An Innovative Dynamic Test Method for Piles

The system described involves using solid propellant fuels to accelerate a reaction mass of the test pile. The force required to accelerate the reaction mass upwards acts equally downward on the pile. Very high forces be may applied to the pile in a controlled, linearly increasing manner. The duration of the applied load is approximately 100 milliseconds. This rate of loading is slow enough to allow the pile and soil to react together as a composite rigid body. The effects combine to produce pile and soil response no longer dominated by the transfer of force via stress pulse (as with impact). State of the art instrumentation systems are used to obtain test data. Displacement is monitored directly using a laser datum and integrated receiver located at the center axis of the pile. Force is also monitored directly using a calibrated load cell

Species Composition and Distribution of Adult Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) in Panama

Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) species composition and distribution were studied using human landing catch data over a 35-yr period in Panama. Mosquitoes were collected from 77 sites during 228 Þeld trips carried out by members of the National Malaria Eradication Service. Fourteen Anopheles species were identiÞed. The highest average human biting rates were recorded from Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) albimanus (Wiedemann) (9.8 bites/person/night) andAnopheles (Anopheles) punctimacula (Dyar and Knab) (6.2 bites/person/night). These two species were also the most common, present in 99.1 and 74.9%, respectively, of the sites. Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) aquasalis (Curry) was encountered mostly in the indigenous Kuna Yala Comarca along the eastern Atlantic coast, where malaria case history and average human biting rate (9.3 bites/person/night) suggest a local role in malaria transmission. An. albimanus, An. punctimacula, and Anopheles (Anopheles) vestitipennis (Dyar and Knab) were more abundant during the rainy season (MayÐDecember), whereas An. aquasalis was more abundant in the dry season (JanuaryÐApril). Other vector species collected in this study were Anopheles (Kerteszia) neivai (Howard, Dyar, and Knab) and Anopheles (Anopheles) pseudopunctipenniss.l. (Theobald). High diversity of Anophelesspecies and six conÞrmed malaria vectors in endemic areas of Panama emphasize the need for more detailed studies to better understand malaria transmission dynamics.Anopheles (Diptera: Culicidae) species composition and distribution were studied using human landing catch data over a 35-yr period in Panama. Mosquitoes were collected from 77 sites during 228 Þeld trips carried out by members of the National Malaria Eradication Service. Fourteen Anopheles species were identiÞed. The highest average human biting rates were recorded from Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) albimanus (Wiedemann) (9.8 bites/person/night) andAnopheles (Anopheles) punctimacula (Dyar and Knab) (6.2 bites/person/night). These two species were also the most common, present in 99.1 and 74.9%, respectively, of the sites. Anopheles (Nyssorhynchus) aquasalis (Curry) was encountered mostly in the indigenous Kuna Yala Comarca along the eastern Atlantic coast, where malaria case history and average human biting rate (9.3 bites/person/night) suggest a local role in malaria transmission. An. albimanus, An. punctimacula, and Anopheles (Anopheles) vestitipennis (Dyar and Knab) were more abundant during the rainy season (MayÐDecember), whereas An. aquasalis was more abundant in the dry season (JanuaryÐApril). Other vector species collected in this study were Anopheles (Kerteszia) neivai (Howard, Dyar, and Knab) and Anopheles (Anopheles) pseudopunctipenniss.l. (Theobald). High diversity of Anophelesspecies and six conÞrmed malaria vectors in endemic areas of Panama emphasize the need for more detailed studies to better understand malaria transmission dynamics

Application of Sentinel-2A data for pasture biomass monitoring using a physically based radiative transfer model

A large proportion of the global land surface is covered by pasture. The advent of the Sentinel satellites program provides free datasets with good spatiotemporal resolution that can be a valuable source of information for monitoring pasture resources. We combined optical remote sensing data (proximal hyperspectral and Sentinel 2A) with a radiative transfer model (PROSAIL) to estimate leaf area index (LAI), and biomass, in a dairy farming context. Three sites in Southern England were used: two pasture farms that differed in pasture type and management, and a set of small agronomy trial plots with different mixtures of grasses, legumes and herbs, as well as pure perennial ryegrass. The proximal and satellite spectral data were used to retrieve LAI via PROSAIL model inversion, which were compared against field observations of LAI. The potential of bands of Sentinel 2A that corresponded with a 10 m resolution was studied by convolving narrow spectral bands (from a handheld hyperspectral sensor) into Sentinel 2A bands (10 m). Retrieved LAI, using these spectrally resampled S2A data, compared well with measured LAI, for all sites, even for those with mixed species cover (although retrieved LAI was somewhat overestimated for pasture mixtures with high LAI). This proved the suitability of 10 m Sentinel 2A spectral bands for capturing LAI dynamics for different types of pastures. We also found that inclusion of 20 m bands in the inversion scheme did not lead to any further improvement in retrieved LAI. Sentinel 2A image based retrieval yielded good agreement with LAI measurements obtained for a typical perennial ryegrass based pasture farm. LAI retrieved in this way was used to create biomass maps (that correspond to indirect biomass measurements by Rising Plate Meter (RPM)), for mixed-species paddocks for a farm for which limited field data were available. These maps compared moderately well with farmer-collected RPM measurements for this farm. We propose that estimates of paddock-averaged and within-paddock variability of biomass are more reliably obtained from a combined Sentinel 2A-PROSAIL approach, rather than by manual RPM measurements. The physically based radiative transfer model inversion approach outperformed the Normalised Difference Vegetation Index based retrieval method, and does not require site specific calibrations of the inversion scheme

