motivations and beliefs about displaying such references, and educate women about the potential impact of these sexual displays. PMID:21190872

Sexpectations: male college students' views about displayed sexual references on females' social networking web sites.

PubMed

Moreno, Megan A; Swanson, Michael J; Royer, Heather; Roberts, Linda J

2011-04-01

Sexual reference display on a social networking web site (SNS) is associated with self-reported sexual intention; females are more likely to display sexually explicit content on SNSs. The purpose of this study was to investigate male college students' views towards sexual references displayed on publicly available SNSs by females. Focus groups. One large state university. Male college students age 18-23. All tape recorded discussion was fully transcribed, then discussed to determine thematic consensus. A trained male facilitator asked participants about views on sexual references displayed on SNSs by female peers and showed examples of sexual references from female's SNS profiles to facilitate discussion. A total of 28 heterosexual male participants participated in seven focus groups. Nearly all participants reported using Facebook to evaluate potential female partners. Three themes emerged from our data. First, participants reported that displays of sexual references on social networking web sites increased sexual expectations. Second, sexual reference display decreased interest in pursuing a dating relationship. Third, SNS data was acknowledged as imperfect but valuable. Females who display sexual references on publicly available SNS profiles may be influencing potential partners' sexual expectations and dating intentions. Future research should examine females' motivations and beliefs about displaying such references and educate women about the potential impact of these sexual displays. Copyright © 2011 North American Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Gynecology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Mountain Weather and Climate, Third Edition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hastenrath, Stefan

2009-05-01

For colleagues with diverse interests in the atmosphere, glaciers, radiation, landforms, water resources, vegetation, human implications, and more, Mountain Weather and Climate can be a valuable source of guidance and literature references. The book is organized into seven chapters: 1, Mountains and their climatological study; 2,Geographical controls of mountain meteorological elements; 3, Circulation systems related to orography; 4, Climatic characteristics of mountains; 5, Regional case studies; 6, Mountain bioclimatology; and 7, Changes in mountain climates. These chapters are supported by l78 diagrams and photographs, 47 tables, and some 2000 literature references. The volume has an appendix of units and energy conversion factors and a subject index, but it lacks an author index.

Rethinking Intelligence to Integrate Counterterrorism into the Local Law Enforcement Mission

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-03-01

a needle in the haystack problem. Also referred to as the wheat versus the chaff problem, valuable information must be separated from unimportant...information and processed before analysts can yield any useful intelligence.25 3. Processing and Exploitation To address the wheat -versus-chaff...93 Despite the perception that Chicago is an aging Rust Belt city, some experts report that it has the largest high technology and information

Simultaneous Extraction of Lithium and Hydrogen From Seawater

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-10-26

etc.) References 1. U. Bardi , Extracting minerals from seawater: An energy analysis, Sustainability, 2, 980 (2010). 2. K-S. Chung, J -C. Lee, W...Michele Anderson, ONR Code: 332, michele.anderson1@navy.mil Project Objective: The ultimate goal of the proposed research is to demonstrate a ...novel electrolytic process for extracting Li from seawater, which contains a number of valuable metals (Table1). 1 The technical objectives of this

Changes in blood lactate and respiratory gas exchange measures in sports with discontinuous load profiles.

PubMed

Smekal, Gerhard; von Duvillard, Serge P; Pokan, Rochus; Tschan, Harald; Baron, Ramon; Hofmann, Peter; Wonisch, Manfred; Bachl, Norbert

2003-06-01

This study compares two different sport events (orienteering = OTC; tennis = TEC) with discontinuous load profiles and different activity/recovery patterns by means of blood lactate (LA), heart rate (HR), and respiratory gas exchange measures (RGME) determined via a portable respiratory system. During the TEC, 20 tennis-ranked male subjects [age: 26.0 (3.7) years; height: 181.0 (5.7) cm; weight: 73.2 (6.8) kg; maximal oxygen consumption (VO(2)max): 57.3 (5.1) ml.kg(-1).min(-1)] played ten matches of 50 min. During the OTC, 11 male members of the Austrian National Team [age: 23.5 (3.9) years; height: 183.6 (6.8) cm; weight: 72.4 (3.9) kg; VO(2)max: 67.9 (3.8) ml.kg(-1).min(-1)] performed a simulated OTC (six sections; average length: 10.090 m). In both studies data from the maximal treadmill tests (TT) were used as reference values for the comparison of energy expenditure of OTC and TEC. During TEC, the average VO(2) was considerably lower [29.1 (5.6) ml(.)kg(-1.)min(-1)] or 51.1 (10.9)% of VO(2)max and 64.8.0 (13.3)% of VO(2) determined at the individual anaerobic threshold (IAT) on the TT. The short high-intensity periods (activity/recovery = 1/6) did not result in higher LA levels [average LA of games: 2.07 (0.9) mmol.l(-1)]. The highest average VO(2 )value for a whole game was 47.8 ml.kg(-1.)min(-1) and may provide a reference for energy demands required to sustain high-intensity periods of tennis predominantly via aerobic mechanism of energy delivery. During OTC, we found an average VO(2) of 56.4 (4.5) ml.kg(-1).min(-1) or 83.0 (3.8)% of VO(2)max and 94.6 (5.2)% of VO(2) at IAT. In contrast to TEC, LA were relatively high [5.16 (1.5) mmol.l(-1)) although the average VO(2) was significantly lower than VO(2) at IAT. Our data suggest that portable RGEM provides valuable information concerning the energy expenditure in sports that cannot be interpreted from LA or HR measures alone. Portable RGEM systems provide valuable assessment of under- or over-estimation of requirements of sports and assist in the optimization and interpretation of training in athletes.

Educating Tomorrow's Valuable Citizen.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burstyn, Joan N., Ed.

This collection of essays by various authors discusses the dilemmas that face those who would educate tomorrow's valuable citizens and describes the day-to-day commitment needed to maintain a community. The book gives guidelines for action through examples of current programs that provide a forum for civic discussion and public consensus on the…

Influence of light, temperature and salinity on dissolved organic carbon exudation rates in Zostera marina L.

EPA Science Inventory

Seagrass carbon budgets provide valuable insight on the minimum requirements needed to maintain this valuable resource. Carbon budgets are a balance between C fixation, storage and loss rates, most of which are well characterized. However, relatively few measurements of dissolv...

454-pyrosequencing: A tool for discovery and biomarker development

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The Roche GS-FLX (454) sequencer has made possible what was thought impossible just a few years ago: sequence >1 million high-quality nucleotide reads (mean 400 bp) in less than 12 h. This technology provides valuable species-specific sequence information, and is a valuable tool to discover and und...

Clone DB: an integrated NCBI resource for clone-associated data

PubMed Central

Schneider, Valerie A.; Chen, Hsiu-Chuan; Clausen, Cliff; Meric, Peter A.; Zhou, Zhigang; Bouk, Nathan; Husain, Nora; Maglott, Donna R.; Church, Deanna M.

2013-01-01

The National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) Clone DB (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/clone/) is an integrated resource providing information about and facilitating access to clones, which serve as valuable research reagents in many fields, including genome sequencing and variation analysis. Clone DB represents an expansion and replacement of the former NCBI Clone Registry and has records for genomic and cell-based libraries and clones representing more than 100 different eukaryotic taxa. Records provide details of library construction, associated sequences, map positions and information about resource distribution. Clone DB is indexed in the NCBI Entrez system and can be queried by fields that include organism, clone name, gene name and sequence identifier. Whenever possible, genomic clones are mapped to reference assemblies and their map positions provided in clone records. Clones mapping to specific genomic regions can also be searched for using the NCBI Clone Finder tool, which accepts queries based on sequence coordinates or features such as gene or transcript names. Clone DB makes reports of library, clone and placement data on its FTP site available for download. With Clone DB, users now have available to them a centralized resource that provides them with the tools they will need to make use of these important research reagents. PMID:23193260

Utilization of telemedicine in the U.S. military in a deployed setting.

PubMed

Hwang, Jane S; Lappan, Charles M; Sperling, Leonard C; Meyerle, Jon H

2014-11-01

A retrospective evaluation of the Department of Defense teledermatology consultation program from 2004 to 2012 was performed, focusing on clinical application and outcome measures such as consult volume, response time, and medical evacuation status. A retrospective review of the teledermatology program between 2004 and 2012 was evaluated based on defined outcome measures. In addition, 658 teledermatology cases were reviewed to assess how the program was utilized by health care providers from 2011 to 2012. As high as 98% of the teledermatology consults were answered within 24 hours, and 23% of consults within 1 hour. The most common final diagnoses included eczematous dermatitis, contact dermatitis, and evaluation for nonmelanoma skin cancer. The most common medications recommended included topical corticosteroids, oral antibiotics, antihistamines, and emollients. Biopsy was most commonly recommended for further evaluation. Following teleconsultation, 46 dermatologic evacuations were "avoided" as the patient was not evacuated based on the consultants' recommendation. Consultants' recommendations to the referring provider "facilitated" 41 evacuations. Telemedicine in the U.S. military has provided valuable dermatology support to providers in remote locations by delivering appropriate and timely consultation for military service members and coalition partners. In addition to avoiding unnecessary medical evacuations, the program facilitated appropriate evacuations that may otherwise have been delayed. Reprint & Copyright © 2014 Association of Military Surgeons of the U.S.

Metrological aspects of enzyme production

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kerber, T. M.; Dellamora-Ortiz, G. M.; Pereira-Meirelles, F. V.

2010-05-01

Enzymes are frequently used in biotechnology to carry out specific biological reactions, either in industrial processes or for the production of bioproducts and drugs. Microbial lipases are an important group of biotechnologically valuable enzymes that present widely diversified applications. Lipase production by microorganisms is described in several published papers; however, none of them refer to metrological evaluation and the estimation of the uncertainty in measurement. Moreover, few of them refer to process optimization through experimental design. The objectives of this work were to enhance lipase production in shaken-flasks with Yarrowia lipolytica cells employing experimental design and to evaluate the uncertainty in measurement of lipase activity. The highest lipolytic activity obtained was about three- and fivefold higher than the reported activities of CRMs BCR-693 and BCR-694, respectively. Lipase production by Y. lipolytica cells aiming the classification as certified reference material is recommended after further purification and stability studies.

Distance-Based Configurational Entropy of Proteins from Molecular Dynamics Simulations

PubMed Central

Fogolari, Federico; Corazza, Alessandra; Fortuna, Sara; Soler, Miguel Angel; VanSchouwen, Bryan; Brancolini, Giorgia; Corni, Stefano; Melacini, Giuseppe; Esposito, Gennaro

2015-01-01

Estimation of configurational entropy from molecular dynamics trajectories is a difficult task which is often performed using quasi-harmonic or histogram analysis. An entirely different approach, proposed recently, estimates local density distribution around each conformational sample by measuring the distance from its nearest neighbors. In this work we show this theoretically well grounded the method can be easily applied to estimate the entropy from conformational sampling. We consider a set of systems that are representative of important biomolecular processes. In particular: reference entropies for amino acids in unfolded proteins are obtained from a database of residues not participating in secondary structure elements;the conformational entropy of folding of β2-microglobulin is computed from molecular dynamics simulations using reference entropies for the unfolded state;backbone conformational entropy is computed from molecular dynamics simulations of four different states of the EPAC protein and compared with order parameters (often used as a measure of entropy);the conformational and rototranslational entropy of binding is computed from simulations of 20 tripeptides bound to the peptide binding protein OppA and of β2-microglobulin bound to a citrate coated gold surface. This work shows the potential of the method in the most representative biological processes involving proteins, and provides a valuable alternative, principally in the shown cases, where other approaches are problematic. PMID:26177039

Distance-Based Configurational Entropy of Proteins from Molecular Dynamics Simulations.

PubMed

Fogolari, Federico; Corazza, Alessandra; Fortuna, Sara; Soler, Miguel Angel; VanSchouwen, Bryan; Brancolini, Giorgia; Corni, Stefano; Melacini, Giuseppe; Esposito, Gennaro

2015-01-01

Estimation of configurational entropy from molecular dynamics trajectories is a difficult task which is often performed using quasi-harmonic or histogram analysis. An entirely different approach, proposed recently, estimates local density distribution around each conformational sample by measuring the distance from its nearest neighbors. In this work we show this theoretically well grounded the method can be easily applied to estimate the entropy from conformational sampling. We consider a set of systems that are representative of important biomolecular processes. In particular: reference entropies for amino acids in unfolded proteins are obtained from a database of residues not participating in secondary structure elements;the conformational entropy of folding of β2-microglobulin is computed from molecular dynamics simulations using reference entropies for the unfolded state;backbone conformational entropy is computed from molecular dynamics simulations of four different states of the EPAC protein and compared with order parameters (often used as a measure of entropy);the conformational and rototranslational entropy of binding is computed from simulations of 20 tripeptides bound to the peptide binding protein OppA and of β2-microglobulin bound to a citrate coated gold surface. This work shows the potential of the method in the most representative biological processes involving proteins, and provides a valuable alternative, principally in the shown cases, where other approaches are problematic.

An Universal packaging technique for low-drift implantable pressure sensors.

PubMed

Kim, Albert; Powell, Charles R; Ziaie, Babak

2016-04-01

Monitoring bodily pressures provide valuable diagnostic and prognostic information. In particular, long-term measurement through implantable sensors is highly desirable in situations where percutaneous access can be complicated or dangerous (e.g., intracranial pressure in hydrocephalic patients). In spite of decades of progress in the fabrication of miniature solid-state pressure sensors, sensor drift has so far severely limited their application in implantable systems. In this paper, we report on a universal packaging technique for reducing the sensor drift. The described method isolates the pressure sensor from a major source of drift, i.e., contact with the aqueous surrounding environment, by encasing the sensor in a silicone-filled medical-grade polyurethane balloon. In-vitro soak tests for 100 days using commercial micromachined piezoresistive pressure sensors demonstrate a stable operation with the output remaining within 1.8 cmH2O (1.3 mmHg) of a reference pressure transducer. Under similar test conditions, a non-isolated sensor fluctuates between 10 and 20 cmH2O (7.4-14.7 mmHg) of the reference, without ever settling to a stable operation regime. Implantation in Ossabow pigs demonstrate the robustness of the package and its in-vivo efficacy in reducing the baseline drift.

Low-Density Lipoproteins Oxidation and Endometriosis

PubMed Central

Polak, Grzegorz; Barczyński, Bartłomiej; Kwaśniewski, Wojciech; Bednarek, Wiesława; Wertel, Iwona; Derewianka-Polak, Magdalena; Kotarski, Jan

2013-01-01

The etiopathogenesis of endometriosis still remains unknown. Recent data provide new valuable information concerning the role of oxidative stress in the pathophysiology of the disease. It has been proved that levels of different lipid peroxidation end products are increased in both peritoneal fluid (PF) and serum of endometriotic patients. We assessed the concentration of oxidized low-density lipoproteins (oxLDL) in PF of 110 women with different stages of endometriosis and 119 women with serous (n = 78) or dermoid (n = 41) ovarian cysts, as the reference groups. PF oxLDL levels were evaluated by ELISA. We found that concentrations of oxLDL in PF of endometriotic women were significantly higher compared to women with serous but not dermoid ovarian cysts. Interestingly, by analyzing concentrations of oxLDL in women with different stages of the disease, it was noted that they are significantly higher only in the subgroup of patients with stage IV endometriosis as compared to women with ovarian serous cysts. In case of minimal, mild, and moderate disease, PF oxLDL levels were similar to those noted in reference groups. Our results indicate that disrupted oxidative status in the peritoneal cavity of women with endometriosis may play a role in the pathogenesis of advanced stages of the disease. PMID:23861560

Recognising and referring children exposed to domestic abuse: a multi-professional, proactive systems-based evaluation using a modified Failure Mode and Effects Analysis (FMEA).

PubMed

Ashley, Laura; Armitage, Gerry; Taylor, Julie

2017-03-01

Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a prospective quality assurance methodology increasingly used in healthcare, which identifies potential vulnerabilities in complex, high-risk processes and generates remedial actions. We aimed, for the first time, to apply FMEA in a social care context to evaluate the process for recognising and referring children exposed to domestic abuse within one Midlands city safeguarding area in England. A multidisciplinary, multi-agency team of 10 front-line professionals undertook the FMEA, using a modified methodology, over seven group meetings. The FMEA included mapping out the process under evaluation to identify its component steps, identifying failure modes (potential errors) and possible causes for each step and generating corrective actions. In this article, we report the output from the FMEA, including illustrative examples of the failure modes and corrective actions generated. We also present an analysis of feedback from the FMEA team and provide future recommendations for the use of FMEA in appraising social care processes and practice. Although challenging, the FMEA was unequivocally valuable for team members and generated a significant number of corrective actions locally for the safeguarding board to consider in its response to children exposed to domestic abuse. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

GigaTON: an extensive publicly searchable database providing a new reference transcriptome in the pacific oyster Crassostrea gigas.

PubMed

Riviere, Guillaume; Klopp, Christophe; Ibouniyamine, Nabihoudine; Huvet, Arnaud; Boudry, Pierre; Favrel, Pascal

2015-12-02

The Pacific oyster, Crassostrea gigas, is one of the most important aquaculture shellfish resources worldwide. Important efforts have been undertaken towards a better knowledge of its genome and transcriptome, which makes now C. gigas becoming a model organism among lophotrochozoans, the under-described sister clade of ecdysozoans within protostomes. These massive sequencing efforts offer the opportunity to assemble gene expression data and make such resource accessible and exploitable for the scientific community. Therefore, we undertook this assembly into an up-to-date publicly available transcriptome database: the GigaTON (Gigas TranscriptOme pipeliNe) database. We assembled 2204 million sequences obtained from 114 publicly available RNA-seq libraries that were realized using all embryo-larval development stages, adult organs, different environmental stressors including heavy metals, temperature, salinity and exposure to air, which were mostly performed as part of the Crassostrea gigas genome project. This data was analyzed in silico and resulted into 56621 newly assembled contigs that were deposited into a publicly available database, the GigaTON database. This database also provides powerful and user-friendly request tools to browse and retrieve information about annotation, expression level, UTRs, splice and polymorphism, and gene ontology associated to all the contigs into each, and between all libraries. The GigaTON database provides a convenient, potent and versatile interface to browse, retrieve, confront and compare massive transcriptomic information in an extensive range of conditions, tissues and developmental stages in Crassostrea gigas. To our knowledge, the GigaTON database constitutes the most extensive transcriptomic database to date in marine invertebrates, thereby a new reference transcriptome in the oyster, a highly valuable resource to physiologists and evolutionary biologists.

Fundus Autofluorescence in Age-related Macular Degeneration

PubMed Central

Ly, Angelica; Nivison-Smith, Lisa; Assaad, Nagi; Kalloniatis, Michael

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT Fundus autofluorescence (FAF) provides detailed insight into the health of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE). This is highly valuable in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) as RPE damage is a hallmark of the disease. The purpose of this paper is to critically appraise current clinical descriptions regarding the appearance of AMD using FAF and to integrate these findings into a chair-side reference. A wide variety of FAF patterns have been described in AMD, which is consistent with the clinical heterogeneity of the disease. In particular, FAF imaging in early to intermediate AMD has the capacity to reveal RPE alterations in areas that appear normal on funduscopy, which aids in the stratification of cases and may have visually significant prognostic implications. It can assist in differential diagnoses and also represents a reliable, sensitive method for distinguishing reticular pseudodrusen. FAF is especially valuable in the detection, evaluation, and monitoring of geographic atrophy and has been used as an endpoint in clinical trials. In neovascular AMD, FAF reveals distinct patterns of classic choroidal neovascularization noninvasively and may be especially useful for determining which eyes are likely to benefit from therapeutic intervention. FAF represents a rapid, effective, noninvasive imaging method that has been underutilized, and incorporation into the routine assessment of AMD cases should be considered. However, the practicing clinician should also be aware of the limitations of the modality, such as in the detection of foveal involvement and in the distinction of phenotypes (hypo-autofluorescent drusen from small areas of geographic atrophy). PMID:27668639

Molecular cytogenetic map of the central bearded dragon, Pogona vitticeps (Squamata: Agamidae).

PubMed

Young, M J; O'Meally, D; Sarre, S D; Georges, A; Ezaz, T

2013-07-01

Reptiles, as the sister group to birds and mammals, are particularly valuable for comparative genomic studies among amniotes. The Australian central bearded dragon (Pogona vitticeps) is being developed as a reptilian model for such comparisons, with whole-genome sequencing near completion. The karyotype consists of 6 pairs of macrochromosomes and 10 pairs microchromosomes (2n = 32), including a female heterogametic ZW sex microchromosome pair. Here, we present a molecular cytogenetic map for P. vitticeps comprising 87 anchor bacterial artificial chromosome clones that together span each macro- and microchromosome. It is the first comprehensive cytogenetic map for any non-avian reptile. We identified an active nucleolus organizer region (NOR) on the sub-telomeric region of 2q by mapping 18S rDNA and Ag-NOR staining. We identified interstitial telomeric sequences in two microchromosome pairs and the W chromosome, indicating that microchromosome fusion has been a mechanism of karyotypic evolution in Australian agamids within the last 21 to 19 million years. Orthology searches against the chicken genome revealed an intrachromosomal rearrangement of P. vitticeps 1q, identified regions orthologous to chicken Z on P. vitticeps 2q, snake Z on P. vitticeps 6q and the autosomal microchromosome pair in P. vitticeps orthologous to turtle Pelodiscus sinensis ZW and lizard Anolis carolinensis XY. This cytogenetic map will be a valuable reference tool for future gene mapping studies and will provide the framework for the work currently underway to physically anchor genome sequences to chromosomes for this model Australian squamate.

An updated rate-of-spread clock

USGS Publications Warehouse

Kolaks, Jeremy; Grabner, Keith W.; Hartman, George; Cutter, Bruce E.; Loewenstein, Edward F.

2005-01-01

Several years ago, Blank and Simard (1983) described an electronic timer, frequently referred to as a rate-of-spread (ROS) clock—a relatively simple instrument used in measuring fire spread. Although other techniques for measuring rate of spread are available (such as data loggers), the basic ROS clock remains a valuable and relatively inexpensive tool. However, several items described in the original article have changed. Therefore, we are describing an updated version of the ROS clock.

Mass Spectrometry of the CO2 Laser Plasma.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-06-01

Lasers Plasma Chemistry Discharge Electrochemistry 20. ABSTRACT (Continue on reverse side If necessary end identify by block number) ... The neutral and...Reference 3). The evidence indicates that valuable information concerning the plasma chemistry of the discharge can be obtained with the aid of a mass...gives very reliable results as will be shown later. The ultimate goal of this project was to investigate the plasma chemistry of the CO2 laser discharge

The Organizations and Functions of Documentation and Information Centres in Defence and Aerospace Environments

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-10-20

express my sincere gratitude to Mrs. D. Patrinou, of the Hellenic Aerospace Industry, for her valuable and constructive comments during the preparation of...cognitive awareness, we get closer to constructing the elusive user model. 3-7 REFERENCES 1 Ziman, J. Knowing everything about nothing: specialization and...Collection, with information from 18 abstract journals - the Construction Criteria Base. with over 50,000 pages of guide specifications and standards

Exploring the Microbiome of Callinectes sapidus (Maryland Blue Crab)

PubMed Central

Reed, Elizabeth; Ottesen, Andrea

2018-01-01

ABSTRACT The Maryland blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) is a treasured food, especially in areas surrounding the Chesapeake Bay. It has huge economic impact on commerce, and thus, understanding the bacterial, fungal, and viral constituents of its microbiome provides valuable information to safely manage aquaculture, handling, and cooking of this valuable commodity. PMID:29853506

Production of Fatty Acid-Derived Valuable Chemicals in Synthetic Microbes

PubMed Central

Yu, Ai-Qun; Pratomo Juwono, Nina Kurniasih; Leong, Susanna Su Jan; Chang, Matthew Wook

2014-01-01

Fatty acid derivatives, such as hydroxy fatty acids, fatty alcohols, fatty acid methyl/ethyl esters, and fatty alka(e)nes, have a wide range of industrial applications including plastics, lubricants, and fuels. Currently, these chemicals are obtained mainly through chemical synthesis, which is complex and costly, and their availability from natural biological sources is extremely limited. Metabolic engineering of microorganisms has provided a platform for effective production of these valuable biochemicals. Notably, synthetic biology-based metabolic engineering strategies have been extensively applied to refactor microorganisms for improved biochemical production. Here, we reviewed: (i) the current status of metabolic engineering of microbes that produce fatty acid-derived valuable chemicals, and (ii) the recent progress of synthetic biology approaches that assist metabolic engineering, such as mRNA secondary structure engineering, sensor-regulator system, regulatable expression system, ultrasensitive input/output control system, and computer science-based design of complex gene circuits. Furthermore, key challenges and strategies were discussed. Finally, we concluded that synthetic biology provides useful metabolic engineering strategies for economically viable production of fatty acid-derived valuable chemicals in engineered microbes. PMID:25566540

[Influenza surveillance in nine consecutive seasons, 2003-2012: results from National Influenza Reference Laboratory, Istanbul Faculty Of Medicine, Turkey].

PubMed

Akçay Ciblak, Meral; Kanturvardar Tütenyurd, Melis; Asar, Serkan; Tulunoğlu, Merve; Fındıkçı, Nurcihan; Badur, Selim

2012-10-01

Influenza is a public health problem that affects 5-20% of the world population annually causing high morbidity and mortality especially in risk groups. In addition to determining prevention and treatment strategies with vaccines and antivirals, surveillance data plays an important role in combat against influenza. Surveillance provides valuable data on characteristics of influenza activity, on types, sub-types, antigenic properties and antiviral resistance profile of circulating viruses in a given region. The first influenza surveillance was initiated as a pilot study in 2003 by now named National Influenza Reference Laboratory, Istanbul Faculty of Medicine. Surveillance was launched at national level by Ministry of Health in 2004 and two National Influenza Laboratories, one in Istanbul and the other in Ankara, have been conducting surveillance in Turkey. Surveillance data obtained for nine consecutive years, 2003-2012, by National Influenza Reference Laboratory in Istanbul Faculty of Medicine have been summarized in this report. During 2003-2012 influenza surveillance seasons, a total of 11.077 nasal swabs collected in viral transport medium were sent to the National Influenza Reference Laboratory, Istanbul for analysis. Immun-capture ELISA followed by MDCK cell culture was used for detection of influenza viruses before 2009 and real-time RT-PCR was used thereafter. Antigenic characterizations were done by hemagglutination inhibition assay with the reactives supplied by World Health Organization. Analysis of the results showed that influenza B viruses have entered the circulation in 2005-2006 seasons, and have contributed to the epidemics at increasing rates every year except in the 2009 pandemic season. Influenza B Victoria and Yamagata lineages were cocirculating for two seasons. For other seasons either lineage was in circulation. Antigenic characterization revealed that circulating B viruses matched the vaccine composition either partially or totally for only three seasons. Influenza A(H1N1) and A(H3N2) subtypes were in circulation since the beginning of the surveillance in 2003-2004 season either alone or in cocirculation. After the 2009 pandemic, A(H1N1) viruses were replaced by A(H1N1)pdm09. A(H1N1) and A(H1N1)pdm09 viruses matched the vaccine composition for all seasons. However, A(H3N2) viruses matched the vaccine composition in only three out of eight seasons. Analysis of the data revealed that, (a) influenza season has extended in Turkey and it lasts through May; (b) influenza peaks in different age groups depending on the season; (c) every year a different influenza type and subtype dominates the season; (d) influenza B has been circulating with increasing rate especially in the past six seasons. Influenza surveillance provides valuable data that can guide policy makers in developing programmes to prevent and reduce influenza burden. Therefore, addition of hospital based surveillance to general practice based sentinel surveillance will take influenza surveillance one step ahead in meeting the need for collecting data on severe influenza cases which will allow assessment of burden of influenza more reliably.

Generation and management of waste electric vehicle batteries in China.

PubMed

Xu, ChengJian; Zhang, Wenxuan; He, Wenzhi; Li, Guangming; Huang, Juwen; Zhu, Haochen

2017-09-01

With the increasing adoption of EVs (electric vehicles), a large number of waste EV LIBs (electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries) were generated in China. Statistics showed generation of waste EV LIBs in 2016 reached approximately 10,000 tons, and the amount of them would be growing rapidly in the future. In view of the deleterious effects of waste EV LIBs on the environment and the valuable energy storage capacity or materials that can be reused in them, China has started emphasizing the management, reuse, and recycling of them. This paper presented the generation trend of waste EV LIBs and focused on interrelated management development and experience in China. Based on the situation of waste EV LIBs management in China, existing problems were analyzed and summarized. Some recommendations were made for decision-making organs to use as valuable references to improve the management of waste EV LIBs and promote the sustainable development of EVs.

