Ground Water in the Republican River Area, Cloud, Jewell, and Republic Counties, Kansas

Both surface and ground water are used for irrigation in parts of Cloud, Jewell, and Republic counties in north-central Kansas. The combination of surface-water irrigation and recharge from precipitation has caused some high ground-water levels in some of the upland areas. In the lowland areas, alluvial deposits yield as much as 1,400 gallons a minute to wells, and about 12,300 acre-feet of ground water is pumped annually for irrigation and other uses. It is estimated that 710 acre-feet of this quantity was removed from the Republican River in 1963 by the pumping of ground water. Coefficients of transmissibility from 61 well sites were used in making the above estimate. Ground-water recharge from precipitation in the area was estimated to be 0.6 inch and ground-water losses to evapotranspiration to be less than 0.2 inch. Chlorides in ground water in northern Cloud County are tabulated and the areas mapped where the ground water might be unfit for use in irrigation

Ground Water in the Republican River Area, Cloud, Jewell, and Republic Counties, Kansas

Both surface and ground water are used for irrigation in parts of Cloud, Jewell, and Republic counties in north-central Kansas. The combination of surface-water irrigation and recharge from precipitation has caused some high ground-water levels in some of the upland areas. In the lowland areas, alluvial deposits yield as much as 1,400 gallons a minute to wells, and about 12,300 acre-feet of ground water is pumped annually for irrigation and other uses. It is estimated that 710 acre-feet of this quantity was removed from the Republican River in 1963 by the pumping of ground water. Coefficients of transmissibility from 61 well sites were used in making the above estimate. Ground-water recharge from precipitation in the area was estimated to be 0.6 inch and ground-water losses to evapotranspiration to be less than 0.2 inch. Chlorides in ground water in northern Cloud County are tabulated and the areas mapped where the ground water might be unfit for use in irrigation

Dynamic Conversion Behavior at E-Commerce Sites

This paper develops a model of conversion behavior (i.e., converting store visits into purchases) that predicts each customer\u27s probability of purchasing based on an observed history of visits and purchases. We offer an individual-level probability model that allows for different forms of customer heterogeneity in a very flexible manner. Specifically, we decompose an individual\u27s conversion behavior into two components: one for accumulating visit effects and another for purchasing threshold effects. Each component is allowed to vary across households as well as over time. Visit effects capture the notion that store visits can play different roles in the purchasing process. For example, some visits are motivated by planned purchases, while others are associated with hedonic browsing (akin to window shopping); our model is able to accommodate these (and several other) types of visit-purchase relationships in a logical, parsimonious manner. The purchasing threshold captures the psychological resistance to online purchasing that may grow or shrink as a customer gains more experience with the purchasing process at a given website. We test different versions of the model that vary in the complexity of these two key components and also compare our general framework with popular alternatives such as logistic regression. We find that the proposed model offers excellent statistical properties, including its performance in a holdout validation sample, and also provides useful managerial diagnostics about the patterns underlying online buyer behavior

Capturing Evolving Visit Behavior in Clickstream Data

Many online sites, both retailers and content providers, routinely monitor visitor traffic as a useful measure of their overall success. However, simple summaries such as the total number of visits per month provide little insight about individual-level site-visit patterns, especially in a changing environment such as the Internet. This article develops an individual-level model for evolving visiting behavior based on Internet clickstream data. We capture cross-sectional variation in site-visit behavior as well as changes over time as visitors gain experience with the site. In addition, we examine the relationship between visiting frequency and purchasing propensity at an e-commerce site. We find evidence supporting the notion that people who visit a retail site more frequently have a greater propensity to buy. We also show that changes (i.e., evolution) in an individual\u27s visit frequency over time provides further information regarding which customer segments are likely to have higher purchasing conversion rates

Factors affecting continuation of clean intermittent catheterisation in people with multiple sclerosis: results of the COSMOS mixed-methods study

Background:  Clean intermittent catheterisation (CIC) is often recommended for people with multiple sclerosis (MS).  Objective:  To determine the variables that affect continuation or discontinuation of the use of CIC.  Methods:  A three-part mixed-method study (prospective longitudinal cohort (n = 56), longitudinal qualitative interviews (n = 20) and retrospective survey (n = 456)) was undertaken, which identified the variables that influenced CIC continuation/discontinuation. The potential explanatory variables investigated in each study were the individual’s age, gender, social circumstances, number of urinary tract infections, bladder symptoms, presence of co-morbidity, stage of multiple sclerosis and years since diagnosis, as well as CIC teaching method and intensity.  Results:  For some people with MS the prospect of undertaking CIC is difficult and may take a period of time to accept before beginning the process of using CIC. Ongoing support from clinicians, support at home and a perceived improvement in symptoms such as nocturia were positive predictors of continuation. In many cases, the development of a urinary tract infection during the early stages of CIC use had a significant detrimental impact on continuation.  Conclusion:  Procedures for reducing the incidence of urinary tract infection during the learning period (i.e. when being taught and becoming competent) should be considered, as well as the development of a tool to aid identification of a person’s readiness to try CIC

Patterns of depredation in the Hawai‘i deep-set longline fishery informed by fishery and false killer whale behavior

