Tracing the early development of harmful algal blooms with the aid of Lagrangian coherent structures

Several theories have been proposed to explain the development of harmful algal blooms (HABs) produced by the toxic dinoflagellate \emph{Karenia brevis} on the West Florida Shelf. However, because the early stages of HAB development are usually not detected, these theories have been so far very difficult to verify. In this paper we employ simulated \emph{Lagrangian coherent structures} (LCSs) to trace the early location of a HAB in late 2004 before it was transported to an area where it could be detected by satellite imagery, and then we make use of a population dynamics model to infer the factors that may have led to its development. The LCSs, which are computed based on a surface flow description provided by an ocean circulation model, delineate past and future histories of boundaries of passively advected fluid domains. The population dynamics model determines nitrogen in two components, nutrients and phytoplankton, which are assumed to be passively advected by the simulated surface currents. Two nearshore nutrient sources are identified for the HAB whose evolution is found to be strongly tied to the simulated LCSs. While one nutrient source can be associated with a coastal upwelling event, the other is seen to be produced by river runoff, which provides support to a theory of HAB development that considers nutrient loading into coastal waters produced by human activities as a critical element. Our results show that the use of simulated LCSs and a population dynamics model can greatly enhance our understanding of the early stages of the development of HABs.Comment: Submitted to JGR-Ocean

Rice endosperm is cost-effective for the production of recombinant griffithsin with potent activity against HIV

Protein microbicides containing neutralizing antibodies and antiviral lectins may help to reduce the rate of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) if it is possible to manufacture the components in large quantities at a cost affordable in HIV‐endemic regions such as sub‐Saharan Africa. We expressed the antiviral lectin griffithsin (GRFT), which shows potent neutralizing activity against HIV, in the endosperm of transgenic rice plants (Oryza sativa), to determine whether rice can be used to produce inexpensive GRFT as a microbicide ingredient. The yield of (OS)GRFT in the best‐performing plants was 223 μg/g dry seed weight. We also established a one‐step purification protocol, achieving a recovery of 74% and a purity of 80%, which potentially could be developed into a larger‐scale process to facilitate inexpensive downstream processing. (OS)GRFT bound to HIV glycans with similar efficiency to GRFT produced in Escherichia coli. Whole‐cell assays using purified (OS)GRFT and infectivity assays using crude extracts of transgenic rice endosperm confirmed that both crude and pure (OS)GRFT showed potent activity against HIV and the crude extracts were not toxic towards human cell lines, suggesting they could be administered as a microbicide with only minimal processing. A freedom‐to‐operate analysis confirmed that GRFT produced in rice is suitable for commercial development, and an economic evaluation suggested that 1.8 kg/ha of pure GRFT could be produced from rice seeds. Our data therefore indicate that rice could be developed as an inexpensive production platform for GRFT as a microbicide component

Magnitude and incentives: Revisiting the overweighting of extreme events in risky decisions from experience

Recent experimental evidence in experience-based decision-making suggests that people are more risk seeking in the gains domain relative to the losses domain. This critical result is at odds with the standard reflection effect observed in description-based choice and explained by Prospect Theory. The so-called reversed-reflection effect has been predicated on the extreme-outcome rule, which suggests that memory biases affect risky choice from experience. To test the general plausibility of the rule, we conducted two experiments examining how the magnitude of prospective outcomes impacts risk preferences. We found that while the reversed-reflection effect was present with small-magnitude payoffs, using payoffs of larger magnitude brought participants’ behavior back in line with the standard reflection effect. Our results suggest that risk preferences in experience-based decision-making are not only affected by the relative extremeness but also by the absolute extremeness of past events

Kedudukan Keterangan Ahli Hukum dalam Proses Penyidikan di Kepolisian Daerah Riau