Direct lead isotope analysis in Hg-rich sulfides by LA-MC-ICP-MS with a gas exchange device and matrix-matched calibration.

PubMed

Zhang, Wen; Hu, Zhaochu; Günther, Detlef; Liu, Yongsheng; Ling, Wenli; Zong, Keqing; Chen, Haihong; Gao, Shan

2016-12-15

In situ Pb isotope data of sulfide samples measured by LA-MC-ICP-MS provide valuable geochemical information for studies of the origin and evolution of ore deposits. However, the severe isobaric interference of 204 Hg on 204 Pb and the lack of matrix-matched sulfide reference materials limit the precision of Pb isotopic analyses for Hg-rich sulfides. In this study, we observe that Hg forms vapor and can be completely removed from sample aerosol particles produced by laser ablation using a gas exchange device. Additionally, this device does not influence the signal intensities of Pb isotopes. The within-run precision, the external reproducibility and the analytical accuracy are significantly improved for the Hg-rich sulfide samples using this mercury-vapor-removing device. Matrix effects are observed when using silicate glass reference materials as the external standards to assess the relationship of mass fractionation factors between Tl and Pb in sulfide samples, resulting in a maximum deviation of ∼0.20% for 20x Pb/ 204 Pb. Matrix-matched reference materials are therefore required for the highly precise and accurate Pb isotope analyses of sulfide samples. We investigated two sulfide samples, MASS-1 (the Unites States Geological Survey reference materials) and Sph-HYLM (a natural sphalerite), as potential candidates. Repeated analyses of the two proposed sulfide reference materials by LA-MC-ICP-MS yield good external reproducibility of <0.04% (RSD, k = 2) for 20x Pb/ 206 Pb and <0.06% (RSD, k = 2) for 20x Pb/ 204 Pb with the exception of 20x Pb/ 204 Pb in MASS-1, which provided an external reproducibility of 0.24% (RSD, k = 2). Because the concentration of Pb in MASS-1 (76 μg g -1 ) is ∼5.2 times lower than that in Sph-HYLM (394 ± 264 μg g -1 ). The in situ analytical results of MASS-1 and Sph-HYLM are consistent with the values obtained by solution MC-ICP-MS, demonstrating the reliability and robustness of our analytical protocol. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Hypersonic Navier Stokes Comparisons to Orbiter Flight Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Campbell, Charles H.; Nompelis, Ioannis; Candler, Graham; Barnhart, Michael; Yoon, Seokkwan

2009-01-01

Hypersonic chemical nonequilibrium simulations of low earth orbit entry flow fields are becoming increasingly commonplace as software and computational capabilities become more capable. However, development of robust and accurate software to model these environments will always encounter a significant barrier in developing a suite of high quality calibration cases. The US3D hypersonic nonequilibrium Navier Stokes analysis capability has been favorably compared to a number of wind tunnel test cases. Extension of the calibration basis for this software to Orbiter flight conditions will provide an incremental increase in confidence. As part of the Orbiter Boundary Layer Transition Flight Experiment and the Hypersonic Thermodynamic Infrared Measurements project, NASA is performing entry flight testing on the Orbiter to provide valuable aerothermodynamic heating data. An increase in interest related to orbiter entry environments is resulting from this activity. With the advent of this new data, comparisons of the US3D software to the new flight testing data is warranted. This paper will provide information regarding the framework of analyses that will be applied with the US3D analysis tool. In addition, comparisons will be made to entry flight testing data provided by the Orbiter BLT Flight Experiment and HYTHIRM projects. If data from digital scans of the Orbiter windward surface become available, simulations will also be performed to characterize the difference in surface heating between the CAD reference OML and the digitized surface provided by the surface scans.

Improved bacteriophage genome data is necessary for integrating viral and bacterial ecology.

PubMed

Bibby, Kyle

2014-02-01

The recent rise in "omics"-enabled approaches has lead to improved understanding in many areas of microbial ecology. However, despite the importance that viruses play in a broad microbial ecology context, viral ecology remains largely not integrated into high-throughput microbial ecology studies. A fundamental hindrance to the integration of viral ecology into omics-enabled microbial ecology studies is the lack of suitable reference bacteriophage genomes in reference databases-currently, only 0.001% of bacteriophage diversity is represented in genome sequence databases. This commentary serves to highlight this issue and to promote bacteriophage genome sequencing as a valuable scientific undertaking to both better understand bacteriophage diversity and move towards a more holistic view of microbial ecology.

Quantitative 1H NMR: Development and Potential of an Analytical Method – an Update

PubMed Central

Pauli, Guido F.; Gödecke, Tanja; Jaki, Birgit U.; Lankin, David C.

2012-01-01

Covering the literature from mid-2004 until the end of 2011, this review continues a previous literature overview on quantitative 1H NMR (qHNMR) methodology and its applications in the analysis of natural products (NPs). Among the foremost advantages of qHNMR is its accurate function with external calibration, the lack of any requirement for identical reference materials, a high precision and accuracy when properly validated, and an ability to quantitate multiple analytes simultaneously. As a result of the inclusion of over 170 new references, this updated review summarizes a wealth of detailed experiential evidence and newly developed methodology that supports qHNMR as a valuable and unbiased analytical tool for natural product and other areas of research. PMID:22482996

A reference genome of the European beech (Fagus sylvatica L.).

PubMed

Mishra, Bagdevi; Gupta, Deepak K; Pfenninger, Markus; Hickler, Thomas; Langer, Ewald; Nam, Bora; Paule, Juraj; Sharma, Rahul; Ulaszewski, Bartosz; Warmbier, Joanna; Burczyk, Jaroslaw; Thines, Marco

2018-06-01

The European beech is arguably the most important climax broad-leaved tree species in Central Europe, widely planted for its valuable wood. Here, we report the 542 Mb draft genome sequence of an up to 300-year-old individual (Bhaga) from an undisturbed stand in the Kellerwald-Edersee National Park in central Germany. Using a hybrid assembly approach, Illumina reads with short- and long-insert libraries, coupled with long Pacific Biosciences reads, we obtained an assembled genome size of 542 Mb, in line with flow cytometric genome size estimation. The largest scaffold was of 1.15 Mb, the N50 length was 145 kb, and the L50 count was 983. The assembly contained 0.12% of Ns. A Benchmarking with Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO) analysis retrieved 94% complete BUSCO genes, well in the range of other high-quality draft genomes of trees. A total of 62,012 protein-coding genes were predicted, assisted by transcriptome sequencing. In addition, we are reporting an efficient method for extracting high-molecular-weight DNA from dormant buds, by which contamination by environmental bacteria and fungi was kept at a minimum. The assembled genome will be a valuable resource and reference for future population genomics studies on the evolution and past climate change adaptation of beech and will be helpful for identifying genes, e.g., involved in drought tolerance, in order to select and breed individuals to adapt forestry to climate change in Europe. A continuously updated genome browser and download page can be accessed from beechgenome.net, which will include future genome versions of the reference individual Bhaga, as new sequencing approaches develop.

Cognition and the compassion deficit: the social psychology of helping behaviour in nursing.

PubMed

Paley, John

2014-10-01

This paper discusses compassion failure and compassion deficits in health care, using two major reports by Robert Francis in the UK as a point of reference. Francis enquired into events at the Mid Staffordshire Hospital between 2005 and 2009, events that unequivocally warrant the description 'appalling care'. These events prompted an intense national debate, along with proposals for significant changes in the regulation of nursing and nurse education. The circumstances are specific to the UK, but the issues are international. I suggest that social psychology provides numerous hints about the mechanisms that might have been involved at Mid Staffs and about the reasons why outsiders are blind to these mechanisms. However, there have been few references to social psychology in the post-Francis debate (the Francis Report itself makes no reference to it at all). It is an enormously valuable resource, and it has been overlooked. Drawing on the social psychology literature, I express scepticism about the idea that there was a compassion deficit among the Mid Staff nurses - the assumption that the appalling care had something to do with the character, attitudes, and values of nurses - and argue that the Francis Report's emphasis on a 'culture of compassion and caring in nurse recruitment, training and education' is misconceived. It was not a 'failure of compassion' that led to the events in Mid Staffs but an interlocking set of contextual factors that are known to affect social cognition. These factors cannot be corrected or compensated for by teaching ethics, empathy, and compassion to student nurses. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Sociodemographic characteristics of members of a large, integrated health care system: comparison with US Census Bureau data.

PubMed

Koebnick, Corinna; Langer-Gould, Annette M; Gould, Michael K; Chao, Chun R; Iyer, Rajan L; Smith, Ning; Chen, Wansu; Jacobsen, Steven J

2012-01-01

Data from the memberships of large, integrated health care systems can be valuable for clinical, epidemiologic, and health services research, but a potential selection bias may threaten the inference to the population of interest. We reviewed administrative records of members of Kaiser Permanente Southern California (KPSC) in 2000 and 2010, and we compared their sociodemographic characteristics with those of the underlying population in the coverage area on the basis of US Census Bureau data. We identified 3,328,579 KPSC members in 2000 and 3,357,959 KPSC members in 2010, representing approximately 16% of the population in the coverage area. The distribution of sex and age of KPSC members appeared to be similar to the census reference population in 2000 and 2010 except with a slightly higher proportion of 40 to 64 year olds. The proportion of Hispanics/Latinos was comparable between KPSC and the census reference population (37.5% vs 38.2%, respectively, in 2000 and 45.2% vs 43.3% in 2010). However, KPSC members included more blacks (14.9% vs 7.0% in 2000 and 10.8% vs 6.5% in 2010). Neighborhood educational levels and neighborhood household incomes were generally similar between KPSC members and the census reference population, but with a marginal underrepresentation of individuals with extremely low income and high education. The membership of KPSC reflects the socioeconomic diversity of the Southern California census population, suggesting that findings from this setting may provide valid inference for clinical, epidemiologic, and health services research.

NONATObase: a database for Polychaeta (Annelida) from the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean.

PubMed

Pagliosa, Paulo R; Doria, João G; Misturini, Dairana; Otegui, Mariana B P; Oortman, Mariana S; Weis, Wilson A; Faroni-Perez, Larisse; Alves, Alexandre P; Camargo, Maurício G; Amaral, A Cecília Z; Marques, Antonio C; Lana, Paulo C

2014-01-01

Networks can greatly advance data sharing attitudes by providing organized and useful data sets on marine biodiversity in a friendly and shared scientific environment. NONATObase, the interactive database on polychaetes presented herein, will provide new macroecological and taxonomic insights of the Southwestern Atlantic region. The database was developed by the NONATO network, a team of South American researchers, who integrated available information on polychaetes from between 5°N and 80°S in the Atlantic Ocean and near the Antarctic. The guiding principle of the database is to keep free and open access to data based on partnerships. Its architecture consists of a relational database integrated in the MySQL and PHP framework. Its web application allows access to the data from three different directions: species (qualitative data), abundance (quantitative data) and data set (reference data). The database has built-in functionality, such as the filter of data on user-defined taxonomic levels, characteristics of site, sample, sampler, and mesh size used. Considering that there are still many taxonomic issues related to poorly known regional fauna, a scientific committee was created to work out consistent solutions to current misidentifications and equivocal taxonomy status of some species. Expertise from this committee will be incorporated by NONATObase continually. The use of quantitative data was possible by standardization of a sample unit. All data, maps of distribution and references from a data set or a specified query can be visualized and exported to a commonly used data format in statistical analysis or reference manager software. The NONATO network has initialized with NONATObase, a valuable resource for marine ecologists and taxonomists. The database is expected to grow in functionality as it comes in useful, particularly regarding the challenges of dealing with molecular genetic data and tools to assess the effects of global environment change. Database URL: http://nonatobase.ufsc.br/.

NONATObase: a database for Polychaeta (Annelida) from the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

PubMed Central

Pagliosa, Paulo R.; Doria, João G.; Misturini, Dairana; Otegui, Mariana B. P.; Oortman, Mariana S.; Weis, Wilson A.; Faroni-Perez, Larisse; Alves, Alexandre P.; Camargo, Maurício G.; Amaral, A. Cecília Z.; Marques, Antonio C.; Lana, Paulo C.

2014-01-01

Networks can greatly advance data sharing attitudes by providing organized and useful data sets on marine biodiversity in a friendly and shared scientific environment. NONATObase, the interactive database on polychaetes presented herein, will provide new macroecological and taxonomic insights of the Southwestern Atlantic region. The database was developed by the NONATO network, a team of South American researchers, who integrated available information on polychaetes from between 5°N and 80°S in the Atlantic Ocean and near the Antarctic. The guiding principle of the database is to keep free and open access to data based on partnerships. Its architecture consists of a relational database integrated in the MySQL and PHP framework. Its web application allows access to the data from three different directions: species (qualitative data), abundance (quantitative data) and data set (reference data). The database has built-in functionality, such as the filter of data on user-defined taxonomic levels, characteristics of site, sample, sampler, and mesh size used. Considering that there are still many taxonomic issues related to poorly known regional fauna, a scientific committee was created to work out consistent solutions to current misidentifications and equivocal taxonomy status of some species. Expertise from this committee will be incorporated by NONATObase continually. The use of quantitative data was possible by standardization of a sample unit. All data, maps of distribution and references from a data set or a specified query can be visualized and exported to a commonly used data format in statistical analysis or reference manager software. The NONATO network has initialized with NONATObase, a valuable resource for marine ecologists and taxonomists. The database is expected to grow in functionality as it comes in useful, particularly regarding the challenges of dealing with molecular genetic data and tools to assess the effects of global environment change. Database URL: http://nonatobase.ufsc.br/ PMID:24573879

Climate intercomparison of GPS radio occultation, RS90/92 radiosondes and GRUAN from 2002 to 2013

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ladstädter, F.; Steiner, A. K.; Schwärz, M.; Kirchengast, G.

2015-04-01

Observations from the GPS radio occultation (GPSRO) satellite technique and from the newly established GCOS Reference Upper Air Network (GRUAN) are both candidates to serve as reference observations in the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). Such reference observations are key to decrease existing uncertainties in upper-air climate research. There are now more than 12 years of data available from GPSRO, with the recognized properties high accuracy, global coverage, high vertical resolution, and long-term stability. These properties make GPSRO a suitable choice for comparison studies with other upper-air observational systems. The GRUAN network consists of reference radiosonde ground stations (16 at present), which adhere to the GCOS climate monitoring principles. In this study, we intercompare GPSRO temperature and humidity profiles and Vaisala RS90/92 data from the "standard" global radiosonde network over the whole 2002 to 2013 time frame. Additionally, we include the first years of GRUAN data (using Vaisala RS92), available since 2009. GPSRO profiles which occur within 3 h and 300 km of radiosonde launches are used. Overall very good agreement is found between all three data sets with temperature differences usually less than 0.2 K. In the stratosphere above 30 hPa, temperature differences are larger but still within 0.5 K. Day/night comparisons with GRUAN data reveal small deviations likely related to a warm bias of the radiosonde data at high altitudes, but also residual errors from the GPSRO retrieval process might play a role. Vaisala RS90/92 specific humidity exhibits a dry bias of up to 40% in the upper troposphere, with a smaller bias at lower altitudes within 15%. GRUAN shows a marked improvement in the bias characteristics, with less than 5% difference to GPSRO, up to 300 hPa. GPSRO dry temperature and physical temperature are validated using radiosonde data as reference. We find that GPSRO provides valuable long-term stable reference observations with well-defined error characteristics for climate applications and for anchoring other upper-air measurements.

Climate intercomparison of GPS radio occultation, RS90/92 radiosondes and GRUAN over 2002 to 2013

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ladstädter, F.; Steiner, A. K.; Schwärz, M.; Kirchengast, G.

2014-11-01

Observations from the GPS radio occultation (GPSRO) satellite technique and from the newly established GCOS Reference Upper Air Network (GRUAN) are both candidates to serve as reference observations in the Global Climate Observing System (GCOS). Such reference observations are key to decrease existing uncertainties in upper-air climate research. There are now more than 12 years of data available from GPSRO, with the recognized properties high accuracy, global coverage, high vertical resolution, and long-term stability. These properties make GPSRO a suitable choice for comparison studies with other upper-air observational systems. The GRUAN network consists of reference radiosonde ground stations (16 at present), which adhere to the GCOS climate monitoring principles. In this study, we intercompare GPSRO temperature and humidity profiles and Vaisala RS90/92 data from the "standard" global radiosonde network over the whole 2002 to 2013 time frame. Additionally, we include the first years of GRUAN data (using Vaisala RS92), available since 2009. GPSRO profiles which occur within 3 h and 300 km of radiosonde launches are used. Very good agreement is found between all three datasets with temperature differences usually less than 0.2 K. In the stratosphere above 30 hPa, temperature differences are larger but still within 0.5 K. Day/night comparisons with GRUAN data reveal small deviations likely related to a warm bias of the radiosonde data at high altitudes, but also residual errors from the GPSRO retrieval process might play a role. Vaisala RS90/92 specific humidity exhibits a dry bias of up to 40% in the upper troposphere, with a smaller bias at lower altitudes within 15%. GRUAN shows a marked improvement in the bias characteristics, with less than 5% difference to GPSRO up to 300 hPa. GPSRO dry temperature and physical temperature are validated using radiosonde data as reference. We find that GPSRO provides valuable long-term stable reference observations with well-defined error characteristics for climate applications and for anchoring other upper-air measurements.

Radiometer

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

Strickland, J. I.

1985-07-02

A radiometer of the switched type has an R.F. switch connecting a detector selectively either to an antenna whose temperature (in terms of noise energy) is to be determined, or to a reference temperature, i.e. a resistive termination. The detector output is passed through an amplifier whose gain is switched between positive and negative values (for example +1 and -1) synchronously with the R.F. switch. The output of the switched gain amplifier is integrated to produce a rising voltage when the gain is positive and a falling one when it is negative. When it is positive the detector is connectedmore » to the antenna. By means of a zero crossing detector, a counter is started when this voltage crosses zero. After a fixed period, the R.F. switch and switched gain amplifier are reversed by the counter to cause the voltage to fall in accordance with the temperature of the resistive termination. The zero crossing detector and a counter measure the time interval until the voltage again crosses zero, such time interval being compared to the fixed period to provide a comparison of the unknown and reference temperatures independent of the gain of the detector, which is a valuable improvement over prior radiometers. Also, by measuring time rather than voltage, the arrangement facilitates providing a digital output more suitable for storage and transmission of the data than the analog output of prior radiometers. The instrument, which is relatively simple, rugged and compact, lends itself well to unattended use in monitoring the effect of rain storms on transmission in the 11.7 to 12.2 GHz band employed for satelite communication.« less

Validation of the Artsana CSI 610 automated blood pressure monitor in adults according to the International Protocol of the European Society of Hypertension.

PubMed

Pini, Claudio; Pastori, Marco; Baccheschi, Jordan; Omboni, Stefano; Parati, Gianfranco

2007-06-01

There is evidence that blood pressure measurement outside the doctor's office can provide valuable information for the diagnostic evaluation of hypertensive patients and for monitoring their response to treatment. Home blood pressure monitoring devices have a major role in this setting, provided that their accuracy in measuring blood pressure is demonstrated by validation studies. This study aimed at verifying whether the automatic electronic oscillometric blood pressure measuring device Artsana CSI 610 complied with the standard of accuracy indicated by the ESH International Protocol. Sequential measurements of systolic and diastolic blood pressure were obtained in 33 participants using the mercury sphygmomanometer (two observers) and the test device (one supervisor). A standard adult cuff was always employed during the study. According to the ESH validation protocol, 99 couples of test device and reference blood pressure measurements were obtained during the two phases of the study (three pairs for each of the 33 participants). The Artsana CSI 610 device successfully passed phase 1 of study validation with the number of absolute differences between test and reference device never <35 within 5 mmHg and never <40 within 10 and 15 mmHg. The test device also passed phase 2 of the validation study with a mean (+/-SD) device-observer difference of -1.4+/-4.8 mmHg for systolic and -0.9+/-3.5 mmHg for diastolic blood pressure. According to the results of the validation study on the basis of the ESH International Protocol, the Artsana CSI 610 can be recommended for clinical use in adults.

An audit of the E.N.T. casualty service at the Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital.

PubMed

O'Driscoll, K; Donnelly, M J; McShane, D P; Burns, H

1993-11-01

The only specialised Accident and Emergency unit for ENT in Ireland is at The Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin. This provides a service for the entire Republic, operating on a 9 am to 5 pm, Monday to Friday, basis. The aim of the present study was to define the role of this specialised unit. A prospective study of the service over a one month period was conducted. During this time 779 patients were seen of which 350 (45%) were new patients and 429 (55%) were return patients. Fifty two per cent were self referred, 35% were referred by their General Practitioners, 8% by other hospitals and 5% from other sources. The most common diagnosis was otitis externa (21% of new patients and 63% of returns), followed by ear wax (15% of new patients), and epistaxis (9% of new patients). Five per cent of patients required removal of foreign bodies from their ear, nose or oesophagus, and 3% received treatment for trauma to these regions. Of note during this period six new cases of head and neck cancer were detected. From these figures it is the authors' opinion that many of the problems seen could have been dealt with by General Practitioners or as non-emergency referrals to the out-patient department. This indicates the need for further training for primary care physicians and expansion of the present outpatients services. The specialised casualty service should continue to exist to provide a genuine emergency service and valuable training in the speciality.

Reference hydrologic networks I. The status and potential future directions of national reference hydrologic networks for detecting trends

USGS Publications Warehouse

Whitfield, Paul H.; Burn, Donald H.; Hannaford, Jamie; Higgins, Hélène; Hodgkins, Glenn A.; Marsh, Terry; Looser, Ulrich

2012-01-01

Identifying climate-driven trends in river flows on a global basis is hampered by a lack of long, quality time series data for rivers with relatively undisturbed regimes. This is a global problem compounded by the lack of support for essential long-term monitoring. Experience demonstrates that, with clear strategic objectives, and the support of sponsoring organizations, reference hydrologic networks can constitute an exceptionally valuable data source to effectively identify, quantify and interpret hydrological change—the speed and magnitude of which is expected to a be a primary driver of water management and flood alleviation strategies through the future—and for additional applications. Reference hydrologic networks have been developed in many countries in the past few decades. These collections of streamflow gauging stations, that are maintained and operated with the intention of observing how the hydrology of watersheds responds to variations in climate, are described. The status of networks under development is summarized. We suggest a plan of actions to make more effective use of this collection of networks.

Beyond Art Waitressing: Meaningful Engagement in Interactive Art Galleries

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kothe, Elsa Lenz

2012-01-01

The metaphor of "art waitressing" is a valuable tool for educators who seek guidance in enacting many of the new roles in museums, particularly the role of facilitator in an open-ended interactive gallery. Though this metaphor provides a valuable model for engaging visitors, the question quickly arises of how educators can go beyond "serving" an…

Conservation Learning in Wildlife Tourism Settings: Lessons from Research in Zoos and Aquariums

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ballantyne, Roy; Packer, Jan; Hughes, Karen; Dierking, Lynn

2007-01-01

Zoos and aquariums have shifted their focus over recent years, taking a much more active role in wildlife conservation and in promoting conservation learning among their visitors. Research in these settings provides a valuable foundation for the emerging field of non-captive wildlife tourism. In particular, valuable lessons regarding the potential…

Locating and parsing bibliographic references in HTML medical articles

PubMed Central

Zou, Jie; Le, Daniel; Thoma, George R.

2010-01-01

The set of references that typically appear toward the end of journal articles is sometimes, though not always, a field in bibliographic (citation) databases. But even if references do not constitute such a field, they can be useful as a preprocessing step in the automated extraction of other bibliographic data from articles, as well as in computer-assisted indexing of articles. Automation in data extraction and indexing to minimize human labor is key to the affordable creation and maintenance of large bibliographic databases. Extracting the components of references, such as author names, article title, journal name, publication date and other entities, is therefore a valuable and sometimes necessary task. This paper describes a two-step process using statistical machine learning algorithms, to first locate the references in HTML medical articles and then to parse them. Reference locating identifies the reference section in an article and then decomposes it into individual references. We formulate this step as a two-class classification problem based on text and geometric features. An evaluation conducted on 500 articles drawn from 100 medical journals achieves near-perfect precision and recall rates for locating references. Reference parsing identifies the components of each reference. For this second step, we implement and compare two algorithms. One relies on sequence statistics and trains a Conditional Random Field. The other focuses on local feature statistics and trains a Support Vector Machine to classify each individual word, followed by a search algorithm that systematically corrects low confidence labels if the label sequence violates a set of predefined rules. The overall performance of these two reference-parsing algorithms is about the same: above 99% accuracy at the word level, and over 97% accuracy at the chunk level. PMID:20640222

Locating and parsing bibliographic references in HTML medical articles.

PubMed

Zou, Jie; Le, Daniel; Thoma, George R

2010-06-01

The set of references that typically appear toward the end of journal articles is sometimes, though not always, a field in bibliographic (citation) databases. But even if references do not constitute such a field, they can be useful as a preprocessing step in the automated extraction of other bibliographic data from articles, as well as in computer-assisted indexing of articles. Automation in data extraction and indexing to minimize human labor is key to the affordable creation and maintenance of large bibliographic databases. Extracting the components of references, such as author names, article title, journal name, publication date and other entities, is therefore a valuable and sometimes necessary task. This paper describes a two-step process using statistical machine learning algorithms, to first locate the references in HTML medical articles and then to parse them. Reference locating identifies the reference section in an article and then decomposes it into individual references. We formulate this step as a two-class classification problem based on text and geometric features. An evaluation conducted on 500 articles drawn from 100 medical journals achieves near-perfect precision and recall rates for locating references. Reference parsing identifies the components of each reference. For this second step, we implement and compare two algorithms. One relies on sequence statistics and trains a Conditional Random Field. The other focuses on local feature statistics and trains a Support Vector Machine to classify each individual word, followed by a search algorithm that systematically corrects low confidence labels if the label sequence violates a set of predefined rules. The overall performance of these two reference-parsing algorithms is about the same: above 99% accuracy at the word level, and over 97% accuracy at the chunk level.

Mass spectrometry imaging: Towards mapping the elemental and molecular composition of the rhizosphere

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

Veličković, Dušan; Anderton, Christopher R.

