Application of environmental mediation to energy facility siting disputes : prospects & problems.

Thesis. 1979. M.C.P.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning.MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH.Bibliography: leaves 116-126.M.C.P

Steno and the rock cycle

Geologists categorize the basic types of rock according to their origin – igneous, sedimentary, or metamorphic -- rather than by their physical properties. This is expressed dynamically by the fundamental concept of the rock cycle, which describes how the basic rock types are derived from one another within the Earth system as a result of ongoing cyclic geologic processes.  In Nicolaus Steno’s published geological work, particularly De Solido, he takes a similar approach, outlining how a substance can be examined “to disclose the place and manner of its production”. Steno also recognizes the roles of erosion, transport, and deposition in the production of sedimentary strata from pre-existing earth materials. His description and diagrams of the geological evolution of Tuscany also show a clear cyclicity of process. While the modern concept of the rock cycle did not emerge until the 19th century, Steno’s work contains key elements of this important concept

An application of Random Forests to a genome-wide association dataset: Methodological considerations & new findings

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>As computational power improves, the application of more advanced machine learning techniques to the analysis of large genome-wide association (GWA) datasets becomes possible. While most traditional statistical methods can only elucidate main effects of genetic variants on risk for disease, certain machine learning approaches are particularly suited to discover higher order and non-linear effects. One such approach is the Random Forests (RF) algorithm. The use of RF for SNP discovery related to human disease has grown in recent years; however, most work has focused on small datasets or simulation studies which are limited.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using a multiple sclerosis (MS) case-control dataset comprised of 300 K SNP genotypes across the genome, we outline an approach and some considerations for optimally tuning the RF algorithm based on the empirical dataset. Importantly, results show that typical default parameter values are not appropriate for large GWA datasets. Furthermore, gains can be made by sub-sampling the data, pruning based on linkage disequilibrium (LD), and removing strong effects from RF analyses. The new RF results are compared to findings from the original MS GWA study and demonstrate overlap. In addition, four new interesting candidate MS genes are identified, <it>MPHOSPH9, CTNNA3, PHACTR2 </it>and <it>IL7</it>, by RF analysis and warrant further follow-up in independent studies.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study presents one of the first illustrations of successfully analyzing GWA data with a machine learning algorithm. It is shown that RF is computationally feasible for GWA data and the results obtained make biologic sense based on previous studies. More importantly, new genes were identified as potentially being associated with MS, suggesting new avenues of investigation for this complex disease.</p

Shotgun genome sequence and population diversity of Mannheimia haemolytica isolates from sheep in South Africa

Respiratory disease caused by Mannheimia haemolytica is a major economic and welfare concern in the cattle and small stock industry worldwide. Disease occurs due to the interaction of numerous factors, including weaning stress, shipment, inclement weather, and overcrowding coupled with viral and bacterial infections. The whole genome of M. haemolytica strain Mh10517 was analyzed using an Illumina MiSeq high throughput sequencing platform. The genome size is 2.67 Mb with 2,879 predicted gene sequences. The molecular evolution and relatedness of M. haemolytica was investigated using nucleotide sequence data of seven housekeeping gene fragments from 21 ovine isolates. MEGA version 7.0 genomic workbench was used for alignment and analysis of the nucleotide data sets. For each gene fragment, the sequences were compared and isolates with identical sequences were assigned the same allele number. Results suggested that the 21 isolates belonged to six sequence types (ST) and ST 28 accounted for 33% of the isolates. Neighbour joining method was used to produce dendograms based on the concatenated sequences of the seven loci in multilocus allelic profile. There was significant variation between the number of synonymous and non-synonymous substitutions between each sequence pairs (p=0.018) based on results from the Fisher’s exact test of neutrality of sequence pairs. These preliminary data show substantial sequence variations and this supports the hypothesis that ovine isolates of M. haemolytica are more diverse that what has been reported for isolates from other species. These results will advance studies on various aspects of the biology of M. haemolytica in Africa, and the world at large.Poster presented at the University of Pretoria, Faculty of Veterinary Science Faculty Day, September 07, 2017, Pretoria, South Africa.Includes bibliographical referencesab201

Innermost Stable Circular Orbit of Inspiraling Neutron-Star Binaries: Tidal Effects, Post-Newtonian Effects and the Neutron-Star Equation of State

We study how the neutron-star equation of state affects the onset of the dynamical instability in the equations of motion for inspiraling neutron-star binaries near coalescence. A combination of relativistic effects and Newtonian tidal effects cause the stars to begin their final, rapid, and dynamically-unstable plunge to merger when the stars are still well separated and the orbital frequency is $\approx$ 500 cycles/sec (i.e. the gravitational wave frequency is approximately 1000 Hz). The orbital frequency at which the dynamical instability occurs (i.e. the orbital frequency at the innermost stable circular orbit) shows modest sensitivity to the neutron-star equation of state (particularly the mass-radius ratio, $M/R_o$, of the stars). This suggests that information about the equation of state of nuclear matter is encoded in the gravitational waves emitted just prior to the merger.Comment: RevTeX, to appear in PRD, 8 pages, 4 figures include