Examination of a case in a judicial process aimed at finding the material truth. There is an interesting tendency to be studied in the practice of law enforcement in Indonesia. The role of expert testimony increasingly prominent and there are quite a lot of cases the use of expert testimony as a justification in deciding criminal cases. as stipulated in Law No. 8 of 1981 on the Code of Criminal Procedure (Code of Criminal Procedure) in Article 184 paragraph (1). According to Article 184 paragraph (1) Code of Criminal Procedure states that legal evidence is witness\u27 testimony, expert Specification, Letters, Help, Information defendant. The research objective of this thesis are: First, to determine the position of expert testimony in the investigation process in Riau Regional Police, Second, to determine the criteria for someone to be called the lawyer who requested the expert testimony in practice in Riau Regional Police, Third, to know the power of information legal experts in the investigation process until the judge ruled.From the research, there are three main issues that can be inferred. First, Position description lawyers in Riau Regional Police investigation process, have an important role to help the investigator to search and collect evidence in the search for truth USAhannya material a criminal case, the Second, someone criteria to be called a lawyer who requested the expert testimony in practice in Riau Regional Police is someone who has experience in providing expert information and education that has the title of Professor, Doctor or Magester Law from the State University or the University of Private as Riau Regional Police itself has to cooperate with the aim to facilitate bringing a debirokrasi lawyers, Third, expert testimony actually have the power and important role in contributing to the clarity of the completion of a criminal case and help uncover or make light of a criminal case being examined. Suggestions Author, First, it is expected that law enforcement officers should refer to evidence or proof system and verification process that has been regulated by law, second, expert presented at the stage of investigation and in the trial must have the scientific expertise and integrity , independent, and professionalism in order to provide quality information and it should be in the set criteria person called as a legal expert, Third, an expert opinion is presented on the stage of the investigation and the court order may be a more important consideration by the judge in deciding a case

Molecular cloning, expression analysis and assignment of the porcine tumor necrosis factor superfamily member 10 gene (TNFSF10) to SSC13q34 -> q36 by fluorescence in situ hybridization and radiation hybrid mapping

We have cloned the complete coding region of the porcine TNFSF10 gene. The porcine TNFSF10 cDNA has an ORF of 870 nucleotides and shares 85 % identity with human TNFSF10, and 75% and 72% identity with rat and mouse Tnfsf10 coding sequences, respectively. The deduced porcine TNFSF10 protein consists of 289 amino acids with the calculated molecular mass of 33.5 kDa and a predicted pI of 8.15. The amino acid sequence similarities correspond to 86, 72 and 70% when compared with human, rat and mouse sequences, respectively. Nor-them blot analysis detected TNFSF10-specific transcripts (similar to 1.7 kb) in various organs of a 10-week-old pig, suggesting ubiquitous expression. Real-time RT-PCR studies of various organs from fetal (days 73 and 98) and postnatal stages (two weeks, eight months) demonstrated developmental and tissue-specific regulation of TNFSF10 mRNA abundance. The chromosomal location of the porcine TNFSF10 gene was determined by FISH of a specific BAC clone to metaphase chromosomes. This TNFSF10 BAC clone has been assigned to SSC13q34 -> q36. Additionally, the localization of the TNFSF10 gene was verified by RH mapping on the porcine IMpRH panel. Copyright (c) 2005S. KargerAG, Basel

Angular correlations of lepton pairs from vector boson and top quark decays in Monte Carlo simulations

We explain how angular correlations in leptonic decays of vector bosons and top quarks can be included in Monte Carlo parton showers, in particular those matched to NLO QCD computations. We consider the production of $n$ pairs of leptons, originating from the decays of $n$ electroweak vector bosons or of $n$ top quarks, in the narrow-width approximation. In the latter case, the information on the $n$ $b$ quarks emerging from the decays is also retained. We give results of implementing this procedure in MC@NL

Improving post-partum family planning services provided by female community health volunteers in Nepal: a mixed methods study.