This short review will discuss and provide perspective into the utilization of mass spectrometry imaging (MSI) in studying the rhizosphere. It also serves to compliment the multi-omic focused review by White et al. in this journal issue, as MSI is capable of elucidating chemical distributions within samples of interest in an in situ fashions, and thus can provide spatial context to MS omics data in complementary experimental endeavors. The majority of reported MSI-based studies of plant-microbe interactions have focused on the phyllosphere and ‘associated rhizosphere’ (e.g., material that is not removed during harvesting), as sample preparation for these in situmore » analyses tends to be a limiting factor. These studies have provided valuable insight into the spatial arrangement of proteins, peptides, lipids, and other metabolites within these systems. We intend for this short review to be a primer about the history of MSI and its role in plant-microbe analysis. Along the way we reference many comprehensive reviews for the interested reader. Lastly, we offer a perspective on the future of MSI and its use in understanding the molecular transformations beyond what we coined as the ‘associated rhizosphere’ to the rest of rhizosphere zone and into the bulk soil.« less

Wetland Hydrology | Science Inventory | US EPA

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

This chapter discusses the state of the science in wetland hydrology by touching upon the major hydraulic and hydrologic processes in these complex ecosystems, their measurement/estimation techniques, and modeling methods. It starts with the definition of wetlands, their benefits and types, and explains the role and importance of hydrology on wetland functioning. The chapter continues with the description of wetland hydrologic terms and related estimation and modeling techniques. The chapter provides a quick but valuable information regarding hydraulics of surface and subsurface flow, groundwater seepage/discharge, and modeling groundwater/surface water interactions in wetlands. Because of the aggregated effects of the wetlands at larger scales and their ecosystem services, wetland hydrology at the watershed scale is also discussed in which we elaborate on the proficiencies of some of the well-known watershed models in modeling wetland hydrology. This chapter can serve as a useful reference for eco-hydrologists, wetland researchers and decision makers as well as watershed hydrology modelers. In this chapter, the importance of hydrology for wetlands and their functional role are discussed. Wetland hydrologic terms and the major components of water budget in wetlands and how they can be estimated/modeled are also presented. Although this chapter does not provide a comprehensive coverage of wetland hydrology, it provides a quick understanding of the basic co

Smooth Muscle Cell Genome Browser: Enabling the Identification of Novel Serum Response Factor Target Genes

PubMed Central

Lee, Moon Young; Park, Chanjae; Berent, Robyn M.; Park, Paul J.; Fuchs, Robert; Syn, Hannah; Chin, Albert; Townsend, Jared; Benson, Craig C.; Redelman, Doug; Shen, Tsai-wei; Park, Jong Kun; Miano, Joseph M.; Sanders, Kenton M.; Ro, Seungil

2015-01-01

Genome-scale expression data on the absolute numbers of gene isoforms offers essential clues in cellular functions and biological processes. Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) perform a unique contractile function through expression of specific genes controlled by serum response factor (SRF), a transcription factor that binds to DNA sites known as the CArG boxes. To identify SRF-regulated genes specifically expressed in SMCs, we isolated SMC populations from mouse small intestine and colon, obtained their transcriptomes, and constructed an interactive SMC genome and CArGome browser. To our knowledge, this is the first online resource that provides a comprehensive library of all genetic transcripts expressed in primary SMCs. The browser also serves as the first genome-wide map of SRF binding sites. The browser analysis revealed novel SMC-specific transcriptional variants and SRF target genes, which provided new and unique insights into the cellular and biological functions of the cells in gastrointestinal (GI) physiology. The SRF target genes in SMCs, which were discovered in silico, were confirmed by proteomic analysis of SMC-specific Srf knockout mice. Our genome browser offers a new perspective into the alternative expression of genes in the context of SRF binding sites in SMCs and provides a valuable reference for future functional studies. PMID:26241044

Transcriptomic Profiling Analysis of Arabidopsis thaliana Treated with Exogenous Myo-Inositol

PubMed Central

Ye, Wenxing; Ren, Weibo; Kong, Lingqi; Zhang, Wanjun; Wang, Tao

2016-01-01

Myo-insositol (MI) is a crucial substance in the growth and developmental processes in plants. It is commonly added to the culture medium to promote adventitious shoot development. In our previous work, MI was found in influencing Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. In this report, a high-throughput RNA sequencing technique (RNA-Seq) was used to investigate differently expressed genes in one-month-old Arabidopsis seedling grown on MI free or MI supplemented culture medium. The results showed that 21,288 and 21,299 genes were detected with and without MI treatment, respectively. The detected genes included 184 new genes that were not annotated in the Arabidopsis thaliana reference genome. Additionally, 183 differentially expressed genes were identified (DEGs, FDR ≤0.05, log2 FC≥1), including 93 up-regulated genes and 90 down-regulated genes. The DEGs were involved in multiple pathways, such as cell wall biosynthesis, biotic and abiotic stress response, chromosome modification, and substrate transportation. Some significantly differently expressed genes provided us with valuable information for exploring the functions of exogenous MI. RNA-Seq results showed that exogenous MI could alter gene expression and signaling transduction in plant cells. These results provided a systematic understanding of the functions of exogenous MI in detail and provided a foundation for future studies. PMID:27603208

From Livingstone to ecotourism. What's new in travel medicine?

PubMed

Houston, S

2000-01-01

To review recent developments in the field of travel medicine and to outline the knowledge and resources family physicians need for providing health advice to travelers headed for tropical or developing countries. Personal files; references from review articles and from a recent textbook of travel medicine; current guidelines on pretravel advice; and a review of the 1996 to 1999 MEDLINE database using "travel medicine" as a term and subject heading, "trave(l)lers' diarrhea" as a text word and subject heading, "immunization + travel," and "malaria + chemo prevention" were used as information sources. Priority was given to randomized controlled trials and recommendations of expert or national bodies. Some elements of travel medicine, such as malaria chemoprophylaxis, have become more complex. Some valuable new preventive measures, such as hepatitis A vaccine, treated bed nets, and antimalarial drugs, have become available. Some health risks, such as cholera, have been overemphasized in the past, whereas others, such as tuberculosis and sexually transmitted diseases, have been underemphasized. Information sources relevant for providing travel health advice have improved and expanded. Canadian evidence-based guidelines addressing most important travel health issues are now available. Travel medicine is a rapidly evolving field. Physicians intending to provide health advice to travelers to high-risk parts of the world should be well prepared and have access to good, up-to-date information.

Pleistocene calcareous nannofossil biochronology at IODP Site U1385 (Expedition 339)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Balestra, B.; Flores, J.-A.; Hodell, D. A.; Hernández-Molina, F. J.; Stow, D. A. V.

2015-12-01

During Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Expedition 339, Site U1385 (37°34‧N, 10°7‧W, 2578 m below sea level) was drilled in the lower slope of the Portuguese margin, to provide a marine reference section of Pleistocene millennial-scale climate variability. Five holes were cored using the Advanced Piston Corer (APC) to a depth of ~ 151 m below sea floor (mbsf) recovering a continuous stratigraphic record covering the past 1.4 Ma. Here we present results of the succession of standard and unconventional calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphic events. The quantitative study of calcareous nannofossils showed well-preserved and abundant assemblages throughout the core. Most conventional Pleistocene events were recognized and the timing of bioevents were calibrated using correlation to the new oxygen isotope stratigraphy record developed for the Site U1385. The analyses provide further data on the stratigraphic distribution of selected species and genera, such as the large Emiliania huxleyi (> 4 μm), Gephyrocapsa caribbeanica, Helicosphaera inversa, Gephyrocapsa omega and Reticulofenestra asanoi (> 6 μm) and other circular-subcircular small reticulofenestrids, resulting in new insights into the environmental control of their stratigraphic patterns. Finally, the comparison between nannofossil datums and oxygen isotope stratigraphy on the same samples has resulted in an accurate revision of timing of the events, providing valuable biochronologic information.

Genomic Characterization of DArT Markers Based on High-Density Linkage Analysis and Physical Mapping to the Eucalyptus Genome

PubMed Central

Petroli, César D.; Sansaloni, Carolina P.; Carling, Jason; Steane, Dorothy A.; Vaillancourt, René E.; Myburg, Alexander A.; da Silva, Orzenil Bonfim; Pappas, Georgios Joannis; Kilian, Andrzej; Grattapaglia, Dario

2012-01-01

Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) provides a robust, high throughput, cost-effective method to query thousands of sequence polymorphisms in a single assay. Despite the extensive use of this genotyping platform for numerous plant species, little is known regarding the sequence attributes and genome-wide distribution of DArT markers. We investigated the genomic properties of the 7,680 DArT marker probes of a Eucalyptus array, by sequencing them, constructing a high density linkage map and carrying out detailed physical mapping analyses to the Eucalyptus grandis reference genome. A consensus linkage map with 2,274 DArT markers anchored to 210 microsatellites and a framework map, with improved support for ordering, displayed extensive collinearity with the genome sequence. Only 1.4 Mbp of the 75 Mbp of still unplaced scaffold sequence was captured by 45 linkage mapped but physically unaligned markers to the 11 main Eucalyptus pseudochromosomes, providing compelling evidence for the quality and completeness of the current Eucalyptus genome assembly. A highly significant correspondence was found between the locations of DArT markers and predicted gene models, while most of the 89 DArT probes unaligned to the genome correspond to sequences likely absent in E. grandis, consistent with the pan-genomic feature of this multi-Eucalyptus species DArT array. These comprehensive linkage-to-physical mapping analyses provide novel data regarding the genomic attributes of DArT markers in plant genomes in general and for Eucalyptus in particular. DArT markers preferentially target the gene space and display a largely homogeneous distribution across the genome, thereby providing superb coverage for mapping and genome-wide applications in breeding and diversity studies. Data reported on these ubiquitous properties of DArT markers will be particularly valuable to researchers working on less-studied crop species who already count on DArT genotyping arrays but for which no reference genome is yet available to allow such detailed characterization. PMID:22984541

Demand Response For Power System Reliability: FAQ

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

Kirby, Brendan J

2006-12-01

Demand response is the most underutilized power system reliability resource in North America. Technological advances now make it possible to tap this resource to both reduce costs and improve. Misconceptions concerning response capabilities tend to force loads to provide responses that they are less able to provide and often prohibit them from providing the most valuable reliability services. Fortunately this is beginning to change with some ISOs making more extensive use of load response. This report is structured as a series of short questions and answers that address load response capabilities and power system reliability needs. Its objective is tomore » further the use of responsive load as a bulk power system reliability resource in providing the fastest and most valuable ancillary services.« less

Using Frames and JavaScript To Automate Teacher-Side Web Page Navigation for Classroom Presentations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Snyder, Robin M.

HTML provides a platform-independent way of creating and making multimedia presentations for classroom instruction and making that content available on the Internet. However, time in class is very valuable, so that any way to automate or otherwise assist the presenter in Web page navigation during class can save valuable seconds. This paper…

Draft Genome Sequence of Methylomicrobium buryatense Strain 5G, a Haloalkaline-Tolerant Methanotrophic Bacterium

PubMed Central

Khmelenina, Valentina N.; Beck, David A. C.; Munk, Christine; Davenport, Karen; Daligault, Hajnalka; Erkkila, Tracy; Goodwin, Lynne; Gu, Wei; Lo, Chien-Chi; Scholz, Matthew; Teshima, Hazuki; Xu, Yan; Chain, Patrick; Bringel, Francoise; Vuilleumier, Stéphane; DiSpirito, Alan; Dunfield, Peter; Jetten, Mike S. M.; Klotz, Martin G.; Knief, Claudia; Murrell, J. Colin; Op den Camp, Huub J. M.; Sakai, Yasuyoshi; Semrau, Jeremy; Svenning, Mette; Stein, Lisa Y.; Trotsenko, Yuri A.

2013-01-01

Robust growth of the gammaproteobacterium Methylomicrobium buryatense strain 5G on methane makes it an attractive system for CH4-based biocatalysis. Here we present a draft genome sequence of the strain that will provide a valuable framework for metabolic engineering of the core pathways for the production of valuable chemicals from methane. PMID:23814105

Analyzing the biosensor signal in flows: studies with glucose optrodes.

PubMed

Kivirand, K; Floren, A; Kagan, M; Avarmaa, T; Rinken, T; Jaaniso, R

2015-01-01

Responses of enzymatic bio-optrodes in flow regime were studied and an original model was proposed with the aim of establishing a reliable method for a quick determination of biosensor signal parameters, applicable for biosensor calibration. A dual-optrode glucose biosensor, comprising of a glucose bio-optrode and a reference oxygen optrode, both placed into identical flow channels, was developed and used as a model system. The signal parameters of this biosensor at different substrate concentrations were not dependent on the speed of the probe flow and could be determined from the initial part of the biosensor transient phase signal, providing a valuable tool for rapid analysis. In addition, the model helped to design the biosensor system with reduced impact of enzyme inactivation to the system stability (20% decrease of the enzyme activity lead to only a 1% decrease of the slope of the calibration curve) and hence significantly prolong the effective lifetime of bio-optrodes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Data on nearshore wave process and surficial beach deposits, central Tamil Nadu coast, India.

PubMed

Joevivek, V; Chandrasekar, N

2017-08-01

The chronicles of nearshore morphology and surficial beach deposits provide valuable information about the nature of the beach condition and the depositional environment. It imparts an understanding about the spatial and temporal relationship of nearshore waves and its influence over the distribution of beach sediments. This article contains data about wave and sediment dynamics of the ten sandy beaches along the central Tamil Nadu coast, India. This present dataset comprises nearshore wave parameters, breaker wave type, beach morphodynamic state, grain size distribution and weight percentage of heavy and light mineral distribution. The dataset will figure out the beach morphology and hydrodynamic condition with respect to the different monsoonal season. This will act as a field reference to realize the coastal dynamics in an open sea condition. The nearshore entities were obtained from the intensive field survey between January 2011 and December 2011, while characteristics of beach sediments are examined by the chemical process in the laboratory environment.

Ideologies of aid, practices of power: lessons for Medicaid managed care.

PubMed

Nelson, Nancy L

2005-03-01

The articles in this special issue teach valuable lessons based on what happened in New Mexico with the shift to Medicaid managed care. By reframing these lessons in broader historical and cultural terms with reference to aid programs, we have the opportunity to learn a great deal more about the relationship between poverty, public policy, and ideology. Medicaid as a state and federal aid program in the United States and economic development programs as foreign aid provide useful analogies specifically because they exhibit a variety of parallel patterns. The increasing concatenation of corporate interests with state and nongovernmental interests in aid programs is ultimately producing a less centralized system of power and responsibility. This process of decentralization, however, is not undermining the sources of power behind aid efforts, although it does make the connections between intent, planning, and outcome less direct. Ultimately, the devolution of power produces many unintended consequences for aid policy. But it also reinforces the perspective that aid and the need for it are nonpolitical issues.

Highly Directional Sonar Beam of Narwhals (Monodon monoceros) Measured with a Vertical 16 Hydrophone Array.

PubMed

Koblitz, Jens C; Stilz, Peter; Rasmussen, Marianne H; Laidre, Kristin L

2016-01-01

Recordings of narwhal (Monodon monoceros) echolocation signals were made using a linear 16 hydrophone array in the pack ice of Baffin Bay, West Greenland in 2013 at eleven sites. An average -3 dB beam width of 5.0° makes the narwhal click the most directional biosonar signal reported for any species to date. The beam shows a dorsal-ventral asymmetry with a narrower beam above the beam axis. This may be an evolutionary advantage for toothed whales to reduce echoes from the water surface or sea ice surface. Source level measurements show narwhal click intensities of up to 222 dB pp re 1 μPa, with a mean apparent source level of 215 dB pp re 1 μPa. During ascents and descents the narwhals perform scanning in the vertical plane with their sonar beam. This study provides valuable information for reference sonar parameters of narwhals and for the use of acoustic monitoring in the Arctic.

Spectroscopic analyses on sonocatalytic damage to bovine serum albumin (BSA) induced by ZnO/hydroxylapatite (ZnO/HA) composite under ultrasonic irradiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wang, Zhiqiu; Li, Ying; Wang, Jun; Zou, Mingming; Gao, Jingqun; Kong, Yumei; Li, Kai; Han, Guangxi

ZnO/hydroxylapatite (ZnO/HA) composite with HA molar content of 6.0% was prepared by the method of precipitation and heat-treated at 500 °C for 40 min and was characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). The sonocatalytic activities of ZnO/HA composite was carried out through the damage of bovine serum albumin (BSA) in aqueous solution. Furthermore, the effects of several factors on the damage of BSA molecules were evaluated by means of UV-vis and fluorescence spectra. Experimental results indicated that the damage degree of BSA aggravated with the increase of ultrasonic irradiation time, irradiation power and ZnO/HA addition amount, but weakened with the increase of solution acidity and ionic strength. In addition, the damage site to BSA was also studied by synchronous fluorescence technology and the damage site was mainly at tryptophan (Trp) residue. This paper provides a valuable reference for driving sonocatalytic method to treat tumor in clinic application.

Review of current sonic boom studies.

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Kane, E. J.

1973-01-01

Several aspects of the sonic boom phenomena are currently under investigation at The Boeing Co. This work, supported by the NASA and the FAA, includes an in-depth analysis of sonic boom measurements recorded at the BREN tower, a summary and evaluation of sonic boom investigations done in the last decade and a half, and configuration studies to determine practical lower bound sonic boom limits. The BREN tower test program yielded unique and valuable data because it was the first time that vertical profile measurements were made through caustics produced by maneuvers and atmospheric refraction. The objective of the second effort is to compile in a single reference an annotated abstract, including significant results, for each published sonic boom study and to provide a comprehensive review of the current state of the art to aid future researchers. The configuration work is devoted toward determining the feasibility of supersonic transport type airplanes with a primary design goal of acceptable sonic boom characteristics. Each of these investigations is briefly reviewed and significant results are discussed.

Environmental Stress and Pathogen Dynamics in the Blue Crab Callinectes sapidus

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sullivan, T. J.; Neigel, J.; Gelpi, C. G.

2016-02-01

The blue crab Callinectes sapidus is an ecologically and economically valuable species along the Gulf of Mexico and Atlantic coasts of North America. Throughout its range, the blue crab encounters a diverse array of parasitic and pathogenic microorganisms that have episodic and occasionally severe impacts on population numbers and viability. This makes understanding factors that influence pathogen dynamics, such as host stress, an important priority. To explore the role of environmental stress on the susceptibility of blue crabs to pathogens we screened individuals collected during the summers of 2014 and 2015 for a number of infectious agents. We sampled three life stages (megalopae, juvenile, and adult) from multiple marsh and offshore locations in Louisiana. Duration of stressful environmental conditions at each location was quantified from hourly recordings provided by the Louisiana Coastwide Reference Monitoring System. Pathogenic microorganisms were detected in crabs from multiple locations and multiple years. Some of the variability in prevalence of infection can be explained by exposure to stressful extremes of temperature and salinity during summer months.

A Hydrazine Leak Sensor Based on Chemically Reactive Thermistors

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Davis, Dennis D.; Mast, Dion J.; Baker, David L.

1999-01-01

Leaks in the hydrazine supply system of the Shuttle APU can result in hydrazine ignition and fire in the aft compartment of the Shuttle. Indication of the location of a leak could provide valuable information required for operational decisions. WSTF has developed a small, single use sensor for detection of hydrazine leaks. The sensor is composed of a thermistor bead coated with copper(II) oxide (CuO) dispersed in a clay or alumina binder. The CuO-coated thermistor is one of a pair of closely located thermistors, the other being a reference. On exposure to hydrazine the CuO reacts exothermically with the hydrazine and increases the temperature of the coated-thermistor by several degrees. The temperature rise is sensed by a resistive bridge circuit and an alarm registered by data acquisition software. Responses of this sensor to humidity changes, hydrazine concentration, binder characteristics, distance from a liquid leak, and ambient pressure levels as well as application of this sensor concept to other fluids are presented.

A novel bioassay using the barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite to evaluate chronic effects of aluminium, gallium and molybdenum in tropical marine receiving environments.

PubMed

van Dam, Joost W; Trenfield, Melanie A; Harries, Simon J; Streten, Claire; Harford, Andrew J; Parry, David; van Dam, Rick A

2016-11-15

A need exists for appropriate tools to evaluate risk and monitor potential effects of contaminants in tropical marine environments, as currently impact assessments are conducted by non-representative approaches. Here, a novel bioassay is presented that allows for the estimation of the chronic toxicity of contaminants in receiving tropical marine environments. The bioassay is conducted using planktonic larvae of the barnacle Amphibalanus amphitrite and is targeted at generating environmentally relevant, chronic toxicity data for water quality guideline derivation or compliance testing. The developmental endpoint demonstrated a consistently high control performance, validated through the use of copper as a reference toxicant. In addition, the biological effects of aluminium, gallium and molybdenum were assessed. The endpoint expressed high sensitivity to copper and moderate sensitivity to aluminium, whereas gallium and molybdenum exhibited no discernible effects, even at high concentrations, providing valuable information on the toxicity of these elements in tropical marine waters. Crown Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Empowering school personnel for positive youth development: the case of Hong Kong school social workers.

PubMed

To, Siu-ming

2009-01-01

While empowerment has become a popular concept in working with adolescents, few attempts have been made to explore the possibilities for empowering school personnel to create an environment in which young people can make maximum use of the opportunity to learn and grow. Based on the field experiences of 15 Hong Kong school social workers, this article examines how practitioners use various strategies to interact with school personnel to generate empowering practices in the school setting: namely, (1) exerting influence on school personnel in daily conversations and interactions; (2) creating an environment conducive to the teacher-student relationship; (3) achieving consensus with school personnel through lobbying and negotiation; and (4) collaborating with school personnel to organize life education and positive youth development programs. The findings provide valuable reference materials to guide other practitioners in applying the empowerment approach in actual practice. It also helps fill the gap in existing literature on empowerment and school social work.

Anti-alcohol Posters in Poland, 1945-1989: Diverse Meanings, Uncertain Effects

PubMed Central

Krajewski-Siuda, Krzysztof; Dutka, Wojciech; Berridge, Virginia

2010-01-01

We provide a historical study of the anti-alcohol public health poster in Poland between 1948 and 1990. Our case study illuminates public health policies under communism, with the state as the dominant force in health communication. Poland has a distinctive history of poster art, moving from a Stalinist phase of socialist realism to the diverse styles of the later Polish School. Quantitative and qualitative analysis of 213 posters establishes the major themes and differentiates community approaches, which depict the drinker as a social or political deviant, from those emphasizing individual risk. Medical issues were a minor theme, reflecting public policies geared more toward confinement than treatment. However, Polish School artists used metaphor and ambiguity, and references to the contested cultural symbolism of drink, to complicate and subvert the narrow propaganda intent. Thus, although apparently unsuccessful in restraining overall consumption, these posters offer valuable lessons for policymakers on the use of visual media in health campaigns. PMID:20516371

Highly Directional Sonar Beam of Narwhals (Monodon monoceros) Measured with a Vertical 16 Hydrophone Array

PubMed Central

Koblitz, Jens C.; Stilz, Peter; Rasmussen, Marianne H.; Laidre, Kristin L.

2016-01-01

Recordings of narwhal (Monodon monoceros) echolocation signals were made using a linear 16 hydrophone array in the pack ice of Baffin Bay, West Greenland in 2013 at eleven sites. An average -3 dB beam width of 5.0° makes the narwhal click the most directional biosonar signal reported for any species to date. The beam shows a dorsal-ventral asymmetry with a narrower beam above the beam axis. This may be an evolutionary advantage for toothed whales to reduce echoes from the water surface or sea ice surface. Source level measurements show narwhal click intensities of up to 222 dB pp re 1 μPa, with a mean apparent source level of 215 dB pp re 1 μPa. During ascents and descents the narwhals perform scanning in the vertical plane with their sonar beam. This study provides valuable information for reference sonar parameters of narwhals and for the use of acoustic monitoring in the Arctic. PMID:27828956

Feasibility analysis on integration of luminous environment measuring and design based on exposure curve calibration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zou, Yuan; Shen, Tianxing

2013-03-01

Besides illumination calculating during architecture and luminous environment design, to provide more varieties of photometric data, the paper presents combining relation between luminous environment design and SM light environment measuring system, which contains a set of experiment devices including light information collecting and processing modules, and can offer us various types of photometric data. During the research process, we introduced a simulation method for calibration, which mainly includes rebuilding experiment scenes in 3ds Max Design, calibrating this computer aid design software in simulated environment under conditions of various typical light sources, and fitting the exposure curves of rendered images. As analytical research went on, the operation sequence and points for attention during the simulated calibration were concluded, connections between Mental Ray renderer and SM light environment measuring system were established as well. From the paper, valuable reference conception for coordination between luminous environment design and SM light environment measuring system was pointed out.

Rapid identification and simultaneous analysis of multiple constituents from Rheum tanguticum Maxim. ex Balf. by UPLC/Q-TOF-MS.

PubMed

Gao, Liang-Liang; Guo, Tao; Xu, Xu-Dong; Yang, Jun-Shan

2017-07-01

Rhubarb contains biologically active compounds such as anthraquinones, anthrones, stilbenes and tannins. A rapid and efficient UPLC/Q-TOF-MS/MS method was developed and applied towards identifying the constituents of Rheum tanguticum Maxim. ex Balf. for the first time. Chemical constituents were separated and investigated by UPLC/Q-TOF-MS/MS in the negative ion mode. The ESI-MS 2 fragmentation pathways of four types of compounds were interpreted, providing a very useful guidance for the characterisation of different types of compounds. Based on the exact mass information, fragmentation characteristic and LC retention time of 7 reference standards, 30 constituents were tentatively identified from the methanol extract of R. tanguticum. Among them, seven compounds were described for the first time from R. tanguticum and two from the genus Rheum were described for the first time. The analytical tool used here is valuable for the rapid separation and identification of multiple and minor constituents in methanol extracts of R. tanguticum.

Reconstruction of the 1945 Wieringermeer Flood

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoes, O. A. C.; Hut, R. W.; van de Giesen, N. C.; Boomgaard, M.

2013-03-01

The present state-of-the-art in flood risk assessment focuses on breach models, flood propagation models, and economic modelling of flood damage. However, models need to be validated with real data to avoid erroneous conclusions. Such reference data can either be historic data, or can be obtained from controlled experiments. The inundation of the Wieringermeer polder in the Netherlands in April 1945 is one of the few examples for which sufficient historical information is available. The objective of this article is to compare the flood simulation with flood data from 1945. The context, the breach growth process and the flood propagation are explained. Key findings for current flood risk management addresses the importance of the drainage canal network during the inundation of a polder, and the uncertainty that follows from not knowing the breach growth parameters. This case study shows that historical floods provide valuable data for the validation of models and reveal lessons that are applicable in current day flood risk management.

A new strategy for statistical analysis-based fingerprint establishment: Application to quality assessment of Semen sojae praeparatum.

PubMed

Guo, Hui; Zhang, Zhen; Yao, Yuan; Liu, Jialin; Chang, Ruirui; Liu, Zhao; Hao, Hongyuan; Huang, Taohong; Wen, Jun; Zhou, Tingting

2018-08-30

Semen sojae praeparatum with homology of medicine and food is a famous traditional Chinese medicine. A simple and effective quality fingerprint analysis, coupled with chemometrics methods, was developed for quality assessment of Semen sojae praeparatum. First, similarity analysis (SA) and hierarchical clusting analysis (HCA) were applied to select the qualitative markers, which obviously influence the quality of Semen sojae praeparatum. 21 chemicals were selected and characterized by high resolution ion trap/time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-IT-TOF-MS). Subsequently, principal components analysis (PCA) and orthogonal partial least squares discriminant analysis (OPLS-DA) were conducted to select the quantitative markers of Semen sojae praeparatum samples from different origins. Moreover, 11 compounds with statistical significance were determined quantitatively, which provided an accurate and informative data for quality evaluation. This study proposes a new strategy for "statistic analysis-based fingerprint establishment", which would be a valuable reference for further study. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Outbred genome sequencing and CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing in butterflies

PubMed Central

Li, Xueyan; Fan, Dingding; Zhang, Wei; Liu, Guichun; Zhang, Lu; Zhao, Li; Fang, Xiaodong; Chen, Lei; Dong, Yang; Chen, Yuan; Ding, Yun; Zhao, Ruoping; Feng, Mingji; Zhu, Yabing; Feng, Yue; Jiang, Xuanting; Zhu, Deying; Xiang, Hui; Feng, Xikan; Li, Shuaicheng; Wang, Jun; Zhang, Guojie; Kronforst, Marcus R.; Wang, Wen

2015-01-01

Butterflies are exceptionally diverse but their potential as an experimental system has been limited by the difficulty of deciphering heterozygous genomes and a lack of genetic manipulation technology. Here we use a hybrid assembly approach to construct high-quality reference genomes for Papilio xuthus (contig and scaffold N50: 492 kb, 3.4 Mb) and Papilio machaon (contig and scaffold N50: 81 kb, 1.15 Mb), highly heterozygous species that differ in host plant affiliations, and adult and larval colour patterns. Integrating comparative genomics and analyses of gene expression yields multiple insights into butterfly evolution, including potential roles of specific genes in recent diversification. To functionally test gene function, we develop an efficient (up to 92.5%) CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing method that yields obvious phenotypes with three genes, Abdominal-B, ebony and frizzled. Our results provide valuable genomic and technological resources for butterflies and unlock their potential as a genetic model system. PMID:26354079

How to improve your PubMed/MEDLINE searches: 2. display settings, complex search queries and topic searching.

PubMed

Fatehi, Farhad; Gray, Leonard C; Wootton, Richard

2014-01-01

The way that PubMed results are displayed can be changed using the Display Settings drop-down menu in the result screen. There are three groups of options: Format, Items per page and Sort by, which allow a good deal of control. The results from several searches can be temporarily stored on the Clipboard. Records of interest can be selected on the results page using check boxes and can then be combined, for example to form a reference list. The Related Citations is a valuable feature of PubMed that can provide a set of similar articles when you have identified a record of interest among the results. You can easily search for RCTs or reviews using the appropriate filters or field tags. If you are interested in clinical articles, rather than basic science or health service research, then the Clinical Queries tool on the PubMed home page can be used to retrieve them.

Accurate polynomial expressions for the density and specific volume of seawater using the TEOS-10 standard

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roquet, F.; Madec, G.; McDougall, Trevor J.; Barker, Paul M.

2015-06-01

A new set of approximations to the standard TEOS-10 equation of state are presented. These follow a polynomial form, making it computationally efficient for use in numerical ocean models. Two versions are provided, the first being a fit of density for Boussinesq ocean models, and the second fitting specific volume which is more suitable for compressible models. Both versions are given as the sum of a vertical reference profile (6th-order polynomial) and an anomaly (52-term polynomial, cubic in pressure), with relative errors of ∼0.1% on the thermal expansion coefficients. A 75-term polynomial expression is also presented for computing specific volume, with a better accuracy than the existing TEOS-10 48-term rational approximation, especially regarding the sound speed, and it is suggested that this expression represents a valuable approximation of the TEOS-10 equation of state for hydrographic data analysis. In the last section, practical aspects about the implementation of TEOS-10 in ocean models are discussed.

