An Evaluation of Presence and Source of Fecal Contamination at Golden Gardens Park

Golden Gardens is an 87.8 acre Park in Seattle, WA that has come under recent scrutiny over concerns about water quality in the streams and at the beach. Located just north of Shillshole marina in Seattle it has a swimming beach which is 1439 m in length, as well as a forested region directly east of the beach on a relatively steep hill with several drainages flowing into the sound. The purpose of this study was to assess the levels of indicator bacteria in beach water and in the fresh water drainages and to determine if the bacterial contamination is related to human or animal inputs. Specifically, we were interested in determining if the off-leash area for dogs, located on the hill above the beach, was contributing to the contamination. Water was collected five times from June-August 2010 at 4 locations at two depths along the beach and as many as 20 locations in the drainages on the hill. One-hundred ml aliquots of water were analyzed in duplicate for each site sampled via membrane filtration for fecal coliforms, and enterococci. DNA from Enterococci isolates were amplified by PCR targeting the esp gene in enterococci and DNA extracted from 200ml of fresh water was amplified for the 16S rRNA gene in Bacteroides to determine the source of contamination. Fecal coliform levels for marine beach water at Golden Gardens typically meet WA State bacteriological criteria for secondary contact recreation. The stream water frequently exceeded the USEPA recommended level of 33 enteroccoci per 100ml. Preliminary PCR results showed that two of 24 samples from one sampling period were positive for human specific Enterococcus. PCR analysis for human specific Enterococcus and for human and canine specific Bacteroides is still underway for the other sampling period

Metabolic Profiling of Alpine and Ecuadorian Lichens

Non-targeted H-1-NMR methods were used to determine metabolite profiles from crude extracts of Alpine and Ecuadorian lichens collected from their natural habitats. In control experiments, the robustness of metabolite detection and quantification was estimated using replicate measurements of Stereocaulon alpinum extracts. The deviations in the overall metabolite fingerprints were low when analyzing S. alpinum collections from different locations or during different annual and seasonal periods. In contrast, metabolite profiles observed from extracts of different Alpine and Ecuadorian lichens clearly revealed genus- and species-specific profiles. The discriminating functions determining cluster formation in principle component analysis (PCA) were due to differences in the amounts of genus-specific compounds such as sticticin from the Sticta species, but also in the amounts of ubiquitous metabolites, such as sugar alcohols or trehalose. However, varying concentrations of these metabolites from the same lichen species e.g.,due to different environmental conditions appeared of minor relevance for the overall cluster formation in PCA. The metabolic clusters matched phylogenetic analyses using nuclear ribosomal DNA (nrDNA) internal transcribed spacer (ITS) sequences of lichen mycobionts, as exemplified for the genus Sticta. It can be concluded that NMR-based non-targeted metabolic profiling is a useful tool in the chemo-taxonomy of lichens. The same approach could also facilitate the discovery of novel lichen metabolites on a rapid and systematical basis

CHEOPS: The ESA Mission for Exo-Planets Characterization Ready for Launch

The European Space Agency (ESA) Science Programme Committee (SPC) selected CHEOPS (Characterizing Exoplanets Satellite) in October 2012 as the first Small-class mission (S1) within the Agency’s Scientific Programme. It is considered as a pilot case for implementing “small science missions” in the agency with the following requirements: science driven mission selected through an open Call; an implementation cycle, from the Call to launch, drastically shorter than for Medium-class (M) and Large-class (L) missions; a strict cost-cap to ESA, with possibly higher Member States involvement than for M or L missions. The CHEOPS mission is devoted to the characterization of known exoplanets orbiting bright stars, achieved through the precise measurement of exoplanet radii using the technique of transit photometry. It was adopted for implementation in February 2014 as a partnership between the ESA Science Programme and Switzerland, with a number of other Member States delivering significant contributions to the instrument development and to operations. The CHEOPS instrument is an optical Ritchey-Chrétien telescope with 300 mm effective aperture diameter and a large external baffle to minimize straylight. The compact CHEOPS spacecraft (approx. 300 kg, 1.5 m size), based on a flight-proven platform, will orbit the Earth in a dawn-dusk Sun Synchronous Orbit at 700 km altitude. CHEOPS completed the Preliminary Design Review at the end of September 2014, and passed the Critical Design Review in May 2016. In the course of 2017, flight platform and payload have been integrated and tested, and then followed by satellite level activities, targeting flight readiness by the end of year 2019. Implementation and validation of the ground segment, which is composed of the MOC (Mission Operations Centre), located in Torrejón (Madrid, Spain) and the SOC (Science Operations Centre), located at the University of Geneva (Switzerland) was achieved in parallel. CHEOPS will be launched as a secondary passenger on a Soyuz from Kourou by end of 2019. The paper describes the latest CHEOPS development status, focusing on the activities for verification and validation of the satellite and the system at large, including the ground segment and the activities in preparation for S/C launch and its operations. Additional details can be found on the ESA and UBE websites referred in [8]

Statistical-mechanical formulation of Lyapunov exponents

We show how the Lyapunov exponents of a dynamic system can in general be expressed in terms of the free energy of a (non-Hermitian) quantum many-body problem. This puts their study as a problem of statistical mechanics, whose intuitive concepts and techniques of approximation can hence be borrowed.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, RevTex

