Draft Genome Sequence of Kocuria sp. Strain UCD-OTCP (Phylum Actinobacteria).

Here, we present the draft genome of Kocuria sp. strain UCD-OTCP, a member of the phylum Actinobacteria, isolated from a restaurant chair cushion. The assembly contains 3,791,485 bp (G+C content of 73%) and is contained in 68 scaffolds

A Search for Optical Emission from Binary Black Hole Merger GW170814 with the Dark Energy Camera

Binary black hole (BBH) mergers found by the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo detectors are of immense scientific interest to the astrophysics community, but are considered unlikely to be sources of electromagnetic emission. To test whether they have rapidly fading optical counterparts, we used the Dark Energy Camera to perform an i-band search for the BBH merger GW170814, the first gravitational wave (GW) detected by three interferometers. The 87 deg^2 localization region (at 90% confidence) centered in the Dark Energy Survey (DES) footprint enabled us to image 86% of the probable sky area to a depth of i ~ 23 mag and provide the most comprehensive data set to search for electromagnetic (EM) emission from BBH mergers. To identify candidates, we perform difference imaging with our search images and with templates from pre-existing Dark Energy Survey (DES) images. The analysis strategy and selection requirements were designed to remove supernovae and to identify transients that decline in the first two epochs. We find two candidates, each of which is spatially coincident with a star or a high-redshift galaxy in the DES catalogs, and they are thus unlikely to be associated with GW170814. Our search finds no candidates associated with GW170814, disfavoring rapidly declining optical emission from BBH mergers brighter than i ~ 23 mag (L_(optical) ~ 5 × 10^(41) erg s^(−1)) 1–2 days after coalescence. In terms of GW sky map coverage, this is the most complete search for optical counterparts to BBH mergers to date

Mortality among Married Men in Rural Kenya and Malawi

Using prospective longitudinal data, this article describes recent changes in the levels of adult mortality among married men aged 20–59 in selected rural areas of Malawi and Kenya, and in the age pattern of their mortality. Sampled areas have, respectively, moderate and high HIV prevalence. The observed annual probability of dying for males interviewed in an initial wave of each study and then reported as deceased in follow-up interviews is 0.031 in Nyanza and 0.016 in Malawi. Compared to life table estimates for equivalent age groups generated from Kenya’s 1989 census and Malawi’s 1987 census, these results  represent a 3-fold increase over 1980s census levels. These changes have reduced life expectancy at age 20 by about 14 years in Nyanza and 7 years in Malawi. Observed mortality is consistent with a younger age of HIV infection in Nyanza. Sample characteristics suggest that these levels underestimate the total effect of AIDS on mortality

Optogenetic activation of accessory olfactory bulb input to the forebrain differentially modulates investigation of opposite versus same-sex urinary chemosignals and stimulates mating in male mice

Surgical or genetic disruption of vomeronasal organ (VNO)-accessory olfactory bulb (AOB) function previously eliminated the ability of male mice to processes pheromones that elicit territorial behavior and aggression. By contrast, neither disruption significantly affected mating behaviors, although VNO lesions reduced males' investigation of nonvolatile female pheromones. We explored the contribution of VNO-AOB pheromonal processing to male courtship using optogenetic activation of AOB projections to the forebrain. Protocadherin-Cre male transgenic mice received bilateral AOB infections with channelrhodopsin2 (ChR2) viral vectors, and an optical fiber was implanted above the AOB. In olfactory choice tests, males preferred estrous female urine (EFU) over water; however, this preference was eliminated when diluted (5%) EFU was substituted for 100% EFU. Optogenetic AOB activation concurrent with nasal contact significantly augmented males' investigation compared to 5% EFU alone. Conversely, concurrent optogenetic AOB activation significantly reduced males' nasal investigation of diluted urine from gonadally intact males (5% IMU) compared to 5% IMU alone. These divergent effects of AOB optogenetic activation were lost when males were prevented from making direct nasal contact. Optogenetic AOB stimulation also failed to augment males' nasal investigation of deionized water or of food odors. Finally, during mating tests, optogenetic AOB stimulation delivered for 30 s when the male was in physical contact with an estrous female significantly facilitated the occurrence of penile intromission. Our results suggest that VNO-AOB signaling differentially modifies males' motivation to seek out female vs male urinary pheromones while augmenting males' sexual arousal leading to intromission and improved reproductive performance