Emulsifying properties of succinylated arabinoxylan-protein gum produced from corn ethanol residuals

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

Xiang, Zhouyang; Runge, Troy

This study investigated the possibilities of making valuable products from corn ethanol byproducts and providing the beverage industries more variety of high quality emulsifiers other than gum arabic. An arabinoxylan-protein gum (APG) was extracted from distillers' grains (DG), a low-value corn ethanol byproduct, and modified through acylation with succinic anhydride. The effects of pH and degree of substitution (DS) on the emulsifying properties of succinylated APG, referred to as SAPG, were investigated. Emulsion particle size and stability of APG and gum arabic were comparable at pH 3.5–6.5. Succinylation could enhance the emulsifying properties of APG. Compared to gum arabic, atmore » pH < 5, SAPG emulsions had larger particle size but comparable stability, whereas at pH > 5, SAPG had much smaller particle size and better stability than gum arabic. The results suggested that SAPG, compared to gum arabic, could be a comparable emulsifier at low pH values and a better emulsifier at neutral pH values.« less

A Satellite-Based Lagrangian View on Phytoplankton Dynamics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lehahn, Yoav; d'Ovidio, Francesco; Koren, Ilan

2018-01-01

The well-lit upper layer of the open ocean is a dynamical environment that hosts approximately half of global primary production. In the remote parts of this environment, distant from the coast and from the seabed, there is no obvious spatially fixed reference frame for describing the dynamics of the microscopic drifting organisms responsible for this immense production of organic matter—the phytoplankton. Thus, a natural perspective for studying phytoplankton dynamics is to follow the trajectories of water parcels in which the organisms are embedded. With the advent of satellite oceanography, this Lagrangian perspective has provided valuable information on different aspects of phytoplankton dynamics, including bloom initiation and termination, spatial distribution patterns, biodiversity, export of carbon to the deep ocean, and, more recently, bottom-up mechanisms that affect the distribution and behavior of higher-trophic-level organisms. Upcoming submesoscale-resolving satellite observations and swarms of autonomous platforms open the way to the integration of vertical dynamics into the Lagrangian view of phytoplankton dynamics.

A Satellite-Based Lagrangian View on Phytoplankton Dynamics.

PubMed

Lehahn, Yoav; d'Ovidio, Francesco; Koren, Ilan

2018-01-03

The well-lit upper layer of the open ocean is a dynamical environment that hosts approximately half of global primary production. In the remote parts of this environment, distant from the coast and from the seabed, there is no obvious spatially fixed reference frame for describing the dynamics of the microscopic drifting organisms responsible for this immense production of organic matter-the phytoplankton. Thus, a natural perspective for studying phytoplankton dynamics is to follow the trajectories of water parcels in which the organisms are embedded. With the advent of satellite oceanography, this Lagrangian perspective has provided valuable information on different aspects of phytoplankton dynamics, including bloom initiation and termination, spatial distribution patterns, biodiversity, export of carbon to the deep ocean, and, more recently, bottom-up mechanisms that affect the distribution and behavior of higher-trophic-level organisms. Upcoming submesoscale-resolving satellite observations and swarms of autonomous platforms open the way to the integration of vertical dynamics into the Lagrangian view of phytoplankton dynamics.

Emulsifying properties of succinylated arabinoxylan-protein gum produced from corn ethanol residuals

DOE PAGES

Xiang, Zhouyang; Runge, Troy

2015-07-21

This study investigated the possibilities of making valuable products from corn ethanol byproducts and providing the beverage industries more variety of high quality emulsifiers other than gum arabic. An arabinoxylan-protein gum (APG) was extracted from distillers' grains (DG), a low-value corn ethanol byproduct, and modified through acylation with succinic anhydride. The effects of pH and degree of substitution (DS) on the emulsifying properties of succinylated APG, referred to as SAPG, were investigated. Emulsion particle size and stability of APG and gum arabic were comparable at pH 3.5–6.5. Succinylation could enhance the emulsifying properties of APG. Compared to gum arabic, atmore » pH < 5, SAPG emulsions had larger particle size but comparable stability, whereas at pH > 5, SAPG had much smaller particle size and better stability than gum arabic. The results suggested that SAPG, compared to gum arabic, could be a comparable emulsifier at low pH values and a better emulsifier at neutral pH values.« less

Analysis of Ionospheric Scintillation Characteristics in Sub-Antarctica Region with GNSS Data at Macquarie Island.

PubMed

Guo, Kai; Liu, Yang; Zhao, Yan; Wang, Jinling

2017-01-12

Ionospheric scintillation has a great impact on radio propagation and electronic system performance, thus is extensively studied currently. The influence of scintillation on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) is particularly evident, making GNSS an effective medium to study characteristics of scintillation. Ionospheric scintillation varies greatly in relation with temporal and spatial distribution. In this paper, both temporal and spatial characteristics of scintillation are investigated based on Macquarie Island's GNSS scintillation data collected from 2011 to 2015. Experiments demonstrate that occurrence rates of amplitude scintillation have a close relationship with solar activity, while phase scintillation is more likely to be generated by geomagnetic activity. In addition, scintillation distribution behaviors related to elevation and azimuth angles are statistically analyzed for both amplitude and phase scintillation. The proposed work is valuable for a deeper understanding of theoretical mechanisms of ionospheric scintillation in this region, and provides a reference for GNSS applications in certain regions around sub-Antarctica.

A Fuzzy-Based Approach for Sensing, Coding and Transmission Configuration of Visual Sensors in Smart City Applications

PubMed Central

Costa, Daniel G.; Collotta, Mario; Pau, Giovanni; Duran-Faundez, Cristian

2017-01-01

The advance of technologies in several areas has allowed the development of smart city applications, which can improve the way of life in modern cities. When employing visual sensors in that scenario, still images and video streams may be retrieved from monitored areas, potentially providing valuable data for many applications. Actually, visual sensor networks may need to be highly dynamic, reflecting the changing of parameters in smart cities. In this context, characteristics of visual sensors and conditions of the monitored environment, as well as the status of other concurrent monitoring systems, may affect how visual sensors collect, encode and transmit information. This paper proposes a fuzzy-based approach to dynamically configure the way visual sensors will operate concerning sensing, coding and transmission patterns, exploiting different types of reference parameters. This innovative approach can be considered as the basis for multi-systems smart city applications based on visual monitoring, potentially bringing significant results for this research field. PMID:28067777

A Fuzzy-Based Approach for Sensing, Coding and Transmission Configuration of Visual Sensors in Smart City Applications.

PubMed

Costa, Daniel G; Collotta, Mario; Pau, Giovanni; Duran-Faundez, Cristian

2017-01-05

The advance of technologies in several areas has allowed the development of smart city applications, which can improve the way of life in modern cities. When employing visual sensors in that scenario, still images and video streams may be retrieved from monitored areas, potentially providing valuable data for many applications. Actually, visual sensor networks may need to be highly dynamic, reflecting the changing of parameters in smart cities. In this context, characteristics of visual sensors and conditions of the monitored environment, as well as the status of other concurrent monitoring systems, may affect how visual sensors collect, encode and transmit information. This paper proposes a fuzzy-based approach to dynamically configure the way visual sensors will operate concerning sensing, coding and transmission patterns, exploiting different types of reference parameters. This innovative approach can be considered as the basis for multi-systems smart city applications based on visual monitoring, potentially bringing significant results for this research field.

Microoptic lenses

DOEpatents

Snyder, J.J.

1993-01-19

The present invention provides several novel diffraction limited microlens configurations which are especially valuable for use in conjunction with laser diodes, and optical fibers. Collimators, circularizers and focusers (couplers) are provided.

First-principles calculations on strain and electric field induced band modulation and phase transition of bilayer WSe2sbnd MoS2 heterostructure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lei, Xiang; Yu, Ke

2018-04-01

A purposeful modulation of physical properties of material via change external conditions has long captured people's interest and can provide many opportunities to improve the specific performance of electronic devices. In this work, a comprehensive first-principles survey was performed to elucidate that the bandgap and electronic properties of WSe2sbnd MoS2 heterostructure exhibited unusual response to exterior strain and electric field in comparison with pristine structures. It demonstrates that the WSe2sbnd MoS2 is a typical type-II heterostructure, and thus the electron-hole pairs can be effectively spatially separated. The external effects can trigger the electronic phase transition from semiconducting to metallic state, which originates from the internal electric evolution induced energy-level shift. Interestingly, the applied strain shows no direction-depended character for the modulation of bandgap of WSe2sbnd MoS2 heterostructure, while it exists in the electric field tuning processes and strongly depends on the direction of the electric field. Our findings elucidate the tunable electronic property of bilayer WSe2sbnd MoS2 heterostructure, and would provide a valuable reference to design the electronic nanodevices.

Research on the factors influencing the price of commercial housing based on support vector machine (SVM)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Xiaoyang, Zhong; Hong, Ren; Jingxin, Gao

2018-03-01

With the gradual maturity of the real estate market in China, urban housing prices are also better able to reflect changes in market demand and the commodity property of commercial housing has become more and more obvious. Many scholars in our country have made a lot of research on the factors that affect the price of commercial housing in the city and the number of related research papers increased rapidly. These scholars’ research results provide valuable wealth to solve the problem of urban housing price changes in our country. However, due to the huge amount of literature, the vast amount of information is submerged in the library and cannot be fully utilized. Text mining technology has been widely concerned and developed in the field of Humanities and Social Sciences in recent years. But through the text mining technology to obtain the influence factors on the price of urban commercial housing is still relatively rare. In this paper, the research results of the existing scholars were excavated by text mining algorithm based on support vector machine in order to further make full use of the current research results and to provide a reference for stabilizing housing prices.

Bioacoustics of human whistled languages: an alternative approach to the cognitive processes of language.

PubMed

Meyer, Julien

2004-06-01

Whistled languages are a valuable heritage of human culture. This paper gives a first survey about a new multidisciplinary approach to these languages. Previous studies on whistled equivalents of languages have already documented that they can provide significant information about the role of rhythm and melody in language. To substantiate this, most whistles are represented by modulations of frequency, centered around 2000 Hz (+/- 1000 Hz) and often reach a loudness of about 130 dB (measured at 1m from the source). Their transmission range can reach up to 10 km (as verified in La Gomera, Canary Island), and the messages can remain understandable, even if the signal is deteriorated. In some cultures the use of whistled language is associated with some "talking musical instruments" (e.g. flutes, guitars, harps, gongs, drums, khens). Finally, whistles as a means of conveying information have some analogues in the animal kingdom (e.g. some birds, cetaceans, primates), providing opportunities to compare the acoustic characteristics of the respective signals. With such properties as a reference, the project reported here has two major tasks: to further elucidate the many facets of whistled language and, above all, help to immediately stop the process of its gradual disappearance.

Hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) in the analysis of antibiotics.

PubMed

Kahsay, Getu; Song, Huiying; Van Schepdael, Ann; Cabooter, Deirdre; Adams, Erwin

2014-01-01

This paper presents a general overview of the application of hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC) in the analysis of antibiotics in different sample matrices including pharmaceutical, plasma, serum, fermentation broths, environmental water, animal origin, plant origin, etc. Specific applications of HILIC for analysis of aminoglycosides, β-lactams, tetracyclines and other antibiotics are reviewed. HILIC can be used as a valuable alternative LC mode for separating small polar compounds. Polar samples usually show good solubility in the mobile phase containing some water used in HILIC, which overcomes the drawbacks of the poor solubility often encountered in normal phase LC. HILIC is suitable for analyzing compounds in complex systems that elute near the void in reversed-phase chromatography. Ion-pair reagents are not required in HILIC which makes it convenient to couple with MS hence its increased popularity in recent years. In this review, the retention mechanism in HILIC is briefly discussed and a list of important applications is provided including main experimental conditions and a brief summary of the results. The references provide a comprehensive overview and insight into the application of HILIC in antibiotics analysis. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Instant replay.

PubMed

Rosenthal, David I

2013-06-01

With widespread adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) and electronic clinical documentation, health care organizations now have greater faculty to review clinical data and evaluate the efficacy of quality improvement efforts. Unfortunately, I believe there is a fundamental gap between actual health care delivery and what we document in the current EHR systems. This process of capturing the patient encounter, which I'll refer to as transcription, is prone to significant data loss due to inadequate methods of data capture, multiple points of view, and bias and subjectivity in the transcriptional process. Our current EHR, text-based clinical documentation systems are lossy abstractions - one sided accounts of what take place between patients and providers. Our clinical notes contain the breadcrumbs of relationships, conversations, physical exams, and procedures but often lack the ability to capture the form, the emotions, the images, the nonverbal communication, and the actual narrative of interactions between human beings. I believe that a video record, in conjunction with objective transcriptional services and other forms of data capture, may provide a closer approximation to the truth of health care delivery and may be a valuable tool for healthcare improvement. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Self-Consistent Optimization of Excited States within Density-Functional Tight-Binding.

PubMed

Kowalczyk, Tim; Le, Khoa; Irle, Stephan

2016-01-12

We present an implementation of energies and gradients for the ΔDFTB method, an analogue of Δ-self-consistent-field density functional theory (ΔSCF) within density-functional tight-binding, for the lowest singlet excited state of closed-shell molecules. Benchmarks of ΔDFTB excitation energies, optimized geometries, Stokes shifts, and vibrational frequencies reveal that ΔDFTB provides a qualitatively correct description of changes in molecular geometries and vibrational frequencies due to excited-state relaxation. The accuracy of ΔDFTB Stokes shifts is comparable to that of ΔSCF-DFT, and ΔDFTB performs similarly to ΔSCF with the PBE functional for vertical excitation energies of larger chromophores where the need for efficient excited-state methods is most urgent. We provide some justification for the use of an excited-state reference density in the DFTB expansion of the electronic energy and demonstrate that ΔDFTB preserves many of the properties of its parent ΔSCF approach. This implementation fills an important gap in the extended framework of DFTB, where access to excited states has been limited to the time-dependent linear-response approach, and affords access to rapid exploration of a valuable class of excited-state potential energy surfaces.

The journey toward shared governance: the lived experience of nurse managers and staff nurses.

PubMed

Ott, Joyce; Ross, Carl

2014-09-01

The purpose of the study was to explore the lived experience of nurse managers and staff nurses in shared governance. Shared governance refers to systems and services aligned in partnership. The information gained by studying the lived experience of nurse managers and staff nurses in shared governance is valuable for providing knowledge of empowerment. A qualitative design was used. Data were collected through a semi-structured interview using five questions with 11 Registered Nurses. Data were analysed through thematic analysis. Four themes emerged from data analysis. Nurse managers identified the journey of patient satisfaction; journey of empowerment; journey of self-management and journey of wellness. Staff nurses identified the journey of development and implementation of best practice; journey to provide quality patient care, journey to a new culture of nursing; and journey of a variety of challenges. This study supports the idea that collaboration between nurse managers and staff nurses develops a journey toward shared governance. Nursing management can use findings to empower nurses to collaborate with nurse managers toward best practice. This adds to current knowledge that partnership of nurse managers and staff nurses, supports and encourages ownership in shared governance. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Non-uniform Solar Temperature Field on Large Aperture, Fully-Steerable Telescope Structure

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liu, Yan

2016-09-01

In this study, a 110-m fully steerable radio telescope was used as an analysis platform and the integral parametric finite element model of the antenna structure was built in the ANSYS thermal analysis module. The boundary conditions of periodic air temperature, solar radiation, long-wave radiation shadows of the surrounding environment, etc. were computed at 30 min intervals under a cloudless sky on a summer day, i.e., worstcase climate conditions. The transient structural temperatures were then analyzed under a period of several days of sunshine with a rational initial structural temperature distribution until the whole set of structural temperatures converged to the results obtained the day before. The non-uniform temperature field distribution of the entire structure and the main reflector surface RMS were acquired according to changes in pitch and azimuth angle over the observation period. Variations in the solar cooker effect over time and spatial distributions in the secondary reflector were observed to elucidate the mechanism of the effect. The results presented here not only provide valuable realtime data for the design, construction, sensor arrangement and thermal deformation control of actuators but also provide a troubleshooting reference for existing actuators.

Fragmentation of negative ions from N-linked carbohydrates, part 4. Fragmentation of complex glycans lacking substitution on the 6-antenna.

PubMed

Harvey, David J; Jaeken, Jaak; Butler, Mike; Armitage, Alison J; Rudd, Pauline M; Dwek, Raymond A

2010-05-01

Negative ion CID spectra of N-linked glycans released from glycoproteins contain many ions that are diagnostic for specific structural features such as the detailed arrangement of antennae and the location of fucose residues. Identification of such ions requires reference glycans that are often difficult to acquire in a pure state. The recent acquisition of a sample of N-glycans from a patient lacking the enzyme N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase-2 provided an opportunity to investigate fragmentation of glycans lacking a 6-antenna. These glycans contained one or two galactose-N-acetylglucosamine-chains attached to the 3-linked mannose residue of the trimannosyl-chitobiose core with and without fucose substitution. The spectra from the patient sample clearly defined the antenna distribution and showed striking differences from the spectra of isomeric compounds obtained from normal subjects. Furthermore, they provided additional information on previously identified antenna-specific fragment ions and indicated the presence of additional ions that were diagnostic of fucose substitution. Glycans obtained from such enzyme-deficient patients can, thus, be a valuable way of obtaining spectra of specific isomers in a relatively pure state for interpretation of mass spectra. 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Reporting recommendations for tumor marker prognostic studies (REMARK): explanation and elaboration

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The Reporting Recommendations for Tumor Marker Prognostic Studies (REMARK) checklist consists of 20 items to report for published tumor marker prognostic studies. It was developed to address widespread deficiencies in the reporting of such studies. In this paper we expand on the REMARK checklist to enhance its use and effectiveness through better understanding of the intent of each item and why the information is important to report. Methods REMARK recommends including a transparent and full description of research goals and hypotheses, subject selection, specimen and assay considerations, marker measurement methods, statistical design and analysis, and study results. Each checklist item is explained and accompanied by published examples of good reporting, and relevant empirical evidence of the quality of reporting. We give prominence to discussion of the 'REMARK profile', a suggested tabular format for summarizing key study details. Summary The paper provides a comprehensive overview to educate on good reporting and provide a valuable reference for the many issues to consider when designing, conducting, and analyzing tumor marker studies and prognostic studies in medicine in general. To encourage dissemination of the Reporting Recommendations for Tumor Marker Prognostic Studies (REMARK): Explanation and Elaboration, this article has also been published in PLoS Medicine. PMID:22642691

[out of scope].

PubMed

Siegmund-Schultze, Reinhard

2008-01-01

The paper discusses several still unsettled and not systematically investigated questions concerning the situation of Jewish scientists, among them mathematicians, in the Republic of Weimar. Contemporary statements by the well-known leftist and liberal journalists Carl von Ossietzky (1932) and Rudolf Olden (1934) are used to describe the general political situation. A wide-spread feeling of a social and political crisis and changes and perturbations in international scientific communication provide explanatory background for the conditions within academia in the 1920s. A comparison of appointments of Jewish mathematicians to full professorships before and after World War I does not give significant differences. Attitudes of Jewish mathematicians such as Felix Bernstein, Richard Courant, Emil Julius Gumbel, Edmund Landau, Richard von Mises, Johann von Neumann and Adolf A. Fraenkel, but also of non-Jewish mathematicians such as Felix Klein, Walther von Dyck and Theodor Vahlen will be discussed, providing some unpublished material. One statement by Felix Klein (1920), which shows his undecided stance with respect to the problem of anti-Semitism, and an excerpt from Richard von Mises' diary (1933), where he reflects on his status as a Jewish mathematician and as a refugee, are particularly valuable as points of reference for necessary further research.

The correspondence of Thomas Dale (1700-1750): Botany in the transatlantic Republic of Letters.

PubMed

Cook, William J

2012-03-01

This paper seeks to provide a full account of the life and career of Dr. Thomas Dale (1700-1750), with particular reference to his botanical works and correspondence. Born in Hoxton, London, Dale studied medicine at Leiden and engaged fully in the social, literary and epistolary network in which botany was practised in eighteenth-century England. In 1730, however, Dale relocated to the British colonial port of Charles Town, South Carolina. Here he continued to engage in a transatlantic network of botanical exchange and discussion, corresponding on equal and reciprocal terms with his former colleagues in England. Where Dale differs from naturalists in South Carolina before him is that his motives for pursuing botany and for corresponding with English naturalists were located firmly in the New World. Such a conclusion forms a valuable, albeit small contribution to models for the development of national scientific cultures in the imperial world. Similarly, Dale's pursuit of botanical information in South Carolina provides a small amount of material with which to illustrate currently fashionable models for the mediated exchange and circulation of scientific knowledge. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Historical photographs revisited: A case study for dating and characterizing recent loss of coral cover on the inshore Great Barrier Reef.

PubMed

Clark, Tara R; Leonard, Nicole D; Zhao, Jian-Xin; Brodie, Jon; McCook, Laurence J; Wachenfeld, David R; Duc Nguyen, Ai; Markham, Hannah L; Pandolfi, John M

2016-01-27

Long-term data with high-precision chronology are essential to elucidate past ecological changes on coral reefs beyond the period of modern-day monitoring programs. In 2012 we revisited two inshore reefs within the central Great Barrier Reef, where a series of historical photographs document a loss of hard coral cover between c.1890-1994 AD. Here we use an integrated approach that includes high-precision U-Th dating specifically tailored for determining the age of extremely young corals to provide a robust, objective characterisation of ecological transition. The timing of mortality for most of the dead in situ corals sampled from the historical photograph locations was found to coincide with major flood events in 1990-1991 at Bramston Reef and 1970 and 2008 at Stone Island. Evidence of some recovery was found at Bramston Reef with living coral genera similar to what was described in c.1890 present in 2012. In contrast, very little sign of coral re-establishment was found at Stone Island suggesting delayed recovery. These results provide a valuable reference point for managers to continue monitoring the recovery (or lack thereof) of coral communities at these reefs.

Single-mode plasmonic waveguiding properties of metal nanowires with dielectric substrates.

PubMed

Wang, Yipei; Ma, Yaoguang; Guo, Xin; Tong, Limin

2012-08-13

Single-mode plasmonic waveguiding properties of metal nanowires with dielectric substrates are investigated using a finite-element method. Au and Ag are selected as plasmonic materials for nanowire waveguides with diameters down to 5-nm-level. Typical dielectric materials with relatively low to high refractive indices, including magnesium fluoride (MgF2), silica (SiO2), indium tin oxide (ITO) and titanium dioxide (TiO2), are used as supporting substrates. Basic waveguiding properties, including propagation constants, power distributions, effective mode areas, propagation distances and losses are obtained at the typical plasmonic resonance wavelength of 660 nm. Compared to that of a freestanding nanowire, the mode area of a substrate-supported nanowire could be much smaller while maintaining an acceptable propagation length. For example, the mode area and propagation length of a 100-nm-diameter Ag nanowire with a MgF2 substrate are about 0.004 μm2 and 3.4 μm, respectively. The dependences of waveguiding properties on geometric and material parameters of the nanowire-substrate system are also provided. Our results may provide valuable references for waveguiding dielectric-supported metal nanowires for practical applications.

1,003 reference genomes of bacterial and archaeal isolates expand coverage of the tree of life

DOE PAGES

Mukherjee, Supratim; Seshadri, Rekha; Varghese, Neha J.; ...

2017-06-12

We present 1,003 reference genomes that were sequenced as part of the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea (GEBA) initiative, selected to maximize sequence coverage of phylogenetic space. These genomes double the number of existing type strains and expand their overall phylogenetic diversity by 25%. Comparative analyses with previously available finished and draft genomes reveal a 10.5% increase in novel protein families as a function of phylogenetic diversity. The GEBA genomes recruit 25 million previously unassigned metagenomic proteins from 4,650 samples, improving their phylogenetic and functional interpretation. We identify numerous biosynthetic clusters and experimentally validate a divergent phenazine cluster withmore » potential new chemical structure and antimicrobial activity. This Resource is the largest single release of reference genomes to date. Bacterial and archaeal isolate sequence space is still far from saturated, and future endeavors in this direction will continue to be a valuable resource for scientific discovery.« less

Medicine and psychiatry in Western culture: Ancient Greek myths and modern prejudices

PubMed Central

Fornaro, Michele; Clementi, Nicoletta; Fornaro, Pantaleo

2009-01-01

The origins of Western culture extensively relate to Ancient Greek culture. While many ancient cultures have contributed to our current knowledge about medicine and the origins of psychiatry, the Ancient Greeks were among the best observers of feelings and moods patients expressed towards medicine and toward what today is referred to as 'psychopathology'. Myths and religious references were used to explain what was otherwise impossible to understand or be easily communicated. Most ancient myths focus on ambiguous feelings patients may have had towards drugs, especially psychotropic ones. Interestingly, such prejudices are common even today. Recalling ancient findings and descriptions made using myths could represent a valuable knowledge base for modern physicians, especially for psychiatrists and their patients, with the aim of better understanding each other and therefore achieving a better clinical outcome. This paper explores many human aspects and feelings towards doctors and their cures, referring to ancient myths and focusing on the perception of mental illness. PMID:19811642

1,003 reference genomes of bacterial and archaeal isolates expand coverage of the tree of life

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

Mukherjee, Supratim; Seshadri, Rekha; Varghese, Neha J.

We present 1,003 reference genomes that were sequenced as part of the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea (GEBA) initiative, selected to maximize sequence coverage of phylogenetic space. These genomes double the number of existing type strains and expand their overall phylogenetic diversity by 25%. Comparative analyses with previously available finished and draft genomes reveal a 10.5% increase in novel protein families as a function of phylogenetic diversity. The GEBA genomes recruit 25 million previously unassigned metagenomic proteins from 4,650 samples, improving their phylogenetic and functional interpretation. We identify numerous biosynthetic clusters and experimentally validate a divergent phenazine cluster withmore » potential new chemical structure and antimicrobial activity. This Resource is the largest single release of reference genomes to date. Bacterial and archaeal isolate sequence space is still far from saturated, and future endeavors in this direction will continue to be a valuable resource for scientific discovery.« less

Reference intervals for acute phase protein and serum protein electrophoresis values in captive Asian elephants (Elephas maximus).

PubMed

Isaza, Ramiro; Wiedner, Ellen; Hiser, Sarah; Cray, Carolyn

2014-09-01

Acute phase protein (APP) immunoassays and serum protein electrophoresis (SPEP) are assays for evaluating the inflammatory response and have use as diagnostic tools in a variety of species. Acute phase proteins are markers of inflammation that are highly conserved across different species while SPEP separates and quantifies serum protein fractions based on their physical properties. In the current study, serum samples from 35 clinically healthy Asian elephants (Elephas maximus) were analyzed using automated assays for C-reactive protein, serum amyloid A, and haptoglobin and SPEP. Robust methods were used to generate reference intervals for the APPs: C-reactive protein (1.3-12.8 mg/l), serum amyloid A (0-47.5 mg/l), and haptoglobin (0-1.10 mg/ml). In addition, SPEP was performed on these samples to establish reference intervals for each protein fraction. A combination of APPs and SPEP measurements are valuable adjunctive diagnostic tools in elephant health care. © 2014 The Author(s).

Planning of an Experiment for VLBI Tracking of GNSS Satellites

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Tornatore, Vincenza; Hass, Ruediger; Molera, Guifre; Pogrebenko, Sergei

2010-01-01

As a preparation for future possible orbit determination of global navigation satellite system (GNSS) satellites by VLBI observations an initial three-station experiment was planned and performed in January 2009. The goal was to get first experience and to verify the feasibility of using the method for accurate satellite tracking. GNSS orbits related to a satellite constellation can be expressed in the Terrestrial Reference Frame. A comparison with orbit results that might be obtained by VLBI can give valuable information on how the GNSS reference frame and the VLBI reference frame are linked. We present GNSS transmitter specifications and experimental results of the observations of some GLONASS satellites together with evaluations for the expected signal strengths at telescopes. The satellite flux densities detected on the Earth s surface are very high. The narrow bandwidth of the GNSS signal partly compensates for potential problems at the receiving stations, and signal attenuation is necessary. Attempts to correlate recorded data have been performed with different software.

[Customer satisfaction with a quality management system according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2000: Increase in the satisfaction of cooperating clinics].

