Deconvolution and analysis of wide-angle longwave radiation data from Nimbus 6 Earth radiation budget experiment for the first year

One year of longwave radiation data from July 1975 through June 1976 from the Nimbus 6 satellite Earth radiation budget experiment is analyzed by representing the radiation field by a spherical harmonic expansion. The data are from the wide field of view instrument. Contour maps of the longwave radiation field and spherical harmonic coefficients to degree 12 and order 12 are presented for a 12 month data period

Small Ruminant Community Breeding Program in Indonesia

This paper outlines the principles of community breeding programs, reviews similar programs that have been conducted in Indonesia, as well as proposing improvements. Community breeding programs (CBP) are a method for genetic improvement of livestock, with voluntary participation of farmers, using animals belonging to the farmers, by defining breeding objectives and selection criteria or traits, selecting the best males of the group, performance testing and distributing males to the farmers. Farmers have the ownership of the program and contribute to the sustainability of the program, marketability of the products according the needs of the farmers, as well as strengthening farmers institutions. There are breeding scehemes of one tier, two tier and three tier that can be implemented to achieve the goals of genetic improvement. Several CBP has been carried out scatteredly, however improvements have to be made such as by long term financial support, strong commitment from breeders, mentoring by academias, data management and analysis as well as economic assessment. Therefore, a more masive and sustainable CBP should be conducted to improve the genetic quality of  sheep and goat in Indonesia

Nitrogen substrate–dependent nitrous oxide cycling in salt marsh sediments

Nitrous oxide (N2O) is important to Earth\u27s climate because it is a strong absorber of radiation and an important ozone depletion agent. Increasing anthropogenic nitrogen input into the marine environment, especially to coastal waters, has led to increasing N2O emissions. Identifying the nitrogen compounds that serve as substrates for N2O production in coastal waters reveals important pathways and helps us understand their control by environmental factors. In this study, sediments were collected from a long-term fertilization site in Great Sippewissett Marsh, Falmouth, Massachusetts. The 15N tracer incubation time course experiments were conducted and analyzed for potential N2O production and consumption rates. The two nitrogen substrates of N2O production, ammonium and nitrate, correspond to the two production pathways, nitrification and denitrification, respectively. When measurable nitrate was present, despite ambient high ammonium concentrations, denitrification was the major N2O production pathway. When nitrate was absent, ammonium became the dominant substrate for N2O production, via nitrification and coupled nitrification-denitrification. Net N2O consumption was enhanced under low oxygen and nitrate conditions. N2O production and consumption rates increased with increasing levels of nitrogen fertilization in long-term experimental plots. These results indicate that increasing anthropogenic nitrogen input to salt marshes can stimulate sedimentary N2O production via both nitrification and denitrification, whereas episodic oxygen depletion results in net N2O consumption

Diversity, Distribution, and Expression of Diazotroph nifH Genes in Oxygen-Deficient Waters of the Arabian Sea

The Arabian Sea oxygen minimum zone (OMZ), the largest suboxic region in the world\u27s oceans, is responsible for up to half of the global mesopelagic fixed nitrogen ( N ) loss from the ocean via denitrification and anammox. Dinitrogen (N2) fixation is usually attributed to cyanobacteria in the surface ocean. Model prediction and physiological inhibition of N2 fixation by oxygen, however, suggest that N2 fixation should be enhanced near the oxygen-deficient zone (ODZ) of the Arabian Sea. N2 fixation and cyanobacterial nifH genes (the gene encoding dinitrogenase reductase) have been reported in surface waters overlying the Arabian Sea ODZ. Here, water samples from depths above and within the Arabian Sea ODZ were examined to explore the distribution, diversity, and expression of nifH genes. In surface waters, nifH DNA and cDNA sequences related to Trichodesmium, a diazotroph known to occur and fix N2 in the Arabian Sea, were detected. Proteobacterial nifH phylotypes (DNA but not cDNA) were also detected in surface waters. Proteobacterial nifH DNA and cDNA sequences, as well as nifH DNA and cDNA sequences related to strictly anaerobic N -fixers, were obtained from oxygen-deficient depths. This first report of nifH gene expression in subsurface low-oxygen waters suggests that there is potential for active N2 fixation by several phylogenetically and potentially metabolically diverse microorganisms in pelagic OMZs

Physical activity counseling in overweight and obese primary care patients: Outcomes of the VA-STRIDE randomized controlled trial.