Asistencia rural en los siglos XVII y XVIII : los tipos de «conducción» de los profesionales sanitarios en Aragón

El sistema que se utilizaba durante el siglo XVII y XVIII en las zonas rurales de Aragón para garantizar la continua presencia y asistencia de sanitarios era la contratación de éstos por parte de los municipios, lo que normalmente se conocía con el nombre de «conducta médica» o «conducción». En este trabajo se estudia la legislación que sobre este tema existía, los tipos de contratación y procedimiento empleado, así como los sueldos y obligaciones de los sanitarios «conducidos». Para terminar se plantean los problemas que este sistema originó y se enumeran algunas de las fuentes para su conocimiento

Fuzzy rule based profiling approach for enterprise information seeking and retrieval

With the exponential growth of information available on the Internet and various organisational intranets there is a need for profile based information seeking and retrieval (IS&R) systems. These systems should be able to support users with their context-aware information needs. This paper presents a new approach for enterprise IS&R systems using fuzzy logic to develop task, user and document profiles to model user information seeking behaviour. Relevance feedback was captured from real users engaged in IS&R tasks. The feedback was used to develop a linear regression model for predicting document relevancy based on implicit relevance indicators. Fuzzy relevance profiles were created using Term Frequency and Inverse Document Frequency (TF/IDF) analysis for the successful user queries. Fuzzy rule based summarisation was used to integrate the three profiles into a unified index reflecting the semantic weight of the query terms related to the task, user and document. The unified index was used to select the most relevant documents and experts related to the query topic. The overall performance of the system was evaluated based on standard precision and recall metrics which show significant improvements in retrieving relevant documents in response to user queries

A case study of secondary school leaders' perceptions of attendance policies and procedures used to increase attendance

Field of study: Educational leadership and policy analysis.Dr. Carole A. Edmonds, Dissertation Supervisor.Includes vita."May 2018."Nationwide, pressures from outside influences such as politicians and educational policy makers are placing schools in precarious situations to make drastic changes in attendance policies to meet state accountability standards. The researcher used interviews and a focus group with school leaders, and archival data to find common themes which were then viewed through the conceptual underpinning of accountability. This case study adds to the field of education a deeper understanding of school leaders' perspectives on the impact attendance accountability standards have on the overall effectiveness of school improvement. The findings suggest: the new proportional attendance policy is detrimental to a school leaders' ability to focus on other school improvement practices while creating negative unintended consequences for schools and students; incentives and punitive consequences have short-term success while decaying school-family relationships; and district-wide and community awareness programs seemed to have the greatest impact on long term attendance improvement. Based on these findings, the following three practices should be implemented by districts: Systematic monitoring of attendance data, the use of low cost incentives and simple rewards, and the implementation of district-wide engagement and education of family and community awareness programs.Includes bibliographical references (pages 135-145)

Estudio de la Curva de Crecimiento en la Gallina Utrerana

Utilizando el modelo de Gompertz se compararon las curvas de crecimiento de pollos de las tres variedades de la raza Utrerana: La Utreana Negra, la Perdiz y la Franciscana. El estudio se realizó alojando los animales en cautividad en el Centro Agropecuario Provincial de la Diputación de Córdoba. Se observó que la variedad Franciscana alcanzó un mayor peso a la madurez con 2870.3 g, seguida de la varidad Negra y, finalmente, de la variedad Perdiz con 2504.7 y 2181.8 g., respectivamente. En lo que respecta a la velocidad de crecimiento de la raza, la variedad Franciscana mostró las mayores tasas de crecimiento hasta el punto de inflexión, en tanto que los menores índices de crecimiento a partir de dicho punto lo obtuvo la variedad Perdiz. El punto de inflexión se alcanzó a los 62.16, 59.31 y 60.82 días por este orden, para la variedad Franciscana, Negra y Pediz. Los pesos en ese punto fueron de 1056.03g para la variedad Franciscana, 921.52 g para la Negra y 802.72 g para la Perdiz