PubMed

Beholz, Sven; Konertz, Wolfgang

2006-01-01

The evaluation of customers' satisfaction is elementary for any quality management system. In our university cardiac surgery unit that has been certified according to DIN EN ISO 9001:2000 the influence of repeated evaluation of the referring physicians' satisfaction conducted in the course of three consecutive years on structures and processes in the scope of the quality management system was examined. Customers' satisfaction with the possibility of access to the department could be increased by targeted interventions. Further interventions in the field of documentation led to a measurable increase in satisfaction with postoperative communication. Repeated annual evaluation of the satisfaction of referring physicians has proved to be a valuable tool in the process of continuous quality improvement.

Copper wire theft and high voltage electrical burns

PubMed Central

Francis, Eamon C; Shelley, Odhran P

2014-01-01

High voltage electrical burns are uncommon. However in the midst of our economic recession we are noticing an increasing number of these injuries. Copper wire is a valuable commodity with physical properties as an excellent conductor of electricity making it both ubiquitous in society and prized on the black market. We present two consecutive cases referred to the National Burns Unit who sustained life threatening injuries from the alleged theft of high voltage copper wire and its omnipresence on an international scale. PMID:25356371

Development Strategy for Mobilecommunications Market in Chinese Rural Area

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zhang, Liwei; Zhang, Yanjun; Xu, Liying; Li, Daoliang

Based on full analysis of rural mobile communication market, in order to explore mobile operators in rural areas of information services for sustainable development model, this paper presents three different aspects, including rural mobile communications market demand, the rural market for mobile communications business model and development strategies for rural mobile communications market research business. It supplies some valuable references for operators to develop rural users rapidly, develop the rural market effectively and to get access to develop a broad space.

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

Buchanan, J. R.

The risks of nuclear power and radiation are described to place them in perspective with other potential hazards faced by the public on a day-to-day basis in our complex industrial society. Twenty articles on this general topic that have appeared in Nuclear Safety are reprinted, since they collectively form a valuable reference source. Topics covered include the effects of radiation, riskbenefit concepts, radiation risks relative to other risks, nuclear plant risks relative to fossil plant risks, licensing requirements, nuclear insurance, nuclear industry safety record, and public attitudes. (auth)

Copper wire theft and high voltage electrical burns.

PubMed

Francis, Eamon C; Shelley, Odhran P

2014-01-01

High voltage electrical burns are uncommon. However in the midst of our economic recession we are noticing an increasing number of these injuries. Copper wire is a valuable commodity with physical properties as an excellent conductor of electricity making it both ubiquitous in society and prized on the black market. We present two consecutive cases referred to the National Burns Unit who sustained life threatening injuries from the alleged theft of high voltage copper wire and its omnipresence on an international scale.

A comprehensive bibliography of linguistic steganography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bergmair, Richard

2007-02-01

In this paper, we will attempt to give a comprehensive bibliographic account of the work in linguistic steganography published up to date. As the field is still in its infancy there is no widely accepted publication venue. Relevant work on the subject is scattered throughout the literature on information security, information hiding, imaging and watermarking, cryptology, and natural language processing. Bibliographic references within the field are very sparse. This makes literature research on linguistic steganography a tedious task and a comprehensive bibliography a valuable aid to the researcher.

Applications of the 1000 Genomes Project resources

PubMed Central

Zheng-Bradley, Xiangqun

2017-01-01

Abstract The 1000 Genomes Project created a valuable, worldwide reference for human genetic variation. Common uses of the 1000 Genomes dataset include genotype imputation supporting Genome-wide Association Studies, mapping expression Quantitative Trait Loci, filtering non-pathogenic variants from exome, whole genome and cancer genome sequencing projects, and genetic analysis of population structure and molecular evolution. In this article, we will highlight some of the multiple ways that the 1000 Genomes data can be and has been utilized for genetic studies. PMID:27436001

Political astronomy: Comet and meteor observations by Muslim historians

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Chander Kapoor, Ramesh

2015-08-01

Eclipses and unexpected phenomena like comets, meteors, novae and earthquakes were viewed among various cultures as violating the established order of the heavens. They were considered to be ill omens for kings and emperors and were routinely monitored. The present work looks into the texts of history and literature by Muslim historians and chroniclers in West Asia and India that carry stray references to such phenomena. The accounts often relate the apparitions to specific disastrous events or prognosticate revolts, deaths, epidemics, earthquakes all that that took place in later times. Obviously, the occurrences interested the astrologers more. Comet appearances would last for days and weeks but nearly all the writings lack sequential observations. Meteor showers are annual features but the Islamic calendar being lunar would not easily lead one to notice periodic nature of the incidents, let alone sensing a periodicity in comet appearances. These are non-astronomy texts with little scientific content but being from different ages permit us to see how the astronomical perceptions changed over the times. The recorded details and firm chronology, tested against modern back calculations, can provide valuable information on them, keeping in mind the text and the context in which the original reference was made. We also notice a qualitative change in the Indian writings of the 18th century and later where the authors begin to show up with influence of exposure to the European scientific progress.

A massively parallel strategy for STR marker development, capture, and genotyping.

PubMed

Kistler, Logan; Johnson, Stephen M; Irwin, Mitchell T; Louis, Edward E; Ratan, Aakrosh; Perry, George H

2017-09-06

Short tandem repeat (STR) variants are highly polymorphic markers that facilitate powerful population genetic analyses. STRs are especially valuable in conservation and ecological genetic research, yielding detailed information on population structure and short-term demographic fluctuations. Massively parallel sequencing has not previously been leveraged for scalable, efficient STR recovery. Here, we present a pipeline for developing STR markers directly from high-throughput shotgun sequencing data without a reference genome, and an approach for highly parallel target STR recovery. We employed our approach to capture a panel of 5000 STRs from a test group of diademed sifakas (Propithecus diadema, n = 3), endangered Malagasy rainforest lemurs, and we report extremely efficient recovery of targeted loci-97.3-99.6% of STRs characterized with ≥10x non-redundant sequence coverage. We then tested our STR capture strategy on P. diadema fecal DNA, and report robust initial results and suggestions for future implementations. In addition to STR targets, this approach also generates large, genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) panels from flanking regions. Our method provides a cost-effective and scalable solution for rapid recovery of large STR and SNP datasets in any species without needing a reference genome, and can be used even with suboptimal DNA more easily acquired in conservation and ecological studies. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research 2017.

Evaluation and clinical implementation of in vivo dosimetry for kV radiotherapy using radiochromic film and micro-silica bead thermoluminescent detectors.

PubMed

Palmer, Antony L; Jafari, Shakardokht M; Mone, Ioanna; Muscat, Sarah

2017-10-01

kV radiotherapy treatment calculations are based on flat, homogenous, full-scatter reference conditions. However, clinical treatments often include surface irregularities and inhomogeneities, causing uncertainty. Therefore, confirmation of actual delivered doses in vivo is valuable. The current study evaluates, and implements, radiochromic film and micro silica bead TLD for in vivo kV dosimetry. The kV energy and dose response of EBT3 film and silica bead TLD was established and uncertainty budgets determined. In vivo dosimetry measurements were made for a consecutive series of 30 patients using the two dosimetry systems. Energy dependent calibration factors were required for both dosimetry systems. The standard uncertainty estimate for in vivo measurement with film was 1.7% and for beads was 1.5%. The mean measured dose was -2.1% for film and -2.6% for beads compared to prescription. Deviations up to -9% were found in cases of large surface irregularity, or with underlying air cavities or bone. Dose shielding by beads could be clinically relevant at low kV energies and superficial depths. Both film and beads may be used to provide in vivo verification of delivered doses in kV radiotherapy, particularly for complex situations that are not well represented by standard reference condition calculations. Copyright © 2017 Associazione Italiana di Fisica Medica. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

A twice-as-smart synthetic G-quartet: PyroTASQ is both a smart quadruplex ligand and a smart fluorescent probe.

PubMed

Laguerre, Aurélien; Stefan, Loic; Larrouy, Manuel; Genest, David; Novotna, Jana; Pirrotta, Marc; Monchaud, David

2014-09-03

Recent and unambiguous evidences of the formation of DNA and RNA G-quadruplexes in cells has provided solid support for these structures to be considered as valuable targets in oncology. Beyond this, they have lent further credence to the anticancer strategies relying on small molecules that selectively target these higher-order DNA/RNA architectures, referred to as G-quadruplex ligands. They have also shed bright light on the necessity of designing multitasking ligands, displaying not only enticing quadruplex interacting properties (affinity, structural selectivity) but also additional features that make them usable for detecting quadruplexes in living cells, notably for determining whether, when, and where these structures fold and unfold during the cell cycle and also for better assessing the consequences of their stabilization by external agents. Herein, we report a brand new design of such multitasking ligands, whose structure experiences a quadruplex-promoted conformational switch that triggers not only its quadruplex affinity (i.e., smart ligands, which display high affinity and selectivity for DNA/RNA quadruplexes) but also its fluorescence (i.e., smart probes, which behave as selective light-up fluorescent reporters on the basis of a fluorogenic electron redistribution). The first prototype of such multifunctional ligands, termed PyroTASQ, represents a brand new generation of quadruplex ligands that can be referred to as "twice-as-smart" quadruplex ligands.

Transcript expression profiling for adventitious roots of Panax ginseng Meyer.

PubMed

Subramaniyam, Sathiyamoorthy; Mathiyalagan, Ramya; Natarajan, Sathishkumar; Kim, Yu-Jin; Jang, Moon-Gi; Park, Jun-Hyung; Yang, Deok Chun

2014-08-01

Panax ginseng Meyer is one of the major medicinal plants in oriental countries belonging to the Araliaceae family which are the primary source for ginsenosides. However, very few genes were characterized for ginsenoside pathway, due to the limited genome information. Through this study, we obtained a comprehensive transcriptome from adventitious roots, which were treated with methyl jasmonic acids for different time points (control, 2h, 6h, 12h, and 24h) and sequenced by RNA 454 pyrosequencing technology. Reference transcriptome 39,304,529 (0.04GB) was obtained from 5,724,987,880 bases (5.7GB) of 22 libraries by de novo assembly and 35,266 (58.5%) transcripts were annotated with biological schemas (GO and KEGG). The digital gene expression patterns were obtained from in vitro grown adventitious root sequences which mapped to reference, from that, 3813 (6.3%) unique transcripts were involved in ≥2 fold up and downregulations. Finally, candidates for ginsenoside pathway genes were predicted from observed expression patterns. Among them, 30 transcription factors, 20 cytochromes, and 11 glycosyl transferases were predicted as ginsenoside candidates. These data can remarkably expand the existing transcriptome resources of Panax, especially to predict existence of gene networks in P. ginseng. The entity of the data provides a valuable platform to reveal more on secondary metabolism and abiotic stresses from P. ginseng in vitro grown adventitious roots. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Phylogenetically informed logic relationships improve detection of biological network organization

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background A "phylogenetic profile" refers to the presence or absence of a gene across a set of organisms, and it has been proven valuable for understanding gene functional relationships and network organization. Despite this success, few studies have attempted to search beyond just pairwise relationships among genes. Here we search for logic relationships involving three genes, and explore its potential application in gene network analyses. Results Taking advantage of a phylogenetic matrix constructed from the large orthologs database Roundup, we invented a method to create balanced profiles for individual triplets of genes that guarantee equal weight on the different phylogenetic scenarios of coevolution between genes. When we applied this idea to LAPP, the method to search for logic triplets of genes, the balanced profiles resulted in significant performance improvement and the discovery of hundreds of thousands more putative triplets than unadjusted profiles. We found that logic triplets detected biological network organization and identified key proteins and their functions, ranging from neighbouring proteins in local pathways, to well separated proteins in the whole pathway, and to the interactions among different pathways at the system level. Finally, our case study suggested that the directionality in a logic relationship and the profile of a triplet could disclose the connectivity between the triplet and surrounding networks. Conclusion Balanced profiles are superior to the raw profiles employed by traditional methods of phylogenetic profiling in searching for high order gene sets. Gene triplets can provide valuable information in detection of biological network organization and identification of key genes at different levels of cellular interaction. PMID:22172058

Unraveling the unknown areas of the human metabolome: the role of infrared ion spectroscopy.

PubMed

Martens, Jonathan; Berden, Giel; Bentlage, Herman; Coene, Karlien L M; Engelke, Udo F; Wishart, David; van Scherpenzeel, Monique; Kluijtmans, Leo A J; Wevers, Ron A; Oomens, Jos

2018-05-01

The identification of molecular biomarkers is critical for diagnosing and treating patients and for establishing a fundamental understanding of the pathophysiology and underlying biochemistry of inborn errors of metabolism. Currently, liquid chromatography/high-resolution mass spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy are the principle methods used for biomarker research and for structural elucidation of small molecules in patient body fluids. While both are powerful techniques, several limitations exist that often make the identification of unknown compounds challenging. Here, we describe how infrared ion spectroscopy has the potential to be a valuable orthogonal technique that provides highly-specific molecular structure information while maintaining ultra-high sensitivity. Here, we characterize and distinguish two well-known biomarkers of inborn errors of metabolism, glutaric acid for glutaric aciduria and ethylmalonic acid for short-chain acyl-CoA dehydrogenase deficiency, using infrared ion spectroscopy. In contrast to tandem mass spectra, in which ion fragments can hardly be predicted, we show that the prediction of an IR spectrum allows reference-free identification in the case that standard compounds are either commercially or synthetically unavailable. Finally, we illustrate how functional group information can be obtained from an IR spectrum for an unknown and how this is valuable information to, for example, narrow down a list of candidate structures resulting from a database query. Early diagnosis in inborn errors of metabolism is crucial for enabling treatment and depends on the identification of biomarkers specific for the disorder. Infrared ion spectroscopy has the potential to play a pivotal role in the identification of challenging biomarkers.

User interface design for mobile-based sexual health interventions for young people: design recommendations from a qualitative study on an online Chlamydia clinical care pathway.

PubMed

Gkatzidou, Voula; Hone, Kate; Sutcliffe, Lorna; Gibbs, Jo; Sadiq, Syed Tariq; Szczepura, Ala; Sonnenberg, Pam; Estcourt, Claudia

2015-08-26

The increasing pervasiveness of mobile technologies has given potential to transform healthcare by facilitating clinical management using software applications. These technologies may provide valuable tools in sexual health care and potentially overcome existing practical and cultural barriers to routine testing for sexually transmitted infections. In order to inform the design of a mobile health application for STIs that supports self-testing and self-management by linking diagnosis with online care pathways, we aimed to identify the dimensions and range of preferences for user interface design features among young people. Nine focus group discussions were conducted (n = 49) with two age-stratified samples (16 to 18 and 19 to 24 year olds) of young people from Further Education colleges and Higher Education establishments. Discussions explored young people's views with regard to: the software interface; the presentation of information; and the ordering of interaction steps. Discussions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Interview transcripts were analysed using thematic analysis. Four over-arching themes emerged: privacy and security; credibility; user journey support; and the task-technology-context fit. From these themes, 20 user interface design recommendations for mobile health applications are proposed. For participants, although privacy was a major concern, security was not perceived as a major potential barrier as participants were generally unaware of potential security threats and inherently trusted new technology. Customisation also emerged as a key design preference to increase attractiveness and acceptability. Considerable effort should be focused on designing healthcare applications from the patient's perspective to maximise acceptability. The design recommendations proposed in this paper provide a valuable point of reference for the health design community to inform development of mobile-based health interventions for the diagnosis and treatment of a number of other conditions for this target group, while stimulating conversation across multidisciplinary communities.

An iterative shrinkage approach to total-variation image restoration.

PubMed

Michailovich, Oleg V

2011-05-01

The problem of restoration of digital images from their degraded measurements plays a central role in a multitude of practically important applications. A particularly challenging instance of this problem occurs in the case when the degradation phenomenon is modeled by an ill-conditioned operator. In such a situation, the presence of noise makes it impossible to recover a valuable approximation of the image of interest without using some a priori information about its properties. Such a priori information--commonly referred to as simply priors--is essential for image restoration, rendering it stable and robust to noise. Moreover, using the priors makes the recovered images exhibit some plausible features of their original counterpart. Particularly, if the original image is known to be a piecewise smooth function, one of the standard priors used in this case is defined by the Rudin-Osher-Fatemi model, which results in total variation (TV) based image restoration. The current arsenal of algorithms for TV-based image restoration is vast. In this present paper, a different approach to the solution of the problem is proposed based upon the method of iterative shrinkage (aka iterated thresholding). In the proposed method, the TV-based image restoration is performed through a recursive application of two simple procedures, viz. linear filtering and soft thresholding. Therefore, the method can be identified as belonging to the group of first-order algorithms which are efficient in dealing with images of relatively large sizes. Another valuable feature of the proposed method consists in its working directly with the TV functional, rather then with its smoothed versions. Moreover, the method provides a single solution for both isotropic and anisotropic definitions of the TV functional, thereby establishing a useful connection between the two formulae. Finally, a number of standard examples of image deblurring are demonstrated, in which the proposed method can provide restoration results of superior quality as compared to the case of sparse-wavelet deconvolution.

'Weather Value at Risk': A uniform approach to describe and compare sectoral income risks from climate change.

PubMed

Prettenthaler, Franz; Köberl, Judith; Bird, David Neil

2016-02-01

We extend the concept of 'Weather Value at Risk' - initially introduced to measure the economic risks resulting from current weather fluctuations - to describe and compare sectoral income risks from climate change. This is illustrated using the examples of wheat cultivation and summer tourism in (parts of) Sardinia. Based on climate scenario data from four different regional climate models we study the change in the risk of weather-related income losses between some reference (1971-2000) and some future (2041-2070) period. Results from both examples suggest an increase in weather-related risks of income losses due to climate change, which is somewhat more pronounced for summer tourism. Nevertheless, income from wheat cultivation is at much higher risk of weather-related losses than income from summer tourism, both under reference and future climatic conditions. A weather-induced loss of at least 5% - compared to the income associated with average reference weather conditions - shows a 40% (80%) probability of occurrence in the case of wheat cultivation, but only a 0.4% (16%) probability of occurrence in the case of summer tourism, given reference (future) climatic conditions. Whereas in the agricultural example increases in the weather-related income risks mainly result from an overall decrease in average wheat yields, the heightened risk in the tourism example stems mostly from a change in the weather-induced variability of tourism incomes. With the extended 'Weather Value at Risk' concept being able to capture both, impacts from changes in the mean and the variability of the climate, it is a powerful tool for presenting and disseminating the results of climate change impact assessments. Due to its flexibility, the concept can be applied to any economic sector and therefore provides a valuable tool for cross-sectoral comparisons of climate change impacts, but also for the assessment of the costs and benefits of adaptation measures. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

GENE-07. MOLECULAR NEUROPATHOLOGY 2.0 - INCREASING DIAGNOSTIC ACCURACY IN PEDIATRIC NEUROONCOLOGY

PubMed Central

Sturm, Dominik; Jones, David T.W.; Capper, David; Sahm, Felix; von Deimling, Andreas; Rutkoswki, Stefan; Warmuth-Metz, Monika; Bison, Brigitte; Gessi, Marco; Pietsch, Torsten; Pfister, Stefan M.

2017-01-01

Abstract The classification of central nervous system (CNS) tumors into clinically and biologically distinct entities and subgroups is challenging. Children and adolescents can be affected by >100 histological variants with very variable outcomes, some of which are exceedingly rare. The current WHO classification has introduced a number of novel molecular markers to aid routine neuropathological diagnostics, and DNA methylation profiling is emerging as a powerful tool to distinguish CNS tumor classes. The Molecular Neuropathology 2.0 study aims to integrate genome wide (epi-)genetic diagnostics with reference neuropathological assessment for all newly-diagnosed pediatric brain tumors in Germany. To date, >350 patients have been enrolled. A molecular diagnosis is established by epigenetic tumor classification through DNA methylation profiling and targeted panel sequencing of >130 genes to detect diagnostically and/or therapeutically useful DNA mutations, structural alterations, and fusion events. Results are aligned with the reference neuropathological diagnosis, and discrepant findings are discussed in a multi-disciplinary tumor board including reference neuroradiological evaluation. Ten FFPE sections as input material are sufficient to establish a molecular diagnosis in >95% of tumors. Alignment with reference pathology results in four broad categories: a) concordant classification (~77%), b) discrepant classification resolvable by tumor board discussion and/or additional data (~5%), c) discrepant classification without currently available options to resolve (~8%), and d) cases currently unclassifiable by molecular diagnostics (~10%). Discrepancies are enriched in certain histopathological entities, such as histological high grade gliomas with a molecularly low grade profile. Gene panel sequencing reveals predisposing germline events in ~10% of patients. Genome wide (epi-)genetic analyses add a valuable layer of information to routine neuropathological diagnostics. Our study provides insight into CNS tumors with divergent histopathological and molecular classification, opening new avenues for research discoveries and facilitating optimization of clinical management for affected patients in the future.

Serum chemistry of free-ranging white whales (Delphinapterus leucas) in Svalbard.

PubMed

Tryland, Morten; Thoresen, Stein Istre; Kovacs, Kit M; Lydersen, Christian

2006-06-01

Abnormal physiological conditions and diseases can change the concentrations of enzymes, metabolites, and minerals in the body. Serum chemistry information may thus be indicative of a specific disease; interpretation of such information requires knowledge of serum chemistry reference intervals from a seemingly healthy population of the species. The aim of this study was to obtain serum chemistry reference intervals for a population of white whales. Blood samples were collected from 21 free-ranging white whales (beluga; Delphinapterus leucas). The whales were live-captured in nets during 1996-2001 in Storfjorden, Van Mijenfjorden, and Van Keulenfjorden (Svalbard, Norway). While the whales were briefly physically restrained, blood was collected from the caudal vein into vacuum tubes without anticoagulant. The blood was left to clot for 4-6 hours before serum was obtained by centrifugation. The serum samples were then kept at -20 degrees C until analysis. Enzymes (aspartate aminotransferase, alanine aminotransferase, alkaline phosphatase [ALP], creatine kinase, lactate dehydrogenase [LDH], amylase, lipase), metabolites (urea, creatinine, bilirubin, cholesterol, triglycerides, nonesterified fatty acids, glucose), and minerals (calcium, phosphate, magnesium, sodium, potassium, chloride) were analyzed in an Advia 1650 System (Bayer, Tarrytown, NY, USA). Cortisol was analyzed in an Immulite One system (Diagnostic Products Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, USA). The major blood proteins (albumin and globulins) were separated by gel electrophoresis in a Beckman Paragon electrophoresis system (Beckman Coulter, Inc., Fullerton, CA, USA). Serum values for all analytes were reported as median and range, and reference intervals were calculated as 10-90th percentiles. Activities of ALP and LDH and cortisol concentration were higher, and protein and bilirubin concentrations were lower compared with those previously reported for white whales from Canada; remaining results were strikingly similar in these 2 white whale populations. These data provide valuable serum chemistry reference intervals for future health assessments of white whales in Svalbard and other white whale populations, as well as captive individuals.

Standardization of immunotherapy adverse events in patient information leaflets and development of an interface terminology for outpatients' monitoring.

PubMed

Zini, E M; Lanzola, G; Quaglini, S; Cornet, R

2018-01-01

Immunotherapy is effective for treating cancer, but it is also associated with a wide spectrum of adverse events. In order to detect them early, the patients need to be monitored at home, between the therapy administrations, e.g., by asking them to report outcomes, usually including symptoms and quality of life measures. For the collected data to be reusable, the symptoms need to be in a standardized form. The aim of this study is to explore the standardization of the information contained in the patient information leaflets (PILs) of immunotherapy drugs, by creating an interface terminology of immunotherapy-related adverse events, which should support a consistent collection of symptoms from the patients. PILs contain a significant amount of information in free text, but they mix patient-reportable and clinically assessable events. We extracted a list of patient-reportable adverse events, mapped them to reference terminologies and compared the mapping results to choose the best-performing reference terminology. The PILs standardization led to the extraction of 151 symptoms and 424 terms, including both preferred terms and synonyms in English and Italian. Among the reference terminologies we considered, SNOMED CT allowed us to map all concepts and became, hence, the main reference terminology for the resulting interface terminology. A preliminary validation on the PIL of a new immunotherapy drug showed that our interface terminology already contained all the mentioned symptoms. PILs provide a valuable source for determining adverse events. The resulting interface terminology includes Italian and English terms for patient-reportable adverse events for five immunotherapy drugs representative of their category. Further work will be undertaken to evaluate the usability of the interface terminology and the patients' experience and satisfaction with the proposed terms, made available for example through an app, as well as its effectiveness on data quality and quality of care. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A predicted protein interactome identifies conserved global networks and disease resistance subnetworks in maize

PubMed Central

Musungu, Bryan; Bhatnagar, Deepak; Brown, Robert L.; Fakhoury, Ahmad M.; Geisler, Matt

2015-01-01

Interactomes are genome-wide roadmaps of protein-protein interactions. They have been produced for humans, yeast, the fruit fly, and Arabidopsis thaliana and have become invaluable tools for generating and testing hypotheses. A predicted interactome for Zea mays (PiZeaM) is presented here as an aid to the research community for this valuable crop species. PiZeaM was built using a proven method of interologs (interacting orthologs) that were identified using both one-to-one and many-to-many orthology between genomes of maize and reference species. Where both maize orthologs occurred for an experimentally determined interaction in the reference species, we predicted a likely interaction in maize. A total of 49,026 unique interactions for 6004 maize proteins were predicted. These interactions are enriched for processes that are evolutionarily conserved, but include many otherwise poorly annotated proteins in maize. The predicted maize interactions were further analyzed by comparing annotation of interacting proteins, including different layers of ontology. A map of pairwise gene co-expression was also generated and compared to predicted interactions. Two global subnetworks were constructed for highly conserved interactions. These subnetworks showed clear clustering of proteins by function. Another subnetwork was created for disease response using a bait and prey strategy to capture interacting partners for proteins that respond to other organisms. Closer examination of this subnetwork revealed the connectivity between biotic and abiotic hormone stress pathways. We believe PiZeaM will provide a useful tool for the prediction of protein function and analysis of pathways for Z. mays researchers and is presented in this paper as a reference tool for the exploration of protein interactions in maize. PMID:26089837

Using the bootstrap to establish statistical significance for relative validity comparisons among patient-reported outcome measures

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Relative validity (RV), a ratio of ANOVA F-statistics, is often used to compare the validity of patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures. We used the bootstrap to establish the statistical significance of the RV and to identify key factors affecting its significance. Methods Based on responses from 453 chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients to 16 CKD-specific and generic PRO measures, RVs were computed to determine how well each measure discriminated across clinically-defined groups of patients compared to the most discriminating (reference) measure. Statistical significance of RV was quantified by the 95% bootstrap confidence interval. Simulations examined the effects of sample size, denominator F-statistic, correlation between comparator and reference measures, and number of bootstrap replicates. Results The statistical significance of the RV increased as the magnitude of denominator F-statistic increased or as the correlation between comparator and reference measures increased. A denominator F-statistic of 57 conveyed sufficient power (80%) to detect an RV of 0.6 for two measures correlated at r = 0.7. Larger denominator F-statistics or higher correlations provided greater power. Larger sample size with a fixed denominator F-statistic or more bootstrap replicates (beyond 500) had minimal impact. Conclusions The bootstrap is valuable for establishing the statistical significance of RV estimates. A reasonably large denominator F-statistic (F > 57) is required for adequate power when using the RV to compare the validity of measures with small or moderate correlations (r < 0.7). Substantially greater power can be achieved when comparing measures of a very high correlation (r > 0.9). PMID:23721463

Community Characterization of Microbial Populations Found at a Cold Water Sulfidic Spring in the Canadian High Arctic

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Trivedi, C.; Lau, G. E.; Templeton, A. S.; Grasby, S. E.; Spear, J. R.

