A procedure used for a ground truth study of a land use map of North Alabama generated from LANDSAT data

A land use map of a five county area in North Alabama was generated from LANDSAT data using a supervised classification algorithm. There was good overall agreement between the land use designated and known conditions, but there were also obvious discrepancies. In ground checking the map, two types of errors were encountered - shift and misclassification - and a method was developed to eliminate or greatly reduce the errors. Randomly selected study areas containing 2,525 pixels were analyzed. Overall, 76.3 percent of the pixels were correctly classified. A contingency coefficient of correlation was calculated to be 0.7 which is significant at the alpha = 0.01 level. The land use maps generated by computers from LANDSAT data are useful for overall land use by regional agencies. However, care must be used when making detailed analysis of small areas. The procedure used for conducting the ground truth study together with data from representative study areas is presented

A fine balance and a shared learning journey: Exploring healthcare engagement through the experiences of youth with neuromuscular disorders

BACKGROUND: Youth with Neuromuscular Disorders (NMD) who are wheelchair users can now survive well into adulthood if their multisystem comorbidities are prudently managed. Uptake of health behaviors may optimize their health outcomes. OBJECTIVE: To explore youths’ perceptions of health, health behaviors and healthcare engagement. METHODS: This qualitative study purposefully recruited 11 youth with NMD from a concurrent, population-based study for variability of age, gender, type of NMD and their ratings of motivation and engagement. Interview data were analyzed and synthesized by thematic content. RESULTS: Participants perceived healthcare engagement as being given tools (knowledge and responsibility) and using them to maintain their finely balanced health. Nested in adequate social, emotional and physical support, they took responsibility for creatively integrating health behaviors they felt were informed by credible knowledge, gained primarily through personal experience. CONCLUSION: Cognizant of their compromised health, youth with NMD in this study were motivated to maintain their physical health. Limited NMD condition specific knowledge challenged youths’ uptake of health behaviors. They valued a learning partnership with their healthcare professionals. By embracing the youth’s experience based knowledge and through facilitating supportive relationships, healthcare professionals co-construct youth’s healthcare engagement that may optimize health behaviors and outcomes

Rapid Quantification of Molecular Diversity for Selective Database Acquisition

There is an increasing need to expand the structural diversity of the molecules investigated in lead-discovery programs. One way in which this can be achieved is by acquiring external datasets that will enhance an existing database. This paper describes a rapid procedure for the selection of external datasets using a measure of structural diversity that is calculated from sums of pairwise intermolecular structural similarities

\u3ci\u3eStachybotrys atra\u3c/i\u3e, an Effective Aggregator of Peorian Loess

Twelve cellulose-decomposing fungi were tested for aggregating ability with Peorian loess containing ground straw at a concentration of 1%. Of the 12 fungi, Stachybotrys atra was the most effective soil aggregator. Under laboratory conditions used, it produced from 2 to 30 times more aggregation than any of the other fungi tested. Studies were made of the influence of various environmental factors on the degree of aggregation effected by S. atra. An incubation time of 1 week was sufficient for a relatively high degree of aggregation. In comparison, longer periods resulted in only slightly improved aggregation. Varying the temperature between 20° and 28° C. had no appreciable effect on the aggregation by S. atra. Approximately equivalent aggregations were attained at the moisture levels of 20, 25, and 30%, which were definitely superior to the 10 and 15% levels. Alfalfa and straw, either separately or as a mixture, were satisfactory sources of energy material for S. atra. The aggregation obtained with alfalfa, however, was somewhat higher than that obtained with straw

Earth resources-regional transfer activity contracts review

A regional transfer activity contracts review held by the Earth Resources Office was summarized. Contracts in the earth resources field primarily directed toward applications of satellite data and technology in solution of state and regional problems were reviewed. A summary of the progress of each contract was given in order to share experiences of researchers across a seven state region. The region included Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina. Research in several earth science disciplines included forestry, limnology, water resources, land use, geology, and mathematical modeling. The use of computers for establishment of information retrieval systems was also emphasized

A proposed approach to monitor private-sector policies and practices related to food environments, obesity and non-communicable disease prevention

Private-sector organizations play a critical role in shaping the food environments of individuals and populations. However, there is currently very limited independent monitoring of private-sector actions related to food environments. This paper reviews previous efforts to monitor the private sector in this area, and outlines a proposed approach to monitor private-sector policies and practices related to food environments, and their influence on obesity and non-communicable disease (NCD) prevention. A step-wise approach to data collection is recommended, in which the first (‘minimal’) step is the collation of publicly available food and nutrition-related policies of selected private-sector organizations. The second (‘expanded’) step assesses the nutritional composition of each organization’s products, their promotions to children, their labelling practices, and the accessibility, availability and affordability of their products. The third (‘optimal’) step includes data on other commercial activities that may influence food environments, such as political lobbying and corporate philanthropy. The proposed approach will be further developed and piloted in countries of varying size and income levels. There is potential for this approach to enable national and international benchmarking of private-sector policies and practices, and to inform efforts to hold the private sector to account for their role in obesity and NCD prevention

