Improving Elementary Nutrition Education Curriculum in San Francisco - A Program Analysis of the Food Education Project

Childhood obesity and food insecurity are problems within San Francisco, California. The purpose of this program analysis is to assess the Food Education Project (FEP), which is one of many projects addressing nutrition education and the long-term public health impact is to solve the problems of food insecurity and childhood obesity. Through primary data collection, students shared their honest feelings about food and were able to openly discuss what they know and do not know about food. A literature review was conducted through research from various databases from the University of San Francisco to identify not only current interventions but gaps in knowledge surrounding this problem. From the literature review and primary data collection, a three-step recommendation was developed for consideration. The steps of the recommendations included a needs assessment specific to McKinley Elementary School, updates to current materials, the creation of a training and orientation guide for health educators and interns, and a pilot program. The purpose of the pilot program is to identify further areas of improvement and enhance the hope for the sustainability of the project and expansion beyond McKinley. The overall impact of the project and analysis is to address childhood obesity and food insecurity. Through early childhood education, there can be a step toward helping children understand where their food comes from and how to build a sustainable, affordable healthy lifestyle. Keywords: nutrition education, elementary schools, San Francisco, childhood obesity, food insecurit

Ultradian Cycles of Mood in Normal and Depressed Subjects

Objective: To study ultradian cycles of mood in four inpatient groups. Method: We assessed the mood of depressed and nondepressed subjects, on an hourly basis, between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m. for two consecutive days using a visual analog scale of mood. Hourly mood scores for each group were plotted against time. Results: We found ultradian cycles with mean lengths of 3-4 hours in all groups. The major depressive episode and adjustment disorder depression groups, however, had ultradian cycles of significantly greater amplitude than ward staff. Conclusions: Depressed patients demonstrate greater amplitude in ultradian cycles of mood than nondepressed subjects

Dorsal Hand Vein Identification using Transfer Learning from AlexNet

Dorsal hand vein pattern is a highly secured biometric system that has been used in many applications due to its non-contact attributes. Prior studies focused on investigation of different deep networks for hand vein classification task using different training parameters. It is the aim of this study to propose the use of systematic fine-tuning system for identifying the best parameters value for enhanced model learning efficiency. In this study, pre-trained AlexNet was trained using Bosphorus hand vein database for identification of 100 users. The experiments were carried out using original images, and preprocessed (cropped) images for comparison. The testing accuracies of these datasets were compared following tuning of training parameters, namely training and testing split ratio, number of epochs, mini-batch size and initial learning rate. It was observed that the testing accuracy of the model trained using cropped images is higher than that using the original images. The model from preprocessed dataset shows a good testing accuracy of 96 % using a split ratio of 90:10, epoch 50, mini-batch-size of 10 and an initial learning rate of 0.0001. The performance of our trained model is more superior than many reported results in the field. In future, the performance of this classification system may be further enhanced with automatic search of parameters for improved model training efficiency

Conceptual planning of urban–rural green space from a multidimensional perspective: A case study of Zhengzhou, China

The structure and function of green-space system is an eternal subject of landscape architecture, especially due to limited land and a need for the coordinated development of PLEs (production, living, and ecological spaces). To make planning more scientific, this paper explored green-space structure planning via multidimensional perspectives and methods using a case study of Zhengzhou. The paper applies theories (from landscape architecture and landscape ecology) and technologies (like remote sensing, GIS—geographic information system, graph theory, and aerography) from different disciplines to analyze current green-space structure and relevant physical factors to identify and exemplify different green-space planning strategies. Overall, our analysis reveals that multiple green-space structures should be considered together and that planners and designers should have multidisciplinary knowledge. For specific strategies, the analysis finds (i) that green complexes enhance various public spaces and guide comprehensive development of urban spaces; (ii) that green ecological corridors play a critical role in regional ecological stability through maintaining good connectivity and high node degree (Dg) and betweenness centrality index (BC) green spaces; (iii) that greenway networks can integrate all landscape resources to provide more secured spaces for animals and beautiful public spaces for humans; (iv) that blue-green ecological networks can help rainwater and urban flooding disaster management; and (v) that green ventilation corridors provide air cleaning and urban cooling benefits, which can help ensure healthy and comfortable urban–rural environments. In our view, this integrated framework for planning and design green-space structure helps make the process scientific and relevant for guiding future regional green-space structure

Balancing tax incentives with operational risks in captive overseas production facilities