The purpose of this 2-arm randomized clinical trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of a 12-month, expert system-based, print-delivered physical activity intervention in a primary care Veteran population in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Participants were not excluded for many health conditions that typically are exclusionary criteria in physical activity trials. The primary outcome measures were physical activity reported using the Community Healthy Activities Model Program for Seniors (CHAMPS) questionnaire and an accelerometer-based activity assessment at baseline, 6, and 12 months. Of the 232 Veterans enrolled in the study, 208 (89.7%) were retained at the 6-month follow-up and 203 (87.5%) were retained at 12 months. Compared to the attention control, intervention participants had significantly increased odds of meeting the U.S. recommended guideline of ≥ 150 min/week of at least moderate-intensity physical activity at 12 months for the modified CHAMPS (odds ratio [OR] = 2.86; 95% CI: 1.03-7.96; p = 0.04) but not at 6 months (OR = 1.54; 95% CI: 0.56-4.23; p = 0.40). Based on accelerometer data, intervention participants had significantly increased odds of meeting ≥ 150 min/week of moderate-equivalent physical activity at 6 months (OR = 6.26; 95% CI: 1.26-31.22; p = 0.03) and borderline significantly increased odds at 12 months (OR = 4.73; 95% CI: 0.98-22.76; p = 0.053). An expert system physical activity counseling intervention can increase or sustain the proportion of Veterans in primary care meeting current recommendations for moderate-intensity physical activity. Trial Registration Clinical trials.gov identifier: NCT00731094 URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00731094

Multiple Metabolisms Constrain the Anaerobic Nitrite Budget in the Eastern Tropical South Pacific

The Eastern Tropical South Pacific is one of the three major oxygen deficient zones (ODZs) in the global ocean and is responsible for approximately one third of marine water column nitrogen loss. It is the best studied of the ODZs and, like the others, features a broad nitrite maximum across the low oxygen layer. How the microbial processes that produce and consume nitrite in anoxic waters interact to sustain this feature is unknown. Here we used 15N-tracer experiments to disentangle five of the biologically mediated processes that control the nitrite pool, including a high-resolution profile of nitrogen loss rates. Nitrate reduction to nitrite likely depended on organic matter fluxes, but the organic matter did not drive detectable rates of denitrification to N2. However, multiple lines of evidence show that denitrification is important in shaping the biogeochemistry of this ODZ. Significant rates of anaerobic nitrite oxidation at the ODZ boundaries were also measured. Lodate was a potential oxidant that could support part of this nitrite consumption pathway. We additionally observed N2 production from labeled cyanate and postulate that anammox bacteria have the ability to harness cyanate as another form of reduced nitrogen rather than relying solely on ammonification of complex organic matter. The balance of the five anaerobic rates measured—anammox, denitrification, nitrate reduction, nitrite oxidation, and dissimilatory nitrite reduction to ammonium—is sufficient to reproduce broadly the observed nitrite and nitrate profiles in a simple one-dimensional model but requires an additional source of reduced nitrogen to the deeper ODZ to avoid ammonium overconsumption. ©2017. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved

Design of the PACIFIC study: A randomized controlled trial evaluating a novel treatment for adults with overweight and obesity.

