What Role for Civility?

Every year recently, Virginians bemoan a loss of civility in a political arena that seems more callous, combative and partisan, less productive and turning churlish. Many view politics in Washington as hopelessly lost into gridlock and cycles of inaction, inattention to serious issues and retribution. Virginians hope that politics at the state level has not sunk as far. What has happened to trust, civility, and respect in politics as it relates to this past General Assembly session

What Role for Civility?

Every year recently, Virginians bemoan a loss of civility in a political arena that seems more callous, combative and partisan, less productive and turning churlish. Many view politics in Washington as hopelessly lost into gridlock and cycles of inaction, inattention to serious issues and retribution. Virginians hope that politics at the state level has not sunk as far. What has happened to trust, civility, and respect in politics as it relates to this past General Assembly session

Design of a scientific probe for obtaining Mars surface material

The objective is to return a 1 Kg Martian soil sample from the surface of Mars to a mothership in a 60 km Mars orbit. Given here is information on the mission profile, the structural design and component placement, thermal control and guidance, propulsion systems, orbital mechanics, and specialized structures

ENA as an Information Hub

The European Nucleotide Archive (ENA; "http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/":http://www.ebi.ac.uk/ena/) is a comprehensive repository for public nucleotide sequence data from nearly four hundred thousand taxonomic nodes. Together with partners in the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration (INSDC; EBI, NCBI and DDBJ) we provide a broad spectrum of sequences, from raw reads (Sequence Read Archive data class), assembled contigs (Whole Genome Shotgun data class), assemblies of EST transcripts (Transcriptome Shotgun Assembly data set), to partial or complete assembled nucleic acid molecules with functional annotation derived from direct and third party experimental evidence (Standard and TPA data classes, respectively). Resources beyond ENA, such as RNA and protein databases, genome collections and model organism services, use data stored and presented at ENA as both source and underlying supporting evidence for their records. Integration of the growing wealth of molecular information is a great challenge that brings opportunities for ENA to serve as a bioinformatics data information hub, allowing, through its provision of permanent identifiers for sequence and project records, community-recognized identifiers for navigation across databases.

As a comprehensive repository of directly sequenced nucleic acid molecules we have the unique opportunity to obtain exact provenance information directly from the submitting researchers. Our pre-publication biocuration efforts are focused on obtaining rich and accurate information on the sample that has been sequenced and on the methodology surrounding its preparation for sequencing. We present here an insight into data flow in the archive and a straightforward biologist-orientated submission system with a rule-based validator for smaller sets of sequences

Reliability of measures of lower body strength and speed in academy male adolescent soccer players:Test reliability in elite adolescent footballers

The Nordbord and ForceFrame represent a practical and time efficient means of assessing eccentric hamstring and isometric adductor strength in the large number of squads and players associated with youth soccer academies, yet measurement reliability in this population is unexamined. Therefore, over a period of four days, with no less than 24 hours and no more than 48 hours between trials, 37 players (age: 14.7 ± 0.8 years; stature: 168.7 ± 7.8 cm; mass: 57.7 ± 9.1 kg; maturity offset: 0.8 ± 0.9 years) were assessed for eccentric hamstring strength (force, torque), isometric adductor strength (long and short lever positions) and 30-m sprint (5 m, 10 m, and 20 m splits), using the Nordbord, ForceFrame and electronic timing gates, respectively on three separate occasions. Relative reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient, [ICC]) was rated good for all Nordbord (range: 0.86 to 0.89) and ForceFrame (0.78 to 0.85) measures and ranged from moderate (0.53) to excellent (0.93) for the speed measures, improving with increased distance. Absolute reliability (standard error of the measurement [%SEM]) ranged from 7% to 8% (Nordbord), 3% to 11% (ForceFrame), and 1% to 4% (sprints). Our data provide the first Nordbord and ForceFrame reliability estimates in adolescent soccer academy players. To interpret test sensitivity, practitioners are encouraged to interpret our estimates of absolute reliability against meaningful change values derived from personal experience and evidence-based knowledge and not against absolute or standardized thresholds

Adhesion mechanisms mediated by probiotics and prebiotics and their potential impact on human health