CHEOPS launch in 2019! – Payload Capabilities and In-Orbit Commissioning Preview

ESA Science Programme Committee (SPC) selected CHEOPS as the first small class science mission in 2012. CHEOPS is considered as a pilot case for the implementation of “small science missions” and its success is key for the continuation of fast-paced, small missions. The mission has been developed and brought into a flight readiness state within 5-6 years from selection, which is about half the time of other ESA missions. This paper focuses on the CHEOPS payload and its predicted capabilities. The 300mm effective aperture Ritchey-Chretien telescope provided by the CHEOPS consortium has been tested and characterized on ground in a 2 months calibration campaign after the qualification for flight. The results have led to performance estimations, which are discussed here. We show that the performance requirements in flight are expected to be met by the instrument. A preview is given towards the 2 months lasting In Orbit Commissioning (IOC) phase of the CHEOPS payload after LEOP and platform check-out. The activities in orbit range from dark current measurements, PSF characterization and parasitic stray light determination to AOCS and instrument performance verifications to science validation using reference transits

The ACCESS study a Zelen randomised controlled trial of a treatment package including problem solving therapy compared to treatment as usual in people who present to hospital after self-harm: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>People who present to hospital after intentionally harming themselves pose a common and important problem. Previous reviews of interventions have been inconclusive as existing trials have been under powered and done on unrepresentative populations. These reviews have however indicated that problem solving therapy and regular written communications after the self-harm attempt may be an effective treatment. This protocol describes a large pragmatic trial of a package of measures which include problem solving therapy, regular written communication, patient support, cultural assessment, improved access to primary care and a risk management strategy in people who present to hospital after self-harm using a novel design.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We propose to use a double consent Zelen design where participants are randomised prior to giving consent to enrol a large representative cohort of patients. The main outcome will be hospital attendance following repetition of self-harm, in the 12 months after recruitment with secondary outcomes of self reported self-harm, hopelessness, anxiety, depression, quality of life, social function and hospital use at three months and one year.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>A strength of the study is that it is a pragmatic trial which aims to recruit large numbers and does not exclude people if English is not their first language. A potential limitation is the analysis of the results which is complex and may underestimate any effect if a large number of people refuse their consent in the group randomised to problem solving therapy as they will effectively cross over to the treatment as usual group. However the primary analysis is a true intention to treat analysis of everyone randomised which includes both those who consent and do not consent to participate in the study. This provides information about how the intervention will work in practice in a representative population which is a major advance in this study compared to what has been done before.</p> <p>Trial registration</p> <p>Australia and New Zealand Clinical Trials Register (ANZCTR): <a href="http://www.anzctr.org.au/ACTRN12609000641291.aspx">ACTRN12609000641291</a></p

Do emotional difficulties and peer problems hew together from childhood to adolescence? The case of children with a history of developmental language disorder (DLD)

Children and adolescents with developmental language disorder (DLD) are, overall, vulnerable to difficulties in emotional adjustment and in peer relations. However, previous research has shown that different subgroups follow different trajectories in respect of quality of peer relations. Less is known of the trajectories of emotional development. We consider here the possibility that development in these two domains is interrelated: that is, the trajectories of emotional and peer problems will proceed in parallel. We conducted longitudinal joint trajectories analyses of emotional and peer relations in a sample of young people identified as having DLD at age 7 years and seen at intervals up to 16 years. Potential influences on joint trajectory group membership were examined. Findings revealed five distinct joint trajectories. Emotional and peer difficulties do hew together from childhood to adolescence for just over half of the sample, but not all. The variables most clearly associated with group membership were pragmatic language ability, prosociality and parental mental health. This is the first study to examine joint longitudinal trajectories of emotional and peer difficulties in individuals with DLD. We demonstrate that development in individuals with DLD is heterogeneous and identify three key variables associated with personal and social adjustment from childhood to adolescence. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed

Entropic Uncertainty Relations in Quantum Physics

Uncertainty relations have become the trademark of quantum theory since they were formulated by Bohr and Heisenberg. This review covers various generalizations and extensions of the uncertainty relations in quantum theory that involve the R\'enyi and the Shannon entropies. The advantages of these entropic uncertainty relations are pointed out and their more direct connection to the observed phenomena is emphasized. Several remaining open problems are mentionedComment: 35 pages, review pape

Stress detection using wearable physiological and sociometric sensors

Stress remains a significant social problem for individuals in modern societies. This paper presents a machine learning approach for the automatic detection of stress of people in a social situation by combining two sensor systems that capture physiological and social responses. We compare the performance using different classifiers including support vector machine, AdaBoost, and k-nearest neighbour. Our experimental results show that by combining the measurements from both sensor systems, we could accurately discriminate between stressful and neutral situations during a controlled Trier social stress test (TSST). Moreover, this paper assesses the discriminative ability of each sensor modality individually and considers their suitability for real time stress detection. Finally, we present an study of the most discriminative features for stress detection

De novo mutations in SMCHD1 cause Bosma arhinia microphthalmia syndrome and abrogate nasal development

Bosma arhinia microphthalmia syndrome (BAMS) is an extremely rare and striking condition characterized by complete absence of the nose with or without ocular defects. We report here that missense mutations in the epigenetic regulator SMCHD1 mapping to the extended ATPase domain of the encoded protein cause BAMS in all 14 cases studied. All mutations were de novo where parental DNA was available. Biochemical tests and in vivo assays in Xenopus laevis embryos suggest that these mutations may behave as gain-of-function alleles. This finding is in contrast to the loss-of-function mutations in SMCHD1 that have been associated with facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) type 2. Our results establish SMCHD1 as a key player in nasal development and provide biochemical insight into its enzymatic function that may be exploited for development of therapeutics for FSHD