The majority of adults in the United States have overweight or obesity which is associated with significant health and psychological consequences. Behavioral Weight Loss (BWL) is the current gold-standard weight-loss program for adults but recidivism rates continue to be disturbingly high. Given the health consequences of excess weight and the lack of long-term effectiveness of BWL, it is important to identify novel weight-loss programs. We developed the ROC (Regulation of Cues) program to reduce overeating through improvement in sensitivity to appetitive cues and decreased responsivity to external food cues. This study is a 4-arm randomized control trial designed to evaluate the efficacy of ROC, ROC combined with BWL, BWL alone and an active comparator over 24 months. Study recruitment completed in November 2017. Two hundred and seventy-one participants were randomized (mean age = 46.97 years; 82% female, mean BMI = 34.59; 20% Hispanic) and assessments were conducted at baseline, mid-treatment (6 months) and post-treatment (12 months). At this time, participants are completing 6- (18 months) and 12-month (24 months) follow-ups. Targeting novel mechanisms is critically important to improve weight-loss programs. Through this trial, we hope to identify treatments for adults with overweight and obesity to facilitate long-term weight loss and improved health

Reliability and validity of the Wolfram Unified Rating Scale (WURS)

BACKGROUND: Wolfram syndrome (WFS) is a rare, neurodegenerative disease that typically presents with childhood onset insulin dependent diabetes mellitus, followed by optic atrophy, diabetes insipidus, deafness, and neurological and psychiatric dysfunction. There is no cure for the disease, but recent advances in research have improved understanding of the disease course. Measuring disease severity and progression with reliable and validated tools is a prerequisite for clinical trials of any new intervention for neurodegenerative conditions. To this end, we developed the Wolfram Unified Rating Scale (WURS) to measure the severity and individual variability of WFS symptoms. The aim of this study is to develop and test the reliability and validity of the Wolfram Unified Rating Scale (WURS). METHODS: A rating scale of disease severity in WFS was developed by modifying a standardized assessment for another neurodegenerative condition (Batten disease). WFS experts scored the representativeness of WURS items for the disease. The WURS was administered to 13 individuals with WFS (6-25 years of age). Motor, balance, mood and quality of life were also evaluated with standard instruments. Inter-rater reliability, internal consistency reliability, concurrent, predictive and content validity of the WURS were calculated. RESULTS: The WURS had high inter-rater reliability (ICCs>.93), moderate to high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.78-0.91) and demonstrated good concurrent and predictive validity. There were significant correlations between the WURS Physical Assessment and motor and balance tests (r(s)>.67, p<.03), between the WURS Behavioral Scale and reports of mood and behavior (r(s)>.76, p<.04) and between WURS Total scores and quality of life (r(s)=-.86, p=.001). The WURS demonstrated acceptable content validity (Scale-Content Validity Index=0.83). CONCLUSIONS: These preliminary findings demonstrate that the WURS has acceptable reliability and validity and captures individual differences in disease severity in children and young adults with WFS

Nitrogen Assimilation in Picocyanobacteria Inhabiting the Oxygen-Deficient Waters of the Eastern Tropical North and South Pacific

Prochlorococcus and Synechococcus are the most abundant free-living photosynthetic microorganisms in the ocean. Uncultivated lineages of these picocyanobacteria also thrive in the dimly illuminated upper part of oxygen-deficient zones (ODZs), where an important portion of ocean nitrogen (N) loss takes place via denitrification and anaerobic ammonium oxidation. Recent metagenomic studies revealed that ODZ Prochlorococcus have the genetic potential for using different N forms, including nitrate and nitrite, uncommon N sources for Prochlorococcus, but common for Synechococcus. To determine which N sources ODZ picocyanobacteria are actually using in nature, the cellular 15N natural abundance (δ15N) and assimilation rates of different N compounds were determined using cell sorting by flow cytometry and mass spectrometry. The natural δ15N of the ODZ Prochlorococcus varied from −4.0‰ to 13.0‰ (n = 9), with 50% of the values in the range of −2.1–2.6‰. While the highest values suggest nitrate use, most observations indicate the use of nitrite, ammonium, or a mixture of N sources. Meanwhile, incubation experiments revealed potential assimilation rates of ammonium and urea in the same order of magnitude as that expected for total N in several environments including ODZs, whereas rates of nitrite and nitrate assimilation were very low. Our results thus indicate that reduced forms of N and nitrite are the dominant sources for ODZ picocyanobacteria, although nitrate might be important on some occasions. ODZ picocyanobacteria might thus represent potential competitors with anammox bacteria for ammonium and nitrite, with ammonia-oxidizing archaea for ammonium, and with nitrite-oxidizing bacteria for nitrite