BACKGROUND: Family planning services in the post-partum period, termed post-partum family planning (PPFP) is critical to cover the unmet need for contraception, especially when institutional delivery rates have increased. However, the intention to choose PPFP methods such as post-partum intrauterine devices (PPIUD) remains low in countries such as Nepal. Community health workers such as Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) could play an important role in improving the service coverage of PPFP in Nepal. However, their knowledge of PPFP and community-based services related to PPFP remain unclear. This study aims to assess the effect on community-based PPFP services by improving FCHV's knowledge through orientation on PPFP. METHODS: We conducted this mixed-methods study in Morang District in Nepal. The intervention involved orientation of FCHVs on PPFP methods. We collected quantitative data from three sources; via a survey of FCHVs that assessed their knowledge before and after the intervention, from their monthly reporting forms on counseling coverage of women at different stages of pregnancy from the communities, and by interviewing mothers in their immediate post-partum period in two selected hospitals. We also conducted six focus group discussions with the FCHVs to understand their perception of PPFP and the intervention. We performed descriptive and multivariable analyses for quantitative results and thematic analysis for qualitative data. RESULTS: In total, 230 FCHVs participated in the intervention and their knowledge of PPFP improved significantly after it. The intervention was the only factor significantly associated with their improved knowledge (adjusted odds ratio = 24, P < 0.001) in the multivariable analysis. FCHVs were able to counsel 83.3% of 1872 mothers at different stages of pregnancy in the communities. In the two hospitals, the proportion of mothers in their immediate post-partum period whom reported they were counseled by FCHVs during their pregnancy increased. It improved from 7% before the intervention to 18.1% (P < 0.001) after the intervention. The qualitative findings suggested that the intervention improved their knowledge in providing PPFP counseling. CONCLUSION: The orientation improved the FCHV's knowledge of PPFP and their community-based counseling. Follow-up studies are needed to assess the longer term effect of the FCHV's role in improving community-based PPFP services

Single-top production in MC@NLO

We match next-to-leading order QCD results for single-top hadroproduction with parton shower Monte Carlo simulations, according to the prescription of the MC@NLO formalism. In this way, we achieve the first practical implementation in MC@NLO of a process that has both initial- and final-state collinear singularities. We show that no difficulties of principle arise from this complication, and present selected results relevant to the Tevatron

Marketing Analysis of Buffalo at the Animal Market in Suka Village Karo Regency

Buffalo is one type of ruminant livestock that has quite a lot of potential. The animal market is a place for transacting buying and selling animals, which includes cows, buffaloes, goats and sheep. Animal markets usually operate only a few days a week. The Animal Market in Suka Village, Tigapanah District, Karo Regency is an animal market that operates every Tuesday from 09.00 - 17.00 WIB. Livestock sold in this animal market are cows and buffalo. Producers and consumers conduct transactions directly. This animal market is one of the potential areas of Karo Regency in the field of animal husbandry and is very suitable for developing buffalo marketing. This study aims to identify the characteristics of buffalo marketing institutions, market behavior, pricing processes, marketing channels, the role of the government in the animal market, analysis of margins marketing farmer share, and to analyze the marketing efficiency of buffalo in the animal market of Suka Village, Karo Regency. This research was conducted in October 2019-November 2019. The method used in data collection was descriptive analysis based on surveys and observations made, while the sample of farmers and other marketing institutions was snowball sampling. Data was collected by using interview techniques using questionnaires. The results of this study are that the marketing institutions involved include breeders and traders who are all male, whose age is above productive &lt; 51. There are two marketing channels, namely the first channel: farmers - consumers and the second channel: breeders - collectors - consumers. Marketing functions carried out by marketing institutions are exchange, physical and facility functions. Market behavior is that there is no dishonesty in pricing, marketing costs are not uniform and there is no government intervention. The market performance is that there is no technological progress, there is no improvement in product quality and service maximization. Data analysis includes marketing costs, marketing margins, farmer share of costs from each marketing channel. The results of this study indicate that there are two marketing channels. Margin is obtained by a marketing channel that has one marketing agency, thus this marketing channel has the farmer's share . So it can be concluded that the first marketing channel is the most efficient channel because it has the smallest cost and big profit

Inventory Policy for Retail Stores: A Multi-Item EOQ Model Considering Permissible Delay in Payment and Limited Warehouse Capacity

The retail industry such as minimarkets has many products consisting of several types of products that have expiration dates. Their warehouses have limited capacity, making it difficult to make decision about optimum inventory. Most of the suppliers will give permissible delay in payment, that can be used to increase income potential through earned by considering the risk of fines imposed if payments are exceeded and help companies raise capital before generating sales. These three factors must be considered when developing the inventory model. The purpose of this study is to develop a multi-item inventory model by considering perishable or damaged products, permissible delay in payment in limited warehouse. Model development is carried out in 2 stages. The first stage was the development of a multi-item EOQ model by considering product defects and permissible delay in payment. The second stage model is by adding a capacity constraint factor to the model.  The results obtained are getting the optimal order quantity by considering the number of product types, product damage factors, late payments in limited warehouses, the best ordering policy can be found, and it is known that the total inventory costs to changes in parameters are good and sensitive to changes in percentage, interest percentage, payment allowances, and warehouse capacity through sensitivity tests