Aeroponic test bed for hypergravity research

Taking one pound of food to space costs over $10,000. A plant growth chamber in space would help reduce the cost of transporting food by creating a healthy, long-term source of food that can be used for extended space missions. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge in gravity response mechanisms of plants to facilitate employing such a system. The overarching goal of this project is to add to the current body of knowledge related to growing plants in space by conducting research regarding the effect of hypergravity on cherry belle radish growth. To successfully accomplish this goal, an aeroponic test bed that induces hypergravitational fields ranging from 3gs to 5gs while also providing the nutrients and lighting necessary for growing cherry belle radishes was constructed

Policing vulnerability through building community connections

Most people who come into contact with the Police Service can be described, in some way or other, as vulnerable. Victims, offenders, witnesses, and bystanders are all exposed to social conflict and attempts by the police to restore order. Thus, while vulnerability is context-specific it is largely defined via deficit frameworks that view individuals and groups as marginalized or disadvantaged and requiring immediate intervention. This framework is expensive, risk-averse, and often counter-productive for police and associated agencies. The policy push for demand reduction amongst policing agencies offers an opportunity to re-evaluate this approach and to identify and mobilize local assets that can support vulnerable populations. This article draws on the literature on addictions and recovery to explore the networks of support available to vulnerable populations and the potential mechanisms this presents for the development of assertive linkages, community capacity, and self-policing

Cape Vulture Gyps coprotheres caught in gin trap

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Apparent extinction of native mussels in Lower Mill Creek and Mid-Jordan River, UT

Native mussels likely occurred in Mill Creek and the Jordan River, Utah, in the past. However, humaninduced impacts have virtually eliminated the possibility of their continued existence in these waters. We conducted an intensive native mussel survey upstream and downstream of a water reclamation facility discharge into Mill Creek and the Jordan River to determine its effects on mussel populations. The survey was conducted from September to October 2017 and resulted in approximately 7.6 m3 of \u3e4 mm-sized substrate particles being thoroughly examined at near 100% efficiency. We then used statistical models to estimate population densities as a function of probability of detection and search efficiencies based on this and other surveys. Regrettably, no live or recently dead native mussels were found. Given that our survey methods provided near perfect search efficiency, native mussel densities were estimated to be \u3c\u3c0.03 per m2, which is much lower than what we consider to be a viable population density. Combined with multiple lines of evidence from other surveys, this low density strongly points toward the conclusion that native mussels are extinct in the survey area. Reasons for the demise of native mussels in Mill Creek and the Jordan River are numerous, and these factors need to be aggressively addressed if native mussels are to survive in the drainage.Es probable que en el pasado habitaran mejillones nativos en el río Mill Creek y Jordan en Utah. Sin embargo, los impactos ocasionados por el hombre han eliminado prácticamente la posibilidad de su existencia en estas aguas. Llevamos a cabo un estudio intensivo de mejillones nativos, río abajo y río arriba en una instalación de descarga de agua reciclada en Mill Creek y en el río Jordan para determinar sus efectos en las poblaciones de mejillones. El estudio se llevó a cabo en septiembre y octubre del año 2017, en los cuales, se examinaron minuciosamente aproximadamente, 7.6 m3 de partículas de sustrato de tamaño \u3e4 mm, con una eficacia cercana al 100%. Posteriormente, utilizamos modelos estadísticos para estimar las densidades poblacionales en función de su probabilidad de detección y de la eficiencia de búsqueda, basada en este y en otros muestreos. Desafortunadamente, no encontramos mejillones nativos vivos o recientemente muertos. Debido a que, nuestros métodos de muestreo proporcionaron una eficacia de búsqueda casi perfecta, se estimó que la densidad de mejillones nativos es \u3c\u3c0.03 m−2, mucho menor a lo que consideramos como una densidad poblacional viable, y cuando se combina con múltiples evidencias de otros muestreos, indica que los mejillones nativos están extintos en el área de estudio. Las razones de la desaparición de los mejillones nativos en los ríos Mill Creek y el Jordan son numerosas, y tales factores necesitan abordarse intensivamente para que los mejillones nativos puedan sobrevivir en el drenaje

The epidemiology, pathogenesis, transmission, diagnosis, and management of multidrug-resistant, extensively drug-resistant, and incurable tuberculosis.