2015-12-01

The unique environment on Europa makes it an ideal target for astrobiological investigation. One such earth-based analogue to aid in this investigation is the sulfur-dominated glacial spring system found at Borup Fiord Pass (BFP), Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada. In this system, subsurface microbial sulfate reduction produces hydrogen sulfide, which is transported through the glacier along spring channels [1]. As the surface oxidation of H2S occurs, resultant deposition of elemental sulfur (S0) and other minerals becomes visible (attached image). The energy released from these reactions can support potential microbial metabolisms and may be a valuable representation of microbial processes occurring on Europa. The resulting sulfur minerals provide sensitive records of dynamic atmospheric, geological, hydrological, chemical, and biological processes on planetary surfaces. Moreover, we expect that the S0-rich deposits of this glacial spring system will serve as a mineralogical record for biological activity and will provide a valuable tool for recognizing potential sulfur-based life on Europa. During a recent collaborative expedition (2014) to BFP, samples were taken from the toe of the glacier in an area called the 'Blister Crust' (attached image). At this location, glacial channels reach the surface, representing an active interface between subsurface and surface processes. Initial geochemical characterization at the site revealed high amounts of aqueous sulfide (1.8 mM) and hydrogen (29 nM), which likely serve as the electron donation potential in the system. Furthermore, preliminary 16S rRNA gene sequencing has shown a high abundance of the genus Sulfurimonas, which is a known sulfur metabolizer. Our research seeks to further characterize microbial communities found at this interface in order to elucidate information regarding in situ sulfur cycling and the potential to tie this into subsurface/surface processes on Europa. Continued work will provide guidance into potential astrobiological targets on the surface of Europa, predominantly in regions where subsurface fluids interact with surface icings. References: [1] Grasby S. E. et al. (2003) Astrobiology, 3(3), 583-596.

A Qualitative Analysis of Medical Students' Reflection on Attending an Alcoholics Anonymous Meeting: Insights for Future Addiction Curricula.

PubMed

Kastenholz, Kurt J; Agarwal, Gaurava

2016-06-01

This paper describes medical students' views of alcoholism and their response to attending an Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) meeting during their psychiatry clerkship. This may assist other educators in planning their addiction curricula. Medical students were required to attend an AA meeting during their psychiatry clerkship and then to write a reflection piece on this experience. We selected a random sample of 40 pieces and performed a qualitative analysis to identify the prominent ideas and themes in this sample. Medical students found their experience attending an AA meeting to be educationally valuable. They reported their familiarity with AA prior to this experience was largely limited to popular media depictions. Students reported understanding alcoholism as a disease with both biological and psychosocial components. They were often concerned with the presence of religiosity and spirituality at the meetings. Following the experience, students felt more comfortable referring patients to AA and identified empathy, honesty, and openness as crucial contributors to the efficacy of AA. Students felt that attending an AA meeting during their psychiatry clerkship was an educationally valuable experience. Medical students' familiarity with addiction treatment is limited, and attending an AA meeting may be helpful in increasing their comfort with treating addicted patients in the future. In addition, educators may want to explicitly address the spirituality issue related to some treatment programs to increase the likelihood that future physicians feel comfortable referring their patients to recovery programs.

Prognosis of acute idiopathic neck pain is poor: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

PubMed

Hush, Julia M; Lin, C Christine; Michaleff, Zoe A; Verhagen, Arianne; Refshauge, Kathryn M

2011-05-01

To conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis on the prognosis of acute idiopathic neck pain and disability. EMBASE, CINAHL, Medline, AMED, PEDro, and CENTRAL were searched from inception to July 2009, limited to human studies. Reference lists of relevant systematic reviews were searched by hand. Search terms included: neck pain, prognosis, inception, cohort, longitudinal, observational, or prospective study and randomized controlled trial. Eligible studies were longitudinal cohort studies and randomized controlled trials with a no treatment or minimal treatment arm that recruited an inception cohort of acute idiopathic neck pain and reported pain or disability outcomes. Eligibility was determined by 2 authors independently. Seven of 20,085 references were included. Pain and disability data were extracted independently by 2 authors. Risk of bias was assessed independently by 2 authors. Statistical pooling showed a weighted mean pain score (0-100) of 64 (95% confidence interval [CI], 61-67) at onset and 35 (95% CI, 32-38) at 6.5 weeks. At 12 months, neck pain severity remained high at 42 (95% CI, 39-45). Disability reduced from a pooled weighted mean score (0-100) at onset of 30 (95% CI, 28-32) to 17 (95% CI, 15-19) by 6.5 weeks, without further improvement at 12 months. Studies varied in length of follow-up, design, and sample size. This review provides Level I evidence that the prognosis of acute idiopathic neck pain is worse than currently recognized. This evidence can guide primary care clinicians when providing prognostic information to patients. Further research to identify prognostic factors and long-term outcomes from inception cohorts would be valuable. Copyright © 2011 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Typhoon Haiyan's sedimentary record in coastal environments of the Philippines and its palaeotempestological implications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Brill, Dominik; May, Simon Matthias; Engel, Max; Reyes, Michelle; Pint, Anna; Opitz, Stephan; Dierick, Manuel; Gonzalo, Lia Anne; Esser, Sascha; Brückner, Helmut

2016-12-01

On 8 November 2013, category 5 Supertyphoon Haiyan made landfall on the Philippines. During a post-typhoon survey in February 2014, Haiyan-related sand deposition and morphological changes were documented at four severely affected sites with different exposure to the typhoon track and different geological and geomorphological settings. Onshore sand sheets reaching 100-250 m inland are restricted to coastal areas with significant inundation due to amplification of surge levels in embayments or due to accompanying long-wave phenomena at the most exposed coastlines of Leyte and Samar. However, localized washover fans with a storm-typical laminated stratigraphy occurred even along coasts with limited inundation due to waves overtopping or breaching coastal barriers. On a recent reef platform off Negros in the Visayan Sea, storm waves entrained coral rubble from the reef slope and formed an intertidal coral ridge several hundreds of metres long when breaking at the reef edge. As these sediments and landforms were generated by one of the strongest storms ever recorded, they not only provide a recent reference for typhoon signatures that can be used for palaeotempestological and palaeotsunami studies in the region but might also increase the general spectrum of possible cyclone deposits. Although a rather atypical example for storm deposition due to the influence of infra-gravity waves, it nevertheless provides a valuable reference for an extreme case that should be considered when discriminating between storm and tsunami deposits in general. Even for sites with low topography and high inundation levels during Supertyphoon Haiyan, the landward extent of the documented sand sheets seems significantly smaller than typical sand sheets of large tsunamis. This criterion may potentially be used to distinguish both types of events.

On the Characterization of Rainfall Associated with U.S. Landfalling North Atlantic Tropical Cyclones Based on Satellite Data and Numerical Weather Prediction Outputs

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Luitel, B. N.; Villarini, G.; Vecchi, G. A.

2014-12-01

When we talk about tropical cyclones (TCs), the first things that come to mind are strong winds and storm surge affecting the coastal areas. However, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) 59% of the deaths caused by TCs since 1970 is due to fresh water flooding. Heavy rainfall associated with TCs accounts for 13% of heavy rainfall events nationwide for the June-October months, with this percentage being much higher if the focus is on the eastern and southern United States. This study focuses on the evaluation of precipitation associated with the North Atlantic TCs that affected the continental United States over the period 2007 - 2012. We evaluate the rainfall associated with these TCs using four satellite based rainfall products: Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission - Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis (TMPA; both real-time and research version); Precipitation Estimation from Remotely Sensed Information using Artificial Neural Networks (PERSIANN); Climate Prediction Center (CPC) MORPHing technique (CMORPH). As a reference data we use gridded rainfall provided by CPC (Daily US Unified Gauge-Based Analysis of Precipitation). Rainfall fields from each of these satellite products are compared to the reference data, providing valuable information about the realism of these products in reproducing the rainfall associated with TCs affecting the continental United States. In addition to the satellite products, we evaluate the forecasted rainfall produced by five state-of-the-art numerical weather prediction (NWP) models: European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), UK Met Office (UKMO), National Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), China Meteorological Administration (CMA), and Canadian Meteorological Center (CMC). The skill of these models in reproducing TC rainfall is quantified for different lead times, and discussed in light of the performance of the satellite products.

Visiting scholarships in cardio-thoracic surgery: a valuable experience for fostering collaboration

PubMed Central

Cassivi, Stephen D.

2017-01-01

Visiting scholarships to other institutions have a rich history in medicine and are an exciting opportunity to exchange ideas, learn new clinical techniques and form collaborative relationships for research advancements. Such experiences are also important in fostering a well-rounded surgical education. In this article we reflect on the valuable nature of international collaboration and provide a few guidelines to optimize the experience. PMID:29312778

Oilseed crop with promise

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

Senft, D.

1986-02-01

Cuphea, a relatively unknown plant outside the scientific community, might someday provide valuable oils for manufacturing soaps, detergents, surfactants, and lubricants, and may have medical, nutritional and dietetic applications as well. Unique properties of oils found in its seed make cuphea a potentially valuable new crop for the USA. Its seeds contain large quantities of medium-chain fatty acids such as lauric acid, which is used in manufacturing soaps and detergents. Other medium-chain fatty acids in cuphea can be used for clinical treatment of rare human ailments associated with fat absorption. New uses for the fatty acids in the seed maymore » be developed and economic conditions may change, making the crop more or less valuable.« less

BOOK REVIEW: The Complete A-Z Physics Handbook, Second Edition

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Breithaupt, Jim

2000-11-01

The first edition of this book was published in 1997 and reviewed in Physics Education in March 1988. This second edition is 13 pages longer and contains a significant number of new entries, mostly in particle physics and astrophysics, to match the latest AS/A-level specifications. Some entries on topics such as surface tension that were removed from previous AS/A-level syllabuses have now been deleted. The revised book thus provides an effective alphabetical guide to key terms used in the latest AS/A-level specifications as most AS/A-level core terms are included, apart from terms for some of the new topics such as image processing in the new IOP AS/A-level specification. The style of the second edition is the same as the first, each entry commencing with the key term in bold print followed by an explanation of the term, accompanied by the relevant equation and/or a simple diagram where appropriate. Cross-references are given in italics. For example, the entry under quarks (which is one of the new entries) lists the six quarks and their characteristic properties in bullet point format then follows up with the information about the quark composition of baryons and mesons, giving the composition of the proton, the neutron and the pions as examples. The change of quark composition due to beta decay is mentioned with a cross-reference to beta decay. Other cross-references link to entries on the proton, the neutron and the four fundamental interactions. Lengthy entries such as the photoelectric effect each cover several pages, thus providing opportunities for in-depth revision. Useful theme entries provided in the first edition have been retained and referred to in a new two-page appendix on preparing for synoptic questions. Some proofs are provided such as the proof of the kinetic theory equation. Some experiments are described, each under an appropriate entry. Technically, the entries are reasonably accurate and usually expressed in appropriate and familiar language. The book ends with the same appendices as in the first edition (units, formulae, physical constants, examiners' terms, a suggested revision list and notes on examination preparation) plus the two-page synoptic appendix. The second edition with its additional entries on particle physics and astrophysics should prove useful as a study guide to supplement a textbook or as a revision guide as AS or A2 examinations approach. In addition, the concise nature of many of the entries could be valuable in helping physics students sharpen their written communication skills, thereby securing marks which all too often they lose on account of inadequate answers to descriptive questions.

Microgravity Experiments Safety and Integration Requirements Document Tree

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hogan, Jean M.

1995-01-01

This report is a document tree of the safety and integration documents required to develop a space experiment. Pertinent document information for each of the top level (tier one) safety and integration documents, and their applicable and reference (tier two) documents has been identified. This information includes: document title, revision level, configuration management, electronic availability, listed applicable and reference documents, source for obtaining the document, and document owner. One of the main conclusions of this report is that no single document tree exists for all safety and integration documents, regardless of the Shuttle carrier. This document also identifies the need for a single point of contact for customers wishing to access documents. The data in this report serves as a valuable information source for the NASA Lewis Research Center Project Documentation Center, as well as for all developers of space experiments.

A reference map of the Arabidopsis thaliana mature pollen proteome

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

Noir, Sandra; Braeutigam, Anne; Colby, Thomas

The male gametophyte (or pollen) plays an obligatory role during sexual reproduction of higher plants. The extremely reduced complexity of this organ renders pollen a valuable experimental system for studying fundamental aspects of plant biology such as cell fate determination, cell-cell interactions, cell polarity, and tip-growth. Here, we present the first reference map of the mature pollen proteome of the dicotyledonous model plant species, Arabidopsis thaliana. Based on two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight, and electrospray quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry, we reproducibly identified 121 different proteins in 145 individual spots. The presence, subcellular localization, and functional classification of themore » identified proteins are discussed in relation to the pollen transcriptome and the full protein complement encoded by the nuclear Arabidopsis genome.« less

[Identification of two varieties of Citri Fructus by fingerprint and chemometrics].

PubMed

Su, Jing-hua; Zhang, Chao; Sun, Lei; Gu, Bing-ren; Ma, Shuang-cheng

2015-06-01

Citri Fructus identification by fingerprint and chemometrics was investigated in this paper. Twenty-three Citri Fructus samples were collected which referred to two varieties as Cirtus wilsonii and C. medica recorded in Chinese Pharmacopoeia. HPLC chromatograms were obtained. The components were partly identified by reference substances, and then common pattern was established for chemometrics analysis. Similarity analysis, principal component analysis (PCA) , partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) and hierarchical cluster analysis heatmap were applied. The results indicated that C. wilsonii and C. medica could be ideally classified with common pattern contained twenty-five characteristic peaks. Besides, preliminary pattern recognition had verified the chemometrics analytical results. Absolute peak area (APA) was used for relevant quantitative analysis, results showed the differences between two varieties and it was valuable for further quality control as selection of characteristic components.

How social media moves New York.

DOT National Transportation Integrated Search

2012-12-01

Social media networks are valuable tools for the public outreach needs of transportation providers: they are free, instantaneous, reach large numbers : of people simultaneously, and allow for sideline discussions. When transportation providers are tr...

Field trial of the enhanced data authentication system (EDAS)

DOE PAGES

Thomas, Maikael A.; Hymel, Ross W.; Baldwin, George; ...

2016-11-01

The Enhanced Data Authentication System (EDAS) is means to securely branch information from an existing measurement system or data stream to a secondary observer. In an international nuclear safeguards context, the EDAS connects to operator instrumentation, and provides a cryptographically secure copy of the information for a safeguards inspectorate. However, this novel capability could be a valuable complement to inspector-owned safeguards instrumentation, offering context that is valuable for anomaly resolution and contingency.

Health worker preferences for performance-based payment schemes in a rural health district in Burkina Faso.

PubMed

Yé, Maurice; Diboulo, Eric; Kagoné, Moubassira; Sié, Ali; Sauerborn, Rainer; Loukanova, Svetla

2016-01-01

One promising way to improve the motivation of healthcare providers and the quality of healthcare services is performance-based incentives (PBIs) also referred as performance-based financing. Our study aims to explore healthcare providers' preferences for an incentive scheme based on local resources, which aimed at improving the quality of maternal and child health care in the Nouna Health District. A qualitative and quantitative survey was carried out in 2010 involving 94 healthcare providers within 34 health facilities. In addition, in-depth interviews involving a total of 33 key informants were conducted at health facility levels. Overall, 85% of health workers were in favour of an incentive scheme based on the health district's own financial resources (95% CI: [71.91; 88.08]). Most health workers (95 and 96%) expressed a preference for financial incentives (95% CI: [66.64; 85.36]) and team-based incentives (95% CI: [67.78; 86.22]), respectively. The suggested performance indicators were those linked to antenatal care services, prevention of mother-to-child human immunodeficiency virus transmission, neonatal care, and immunization. The early involvement of health workers and other stakeholders in designing an incentive scheme proved to be valuable. It ensured their effective participation in the process and overall acceptance of the scheme at the end. This study is an important contribution towards the designing of effective PBI schemes.

Resources available for autism research in the big data era: a systematic review

PubMed Central

Milne, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Recently, there has been a move encouraged by many stakeholders towards generating big, open data in many areas of research. One area where big, open data is particularly valuable is in research relating to complex heterogeneous disorders such as Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The inconsistencies of findings and the great heterogeneity of ASD necessitate the use of big and open data to tackle important challenges such as understanding and defining the heterogeneity and potential subtypes of ASD. To this end, a number of initiatives have been established that aim to develop big and/or open data resources for autism research. In order to provide a useful data reference for autism researchers, a systematic search for ASD data resources was conducted using the Scopus database, the Google search engine, and the pages on ‘recommended repositories’ by key journals, and the findings were translated into a comprehensive list focused on ASD data. The aim of this review is to systematically search for all available ASD data resources providing the following data types: phenotypic, neuroimaging, human brain connectivity matrices, human brain statistical maps, biospecimens, and ASD participant recruitment. A total of 33 resources were found containing different types of data from varying numbers of participants. Description of the data available from each data resource, and links to each resource is provided. Moreover, key implications are addressed and underrepresented areas of data are identified. PMID:28097074

Applications of the 1000 Genomes Project resources.

PubMed

Zheng-Bradley, Xiangqun; Flicek, Paul

2017-05-01

The 1000 Genomes Project created a valuable, worldwide reference for human genetic variation. Common uses of the 1000 Genomes dataset include genotype imputation supporting Genome-wide Association Studies, mapping expression Quantitative Trait Loci, filtering non-pathogenic variants from exome, whole genome and cancer genome sequencing projects, and genetic analysis of population structure and molecular evolution. In this article, we will highlight some of the multiple ways that the 1000 Genomes data can be and has been utilized for genetic studies. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press.

Have You Ever Googled a Patient or Been Friended by a Patient? Social Media Intersects the Practice of Genetic Counseling.

PubMed

Omaggio, NinaMarie F; Baker, Maria J; Conway, Laura J

2018-04-01

Patients and healthcare providers are becoming increasingly connected via social media, bringing new opportunities and challenges. Direct connection can occur between patients and providers using online tools such as Facebook and LinkedIn. In addition, providers can gather information about patients using a search engine such as Google, referred to as patient-targeted Googling (PTG). An online 54-item survey was used to gain information on (1) how and to what extent genetic counseling students and genetic counselors connect directly with patients via social media sites, and (2) gather information on providers using PTG. Four hundred genetic counseling students and genetic counselors participated in the survey. The majority of respondents (88.9%; n = 344/387) find it is never or rarely acceptable to interact with current patients via social media sites; however, 27.7% (n = 110/397) have visited a patient's social media site. Gathering information for patient care was the most commonly reported reason (76.8%; n = 43/56). Thirty-three percent (n = 130/394) have considered searching online or actually searched online for information about a patient. Curiosity was the most common reason (92.7%; n = 114/123); although, respondents also used PTG to obtain contact information and to prepare for patient sessions. Our study supports the need for development and dissemination of professional guidelines to serve as a valuable resource for practicing genetic counselors and genetic counseling training programs.

Clinical placements in mental health: a literature review.

PubMed

Happell, Brenda; Gaskin, Cadeyrn J; Byrne, Louise; Welch, Anthony; Gellion, Stephen

2015-01-01

Gaining experience in clinical mental health settings is central to the education of health practitioners. To facilitate the ongoing development of knowledge and practice in this area, we performed a review of the literature on clinical placements in mental health settings. Searches in Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, Medline and PsycINFO databases returned 244 records, of which 36 met the selection criteria for this review. Five additional papers were obtained through scanning the reference lists of those papers included from the initial search. The evidence suggests that clinical placements may have multiple benefits (e.g. improving students' skills, knowledge, attitudes towards people with mental health issues and confidence, as well as reducing their fears and anxieties about working in mental health). The location and structure of placements may affect outcomes, with mental health placements in non-mental health settings appearing to have minimal impact on key outcomes. The availability of clinical placements in mental health settings varies considerably among education providers, with some students completing their training without undertaking such structured clinical experiences. Students have generally reported that their placements in mental health settings have been positive and valuable experiences, but have raised concerns about the amount of support they received from education providers and healthcare staff. Several strategies have been shown to enhance clinical placement experiences (e.g. providing students with adequate preparation in the classroom, implementing learning contracts and providing clinical supervision). Educators and healthcare staff need to work together for the betterment of student learning and the healthcare professions.

Low-power low-voltage superior-order curvature corrected voltage reference

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Popa, Cosmin

2010-06-01

A complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) voltage reference with a logarithmic curvature-correction will be presented. The first-order compensation is realised using an original offset voltage follower (OVF) block as a proportional to absolute temperature (PTAT) voltage generator, with the advantages of reducing the silicon area and of increasing accuracy by replacing matched resistors with matched transistors. The new logarithmic curvature-correction technique will be implemented using an asymmetric differential amplifier (ADA) block for compensating the logarithmic temperature dependent term from the first-order compensated voltage reference. In order to increase the circuit accuracy, an original temperature-dependent current generator will be designed for computing the exact type of the implemented curvature-correction. The relatively small complexity of the current squarer allows an important increasing of the circuit accuracy that could be achieved by increasing the current generator complexity. As a result of operating most of the MOS transistors in weak inversion, the original proposed voltage reference could be valuable for low-power applications. The circuit is implemented in 0.35 μm CMOS technology and consumes only 60μA for t = 25°C, being supplied at the minimal supply voltage V DD = 1.75V. The temperature coefficient of the reference voltage is 8.7 ppm/°C, while the line sensitivity is 0.75 mV/V for a supply voltage between 1.75 V and 7 V.

The value of new genome references.

PubMed

Worley, Kim C; Richards, Stephen; Rogers, Jeffrey

2017-09-15

Genomic information has become a ubiquitous and almost essential aspect of biological research. Over the last 10-15 years, the cost of generating sequence data from DNA or RNA samples has dramatically declined and our ability to interpret those data increased just as remarkably. Although it is still possible for biologists to conduct interesting and valuable research on species for which genomic data are not available, the impact of having access to a high quality whole genome reference assembly for a given species is nothing short of transformational. Research on a species for which we have no DNA or RNA sequence data is restricted in fundamental ways. In contrast, even access to an initial draft quality genome (see below for definitions) opens a wide range of opportunities that are simply not available without that reference genome assembly. Although a complete discussion of the impact of genome sequencing and assembly is beyond the scope of this short paper, the goal of this review is to summarize the most common and highest impact contributions that whole genome sequencing and assembly has had on comparative and evolutionary biology. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Electron-Beam-Lithographed Nanostructures as Reference Materials for Label-Free Scattered-Light Biosensing of Single Filoviruses.

PubMed

Agrawal, Anant; Majdi, Joseph; Clouse, Kathleen A; Stantchev, Tzanko

2018-05-23

Optical biosensors based on scattered-light measurements are being developed for rapid and label-free detection of single virions captured from body fluids. Highly controlled, stable, and non-biohazardous reference materials producing virus-like signals are valuable tools to calibrate, evaluate, and refine the performance of these new optical biosensing methods. To date, spherical polymer nanoparticles have been the only non-biological reference materials employed with scattered-light biosensing techniques. However, pathogens like filoviruses, including the Ebola virus, are far from spherical and their shape strongly affects scattered-light signals. Using electron beam lithography, we fabricated nanostructures resembling individual filamentous virions attached to a biosensing substrate (silicon wafer overlaid with silicon oxide film) and characterized their dimensions with scanning electron and atomic force microscopes. To assess the relevance of these nanostructures, we compared their signals across the visible spectrum to signals recorded from Ebola virus-like particles which exhibit characteristic filamentous morphology. We demonstrate the highly stable nature of our nanostructures and use them to obtain new insights into the relationship between virion dimensions and scattered-light signal.

Fine-scale mapping of vector habitats using very high resolution satellite imagery: a liver fluke case-study.

PubMed

De Roeck, Els; Van Coillie, Frieke; De Wulf, Robert; Soenen, Karen; Charlier, Johannes; Vercruysse, Jozef; Hantson, Wouter; Ducheyne, Els; Hendrickx, Guy

2014-12-01

The visualization of vector occurrence in space and time is an important aspect of studying vector-borne diseases. Detailed maps of possible vector habitats provide valuable information for the prediction of infection risk zones but are currently lacking for most parts of the world. Nonetheless, monitoring vector habitats from the finest scales up to farm level is of key importance to refine currently existing broad-scale infection risk models. Using Fasciola hepatica, a parasite liver fluke, as a case in point, this study illustrates the potential of very high resolution (VHR) optical satellite imagery to efficiently and semi-automatically detect detailed vector habitats. A WorldView2 satellite image capable of <5m resolution was acquired in the spring of 2013 for the area around Bruges, Belgium, a region where dairy farms suffer from liver fluke infections transmitted by freshwater snails. The vector thrives in small water bodies (SWBs), such as ponds, ditches and other humid areas consisting of open water, aquatic vegetation and/or inundated grass. These water bodies can be as small as a few m2 and are most often not present on existing land cover maps because of their small size. We present a classification procedure based on object-based image analysis (OBIA) that proved valuable to detect SWBs at a fine scale in an operational and semi-automated way. The classification results were compared to field and other reference data such as existing broad-scale maps and expert knowledge. Overall, the SWB detection accuracy reached up to 87%. The resulting fine-scale SWB map can be used as input for spatial distribution modelling of the liver fluke snail vector to enable development of improved infection risk mapping and management advice adapted to specific, local farm situations.

Selection and validation of reference genes for gene expression analysis in apomictic and sexual Cenchrus ciliaris

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background Apomixis is a naturally occurring asexual mode of seed reproduction resulting in offspring genetically identical to the maternal plant. Identifying differential gene expression patterns between apomictic and sexual plants is valuable to help deconstruct the trait. Quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) is a popular method for analyzing gene expression. Normalizing gene expression data using proper reference genes which show stable expression under investigated conditions is critical in qRT-PCR analysis. We used qRT-PCR to validate expression and stability of six potential reference genes (EF1alpha, EIF4A, UBCE, GAPDH, ACT2 and TUBA) in vegetative and reproductive tissues of B-2S and B-12-9 accessions of C. ciliaris. Findings Among tissue types evaluated, EF1alpha showed the highest level of expression while TUBA showed the lowest. When all tissue types were evaluated and compared between genotypes, EIF4A was the most stable reference gene. Gene expression stability for specific ovary stages of B-2S and B-12-9 was also determined. Except for TUBA, all other tested reference genes could be used for any stage-specific ovary tissue normalization, irrespective of the mode of reproduction. Conclusion Our gene expression stability assay using six reference genes, in sexual and apomictic accessions of C. ciliaris, suggests that EIF4A is the most stable gene across all tissue types analyzed. All other tested reference genes, with the exception of TUBA, could be used for gene expression comparison studies between sexual and apomictic ovaries over multiple developmental stages. This reference gene validation data in C. ciliaris will serve as an important base for future apomixis-related transcriptome data validation. PMID:24083672

Use and Perceived Benefits of Handheld Computer-based Clinical References

PubMed Central

Rothschild, Jeffrey M.; Fang, Edward; Liu, Vincent; Litvak, Irina; Yoon, Cathy; Bates, David W.

2006-01-01

Objective Clinicians are increasingly using handheld computers (HC) during patient care. We sought to assess the role of HC-based clinical reference software in medical practice by conducting a survey and assessing actual usage behavior. Design During a 2-week period in February 2005, 3600 users of a HC-based clinical reference application were asked by e-mail to complete a survey and permit analysis of their usage patterns. The software includes a pharmacopeia, an infectious disease reference, a medical diagnostic and therapeutic reference and transmits medical alerts and other notifications during HC synchronizations. Software usage data were captured during HC synchronization for the 4 weeks prior to survey completion. Measurements Survey responses and software usage data. Results The survey response rate was 42% (n = 1501). Physicians reported using the clinical reference software for a mean of 4 years and 39% reported using the software during more than half of patient encounters. Physicians who synchronized their HC during the data collection period (n = 1249; 83%) used the pharmacopeia for unique drug lookups a mean of 6.3 times per day (SD 12.4). The majority of users (61%) believed that in the prior 4 weeks, use of the clinical reference prevented adverse drug events or medication errors 3 or more times. Physicians also believed that alerts and other notifications improved patient care if they were public health warnings (e.g. about influenza), new immunization guidelines or drug alert warnings (e.g. rofecoxib withdrawal). Conclusion Current adopters of HC-based medical references use these tools frequently, and found them to improve patient care and be valuable in learning of recent alerts and warnings. PMID:16929041

Surface mine impoundments as wildlife and fish habitat

Treesearch

Mark A. Rumble

1989-01-01

Unreclaimed surface mine impoundments provide poor fish and wildlife habitat. Recommendations given here for reclaiming "prelaw" impoundments and creating new impoundments could provide valuable fish and wildlife habitat if incorporated into existing laws and mine plans.