Patient, Physician, and Payment Predictors of Statin Adherence

BACKGROUND: Although many patient, physician, and payment predictors of adherence have been described, knowledge of their relative strength and overall ability to explain adherence is limited. OBJECTIVES: To measure the contributions of patient, physician, and payment predictors in explaining adherence to statins RESEARCH DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study using administrative data SUBJECTS: 14,257 patients insured by Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (BCBSNJ) who were newly prescribed a statin cholesterol-lowering medication MEASURES: Adherence to statin medication was measured during the year after the initial prescription, based on proportion of days covered (PDC). The impact of patient, physician, and payment predictors of adherence were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression. The explanatory power of these models was evaluated with C statistics, a measure of the goodness of fit. RESULTS: Overall, 36.4% of patients were fully adherent. Older patient age, male gender, lower neighborhood percent black composition, higher median income, and fewer number of emergency department (ED) visits were significant patient predictors of adherence. Having a statin prescribed by a cardiologist, a patient's primary care physician, or a US medical graduate were significant physician predictors of adherence. Lower copayments also predicted adherence. All of our models had low explanatory power. Multivariate models including patient covariates only had greater explanatory power (C = 0.613) than models with physician variables only (C = 0.566) or copayments only (C = 0.543). A fully specified model had only slightly more explanatory power (C = 0.633) than the model with patient characteristics alone. CONCLUSIONS: Despite relatively comprehensive claims data on patients, physicians, and out-of-pocket costs, our overall ability to explain adherence remains poor. Administrative data likely do not capture many complex mechanisms underlying adherence.Economic

Prospective Safety Surveillance of GH-Deficient Adults: Comparison of GH-Treated vs Untreated Patients.

Context:In clinical practice, the safety profile of GH replacement therapy for GH-deficient adults compared with no replacement therapy is unknown.Objective:The objective of this study was to compare adverse events (AEs) in GH-deficient adults who were GH-treated with those in GH-deficient adults who did not receive GH replacement.Design and Setting:This was a prospective observational study in the setting of US clinical practices.Patients and Outcome Measures:AEs were compared between GH-treated (n = 1988) and untreated (n = 442) GH-deficient adults after adjusting for baseline group differences and controlling the false discovery rate. The standardized mortality ratio was calculated using US mortality rates.Results:After a mean follow-up of 2.3 years, there was no significant difference in rates of death, cancer, intracranial tumor growth or recurrence, diabetes, or cardiovascular events in GH-treated compared with untreated patients. The standardized mortality ratio was not increased in either group. Unexpected AEs (GH-treated vs untreated, P ≤ .05) included insomnia (6.4% vs 2.7%), dyspnea (4.2% vs 2.0%), anxiety (3.4% vs 0.9%), sleep apnea (3.3% vs 0.9%), and decreased libido (2.1% vs 0.2%). Some of these AEs were related to baseline risk factors (including obesity and cardiopulmonary disease), higher GH dose, or concomitant GH side effects.Conclusions:In GH-deficient adults, there was no evidence for a GH treatment effect on death, cancer, intracranial tumor recurrence, diabetes, or cardiovascular events, although the follow-up period was of insufficient duration to be conclusive for these long-term events. The identification of unexpected GH-related AEs reinforces the fact that patient selection and GH dose titration are important to ensure safety of adult GH replacement

Gravitational radiation from compact binary systems: gravitational waveforms and energy loss to second post-Newtonian order

We derive the gravitational waveform and gravitational-wave energy flux generated by a binary star system of compact objects (neutron stars or black holes), accurate through second post-Newtonian order ($O[(v/c)^4] \sim O[(Gm/rc^2)^2]$) beyond the lowest-order quadrupole approximation. We cast the Einstein equations into the form of a flat-spacetime wave equation together with a harmonic gauge condition, and solve it formally as a retarded integral over the past null cone of the chosen field point. The part of this integral that involves the matter sources and the near-zone gravitational field is evaluated in terms of multipole moments using standard techniques; the remainder of the retarded integral, extending over the radiation zone, is evaluated in a novel way. The result is a manifestly convergent and finite procedure for calculating gravitational radiation to arbitrary orders in a post-Newtonian expansion. Through second post-Newtonian order, the radiation is also shown to propagate toward the observer along true null rays of the asymptotically Schwarzschild spacetime, despite having been derived using flat spacetime wave equations. The method cures defects that plagued previous ``brute- force'' slow-motion approaches to the generation of gravitational radiation, and yields results that agree perfectly with those recently obtained by a mixed post-Minkowskian post-Newtonian method. We display explicit formulae for the gravitational waveform and the energy flux for two-body systems, both in arbitrary orbits and in circular orbits. In an appendix, we extend the formalism to bodies with finite spatial extent, and derive the spin corrections to the waveform and energy loss.Comment: 59 pages ReVTeX; Physical Review D, in press; figures available on request to [email protected]