Global tuberculosis incidence has declined marginally over the past decade, and tuberculosis remains out of control in several parts of the world including Africa and Asia. Although tuberculosis control has been effective in some regions of the world, these gains are threatened by the increasing burden of multidrug-resistant (MDR) and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) tuberculosis. XDR tuberculosis has evolved in several tuberculosis-endemic countries to drug-incurable or programmatically incurable tuberculosis (totally drug-resistant tuberculosis). This poses several challenges similar to those encountered in the pre-chemotherapy era, including the inability to cure tuberculosis, high mortality, and the need for alternative methods to prevent disease transmission. This phenomenon mirrors the worldwide increase in antimicrobial resistance and the emergence of other MDR pathogens, such as malaria, HIV, and Gram-negative bacteria. MDR and XDR tuberculosis are associated with high morbidity and substantial mortality, are a threat to health-care workers, prohibitively expensive to treat, and are therefore a serious public health problem. In this Commission, we examine several aspects of drug-resistant tuberculosis. The traditional view that acquired resistance to antituberculous drugs is driven by poor compliance and programmatic failure is now being questioned, and several lines of evidence suggest that alternative mechanisms-including pharmacokinetic variability, induction of efflux pumps that transport the drug out of cells, and suboptimal drug penetration into tuberculosis lesions-are likely crucial to the pathogenesis of drug-resistant tuberculosis. These factors have implications for the design of new interventions, drug delivery and dosing mechanisms, and public health policy. We discuss epidemiology and transmission dynamics, including new insights into the fundamental biology of transmission, and we review the utility of newer diagnostic tools, including molecular tests and next-generation whole-genome sequencing, and their potential for clinical effectiveness. Relevant research priorities are highlighted, including optimal medical and surgical management, the role of newer and repurposed drugs (including bedaquiline, delamanid, and linezolid), pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic considerations, preventive strategies (such as prophylaxis in MDR and XDR contacts), palliative and patient-orientated care aspects, and medicolegal and ethical issues

Connecting domain-specific features to source code: towards the automatization of dashboard generation

Dashboards are useful tools for generating knowledge and support decision-making processes, but the extended use of technologies and the increasingly available data asks for user-friendly tools that allow any user profile to exploit their data. Building tailored dashboards for any potential user profile would involve several resources and long development times, taking into account that dashboards can be framed in very different contexts that should be studied during the design processes to provide practical tools. This situation leads to the necessity of searching for methodologies that could accelerate these processes. The software product line paradigm is one recurrent method that can decrease the time-to-market of products by reusing generic core assets that can be tuned or configured to meet specific requirements. However, although this paradigm can solve issues regarding development times, the configuration of the dashboard is still a complex challenge; users’ goals, datasets, and context must be thoroughly studied to obtain a dashboard that fulfills the users’ necessities and that fosters insight delivery. This paper outlines the benefits and a potential approach to automatically configuring information dashboards by leveraging domain commonalities and code templates. The main goal is to test the functionality of a workflow that can connect external algorithms, such as artificial intelligence algorithms, to infer dashboard features and feed a generator based on the software product line paradigm

Beyond Glorious:The Radical in Engaged Practices

Backpages is an opportunity for the academy to engage with theatre and performance practice with immediacy and insight and for theatre workers and performance artists to engage critically and reflectively on their work and the work of their peers. Featuring short, topical articles and debates, polemics where necessary, it?s a place of intellectual intervention and creative reflection. It?s also where we hope to articulate, perhaps for the first time, the work of new and rising theatre artists in an academic forum. Beyond Glorious: The Radical in Engaged PracticesTurning the Page: A Conference on New WritingReality Check: Resurrecting The BirdcatcherCruising Utopia, Missing JoséKane?s Truth: An Interview with Michael Shannon