Tethers in space handbook, second edition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Penzo, Paul A. (Editor); Ammann, Paul W. (Editor)

1989-01-01

The Tethers in Space Handbook, Second Edition represents an update to the initial volume issued in September 1986. As originally intended, this handbook is designed to serve as a reference manual for policy makers, program managers, educators, engineers, and scientists alike. It contains information for the uninitiated, providing insight into the fundamental behavior of tethers in space. For those familiar with space tethers, it includes a summary of past and ongoing studies and programs, a complete bibliography of tether publications, and names, addresses, and phone numbers of workers in the field. Perhaps its most valuable asset is the brief description of nearly 50 tether applications which have been proposed and analyzed over the past 10 years. The great variety of these applications, from energy generation to boosting satellites to gravity wave detection is an indication that tethers will play a significant part in the future of space development. This edition of the handbook preserves the major characteristics of the original; however, some significant rearrangements and additions have been made. The first section on Tether Programs has been brought up to date, and now includes a description of TSS-2, the aerodynamic NASA/Italian Space Agency (ASI) mission. Tether Applications follows, and this section has been substantially rearranged. First, the index and cross-reference for the applications have been simplified. Also, the categories have changed slightly, with Technology and Test changed to Aerodynamics, and the Constellations category removed. In reality, tether constellations may be applicable to many of the other categories, since it is simply a different way of using tethers. Finally, to separate out those applications which are obviously in the future, a Concepts category has been added. A new section included here on Conference Summaries recognizes the fact that the tether community is growing internationally, and that meetings provide a means of rapid communication and interaction. Finally, the Bibliography section has been considerably updated to include all known references. These are listed by author and by subject and include the papers to be presented at the Third International Conference in May 1989.

The Drosophila genome nexus: a population genomic resource of 623 Drosophila melanogaster genomes, including 197 from a single ancestral range population.

PubMed

Lack, Justin B; Cardeno, Charis M; Crepeau, Marc W; Taylor, William; Corbett-Detig, Russell B; Stevens, Kristian A; Langley, Charles H; Pool, John E

2015-04-01

Hundreds of wild-derived Drosophila melanogaster genomes have been published, but rigorous comparisons across data sets are precluded by differences in alignment methodology. The most common approach to reference-based genome assembly is a single round of alignment followed by quality filtering and variant detection. We evaluated variations and extensions of this approach and settled on an assembly strategy that utilizes two alignment programs and incorporates both substitutions and short indels to construct an updated reference for a second round of mapping prior to final variant detection. Utilizing this approach, we reassembled published D. melanogaster population genomic data sets and added unpublished genomes from several sub-Saharan populations. Most notably, we present aligned data from phase 3 of the Drosophila Population Genomics Project (DPGP3), which provides 197 genomes from a single ancestral range population of D. melanogaster (from Zambia). The large sample size, high genetic diversity, and potentially simpler demographic history of the DPGP3 sample will make this a highly valuable resource for fundamental population genetic research. The complete set of assemblies described here, termed the Drosophila Genome Nexus, presently comprises 623 consistently aligned genomes and is publicly available in multiple formats with supporting documentation and bioinformatic tools. This resource will greatly facilitate population genomic analysis in this model species by reducing the methodological differences between data sets. Copyright © 2015 by the Genetics Society of America.

Multi-Response Extraction Optimization Based on Anti-Oxidative Activity and Quality Evaluation by Main Indicator Ingredients Coupled with Chemometric Analysis on Thymus quinquecostatus Celak.

PubMed

Chang, Yan-Li; Shen, Meng; Ren, Xue-Yang; He, Ting; Wang, Le; Fan, Shu-Sheng; Wang, Xiu-Huan; Li, Xiao; Wang, Xiao-Ping; Chen, Xiao-Yi; Sui, Hong; She, Gai-Mei

2018-04-19

Thymus quinquecostatus Celak is a species of thyme in China and it used as condiment and herbal medicine for a long time. To set up the quality evaluation of T. quinquecostatus , the response surface methodology (RSM) based on its 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity was introduced to optimize the extraction condition, and the main indicator components were found through an UPLC-LTQ-Orbitrap MS n method. The ethanol concentration, solid-liquid ratio, and extraction time on optimum conditions were 42.32%, 1:17.51, and 1.8 h, respectively. 35 components having 12 phenolic acids and 23 flavonoids were unambiguously or tentatively identified both positive and negative modes to employ for the comprehensive analysis in the optimum anti-oxidative part. A simple, reliable, and sensitive HPLC method was performed for the multi-component quantitative analysis of T. quinquecostatus using six characteristic and principal phenolic acids and flavonoids as reference compounds. Furthermore, the chemometrics methods (principal components analysis (PCA) and hierarchical clustering analysis (HCA)) appraised the growing areas and harvest time of this herb closely relative to the quality-controlled. This study provided full-scale qualitative and quantitative information for the quality evaluation of T. quinquecostatus , which would be a valuable reference for further study and development of this herb and related laid the foundation of further study on its pharmacological efficacy.

MetaCRAST: reference-guided extraction of CRISPR spacers from unassembled metagenomes.

PubMed

Moller, Abraham G; Liang, Chun

2017-01-01

Clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeat (CRISPR) systems are the adaptive immune systems of bacteria and archaea against viral infection. While CRISPRs have been exploited as a tool for genetic engineering, their spacer sequences can also provide valuable insights into microbial ecology by linking environmental viruses to their microbial hosts. Despite this importance, metagenomic CRISPR detection remains a major challenge. Here we present a reference-guided CRISPR spacer detection tool ( Meta genomic C RISPR R eference- A ided S earch T ool-MetaCRAST) that constrains searches based on user-specified direct repeats (DRs). These DRs could be expected from assembly or taxonomic profiles of metagenomes. We compared the performance of MetaCRAST to those of two existing metagenomic CRISPR detection tools-Crass and MinCED-using both real and simulated acid mine drainage (AMD) and enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) metagenomes. Our evaluation shows MetaCRAST improves CRISPR spacer detection in real metagenomes compared to the de novo CRISPR detection methods Crass and MinCED. Evaluation on simulated metagenomes show it performs better than de novo tools for Illumina metagenomes and comparably for 454 metagenomes. It also has comparable performance dependence on read length and community composition, run time, and accuracy to these tools. MetaCRAST is implemented in Perl, parallelizable through the Many Core Engine (MCE), and takes metagenomic sequence reads and direct repeat queries (FASTA or FASTQ) as input. It is freely available for download at https://github.com/molleraj/MetaCRAST.

Improving the Conservation of Mediterranean Chondrichthyans: The ELASMOMED DNA Barcode Reference Library

PubMed Central

Arculeo, Marco; Bonello, Juan J.; Bonnici, Leanne; Cannas, Rita; Carbonara, Pierluigi; Cau, Alessandro; Charilaou, Charis; El Ouamari, Najib; Fiorentino, Fabio; Follesa, Maria Cristina; Garofalo, Germana; Golani, Daniel; Guarniero, Ilaria; Hanner, Robert; Hemida, Farid; Kada, Omar; Lo Brutto, Sabrina; Mancusi, Cecilia; Morey, Gabriel; Schembri, Patrick J.; Serena, Fabrizio; Sion, Letizia; Stagioni, Marco; Tursi, Angelo; Vrgoc, Nedo; Steinke, Dirk; Tinti, Fausto

2017-01-01

Cartilaginous fish are particularly vulnerable to anthropogenic stressors and environmental change because of their K-selected reproductive strategy. Accurate data from scientific surveys and landings are essential to assess conservation status and to develop robust protection and management plans. Currently available data are often incomplete or incorrect as a result of inaccurate species identifications, due to a high level of morphological stasis, especially among closely related taxa. Moreover, several diagnostic characters clearly visible in adult specimens are less evident in juveniles. Here we present results generated by the ELASMOMED Consortium, a regional network aiming to sample and DNA-barcode the Mediterranean Chondrichthyans with the ultimate goal to provide a comprehensive DNA barcode reference library. This library will support and improve the molecular taxonomy of this group and the effectiveness of management and conservation measures. We successfully barcoded 882 individuals belonging to 42 species (17 sharks, 24 batoids and one chimaera), including four endemic and several threatened ones. Morphological misidentifications were found across most orders, further confirming the need for a comprehensive DNA barcoding library as a valuable tool for the reliable identification of specimens in support of taxonomist who are reviewing current identification keys. Despite low intraspecific variation among their barcode sequences and reduced samples size, five species showed preliminary evidence of phylogeographic structure. Overall, the ELASMOMED initiative further emphasizes the key role accurate DNA barcoding libraries play in establishing reliable diagnostic species specific features in otherwise taxonomically problematic groups for biodiversity management and conservation actions. PMID:28107413

Invited Review Article: Current State of Research on Biological Effects of Terahertz Radiation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilmink, Gerald J.; Grundt, Jessica E.

2011-10-01

Terahertz (THz) imaging and sensing technologies are increasingly being used in a host of medical, military, and security applications. For example, THz systems are now being tested at international airports for security screening purposes, at major medical centers for cancer and burn diagnosis, and at border patrol checkpoints for identification of concealed explosives, drugs, and weapons. Recent advances in THz applications have stimulated renewed interest regarding the biological effects associated with this frequency range. Biological effects studies are a valuable type of basic science research because they serve to enhance our fundamental understanding of the mechanisms that govern THz interactions with biological systems. Such studies are also important because they often times lay the foundation for the development of future applications. In addition, from a practical standpoint, THz biological effects research is also necessary for accurate health hazard evaluation, the development of empirically-based safety standards, and for the safe use of THz systems. Given the importance and timeliness of THz bioeffects data, the purpose of this review is twofold. First, to provide readers with a common reference, which contains the necessary background concepts in biophysics and THz technology, that are required to both conduct and evaluate THz biological research. Second, to provide a critical review of the scientific literature.

Normative Data for the Singapore English and Chinese SF-36 Version 2 Health Survey.

PubMed

Sow, Wei Ting; Wee, Hwee Lin; Wu, Yi; Tai, E-Shyong; Gandek, Barbara; Lee, Jeannette; Ma, Stefan; Heng, Derrick; Thumboo, Julian

2014-01-01

The aim of this study is to report normative data for the Short-Form 36 version 2 (SF-36v2) for assessing health-related quality of life, in the Singapore general population. Data for English and Chinese-speaking participants of the Singapore Prospective Study Programme were analysed. The SF-36v2 scores were norm-based with the English-speaking Singapore general population as reference and reported by age (in decades), gender and ethnicity as well as for the 5 most prevalent chronic medical conditions. Scores were reported separately for the English and Chinese language versions. A total of 6151 English-speaking (61.5% Chinese and 19.2% Malay) and 1194 Chinese-speaking participants provided complete data. Mean (SD) age of all participants was 49.6 (12.58) years with 52.4% being women. In both languages, women reported lower scores than men on all scales. Among the chronic medical conditions, stroke had the largest impact on all English SF-36v2 scales and on 3 Chinese SF-36v2 scales (role-physical, general health and social functioning). We have provided detailed normative data for the Singapore English and Chinese SF-36v2, which would be valuable in furthering HRQoL research in Singapore and possibly the region.

[123I]N-ω-fluoropropyl-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl)nortropane single-photon emission computed tomography brain imaging in the diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies.

PubMed

Walker, Zuzana; Cummings, Jeffrey L

2012-01-01

Early, accurate diagnosis of dementia with Lewy bodies (DLB), in particular its differentiation from Alzheimer's disease, is important for optimal management, providing patients/carers with information about the likely symptomatology and illness course, allowing initiation of effective pharmacotherapy, and avoiding the consequences of neuroleptic sensitivity. Clinical diagnosis of DLB has high specificity but low sensitivity. Clinical trials of [(123)I]N-ω-fluoropropyl-2β-carbomethoxy-3β-(4-iodophenyl)nortropane single-photon emission computed tomography ([(123)I]FP-CIT SPECT) indicate high positive and negative percent agreement with reference to clinical diagnosis, and high sensitivity and specificity in patients with neuropathologically confirmed diagnoses of DLB. An abnormal [(123)I]FP-CIT SPECT image in patients fulfilling criteria for possible DLB advances the certainty of a diagnosis to probable DLB. [(123)I]FP-CIT SPECT, by identifying the striatal dopaminergic deficit, can be a valuable diagnostic aid and can provide support to a clinical diagnosis of DLB in patients with dementia. The technique is likely to be of particular utility in patients with dementia with an uncertain diagnosis. Copyright © 2012 The Alzheimer's Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Infection control in design and construction work.

PubMed

Collinge, William H

2015-01-01

To clarify how infection control requirements are represented, communicated, and understood in work interactions through the medical facility construction project life cycle. To assist project participants with effective infection control management by highlighting the nature of such requirements and presenting recommendations to aid practice. A 4-year study regarding client requirement representation and use on National Health Service construction projects in the United Kingdom provided empirical evidence of infection control requirement communication and understanding through design and construction work interactions. An analysis of construction project resources (e.g., infection control regulations and room data sheets) was combined with semi-structured interviews with hospital client employees and design and construction professionals to provide valuable insights into the management of infection control issues. Infection control requirements are representationally indistinct but also omnipresent through all phases of the construction project life cycle: Failure to recognize their nature, relevance, and significance can result in delays, stoppages, and redesign work. Construction project resources (e.g., regulatory guidance and room data sheets) can mask or obscure the meaning of infection control issues. A preemptive identification of issues combined with knowledge sharing activities among project stakeholders can enable infection control requirements to be properly understood and addressed. Such initiatives should also reference existing infection control regulatory guidance and advice. © The Author(s) 2015.

RNA-seq mixology: designing realistic control experiments to compare protocols and analysis methods

PubMed Central

Holik, Aliaksei Z.; Law, Charity W.; Liu, Ruijie; Wang, Zeya; Wang, Wenyi; Ahn, Jaeil; Asselin-Labat, Marie-Liesse; Smyth, Gordon K.

2017-01-01

Abstract Carefully designed control experiments provide a gold standard for benchmarking different genomics research tools. A shortcoming of many gene expression control studies is that replication involves profiling the same reference RNA sample multiple times. This leads to low, pure technical noise that is atypical of regular studies. To achieve a more realistic noise structure, we generated a RNA-sequencing mixture experiment using two cell lines of the same cancer type. Variability was added by extracting RNA from independent cell cultures and degrading particular samples. The systematic gene expression changes induced by this design allowed benchmarking of different library preparation kits (standard poly-A versus total RNA with Ribozero depletion) and analysis pipelines. Data generated using the total RNA kit had more signal for introns and various RNA classes (ncRNA, snRNA, snoRNA) and less variability after degradation. For differential expression analysis, voom with quality weights marginally outperformed other popular methods, while for differential splicing, DEXSeq was simultaneously the most sensitive and the most inconsistent method. For sample deconvolution analysis, DeMix outperformed IsoPure convincingly. Our RNA-sequencing data set provides a valuable resource for benchmarking different protocols and data pre-processing workflows. The extra noise mimics routine lab experiments more closely, ensuring any conclusions are widely applicable. PMID:27899618

Overview of condition monitoring and operation control of electric power conversion systems in direct-drive wind turbines under faults

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Huang, Shoudao; Wu, Xuan; Liu, Xiao; Gao, Jian; He, Yunze

2017-09-01

Electric power conversion system (EPCS), which consists of a generator and power converter, is one of the most important subsystems in a direct-drive wind turbine (DD-WT). However, this component accounts for the most failures (approximately 60% of the total number) in the entire DD-WT system according to statistical data. To improve the reliability of EPCSs and reduce the operation and maintenance cost of DD-WTs, numerous researchers have studied condition monitoring (CM) and fault diagnostics (FD). Numerous CM and FD techniques, which have respective advantages and disadvantages, have emerged. This paper provides an overview of the CM, FD, and operation control of EPCSs in DD-WTs under faults. After introducing the functional principle and structure of EPCS, this survey discusses the common failures in wind generators and power converters; briefly reviewed CM and FD methods and operation control of these generators and power converters under faults; and discussed the grid voltage faults related to EPCSs in DD-WTs. These theories and their related technical concepts are systematically discussed. Finally, predicted development trends are presented. The paper provides a valuable reference for developing service quality evaluation methods and fault operation control systems to achieve high-performance and high-intelligence DD-WTs.

Historical photographs revisited: A case study for dating and characterizing recent loss of coral cover on the inshore Great Barrier Reef

PubMed Central

Clark, Tara R.; Leonard, Nicole D.; Zhao, Jian-xin; Brodie, Jon; McCook, Laurence J.; Wachenfeld, David R.; Duc Nguyen, Ai; Markham, Hannah L.; Pandolfi, John M.

2016-01-01

Long-term data with high-precision chronology are essential to elucidate past ecological changes on coral reefs beyond the period of modern-day monitoring programs. In 2012 we revisited two inshore reefs within the central Great Barrier Reef, where a series of historical photographs document a loss of hard coral cover between c.1890–1994 AD. Here we use an integrated approach that includes high-precision U-Th dating specifically tailored for determining the age of extremely young corals to provide a robust, objective characterisation of ecological transition. The timing of mortality for most of the dead in situ corals sampled from the historical photograph locations was found to coincide with major flood events in 1990–1991 at Bramston Reef and 1970 and 2008 at Stone Island. Evidence of some recovery was found at Bramston Reef with living coral genera similar to what was described in c.1890 present in 2012. In contrast, very little sign of coral re-establishment was found at Stone Island suggesting delayed recovery. These results provide a valuable reference point for managers to continue monitoring the recovery (or lack thereof) of coral communities at these reefs. PMID:26813703

Field homogeneity improvement of maglev NdFeB magnetic rails from joints.

PubMed

Li, Y J; Dai, Q; Deng, C Y; Sun, R X; Zheng, J; Chen, Z; Sun, Y; Wang, H; Yuan, Z D; Fang, C; Deng, Z G

2016-01-01

An ideal magnetic rail should provide a homogeneous magnetic field along the longitudinal direction to guarantee the reliable friction-free operation of high temperature superconducting (HTS) maglev vehicles. But in reality, magnetic field inhomogeneity may occur due to lots of reasons; the joint gap is the most direct one. Joint gaps inevitably exist between adjacent segments and influence the longitudinal magnetic field homogeneity above the rail since any magnetic rails are consisting of many permanent magnet segments. To improve the running performance of maglev systems, two new rail joints are proposed based on the normal rail joint, which are named as mitered rail joint and overlapped rail joint. It is found that the overlapped rail joint has a better effect to provide a competitive homogeneous magnetic field. And the further structure optimization has been done to ensure maglev vehicle operation as stable as possible when passing through those joint gaps. The results show that the overlapped rail joint with optimal parameters can significantly reduce the magnetic field inhomogeneity comparing with the other two rail joints. In addition, an appropriate gap was suggested when balancing the thermal expansion of magnets and homogenous magnetic field, which is considered valuable references for the future design of the magnetic rails.

Mid-infrared thermal imaging for an effective mapping of surface materials and sub-surface detachments in mural paintings: integration of thermography and thermal quasi-reflectography

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Daffara, C.; Parisotto, S.; Mariotti, P. I.

2015-06-01

Cultural Heritage is discovering how precious is thermal analysis as a tool to improve the restoration, thanks to its ability to inspect hidden details. In this work a novel dual mode imaging approach, based on the integration of thermography and thermal quasi-reflectography (TQR) in the mid-IR is demonstrated for an effective mapping of surface materials and of sub-surface detachments in mural painting. The tool was validated through a unique application: the "Monocromo" by Leonardo da Vinci in Italy. The dual mode acquisition provided two spatially aligned dataset: the TQR image and the thermal sequence. Main steps of the workflow included: 1) TQR analysis to map surface features and 2) to estimate the emissivity; 3) projection of the TQR frame on reference orthophoto and TQR mosaicking; 4) thermography analysis to map detachments; 5) use TQR to solve spatial referencing and mosaicking for the thermal-processed frames. Referencing of thermal images in the visible is a difficult aspect of the thermography technique that the dual mode approach allows to solve in effective way. We finally obtained the TQR and the thermal maps spatially referenced to the mural painting, thus providing the restorer a valuable tool for the restoration of the detachments.

A quantitative index for classification of plantar thermal changes in the diabetic foot

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hernandez-Contreras, D.; Peregrina-Barreto, H.; Rangel-Magdaleno, J.; Gonzalez-Bernal, J. A.; Altamirano-Robles, L.

2017-03-01

One of the main complications caused by diabetes mellitus is the development of diabetic foot, which in turn, can lead to ulcerations. Because ulceration risks are linked to an increase in plantar temperatures, recent approaches analyze thermal changes. These approaches try to identify spatial patterns of temperature that could be characteristic of a diabetic group. However, this is a difficult task since thermal patterns have wide variations resulting on complex classification. Moreover, the measurement of contralateral plantar temperatures is important to determine whether there is an abnormal difference but, this only provides information when thermal changes are asymmetric and in absence of ulceration or amputation. Therefore, in this work is proposed a quantitative index for measuring the thermal change in the plantar region of participants diagnosed diabetes mellitus regards to a reliable reference (control) or regards to the contralateral foot (as usual). Also, a classification of the thermal changes based on a quantitative index is proposed. Such classification demonstrate the wide diversity of spatial distributions in the diabetic foot but also demonstrate that it is possible to identify common characteristics. An automatic process, based on the analysis of plantar angiosomes and image processing, is presented to quantify these thermal changes and to provide valuable information to the medical expert.

Establishing multiple omics baselines for three Southeast Asian populations in the Singapore Integrative Omics Study.

PubMed

Saw, Woei-Yuh; Tantoso, Erwin; Begum, Husna; Zhou, Lihan; Zou, Ruiyang; He, Cheng; Chan, Sze Ling; Tan, Linda Wei-Lin; Wong, Lai-Ping; Xu, Wenting; Moong, Don Kyin Nwe; Lim, Yenly; Li, Bowen; Pillai, Nisha Esakimuthu; Peterson, Trevor A; Bielawny, Tomasz; Meikle, Peter J; Mundra, Piyushkumar A; Lim, Wei-Yen; Luo, Ma; Chia, Kee-Seng; Ong, Rick Twee-Hee; Brunham, Liam R; Khor, Chiea-Chuen; Too, Heng Phon; Soong, Richie; Wenk, Markus R; Little, Peter; Teo, Yik-Ying

2017-09-21

The Singapore Integrative Omics Study provides valuable insights on establishing population reference measurement in 364 Chinese, Malay, and Indian individuals. These measurements include > 2.5 millions genetic variants, 21,649 transcripts expression, 282 lipid species quantification, and 284 clinical, lifestyle, and dietary variables. This concept paper introduces the depth of the data resource, and investigates the extent of ethnic variation at these omics and non-omics biomarkers. It is evident that there are specific biomarkers in each of these platforms to differentiate between the ethnicities, and intra-population analyses suggest that Chinese and Indians are the most biologically homogeneous and heterogeneous, respectively, of the three groups. Consistent patterns of correlations between lipid species also suggest the possibility of lipid tagging to simplify future lipidomics assays. The Singapore Integrative Omics Study is expected to allow the characterization of intra-omic and inter-omic correlations within and across all three ethnic groups through a systems biology approach.The Singapore Genome Variation projects characterized the genetics of Singapore's Chinese, Malay, and Indian populations. The Singapore Integrative Omics Study introduced here goes further in providing multi-omic measurements in individuals from these populations, including genetic, transcriptome, lipidome, and lifestyle data, and will facilitate the study of common diseases in Asian communities.

[Bacterial diversity in sequencing batch biofilm reactor (SBBR) for landfill leachate treatment using PCR-DGGE].

PubMed

Xiao, Yong; Yang, Zhao-hui; Zeng, Guang-ming; Ma, Yan-he; Liu, You-sheng; Wang, Rong-juan; Xu, Zheng-yong

2007-05-01

For studying the bacterial diversity and the mechanism of denitrification in sequencing bath biofilm reactor (SBBR) treating landfill leachate to provide microbial evidence for technique improvements, total microbial DNA was extracted from samples which were collected from natural landfill leachate and biofilm of a SBBR that could efficiently remove NH4+ -N and COD of high concentration. 16S rDNA fragments were amplified from the total DNA successfully using a pair of universal bacterial 16S rDNA primer, GC341F and 907R, and then were used for denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) analysis. The bands in the gel were analyzed by statistical methods and excided from the gel for sequencing, and the sequences were used for homology analysis and then two phylogenetic trees were constructed using DNAStar software. Results indicated that the bacterial diversity of the biofilm in SBBR and the landfill leachate was abundant, and no obvious change of community structure happened during running in the biofilm, in which most bacteria came from the landfill leachate. There may be three different modes of denitrification in the reactor because several different nitrifying bacteria, denitrifying bacteria and anaerobic ammonia oxidation bacteria coexisted in it. The results provided some valuable references for studying microbiological mechanism of denitrification in SBBR.

Mixing the Green-Ampt model and Curve Number method as an empirical tool for rainfall excess estimation in small ungauged catchments.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grimaldi, S.; Petroselli, A.; Romano, N.

2012-04-01

The Soil Conservation Service - Curve Number (SCS-CN) method is a popular rainfall-runoff model that is widely used to estimate direct runoff from small and ungauged basins. The SCS-CN is a simple and valuable approach to estimate the total stream-flow volume generated by a storm rainfall, but it was developed to be used with daily rainfall data. To overcome this drawback, we propose to include the Green-Ampt (GA) infiltration model into a mixed procedure, which is referred to as CN4GA (Curve Number for Green-Ampt), aiming to distribute in time the information provided by the SCS-CN method so as to provide estimation of sub-daily incremental rainfall excess. For a given storm, the computed SCS-CN total net rainfall amount is used to calibrate the soil hydraulic conductivity parameter of the Green-Ampt model. The proposed procedure was evaluated by analyzing 100 rainfall-runoff events observed in four small catchments of varying size. CN4GA appears an encouraging tool for predicting the net rainfall peak and duration values and has shown, at least for the test cases considered in this study, a better agreement with observed hydrographs than that of the classic SCS-CN method.

Lnc2Cancer: a manually curated database of experimentally supported lncRNAs associated with various human cancers

PubMed Central

Ning, Shangwei; Zhang, Jizhou; Wang, Peng; Zhi, Hui; Wang, Jianjian; Liu, Yue; Gao, Yue; Guo, Maoni; Yue, Ming; Wang, Lihua; Li, Xia

2016-01-01

Lnc2Cancer (http://www.bio-bigdata.net/lnc2cancer) is a manually curated database of cancer-associated long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) with experimental support that aims to provide a high-quality and integrated resource for exploring lncRNA deregulation in various human cancers. LncRNAs represent a large category of functional RNA molecules that play a significant role in human cancers. A curated collection and summary of deregulated lncRNAs in cancer is essential to thoroughly understand the mechanisms and functions of lncRNAs. Here, we developed the Lnc2Cancer database, which contains 1057 manually curated associations between 531 lncRNAs and 86 human cancers. Each association includes lncRNA and cancer name, the lncRNA expression pattern, experimental techniques, a brief functional description, the original reference and additional annotation information. Lnc2Cancer provides a user-friendly interface to conveniently browse, retrieve and download data. Lnc2Cancer also offers a submission page for researchers to submit newly validated lncRNA-cancer associations. With the rapidly increasing interest in lncRNAs, Lnc2Cancer will significantly improve our understanding of lncRNA deregulation in cancer and has the potential to be a timely and valuable resource. PMID:26481356

Mapping an atlas of tissue-specific Drosophila melanogaster metabolomes by high resolution mass spectrometry.

PubMed

Chintapalli, Venkateswara R; Al Bratty, Mohammed; Korzekwa, Dominika; Watson, David G; Dow, Julian A T

2013-01-01

Metabolomics can provide exciting insights into organismal function, but most work on simple models has focussed on the whole organism metabolome, so missing the contributions of individual tissues. Comprehensive metabolite profiles for ten tissues from adult Drosophila melanogaster were obtained here by two chromatographic methods, a hydrophilic interaction (HILIC) method for polar metabolites and a lipid profiling method also based on HILIC, in combination with an Orbitrap Exactive instrument. Two hundred and forty two polar metabolites were putatively identified in the various tissues, and 251 lipids were observed in positive ion mode and 61 in negative ion mode. Although many metabolites were detected in all tissues, every tissue showed characteristically abundant metabolites which could be rationalised against specific tissue functions. For example, the cuticle contained high levels of glutathione, reflecting a role in oxidative defence; the alimentary canal (like vertebrate gut) had high levels of acylcarnitines for fatty acid metabolism, and the head contained high levels of ether lipids. The male accessory gland uniquely contained decarboxylated S-adenosylmethionine. These data thus both provide valuable insights into tissue function, and a reference baseline, compatible with the FlyAtlas.org transcriptomic resource, for further metabolomic analysis of this important model organism, for example in the modelling of human inborn errors of metabolism, aging or metabolic imbalances such as diabetes.

Chilean population norms derived from the health-related quality of Life SF-6D.