Assessing the effects of the first 2 years of industry-led badger culling in England on the incidence of bovine tuberculosis in cattle in 2013–2015

Culling badgers to control the transmission of bovine tuberculosis (TB) between this wildlife reservoir and cattle has been widely debated. Industry-led culling began in Somerset and Gloucestershire between August and November 2013 to reduce local badger populations. Industry-led culling is not designed to be a randomised and controlled trial of the impact of culling on cattle incidence. Nevertheless, it is important to monitor the effects of the culling and, taking the study limitations into account, perform a cautious evaluation of the impacts. A standardised method for selecting areas matched to culling areas in factors found to affect cattle TB risk has been developed to evaluate the impact of badger culling on cattle TB incidence. The association between cattle TB incidence and badger culling in the first two years has been assessed. Descriptive analyses without controlling for confounding showed no association between culling and TB incidence for Somerset, or for either of the buffer areas for the first two years since culling began. A weak association was observed in Gloucestershire for Year 1 only. Multivariable analysis adjusting for confounding factors showed that reductions in TB incidence were associated with culling in the first two years in both the Somerset and Gloucestershire intervention areas when compared to areas with no culling (IRR: 0.79, 95%CI: 0.72-0.87, p<0.001 and IRR: 0.42, 95%CI: 0.34-0.51, p<0.001 respectively). An increase in incidence was associated with culling in the 2 km buffer surrounding the Somerset intervention area (IRR: 1.38, 95%CI: 1.09-1.75, p=0.008), but not in Gloucestershire (IRR: 0.91, 95%CI: 0.77-1.07, p=0.243). As only two intervention areas with two years’ of data are available for analysis, and the biological cause-effect relationship behind the statistical associations is difficult to determine, it would be unwise to use these findings to develop generalisable inferences about the effectiveness of the policy at present

Temporal Changes in Astronauts Muscle and Cardiorespiratory Physiology Pre-, In-, and Post-Spaceflight

NASAs vision for future exploration missions depends on the ability to protect astronauts health and safety for performance of Extravehicular Activity (EVA), and to allow astronauts to safely egress from vehicles in a variety of landing scenarios (e.g. water landing upon return to Earth and undefined planetary/lunar landings). Prolonged exposure to spaceflight results in diminished tolerance to prolonged physical activity, decreased cardiac and sensorimotor function, and loss of bone mineral density, muscle mass, and muscle strength. For over 50 years exercise has been the primary countermeasure against these physiologic decrements during spaceflight, and while the resulting protection is adequate for ISS missions (i.e., Soyuz landing, microgravity EVAs), there is little information regarding time-course changes in muscle and aerobic performance. As spaceflight progresses towards longer exploration missions and vehicles with less robust exercise capabilities compared to ISS, countermeasures will need to be combined and optimized to protect crew health and performance across all organ systems over the course of exploration missions up to 3 years in duration. This will require a more detailed understanding of the dynamic effects of spaceflight on human performance. Thus, the focus of this study is quantifying decrements in physical performance over different mission durations, and to provide detailed information on the physiological rational for why and when observed changes in performance occur. The research proposed will temporally profile changes in astronauts cardiorespiratory fitness, muscle mass, strength, and endurance over spaceflight missions of 2 months, 6 months, and up to 1 year in duration. Additionally, an extrapolation model will provide predictions for changes associated with exploration missions 2-3 years in duration. To accomplish these objectives astronauts will be asked to participate in pre, in, post-flight measurement of muscle performance, muscle size, cardiorespiratory fitness and submaximal performance capabilities, as well as non-invasive assessment of cerebral and muscle oxygenation and perfusion (Table 1). Additionally, ambulatory and in-flight exercise, nutrition, and sleep will be monitored using a variety of commercial technologies and in-flight assessment tools. Significance: Our detailed testing protocol will provide valuable information for describing how and when spaceflight-induced muscle and aerobic based adaptations occur over the course of spaceflight missions up to and beyond 1 year. This information will be vital in the assessment as to whether humans can be physically ready for deep space exploration such as Mars missions with current technology, or if additional mitigation strategies are necessary

Parasitic Cape honeybee workers, Apis mellifera capensis, evade policing

Relocation of the Cape honeybee, Apis mellifera capensis, by bee-keepers from southern to northern South Africa in 1990 has caused widespread death of managed African honeybee, A. m. scutellata, colonies. Apis mellifera capensis worker bees are able to lay diploid, female eggs without mating by means of automictic thelytoky (meiosis followed by fusion of two meiotic products to restore egg diploidy), whereas workers of other honeybee subspecies are able to lay only haploid, male eggs. The A. m. capensis workers, which are parasitizing and killing A. m. scutellata colonies in northern South Africa, are the asexual offspring of a single, original worker in which the small amount of genetic variation observed is due to crossing over during meiosis (P. Kryger, personal communication). Here we elucidate two principal mechanisms underlying this parasitism. Parasitic A. m. capensis workers activate their ovaries in host colonies that have a queen present (queenright colonies), and they lay eggs that evade being killed by other workers (worker policing)—the normal fate of worker-laid eggs in colonies with a queen. This unique parasitism by workers is an instance in which a society is unable to control the selfish actions of its members