False killer whales (Pseudorca crassidens) depredate bait and catch in the Hawai‘i-based deep-set longline fishery, and as a result, this species is hooked or entangled more than any other cetacean in this fishery. We analyzed data collected by fisheries observers and from satellite-linked transmitters deployed on false killer whales to identify patterns of odontocete depredation that could help fishermen avoid overlap with whales. Odontocete depredation was observed on ˜6% of deep-set hauls across the fleet from 2004 to 2018. Model outcomes from binomial GAMMs suggested coarse patterns, for example, higher rates of depredation in winter, at lower latitudes, and with higher fishing effort. However, explanatory power was low, and no covariates were identified that could be used in a predictive context. The best indicator of depredation was the occurrence of depredation on a previous set of the same vessel. We identified spatiotemporal scales of this repeat depredation to provide guidance to fishermen on how far to move or how long to wait to reduce the probability of repeated interactions. The risk of depredation decreased with both space and time from a previous occurrence, with the greatest benefits achieved by moving ˜400 km or waiting ˜9 d, which reduced the occurrence of depredation from 18% to 9% (a 50% reduction). Fishermen moved a median 46 km and waited 4.7 h following an observed depredation interaction, which our analysis suggests is unlikely to lead to large reductions in risk. Satellite-tagged pelagic false killer whales moved up to 75 km in 4 h and 335 km in 24 h, suggesting that they can likely keep pace with longline vessels for at least four hours and likely longer. We recommend fishermen avoid areas of known depredation or bycatch by moving as far and as quickly as practical, especially within a day or two of the depredation or bycatch event. We also encourage captains to communicate depredation and bycatch occurrence to enable other vessels to similarly avoid high-risk areas

Dynamics of two laterally coupled semiconductor lasers: strong- and weak-coupling theory.

Copyright © 2008 The American Physical SocietyThe stability and nonlinear dynamics of two semiconductor lasers coupled side to side via evanescent waves are investigated by using three different models. In the composite-cavity model, the coupling between the lasers is accurately taken into account by calculating electric field profiles (composite-cavity modes) of the whole coupled-laser system. A bifurcation analysis of the composite-cavity model uncovers how different types of dynamics, including stationary phase-locking, periodic, quasiperiodic, and chaotic intensity oscillations, are organized. In the individual-laser model, the coupling between individual lasers is introduced phenomenologically with ad hoc coupling terms. Comparison with the composite-cavity model reveals drastic differences in the dynamics. To identify the causes of these differences, we derive a coupled-laser model with coupling terms which are consistent with the solution of the wave equation and the relevant boundary conditions. This coupled-laser model reproduces the dynamics of the composite-cavity model under weak-coupling conditions

Distinct Effects of Two HIV-1 Capsid Assembly Inhibitor Families That Bind the Same Site within the N-Terminal Domain of the Viral CA Protein

The emergence of resistance to existing classes of antiretroviral drugs necessitates finding new HIV-1 targets for drug discovery. The viral capsid (CA) protein represents one such potential new target. CA is sufficient to form mature HIV-1 capsids in vitro, and extensive structure-function and mutational analyses of CA have shown that the proper assembly, morphology, and stability of the mature capsid core are essential for the infectivity of HIV-1 virions. Here we describe the development of an in vitro capsid assembly assay based on the association of CA-NC subunits on immobilized oligonucleotides. This assay was used to screen a compound library, yielding several different families of compounds that inhibited capsid assembly. Optimization of two chemical series, termed the benzodiazepines (BD) and the benzimidazoles (BM), resulted in compounds with potent antiviral activity against wild-type and drug-resistant HIV-1. Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic and X-ray crystallographic analyses showed that both series of inhibitors bound to the N-terminal domain of CA. These inhibitors induce the formation of a pocket that overlaps with the binding site for the previously reported CAP inhibitors but is expanded significantly by these new, more potent CA inhibitors. Virus release and electron microscopic (EM) studies showed that the BD compounds prevented virion release, whereas the BM compounds inhibited the formation of the mature capsid. Passage of virus in the presence of the inhibitors selected for resistance mutations that mapped to highly conserved residues surrounding the inhibitor binding pocket, but also to the C-terminal domain of CA. The resistance mutations selected by the two series differed, consistent with differences in their interactions within the pocket, and most also impaired virus replicative capacity. Resistance mutations had two modes of action, either directly impacting inhibitor binding affinity or apparently increasing the overall stability of the viral capsid without affecting inhibitor binding. These studies demonstrate that CA is a viable antiviral target and demonstrate that inhibitors that bind within the same site on CA can have distinct binding modes and mechanisms of action

Lapatinib Induces Autophagy, Apoptosis and Megakaryocytic Differentiation in Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia K562 Cells

Lapatinib is an oral, small-molecule, dual tyrosine kinase inhibitor of epidermal growth factor receptors (EGFR, or ErbB/Her) in solid tumors. Little is known about the effect of lapatinib on leukemia. Using human chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) K562 cells as an experimental model, we found that lapatinib simultaneously induced morphological changes resembling apoptosis, autophagy, and megakaryocytic differentiation. Lapatinib-induced apoptosis was accompanied by a decrease in mitochondrial transmembrane potential and was attenuated by the pancaspase inhibitor z-VAD-fmk, indicating a mitochondria-mediated and caspase-dependent pathway. Lapatinib-induced autophagic cell death was verified by LC3-II conversion, and upregulation of Beclin-1. Further, autophagy inhibitor 3-methyladenine as well as autophagy-related proteins Beclin-1 (ATG6), ATG7, and ATG5 shRNA knockdown rescued the cells from lapatinib-induced growth inhibition. A moderate number of lapatinib-treated K562 cells exhibited features of megakaryocytic differentiation. In summary, lapatinib inhibited viability and induced multiple cellular events including apoptosis, autophagic cell death, and megakaryocytic differentiation in human CML K562 cells. This distinct activity of lapatinib against CML cells suggests potential for lapatinib as a therapeutic agent for treatment of CML. Further validation of lapatinib activity in vivo is warranted