INCREASES IN COSTS AND RETURNS DUE TO INTENSIFYING RANGE FORAGE PRODUCTION SURVEYS: AN INFORMATION ECONOMIC ANALYSIS

The U.S. Congress and courts have directed federal natural resource agencies to use better information for management decisions than they have used in the past. It is also important for these agencies to improve the efficiency of resource use where possible. This information economics study estimates increased costs and revenues which can be directly imputed to improving the accuracy of range forage production surveys. It suggests that a high level of survey accuracy may often be justifiable.Crop Production/Industries, Research Methods/ Statistical Methods,

Colon and rectal cancer incidence and water trihalomethane concentrations in New South Wales, Australia

BACKGROUND There is evidence, although inconsistent, that long term exposure to disinfection by products (DBPs) increases the risk of bowel cancer. No study has been conducted in Australia to examine this association and due to difference in the methods of disinfection the risk can vary across geographical regions and. This study was conducted to analyse the association of trihalomethanes (THMs) in water with colon and rectal cancer in NSW Australia. METHODS Average yearly concentrations of total and individual species of THMs were obtained for 50 local government areas (LGAs). Indirectly-standardized incidence rates of colon and rectal cancers in LGAs for the period 1995 to 2001 were regressed against mean THM concentrations lagged five years, adjusting for socioeconomic status, high risk drinking, smoking status, usual source of water and year of diagnosis, including local and global random effects within a Bayesian framework. The incidence rate ratios (IRRs) for an interquartile range (IQR) increase in THMs were estimated. RESULTS Using five year lag of exposure there was a positive association between bromoform concentration and CRC in men (IRR = 1.025, 95% CI 1.010, 1.040) but not in women (IRR = 1.003, 95% CI 0.987, 1.018). The association in men was mainly found in colon cancer with bromoform (IRR = 1.035, 95% CI 1.017, 1.053). There was no appreciable association of colorectal cancer with other species of THMs. Sensitivity analyses did not materially change the associations observed. CONCLUSION A positive association was observed between colon cancer and water bromoform concentrations in men. Given the potential population impact of such an association, further research into the relationship between THMs, particularly brominated species, and colorectal cancer is warranted.This study was conducted as part of a PhD thesis. The PhD was funded by the Endeavor International Postgraduate Research Scholarship program of the Australian Government and the University of Sydney’s international postgraduate award program and Sydney School of Public Health. The expenditure for data collection was borne by the Sydney School of Public Health, the University of Sydney. The case data were provided by the NSW central cancer registry. The exposure data were provided by the Sydney Water Corporation and the Hunter Water Corporation in NSW, Australia

PubChem: a public information system for analyzing bioactivities of small molecules

PubChem (http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov) is a public repository for biological properties of small molecules hosted by the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). PubChem BioAssay database currently contains biological test results for more than 700 000 compounds. The goal of PubChem is to make this information easily accessible to biomedical researchers. In this work, we present a set of web servers to facilitate and optimize the utility of biological activity information within PubChem. These web-based services provide tools for rapid data retrieval, integration and comparison of biological screening results, exploratory structure–activity analysis, and target selectivity examination. This article reviews these bioactivity analysis tools and discusses their uses. Most of the tools described in this work can be directly accessed at http://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/assay/. URLs for accessing other tools described in this work are specified individually

IBD2020 global forum: results of an international patient survey on quality of care

Background/Aims IBD2020 is a global forum for standards of care in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). The aim of the IBD2020 survey was to identify and describe variations in quality care of IBD. Methods Patients with IBD from Finland, Italy, France, Canada, Germany, UK, Spain and Sweden were surveyed during 2013 to 2014, covering: disease characteristics; impact on life and work; organization and perceived quality of care. Results Seven thousand five hundred and seven patients participated (median age, 39 years [range, 10–103 years]; 2,354 male [31.4%]), including 4,097 (54.6%) with Crohn’s disease (CD) and 3,410 (45.4%) with ulcerative colitis (UC). Median time from symptom onset to diagnosis was 1 year for both CD (range, 0–47 years) and UC (range, 0–46 years), with no clear evidence of improvement in diagnostic delay over the preceding 24 years. Half of the patients (3,429; 50.0%) rated their care as “excellent” or “very good,” with similar results for CD and UC across countries. Five factors were significantly (P<0.01) associated with perceived good quality of care: quality of specialist communication; review consultation being long enough; failure to share information; no access to a dietician; speed of advice. Conclusions The IBD2020 survey has highlighted areas related to quality of care of IBD from the patients’ perspective, with scope for improvement

Identifying and Reducing Interfacial Losses to Enhance Color-Pure Electroluminescence in Blue-Emitting Perovskite Nanoplatelet Light-Emitting Diodes.