PubMed

Garcia-Gordillo, Miguel A; Collado-Mateo, Daniel; Olivares, Pedro R; Adsuar, José C

2018-06-01

The Health-Related Quality of Life Short Form 6D (HRQoL SF-6D) provides utility values for health status. Utilities generated have a number of potentially valuable applications in economic evaluations and not only to ensure comparability between studies. Reference values can be useful to estimate the effect on patients' HRQoL as a result of interventions in the absence of control groups. Thus, the purpose of this study was to provide normative values in the SF-6D in relation to the Chilean population. A cross-sectional study was conducted evaluating 5293 people. SF-6D utilities were derived from the SF-12 questions. Mean SF-6D utility index for the whole sample was 0.74. It was better for men (0.78) than for women (0.71). The ceiling effect was much higher for men (11.16%) than for women (5.31%). Women were more likely to show problems in any dimension than were men. Chilean population norms for the SF-6D help in the decision-making process around health policies. Men reported higher health status than women in all subcategories analyzed. Likewise, men also reported higher scores than women in overall SF-6D dimensions.

Detecting long tandem duplications in genomic sequences.

PubMed

Audemard, Eric; Schiex, Thomas; Faraut, Thomas

2012-05-08

Detecting duplication segments within completely sequenced genomes provides valuable information to address genome evolution and in particular the important question of the emergence of novel functions. The usual approach to gene duplication detection, based on all-pairs protein gene comparisons, provides only a restricted view of duplication. In this paper, we introduce ReD Tandem, a software using a flow based chaining algorithm targeted at detecting tandem duplication arrays of moderate to longer length regions, with possibly locally weak similarities, directly at the DNA level. On the A. thaliana genome, using a reference set of tandem duplicated genes built using TAIR,(a) we show that ReD Tandem is able to predict a large fraction of recently duplicated genes (dS  <  1) and that it is also able to predict tandem duplications involving non coding elements such as pseudo-genes or RNA genes. ReD Tandem allows to identify large tandem duplications without any annotation, leading to agnostic identification of tandem duplications. This approach nicely complements the usual protein gene based which ignores duplications involving non coding regions. It is however inherently restricted to relatively recent duplications. By recovering otherwise ignored events, ReD Tandem gives a more comprehensive view of existing evolutionary processes and may also allow to improve existing annotations.

The Art of Giving Online Feedback

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leibold, Nancyruth; Schwarz, Laura Marie

2015-01-01

The cultivation of providing online feedback that is positive, effective, and enhances the learning experience is a valuable educator skill. Acquisition of the art of providing feedback is through education, practice, and faculty development. This article provides information about the best practices for delivering online feedback to learners. An…

Stem cell secretome-rich nanoclay hydrogel: a dual action therapy for cardiovascular regeneration

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Waters, Renae; Pacelli, Settimio; Maloney, Ryan; Medhi, Indrani; Ahmed, Rafeeq P. H.; Paul, Arghya

2016-03-01

A nanocomposite hydrogel with photocrosslinkable micro-porous networks and a nanoclay component was successfully prepared to control the release of growth factor-rich stem cell secretome. The proven pro-angiogenic and cardioprotective potential of this new bioactive system provides a valuable therapeutic platform for cardiac tissue repair and regeneration.A nanocomposite hydrogel with photocrosslinkable micro-porous networks and a nanoclay component was successfully prepared to control the release of growth factor-rich stem cell secretome. The proven pro-angiogenic and cardioprotective potential of this new bioactive system provides a valuable therapeutic platform for cardiac tissue repair and regeneration. Electronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5nr07806g

Microplastics in surface waters of Dongting Lake and Hong Lake, China.

PubMed

Wang, Wenfeng; Yuan, Wenke; Chen, Yuling; Wang, Jun

2018-08-15

Microplastics pollution is an environmental issue of increasing concern. Much work has been done on the microplastics pollution in the marine environments. Although freshwaters are potential sources and transport pathways of plastic debris to the oceans, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the presence of microplastics in freshwater systems, especially in China, the world's largest producer of plastics. This study investigated the occurrence and properties of microplastics in surface waters of two important lakes in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River. The concentration ranges of microplastics in Dongting Lake and Hong Lake were 900-2800 and 1250-4650n/m 3 , respectively. Fiber was the dominant shape. Colored items occupied the majority. Particles with a size of <330μm comprised >20% of total microplastics collected in both lakes. Most of the selected particles were identified as plastics, with polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) being the major components. This study can provide valuable reference for better understanding the microplastics pollution in inland freshwater ecosystems. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Exploring how musical rhythm entrains brain activity with electroencephalogram frequency-tagging

PubMed Central

Nozaradan, Sylvie

2014-01-01

The ability to perceive a regular beat in music and synchronize to this beat is a widespread human skill. Fundamental to musical behaviour, beat and meter refer to the perception of periodicities while listening to musical rhythms and often involve spontaneous entrainment to move on these periodicities. Here, we present a novel experimental approach inspired by the frequency-tagging approach to understand the perception and production of rhythmic inputs. This approach is illustrated here by recording the human electroencephalogram responses at beat and meter frequencies elicited in various contexts: mental imagery of meter, spontaneous induction of a beat from rhythmic patterns, multisensory integration and sensorimotor synchronization. Collectively, our observations support the view that entrainment and resonance phenomena subtend the processing of musical rhythms in the human brain. More generally, they highlight the potential of this approach to help us understand the link between the phenomenology of musical beat and meter and the bias towards periodicities arising under certain circumstances in the nervous system. Entrainment to music provides a highly valuable framework to explore general entrainment mechanisms as embodied in the human brain. PMID:25385771

Palliative care for adolescents and young adults with cancer

PubMed Central

Rosenberg, Abby R; Wolfe, Joanne

2017-01-01

Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) with cancer represent a unique and challenging group of patients with distinct developmental and psychosocial needs that may be unrecognized or unmet during their cancer experience. Palliative care refers to the total care of a patient, regardless of his or her disease status, and aims to improve quality of life by controlling symptoms and alleviating physical, social, psychological, and spiritual suffering. Integrating palliative care into standard oncology practice for AYAs is therefore valuable, if not imperative, in improving their overall cancer experience. In this review, we aimed to describe the scope, benefits, and challenges of palliative care for AYA oncology patients. We provide a broad impression of the existing literature describing or investigating palliative care in this population. Put together, the evidence suggests that palliative care is not only needed, but can also be critically beneficial to patients, families, and health care professionals alike. As we increase public and professional awareness of the needs and applications of palliative care for AYA patients with cancer, we will ultimately enable better psychosocial outcomes of the AYA patients and their larger communities. PMID:21523753

Knowledge management in healthcare: towards 'knowledge-driven' decision-support services.

PubMed

Abidi, S S

2001-09-01

In this paper, we highlight the involvement of Knowledge Management in a healthcare enterprise. We argue that the 'knowledge quotient' of a healthcare enterprise can be enhanced by procuring diverse facets of knowledge from the seemingly placid healthcare data repositories, and subsequently operationalising the procured knowledge to derive a suite of Strategic Healthcare Decision-Support Services that can impact strategic decision-making, planning and management of the healthcare enterprise. In this paper, we firstly present a reference Knowledge Management environment-a Healthcare Enterprise Memory-with the functionality to acquire, share and operationalise the various modalities of healthcare knowledge. Next, we present the functional and architectural specification of a Strategic Healthcare Decision-Support Services Info-structure, which effectuates a synergy between knowledge procurement (vis-à-vis Data Mining) and knowledge operationalisation (vis-à-vis Knowledge Management) techniques to generate a suite of strategic knowledge-driven decision-support services. In conclusion, we argue that the proposed Healthcare Enterprise Memory is an attempt to rethink the possible sources of leverage to improve healthcare delivery, hereby providing a valuable strategic planning and management resource to healthcare policy makers.

Multi-technique characterization of gold electroplating on silver substrates for cultural heritage applications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ortega-Feliu, I.; Ager, F. J.; Roldán, C.; Ferretti, M.; Juanes, D.; Scrivano, S.; Respaldiza, M. A.; Ferrazza, L.; Traver, I.; Grilli, M. L.

2017-09-01

This work presents a detailed study of a series of silver plates gilded via electroplating techniques in which the characteristics of the coating gold layers are investigated as a function of the electroplating variables (voltage, time, anode surface and temperature). Some reference samples were coated by radio frequency sputtering in order to compare gold layer homogeneity and effective density. Surface analysis was performed by means of atomic and nuclear techniques (SEM-EDX, EDXRF, PIXE and RBS) to obtain information about thickness, homogeneity, effective density, profile concentration of the gold layers and Au-Ag diffusion profiles. The gold layer thickness obtained by PIXE and EDXRF is consistent with the thickness obtained by means of RBS depth profiling. Electroplated gold mass thickness increases with electroplating time, anode area and voltage. However, electrodeposited samples present rough interfaces and gold layer effective densities lower than the nominal density of Au (19.3 g/cm3), whereas sputtering produces uniform layers with nominal density. These analyses provide valuable information to historians and curators and can help the restoration process of gold-plated silver objects.

Analyzing organic tea certification and traceability system within the Taiwanese tea industry.

PubMed

Wang, Mao-Chang; Yang, Chin-Ying

2015-04-01

We applied game theory to the organic tea certification process and traceability system used by the Taiwanese tea industry to elucidate the strategic choices made by tea farmers and organic tea certification agencies. Thus, this paper clarifies how relevant variables affect the organic certification process and traceability system used within the tea industry. The findings indicate that farmers who generate high revenues experience failures regarding tea deliveries, cash outflow, damage compensation, and quasi-rent. An additional problem included the high costs yielded when tea farmers colluded with or switched organic tea certification agencies. Furthermore, there could be decreasing levels of personal interest in planting non-organic tea and lowering the costs of planting organic tea and the managerial accounting costs of building comprehensive traceability systems; thus, the analysis yielded strong results and a superior equilibrium. This research is unprecedented, using an innovative model and providing a novel analysis structure for use in the tea industry. These results contribute to the field of literature and should serve as a valuable reference for members of the tea industry, government, and academia. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

Analysis of lipoprotein profiles of healthy cats by gel-permeation high-performance liquid chromatography

PubMed Central

MIZUTANI, Hisashi; SAKO, Toshinori; OKUDA, Hiroko; ARAI, Nobuaki; KURIYAMA, Koji; MORI, Akihiro; YOSHIMURA, Itaru; KOYAMA, Hidekazu

2016-01-01

Density gradient ultracentrifugation (DGUC) and gel electrophoresis are conventionally used to obtain lipoprotein profiles of animals. We recently applied high-performance liquid chromatography with a gel permeation column (GP-HPLC) and an on-line dual enzymatic system to dogs for lipoprotein profile analysis. We compared the GP-HPLC with DGUC as a method to obtain a feline lipoprotein profile. The lipoprotein profiles showed large and small peaks, which corresponded to high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and low-density lipoprotein (LDL), respectively, whereas very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL) and chylomicron (CM) were only marginally detected. This profile was very similar to that of dogs reported previously. Healthy cats also had a small amount of cholesterol-rich particles distinct from the normal LDL or HDL profile. There was no difference in lipoprotein profiles between the sexes, but males had a significantly larger LDL particle size (P=0.015). This study shows the feasibility of GP-HPLC for obtaining accurate lipoprotein profiles with small sample volumes and provides valuable reference data for healthy cats that should facilitate diagnoses. PMID:27170431

Performance Analysis and Discussion on the Thermoelectric Element Footprint for PV-TE Maximum Power Generation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Guiqiang; Zhao, Xudong; Jin, Yi; Chen, Xiao; Ji, Jie; Shittu, Samson

2018-06-01

Geometrical optimisation is a valuable way to improve the efficiency of a thermoelectric element (TE). In a hybrid photovoltaic-thermoelectric (PV-TE) system, the photovoltaic (PV) and thermoelectric (TE) components have a relatively complex relationship; their individual effects mean that geometrical optimisation of the TE element alone may not be sufficient to optimize the entire PV-TE hybrid system. In this paper, we introduce a parametric optimisation of the geometry of the thermoelectric element footprint for a PV-TE system. A uni-couple TE model was built for the PV-TE using the finite element method and temperature-dependent thermoelectric material properties. Two types of PV cells were investigated in this paper and the performance of PV-TE with different lengths of TE elements and different footprint areas was analysed. The outcome showed that no matter the TE element's length and the footprint areas, the maximum power output occurs when A n /A p = 1. This finding is useful, as it provides a reference whenever PV-TE optimisation is investigated.

Mutation spectrum of Chinese patients with Bartter syndrome.

PubMed

Han, Yue; Lin, Yi; Sun, Qing; Wang, Shujuan; Gao, Yanxia; Shao, Leping

2017-11-24

Bartter syndrome (BS) has been rarely reported in Chinese population except for a few case reports. This investigation was aimed to analyze the mutations of the causal genes in sixteen Chinese patients with BS, and review their followup and treatment. Identify mutations by the next generation sequencing and the multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA). Clinical characteristics and biochemical findings at the first presentation as well as follow-up were reviewed. 15 different CLCNKB gene mutations were identified in fourteen patients with BS, including 11 novel ones. A novel missense mutation and a novel small deletion were found from SLC12A1 gene. A novel gross deletion was found in CLCNKA gene. A recurrent missense mutation was identified from BSND gene. We found that the whole gene deletion mutation of CLCNKB gene was the most frequent mutation (32%), and the rate of gross deletion was up to 50 percent in this group of Chinese patients. The present study has found 19 mutations, including 14 novel ones, which would enrich the human gene mutation database (HGMD) and provide valuable references to the genetic counseling and diagnosis of the Chinese population.

Improvement of identification of Capnocytophaga canimorsus by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry using enriched database.

PubMed

Magnette, Amandine; Huang, Te-Din; Renzi, Francesco; Bogaerts, Pierre; Cornelis, Guy R; Glupczynski, Youri

2016-01-01

Capnocytophaga canimorsus and Capnocytophaga cynodegmi can be transmitted from dogs or cats and cause serious human infections. We aimed to evaluate the ability of matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) to identify these two Capnocytophaga species. Ninety-four C. canimorsus and 10 C. cynodegmi isolates identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing were analyzed. Using the MALDI BioTyper database, correct identification was achieved for only 16 of 94 (17%) C. canimorsus and all 10 C. cynodegmi strains, according to the manufacturer's log score specifications. Following the establishment of a complementary homemade reference database by addition of 51 C. canimorsus and 8 C. cynodegmi mass spectra, MALDI-TOF MS provided reliable identification to the species level for 100% of the 45 blind-coded Capnocytophaga isolates tested. MALDI-TOF MS can accurately identify C. canimorsus and C. cynodegmi using an enriched database and thus constitutes a valuable diagnostic tool in the clinical laboratory. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Integrated response toward HIV: a health promotion case study from China.

PubMed

Jiang, Zhen; Wang, Debin; Yang, Sen; Duan, Mingyue; Bu, Pengbin; Green, Andrew; Zhang, Xuejun

2011-06-01

Integrated HIV response refers to a formalized, collaborative process among organizations in communities with HIV at-risk populations. It is a both comprehensive and flexible scheme, which may include community-based environment promotion, skill coalition, fund linkage, human resource collaboration and service system jointly for both HIV prevention and control. It enables decisions and actions responds over time. In 1997, the Chinese government developed a 10-year HIV project supported by World Bank Loan (H9-HIV/AIDS/STIs). It was the first integrated STI/HIV intervention project in China and provides a unique opportunity to explore the long-term comprehensive STI/HIV intervention in a low-middle income country setting. Significant outcomes were identified as development and promotion of the national strategic plan and its ongoing implementation; positive knowledge, behavioral and STI/HIV prevalence rate change; and valuable experiences for managing integrated HIV/STI intervention projects. Essential factors for the success of the project and the key tasks for the next step were identified and included well-designed intervention in rural and low economic regions, unified program evaluation framework and real-time information collection and assessment.

Some intriguing aspects of multiparticle production processes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Wilk, Grzegorz; Włodarczyk, Zbigniew

2018-04-01

Multiparticle production processes provide valuable information about the mechanism of the conversion of the initial energy of projectiles into a number of secondaries by measuring their multiplicity distributions and their distributions in phase space. They therefore serve as a reference point for more involved measurements. Distributions in phase space are usually investigated using the statistical approach, very successful in general but failing in cases of small colliding systems, small multiplicities, and at the edges of the allowed phase space, in which cases the underlying dynamical effects competing with the statistical distributions take over. We discuss an alternative approach, which applies to the whole phase space without detailed knowledge of dynamics. It is based on a modification of the usual statistics by generalizing it to a superstatistical form. We stress particularly the scaling and self-similar properties of such an approach manifesting themselves as the phenomena of the log-periodic oscillations and oscillations of temperature caused by sound waves in hadronic matter. Concerning the multiplicity distributions we discuss in detail the phenomenon of the oscillatory behavior of the modified combinants apparently observed in experimental data.

Soft Robotics Commercialization: Jamming Grippers from Research to Product

PubMed Central

Cheng, Nadia; Fakhouri, Sami; Culley, Bill

2016-01-01

Abstract Recent work in the growing field of soft robotics has demonstrated a number of very promising technologies. However, to make a significant impact in real-world applications, these new technologies must first transition out of the laboratory through successful commercialization. Commercialization is perhaps the most critical future milestone facing the field of soft robotics today, and this process will reveal whether the apparent impact we now perceive has been appropriately estimated. Since 2012, Empire Robotics has been one of the first companies to attempt to reach this milestone through our efforts to commercialize jamming-based robotic gripper technology in a product called VERSABALL®. However, in spring 2016 we are closing our doors, having not been able to develop a sustainable business around this technology. This article presents some of the key takeaways from the technical side of the commercialization process and lessons learned that may be valuable to others. We hope that sharing this information will provide a frame of reference for technology commercialization that can help others motivate research directions and maximize research impact. PMID:28078197

Relationship Study on Land Use Spatial Distribution Structure and Energy-Related Carbon Emission Intensity in Different Land Use Types of Guangdong, China, 1996–2008

PubMed Central

Huang, Yi; Yang, Lei

2013-01-01

This study attempts to discuss the relationship between land use spatial distribution structure and energy-related carbon emission intensity in Guangdong during 1996–2008. We quantized the spatial distribution structure of five land use types including agricultural land, industrial land, residential and commercial land, traffic land, and other land through applying spatial Lorenz curve and Gini coefficient. Then the corresponding energy-related carbon emissions in each type of land were calculated in the study period. Through building the reasonable regression models, we found that the concentration degree of industrial land is negatively correlated with carbon emission intensity in the long term, whereas the concentration degree is positively correlated with carbon emission intensity in agricultural land, residential and commercial land, traffic land, and other land. The results also indicate that land use spatial distribution structure affects carbon emission intensity more intensively than energy efficiency and production efficiency do. These conclusions provide valuable reference to develop comprehensive policies for energy conservation and carbon emission reduction in a new perspective. PMID:23476128

Gross motor skill development of kindergarten children in Japan.

PubMed

Aye, Thanda; Kuramoto-Ahuja, Tsugumi; Sato, Tamae; Sadakiyo, Kaori; Watanabe, Miyoko; Maruyama, Hitoshi

2018-05-01

[Purpose] The purposes of this study were to assess and explore the gender-based differences in gross motor skill development of 5-year-old Japanese children. [Subjects and Methods] This cross-sectional study recruited 60 healthy 5-year-old (third-year kindergarten, i.e., nencho ) children (34 boys, 26 girls) from one local private kindergarten school in Otawara city, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Gross motor skills, including six locomotor and six object control skills, were assessed using the test of gross motor development, second edition (TGMD-2). All subjects performed two trials of each gross motor skill, and the performances were video-recorded and scored. Assessment procedures were performed according to the standardized guidelines of the TGMD-2. [Results] The majority of subjects had an average level of overall gross motor skills. Girls had significantly better locomotor skills. Boys had significantly better object control skills. [Conclusion] The gross motor skill development of 5-year-old Japanese children involves gender-based differences in locomotor and object control skills. This study provided valuable information that can be used to establish normative references for the gross motor skills of 5-year-old Japanese children.

Childhood Vesicoureteral Reflux Studies: Registries and Repositories Sources and Nosology

PubMed Central

Chesney, Russell W.; Patters, Andrea B.

2012-01-01

Despite several recent studies, the advisability of antimicrobial prophylaxis and certain imaging studies for urinary tract infections (UTIs) remains controversial. The role of vesicoureteral reflux (VUR) on the severity and re-infection rates for UTIs is also difficult to assess. Registries and repositories of data and biomaterials from clinical studies in children with VUR are valuable. Disease registries are collections of secondary data related to patients with a specific diagnosis, condition or procedure. Registries differ from indices in that they contain more extensive data. A research repository is an entity that receives, stores, processes and/or disseminates specimens (or other materials) as needed. It encompasses the physical location as well as the full range of activities associated with its operation. It may also be referred to as a biorepository. This report provides information about some current registries and repositories that include data and samples from children with VUR. It also describes the heterogeneous nature of the subjects, as some registries and repositories include only data or samples from patients with primary reflux while others also include those from patients with syndromic or secondary reflux. PMID:23044377

Design and implementation of a Sun tracker with a dual-axis single motor for an optical sensor-based photovoltaic system.

PubMed

Wang, Jing-Min; Lu, Chia-Liang

2013-03-06

The dual threats of energy depletion and global warming place the development of methods for harnessing renewable energy resources at the center of public interest. Solar energy is one of the most promising renewable energy resources. Sun trackers can substantially improve the electricity production of a photovoltaic (PV) system. This paper proposes a novel design of a dual-axis solar tracking PV system which utilizes the feedback control theory along with a four-quadrant light dependent resistor (LDR) sensor and simple electronic circuits to provide robust system performance. The proposed system uses a unique dual-axis AC motor and a stand-alone PV inverter to accomplish solar tracking. The control implementation is a technical innovation that is a simple and effective design. In addition, a scaled-down laboratory prototype is constructed to verify the feasibility of the scheme. The effectiveness of the Sun tracker is confirmed experimentally. To conclude, the results of this study may serve as valuable references for future solar energy applications.

Perspective: physician leaders and their bases of power: common and disparate elements.

PubMed

Gabel, Stewart

2012-02-01

Physicians hold numerous types of leadership positions in academic, executive, and/or clinical environments. To be successful, physician leaders must exert power, or social influence, as power is conceptualized in social psychology. The power of leaders accrues through their positions, expertise, or other factors, such as communication abilities or their ability to influence others to identify with the vision they espouse. This article discusses the types of leadership roles that physicians play and the power types they must apply in these roles. Crossing all leadership roles are a series of necessary personal characteristics and interpersonal competencies that result in what has been called "referent power," a more subtle form of social influence that is crucial for success regardless of position. Leadership training that includes practice in cultivating these personal characteristics and interpersonal competencies should be an essential component of medical and graduate medical education. Studying the types and nature of power also would be a valuable contribution to courses on professionalism in medical practice. Examples are provided of the types and uses of power that may be applied in the various leadership roles that physicians hold.

Ontological realism: A methodology for coordinated evolution of scientific ontologies.

PubMed

Smith, Barry; Ceusters, Werner

2010-11-15

Since 2002 we have been testing and refining a methodology for ontology development that is now being used by multiple groups of researchers in different life science domains. Gary Merrill, in a recent paper in this journal, describes some of the reasons why this methodology has been found attractive by researchers in the biological and biomedical sciences. At the same time he assails the methodology on philosophical grounds, focusing specifically on our recommendation that ontologies developed for scientific purposes should be constructed in such a way that their terms are seen as referring to what we call universals or types in reality. As we show, Merrill's critique is of little relevance to the success of our realist project, since it not only reveals no actual errors in our work but also criticizes views on universals that we do not in fact hold. However, it nonetheless provides us with a valuable opportunity to clarify the realist methodology, and to show how some of its principles are being applied, especially within the framework of the OBO (Open Biomedical Ontologies) Foundry initiative.

Estimation of dew yield from radiative condensers by means of an energy balance model

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Maestre-Valero, J. F.; Ragab, R.; Martínez-Alvarez, V.; Baille, A.

2012-08-01

SummaryThis paper presents an energy balance modelling approach to predict the nightly water yield and the surface temperature (Tf) of two passive radiative dew condensers (RDCs) tilted 30° from horizontal. One was fitted with a white hydrophilic polyethylene foil recommended for dew harvest and the other with a black polyethylene foil widely used in horticulture. The model was validated in south-eastern Spain by comparing the simulation outputs with field measurements of Tf and dew yield. The results indicate that the model is robust and accurate in reproducing the behaviour of the two RDCs, especially in what refers to Tf, whose estimates were very close to the observations. The results were somewhat less precise for dew yield, with a larger scatter around the 1:1 relationship. A sensitivity analysis showed that the simulated dew yield was highly sensitive to changes in relative humidity and downward longwave radiation. The proposed approach provides a useful tool to water managers for quantifying the amount of dew that could be harvested as a valuable water resource in arid, semiarid and water stressed regions.

Wearable ultrasonic guiding device with white cane for the visually impaired: A preliminary verisimilitude experiment.

PubMed

Cheng, Po-Hsun

2016-01-01

Several assistive technologies are available to help visually impaired individuals avoid obstructions while walking. Unfortunately, white canes and medical walkers are unable to detect obstacles on the road or react to encumbrances located above the waist. In this study, I adopted the cyber-physical system approach in the development of a cap-connected device to compensate for gaps in detection associated with conventional aids for the visually impaired. I developed a verisimilar, experimental route involving the participation of seven individuals with visual impairment, including straight sections, left turns, right turns, curves, and suspended objects. My aim was to facilitate the collection of information required for the practical use of the device. My findings demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed guiding device in alerting walkers to the presence of some kinds of obstacles from the small number of subjects. That is, it shows promise for future work and research with the proposed device. My findings provide a valuable reference for the further improvement of these devices as well as the establishment of experiments involving the visually impaired.

Optimization and Control of Acoustic Liner Impedance with Bias Flow

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Wood, Houston; Follet, Jesse

2000-01-01

Because communities are impacted by steady increases in aircraft traffic, aircraft noise continues to be a growing problem for the growth of commercial aviation. Research has focused on improving the design of specific high noise source areas of aircraft and on noise control measures to alleviate noise radiated from aircraft to the surrounding environment. Engine duct liners have long been a principal means of attenuating engine noise. The ability to control in-situ the acoustic impedance of a liner would provide a valuable tool to improve the performance of liners. The acoustic impedance of a liner is directly related to the sound absorption qualities of that liner. Increased attenuation rates, the ability to change liner acoustic impedance to match various operating conditions, or the ability to tune a liner to more precisely match design impedance represent some ways that in-situ impedance control could be useful. With this in mind, the research to be investigated will focus on improvements in the ability to control liner impedance using a mean flow through the liner which is referred to as bias flow.

Multimodal computational microscopy based on transport of intensity equation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Li, Jiaji; Chen, Qian; Sun, Jiasong; Zhang, Jialin; Zuo, Chao

2016-12-01

Transport of intensity equation (TIE) is a powerful tool for phase retrieval and quantitative phase imaging, which requires intensity measurements only at axially closely spaced planes without a separate reference beam. It does not require coherent illumination and works well on conventional bright-field microscopes. The quantitative phase reconstructed by TIE gives valuable information that has been encoded in the complex wave field by passage through a sample of interest. Such information may provide tremendous flexibility to emulate various microscopy modalities computationally without requiring specialized hardware components. We develop a requisite theory to describe such a hybrid computational multimodal imaging system, which yields quantitative phase, Zernike phase contrast, differential interference contrast, and light field moment imaging, simultaneously. It makes the various observations for biomedical samples easy. Then we give the experimental demonstration of these ideas by time-lapse imaging of live HeLa cell mitosis. Experimental results verify that a tunable lens-based TIE system, combined with the appropriate postprocessing algorithm, can achieve a variety of promising imaging modalities in parallel with the quantitative phase images for the dynamic study of cellular processes.

Organizational resilience: Nonprofit organizations' response to change.

PubMed

Witmer, Hope; Mellinger, Marcela Sarmiento

2016-05-24

Organizational resilience refers to the ability to respond productively to significant disruptive change and transform challenges into opportunities. There is a gap in the literature about resilient nonprofit organizations and its application for identifying organizational conditions for successful adaption to external variables that threaten their existence. The aim of this study was to identify organizational characteristics that point to the resilience of nonprofit behavioral healthcare organizations as they successfully adapt to funding changes. A multiple case study of two behavioral health nonprofit organizations was conducted. Data was collected through interviews and focus groups, and analyzed through a qualitative content analysis. Using the framework of resilience, six themes that equipped these organizations to successfully adapt to funding changes were identified. They included: commitment to the mission, improvisation, community reciprocity, servant and transformational leadership, hope and optimism, and fiscal transparency. The findings suggest that incorporating these qualities into an organizational system equips it to systematically adapt to funding changes and other disruptive challenges. Using resilience as a process and not simply an outcome after recovery, nonprofit organizations can have the capacity to continuously respond to challenges and provide uninterrupted and valuable services to society.