Adhesion ability to the host is a classical selection criterion for potential probiotic bacteria that could result in a transient colonisation that would help to promote immunomodulatory effects, as well as stimulate gut barrier and metabolic functions. In addition, probiotic bacteria has a potential protective role against enteropathogens through different mechanisms including production of antimicrobial compounds, reduction of pathogenic bacterial adhesion and competition for host cell binding sites. The competitive exclusion by probiotic bacteria not only has a beneficial effect on the gut but also in the urogenital tract and oral cavity. On the other hand, prebiotics may also act as barriers to pathogens and toxins by preventing their adhesion to epithelial receptors. In vitro studies with different intestinal cell lines has been widely used along the last decades to assess the adherence ability of probiotic bacteria and pathogen antagonism. However, extrapolation of these results to in vivo conditions still remain unclear, leading to the need of optimization of more complex in vitro approaches that includes interaction with the resident microbiota to address the current limitations. The aim of this mini-review is to provide a comprehensive overview on the potential effect of the adhesive properties of probiotics and prebiotics on the host by focusing on the most recent findings related with adhesion and immunomodulatory and antipathogenic effect on human health

Initial Project Estimates for Design, Right of Way, Utilities, and Construction

Estimating the cost of highway construction projects is among the more challenging tasks state transportation agencies routinely deal with. Developing accurate estimates is a particularly fraught exercise during the planning and scoping phases, when projects have not been thoroughly defined and information on specifics is in short supply. While the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) has used several methodologies to generate initial cost estimates for design, right of way, utilities, and construction (DRUC), approaches vary between the agency’s districts. This report proposes a framework for estimating DRUC-related expenses that can be adopted throughout the state. Kentucky Transportation Center (KTC) researchers developed the framework after investigating the Cabinet’s current approaches to estimation and the limitation of those methods. In addition to the challenges introduced by incomplete project scopes, often staff have insufficient access to historical information, property records, and utility inventories. In many cases they also have too little time to prepare estimates. The proposed framework draws on best practices used at other state transportation agencies as well as those documented in research publications from AASHTO and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program. To speed adoption of the proposed estimation process, researchers helped KYTC set up and implement the AASHTOWare Project PreConstruction software package. Additionally, a comprehensive user manual and video tutorial were completed to help project managers transition to the new estimation framework and AASHTOWare Project Estimation

Questioning the Validity of Race as a Social Construct: Examining Race and Ethnicity in the ‘Rainbow Nation’

Governments have historically classified their populations according to race and ethnicity, which has been done to either exert power over minority groups or ensure equality among these groups. However, viewing ones racial identity through a historical lens raises doubts about the validity of race as a social construct, since the concept has seldom served as a strong foundation for social identity formation. As such, we posit that ethnicity is a more accurate predictor of identification than race. Using South Africa as the research context, we examine whether within each race group ethnic differences exist on national identity and social capital measures. Data were collected on race, ethnic identity, national identity, and social capital. Significant differences between ethnic groups within one race group indicate that the current racial classification system in South Africa is open for distortions of how the South African people feel about their nation

Health status, sexual activity and satisfaction among older people in Britain: A mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Men and women are increasingly likely to stay sexually active into later life, but research shows that sexual activity and satisfaction decrease with increasing age. Ill health and medical treatments may affect sexual activity but there is little research on why some older people with a health problem affecting their sexual activity are satisfied with their sex life, and others are not. METHODS: A mixed method study integrating data and analyses from the third British National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (n = 3343 aged 55-74 years) and from follow-up in-depth interviews with 23 survey participants who reported having a health condition or taking medication affecting their sex life. RESULTS: Overall, 26.9% of men and 17.1% of women aged 55-74 reported having a health condition that affected their sex life. Among this group, women were less likely than men to be sexually active in the previous 6 months (54.3% vs 62.0%) but just as likely to be satisfied with their sex life (41.9% vs 42.1%). In follow-up interviews, participants sometimes struggled to tease out the effects of ill health from those of advancing age. Where effects of ill health were identified, they tended to operate through the inclination and capacity to be sexually active, the practical possibilities for doing so and the limits placed on forms of sexual expression. In close relationships partners worked to establish compensatory mechanisms, but in less close relationships ill health provided an excuse to stop sex or deterred attempts to resolve difficulties. Most fundamentally, ill health may influence whether individuals have a partner with whom to have sex. CONCLUSION: The data show complex interactions between health, lifestyle and relationship factors that affect sexual activity/satisfaction. When dealing with sexual problems in older people, practitioners need to take account of individual lifestyle, needs and preferences