Correlating Molecular Phylogeny with Venom Apparatus Occurrence in Panamic Auger Snails (Terebridae)

Central to the discovery of neuroactive compounds produced by predatory marine snails of the superfamily Conoidea (cone snails, terebrids, and turrids) is identifying those species with a venom apparatus. Previous analyses of western Pacific terebrid specimens has shown that some Terebridae groups have secondarily lost their venom apparatus. In order to efficiently characterize terebrid toxins, it is essential to devise a key for identifying which species have a venom apparatus. The findings presented here integrate molecular phylogeny and the evolution of character traits to infer the presence or absence of the venom apparatus in the Terebridae. Using a combined dataset of 156 western and 33 eastern Pacific terebrid samples, a phylogenetic tree was constructed based on analyses of 16S, COI and 12S mitochondrial genes. The 33 eastern Pacific specimens analyzed represent four different species: Acus strigatus, Terebra argyosia, T. ornata, and T. cf. formosa. Anatomical analysis was congruent with molecular characters, confirming that species included in the clade Acus do not have a venom apparatus, while those in the clade Terebra do. Discovery of the association between terebrid molecular phylogeny and the occurrence of a venom apparatus provides a useful tool for effectively identifying the terebrid lineages that may be investigated for novel pharmacological active neurotoxins, enhancing conservation of this important resource, while providing supplementary information towards understanding terebrid evolutionary diversification

Bias, accuracy, and impact of indirect genetic effects in infectious diseases

Selection for improved host response to infectious disease offers a desirable alternative to chemical treatment but has proven difficult in practice, due to low heritability estimates of disease traits. Disease data from field studies is often binary, indicating whether an individual has become infected or not following exposure to an infectious disease. Numerous studies have shown that from this data one can infer genetic variation in individuals’ underlying susceptibility. In a previous study, we showed that with an indirect genetic effect (IGE) model it is possible to capture some genetic variation in infectivity, if present, as well as in susceptibility. Infectivity is the propensity of transmitting infection upon contact with a susceptible individual. It is an important factor determining the severity of an epidemic. However, there are severe shortcomings with the Standard IGE models as they do not accommodate the dynamic nature of disease data. Here we adjust the Standard IGE model to (1) make expression of infectivity dependent on the individuals’ disease status (Case Model) and (2) to include timing of infection (Case-ordered Model). The models are evaluated by comparing impact of selection, bias, and accuracy of each model using simulated binary disease data. These were generated for populations with known variation in susceptibility and infectivity thus allowing comparisons between estimated and true breeding values. Overall the Case Model provided better estimates for host genetic susceptibility and infectivity compared to the Standard Model in terms of bias, impact, and accuracy. Furthermore, these estimates were strongly influenced by epidemiological characteristics. However, surprisingly, the Case-Ordered model performed considerably worse than the Standard and the Case Models, pointing toward limitations in incorporating disease dynamics into conventional variance component estimation methodology and software used in animal breeding

Randomised controlled trial and health economic evaluation of the impact of diagnostic testing for influenza, respiratory syncytial virus and Streptococcus pneumoniae infection on the management of acute admissions in the elderly and high-risk 18- to 64-year-olds

Please cite the published version which is available via the DOI link in this record.Western industrialised nations face a large increase in the number of older people. People over the age of 60 years account for almost half of the 16.8 million hospital admissions in England from 2009 to 2010. During 2009-10, respiratory infections accounted for approximately 1 in 30 hospital admissions and 1 in 20 of the 51.5 million bed-days.HTA ProgrammeNational Institute for Health Research (NIHR

Grain refinement of wire arc additively manufactured titanium by the addition of silicon

This study demonstrates that silicon additions are effective in refining the microstructure of additive layer manufactured (ALM) titanium components. The addition of up to 0.75 wt% silicon to commercially pure titanium manufactured by wire arc ALM results in a significant reduction of the prior-β grain size. It is observed that silicon also reduces the width of the columnar grains and allows for the nucleation of some equiaxed grains through the development of constitutional supercooling and growth restriction. The grain size of the ALM components is compared to a casting process and it is found that the as-deposited microstructure produced during ALM exhibits larger average grain sizes. Using the Interdependence model for predicting grain size, it was determined that the population of nucleant particles that naturally occur in titanium, has comparable potency (i.e. ability to activate at a similar undercooling) regardless of the processing method, however, the ALM process contains fewer, sufficiently potent, nucleant particles than for the casting process due to the effect of subsequent cycles of remelting and heating