Thesis (M.B.A.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management; and, (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Engineering Systems Division; in conjunction with the Leaders for Manufacturing Program at MIT, 2009.Includes bibliographical references (p. 92-94).Due to the general macroeconomic downturn, many companies have turned to offshoring - sending a function overseas - to reduce production costs. While some companies elect to outsource overseas production to outside companies, many companies choose to keep production in-house and therefore create captive production facilities overseas. In many countries, the government will provide financial incentives (e.g. tax breaks, loans, subsidies) to certain companies in exchange for creating employment opportunities and industry knowledge within their borders. These financial incentives may tempt companies to shift more and more functions overseas; however, in many cases, there are significant operational risks involved with shifting functions overseas. This thesis uses a six-month project as a case study for discussing ways to weigh financial benefits against operational risks. The project was conducted at the European headquarters of Spirit AeroSystems, the largest independent designer and manufacturer of independent aerostructures for the commercial aircraft industry. Spirit Europe recently launched a greenfield factory in Malaysia. Malaysia was selected as the factory site for a variety of reasons; among which was a long term tax incentive. This thesis describes the process and tools used to select an optimal transfer pricing relationship (i.e. scope of work to be performed overseas) and transaction methodology that would best monetize the long-term tax incentive without incurring unacceptable levels of operational risk.(cont.) A comprehensive functional analysis was conducted to understand operational risk and economic value. Next, a Monte Carlo simulation was created to better understand project profitability. The results from the functional analysis and the Monte Carlo simulation are united to identify the optimal transfer pricing structure and methodology. The unintuitive result is that, for both operational and financial reasons, the scope of work transferred to the low tax jurisdiction (in this case, Spirit Malaysia) should be fairly limited for existing contracts.by Audrey Chang.S.M.M.B.A

Real-world management of macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion with intravitreal aflibercept: 24-month results from the AURIGA observational study

Introduction: AURIGA is the largest real-world study to date to evaluate intravitreal aflibercept (IVT-AFL) treatment of diabetic macular edema or macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion (RVO) in routine clinical practice. Here, we report the 24-month outcomes in the RVO cohort from France, Germany, Italy, and Taiwan.MethodsAURIGA (NCT03161912) was a prospective observational study. Eligible patients with RVO were enrolled for whom the decision to treat with IVT-AFL had already been made by the attending physician. Patients were treated with IVT-AFL for up to 24 months at physician discretion according to local practice. The primary endpoint was mean change in visual acuity (VA; Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study [ETDRS] letters) from baseline to month (M) 12. All statistical analyses were descriptive.ResultsIn 554 treatment-naive and 65 previously treated patients with RVO, the respective mean (95% confidence interval) change in VA from baseline was + 12.5 (10.8, 14.3) and + 7.9 (3.3, 12.6) letters by M12 and + 11.4 (9.4, 13.3) and + 4.4 (- 0.6, 9.5) letters by M24 (baseline mean +/- standard deviation: 51.0 +/- 21.9 and 51.9 +/- 20.4 letters); 44.0% of treatment-naive and 27.9% of previously treated patients reported >= 15-letter gains by M24. By M24, the mean change in central retinal thickness from baseline was - 247 (- 267, - 227) mu m in treatment-naive patients and - 147 (- 192, - 102) mu m in previously treated patients. From baseline to M6, M12, and M24, treatment-naive patients received a total of 4.0 +/- 1.3, 5.5 +/- 2.5, and 6.9 +/- 4.2 injections, respectively, and previously treated patients received 3.8 +/- 1.5, 5.0 +/- 2.2, and 6.3 +/- 3.7 injections, respectively. The safety profile of IVT-AFL was consistent with that of previous studies.ConclusionsIn AURIGA, patients with RVO experienced clinically relevant functional and anatomic improvements following IVT-AFL treatment in routine clinical practice. These improvements were largely maintained in treatment-naive patients over the 24-month study despite the decreasing treatment frequency, suggesting long-term durability of IVT-AFL treatment outcomes. Infographic available for this article.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03161912 (May 19, 2017)

Hydrological effects of urban green space on stormwater runoff reduction in Luohe, China

This paper reveals the role of urban green space (UGS) in regulating runoff and hence on urban hydrological balance. The modeling software i-Tree Hydro was used to quantify the effects of UGS on surface runoff regulation and canopy interception capacity in four simulated land-cover scenarios. The results showed that the existing UGS could mitigate 15,871,900 m3 volume of runoff (accounting for 9.85% of total runoff) and intercept approximately 9.69% of total rainfall by the vegetation canopy. UGS in midterm goal and final goal scenarios could retain about 10.74% and 10.89% of total rainfall that falls onto the canopy layer, respectively. The existing UGS in the Luohe urban area had a positive but limited contribution in runoff regulation, with similar responses in future scenarios with increased UGS coverage. UGS rainfall interception volume changed seasonally along with changing leaf area index (LAI) and precipitation, and the interception efficiency was distinctly different under various rain intensities and durations. The UGS had a relatively high interception performance under light and long duration rain events but performed poorly under heavy and short rain events due to limited surface storage capacities. Our study will assist urban planners and policy-makers regarding UGS size and functionality in future planning in Luohe, particularly regarding future runoff management and Sponge City projects