Perovskite nanoplatelets (NPls) hold promise for light-emitting applications, having achieved photoluminescence quantum efficiencies approaching unity in the blue wavelength range, where other metal-halide perovskites have typically been ineffective. However, the external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) of blue-emitting NPl light-emitting diodes (LEDs) have reached only 0.12%. In this work, we show that NPl LEDs are primarily limited by a poor electronic interface between the emitter and hole injector. We show that the NPls have remarkably deep ionization potentials (≥6.5 eV), leading to large barriers for hole injection, as well as substantial nonradiative decay at the NPl/hole-injector interface. We find that an effective way to reduce these nonradiative losses is by using poly(triarylamine) interlayers, which lead to an increase in the  EQE of the blue (464 nm emission wavelength) and sky-blue (489 nm emission wavelength) LEDs to 0.3% and 0.55%, respectively. Our work also identifies the key challenges for further efficiency increases

Patient preferences and willingness-to-pay for a home or clinic based program of chronic heart failure management: findings from the which? trial

BACKGROUND Beyond examining their overall cost-effectiveness and mechanisms of effect, it is important to understand patient preferences for the delivery of different modes of chronic heart failure management programs (CHF-MPs). We elicited patient preferences around the characteristics and willingness-to-pay (WTP) for a clinic or home-based CHF-MP. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS A Discrete Choice Experiment was completed by a sub-set of patients (n = 91) enrolled in the WHICH? trial comparing home versus clinic-based CHF-MP. Participants provided 5 choices between hypothetical clinic and home-based programs varying by frequency of nurse consultations, nurse continuity, patient costs, and availability of telephone or education support. Participants (aged 71±13 yrs, 72.5% male, 25.3% NYHA class III/IV) displayed two distinct preference classes. A latent class model of the choice data indicated 56% of participants preferred clinic delivery, access to group CHF education classes, and lower cost programs (p<0.05). The remainder preferred home-based CHF-MPs, monthly rather than weekly visits, and access to a phone advice service (p<0.05). Continuity of nurse contact was consistently important. No significant association was observed between program preference and participant allocation in the parent trial. WTP was estimated from the model and a dichotomous bidding technique. For those preferring clinic, estimated WTP was ≈AU$9-20 per visit; however for those preferring home-based programs, WTP varied widely (AU$15-105). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE Patient preferences for CHF-MPs were dichotomised between a home-based model which is more likely to suit older patients, those who live alone, and those with a lower household income; and a clinic-based model which is more likely to suit those who are more socially active and wealthier. To optimise the delivery of CHF-MPs, health care services should consider their patients’ preferences when designing CHF-MPs.Jennifer A. Whitty, Simon Stewart, Melinda J. Carrington, Alicia Calderone, Thomas Marwick, John D. Horowitz, Henry Krum, Patricia M. Davidson, Peter S. Macdonald, Christopher Reid, Paul A. Scuffha

Biosynthesis of Selenocysteine on Its tRNA in Eukaryotes

Selenocysteine (Sec) is cotranslationally inserted into protein in response to UGA codons and is the 21st amino acid in the genetic code. However, the means by which Sec is synthesized in eukaryotes is not known. Herein, comparative genomics and experimental analyses revealed that the mammalian Sec synthase (SecS) is the previously identified pyridoxal phosphate-containing protein known as the soluble liver antigen. SecS required selenophosphate and O-phosphoseryl-tRNA([Ser]Sec) as substrates to generate selenocysteyl-tRNA([Ser]Sec). Moreover, it was found that Sec was synthesized on the tRNA scaffold from selenide, ATP, and serine using tRNA([Ser]Sec), seryl-tRNA synthetase, O-phosphoseryl-tRNA([Ser]Sec) kinase, selenophosphate synthetase, and SecS. By identifying the pathway of Sec biosynthesis in mammals, this study not only functionally characterized SecS but also assigned the function of the O-phosphoseryl-tRNA([Ser]Sec) kinase. In addition, we found that selenophosphate synthetase 2 could synthesize monoselenophosphate in vitro but selenophosphate synthetase 1 could not. Conservation of the overall pathway of Sec biosynthesis suggests that this pathway is also active in other eukaryotes and archaea that synthesize selenoproteins

Wettability-independent bouncing on flat surfaces mediated by thin air films

The impingement of drops onto solid surfaces1, 2 plays a crucial role in a variety of processes, including inkjet printing, fog harvesting, anti-icing, dropwise condensation and spray coating3, 4, 5, 6. Recent efforts in understanding and controlling drop impact behaviour focused on superhydrophobic surfaces with specific surface structures enabling drop bouncing with reduced contact time7, 8. Here, we report a different universal bouncing mechanism that occurs on both wetting and non-wetting flat surfaces for both high and low surface tension liquids. Using high-speed multiple-wavelength interferometry9, we show that this bouncing mechanism is based on the continuous presence of an air film for moderate drop impact velocities. This submicrometre ‘air cushion’ slows down the incoming drop and reverses its momentum. Viscous forces in the air film play a key role in this process: they provide transient stability of the air cushion against squeeze-out, mediate momentum transfer, and contribute a substantial part of the energy dissipation during bouncing