Structural Evolution of Early-type Galaxies to z=2.5 in CANDELS

Projected axis ratio measurements of 880 early-type galaxies at redshifts 1<z<2.5 selected from CANDELS are used to reconstruct and model their intrinsic shapes. The sample is selected on the basis of multiple rest-frame colors to reflect low star-formation activity. We demonstrate that these galaxies as an ensemble are dust-poor and transparent and therefore likely have smooth light profiles, similar to visually classified early-type galaxies. Similar to their present-day counterparts, the z>1 early-type galaxies show a variety of intrinsic shapes; even at a fixed mass, the projected axis ratio distributions cannot be explained by the random projection of a set of galaxies with very similar intrinsic shapes. However, a two-population model for the intrinsic shapes, consisting of a triaxial, fairly round population, combined with a flat (c/a~0.3) oblate population, adequately describes the projected axis ratio distributions of both present-day and z>1 early-type galaxies. We find that the proportion of oblate versus triaxial galaxies depends both on the galaxies' stellar mass, and - at a given mass - on redshift. For present-day and z<1 early-type galaxies the oblate fraction strongly depends on galaxy mass. At z>1 this trend is much weaker over the mass range explored here (10^10<M*/M_sun<10^11), because the oblate fraction among massive (M*~10^11 M_sun) was much higher in the past: 0.59+-0.10 at z>1, compared to 0.20+-0.02 at z~0.1. In contrast, the oblate fraction among low-mass early-type galaxies (log(M*/M_sun)1 to 0.72+-0.06 at z=0. [Abridged]Comment: accepted for publication in ApJ; 14 pages; 10 figures; 4 table

Intravitreal Aflibercept for the treatment of diabetic macular edema in routine clinical practice: results from the 24-Month AURIGA observational study

Introduction AURIGA is the largest real-world study to date to evaluate intravitreal aflibercept (IVT-AFL) in the treatment of diabetic macular edema (DME) or macular edema secondary to retinal vein occlusion in routine clinical practice. The 24-month outcomes in the DME cohort from across 11 participating countries are reported here.MethodsAURIGA (NCT03161912) was a prospective observational study. The study enrolled eligible patients with DME for whom the decision to treat with IVT-AFL had previously been made by the attending physician. Patients were treated with IVT-AFL for up to 24 months at physician discretion according to local practice. The primary endpoint was mean change in visual acuity (VA; Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study [ETDRS] letters) from baseline to month 12 (M12). All statistical analyses were descriptive.ResultsIn 1478 treatment-naive and 384 previously treated patients with DME, the mean (95% confidence interval) change in VA from baseline was +6.7 (5.7, 7.6) and +7.4 (5.5, 9.4) letters by M12 and +5.9 (4.9, 6.9) and +8.1 (6.1, 10.1) letters by M24 (baseline [mean +/- standard deviation]: 56.0 +/- 19.8 and 50.8 +/- 19.5 letters), respectively; 25.9% of treatment-naive and 32.8% of previously treated patients achieved &gt;= 15-letter gains by M24. The mean change in central retinal thickness from baseline to M24 was -110 (-119, -102) mu m in treatment-naive patients and -169 (-188, -151) mu m in previously treated patients. By M6, M12, and M24, treatment-naive patients had received 3.8 +/- 1.7, 4.9 +/- 2.8, and 5.7 +/- 3.9 injections, respectively, and previously treated patients had received 3.9 +/- 1.5, 4.9 +/- 2.4, and 6.2 +/- 3.6 injections, respectively. The safety profile of IVT-AFL was consistent with previous studies.ConclusionIn AURIGA, treatment-naive and previously treated patients with DME achieved clinically relevant functional and anatomic improvements following IVT-AFL treatment for up to 24 months in routine clinical practice. Even with the decreasing injection frequency observed, these gains were largely maintained throughout the study, suggesting long-term durability of the positive effects of IVT-AFL treatment. Infographic available for this article.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03161912 (May 19, 2017)

WWP-1 Is a Novel Modulator of the DAF-2 Insulin-Like Signaling Network Involved in Pore-Forming Toxin Cellular Defenses in Caenorhabditis elegans

Pore-forming toxins (PFTs) are the single largest class of bacterial virulence factors. The DAF-2 insulin/insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling pathway, which regulates lifespan and stress resistance in Caenorhabditis elegans, is known to mutate to resistance to pathogenic bacteria. However, its role in responses against bacterial toxins and PFTs is as yet unexplored. Here we reveal that reduction of the DAF-2 insulin-like pathway confers the resistance of Caenorhabditis elegans to cytolitic crystal (Cry) PFTs produced by Bacillus thuringiensis. In contrast to the canonical DAF-2 insulin-like signaling pathway previously defined for aging and pathogenesis, the PFT response pathway diverges at 3-phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1 (PDK-1) and appears to feed into a novel insulin-like pathway signal arm defined by the WW domain Protein 1 (WWP-1). In addition, we also find that WWP-1 not only plays an important role in the intrinsic cellular defense (INCED) against PFTs but also is involved in innate immunity against pathogenic bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa and in lifespan regulation. Taken together, our data suggest that WWP-1 and DAF-16 function in parallel within the fundamental DAF-2 insulin/IGF-1 signaling network to regulate fundamental cellular responses in C. elegans