Team Coordination Dynamics of Winning NBA Teams

Predicting sports games outcomes is an endless pursuit shared by stakeholders ranging from fans to coaches to data scientists. We have begun investigating the value of positional data recorded during basketball gameplay with the goal of predicting outcomes from team dynamics as they emerge. We approached this problem by analyzing the “shape” of team movements on the court and investigated whether team dynamics in NBA games mimicked long-range correlated patterns observed in other team contexts. We analyzed 622 NBA games from an archival data set, including all area time series obtained for each of the four quarters. We fit a linear mixed-effects model with normalized α or percent determinism, as the outcome variable, and a fixed effect of win/loss and random team effects (i.e., random intercepts). These preliminary results suggest that analyzing positional data using time series data may provide meaningful information relating to game outcomes and team coordination dynamics

Exploitation of juveniles of the spinycheek grouper, Epinephelus diacanthus by multiday trawlers along Dakshina Kannada coast

The juveniles in the size range 9-24 cm are in sizeable quantities during October - May at Mangalore and Malpe landing centres of Dakshina Kannada coast. The present study is undertaken to highlight the magnitude of the exploitation of the juveniles of the Spinycheek grouper. Epinephelus diacanthus by trawlers along the Dakshina Kannada coast and its impact on the stock with a brief description on its biology. This species is known to grow to a large size and supports a fishery of some magnitude in other parts of the Indian coast. The results presented here are based on the data collected on the landing of the species at Mangalore and Malpe during 1988/'89 - 1993-'9

The efficacy of intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor as primary treatment of retinopathy of prematurity: Experience from a tertiary hospital

Background. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vasoproliferative disease affecting premature babies and a major cause of blindness in childhood. Appropriate screening and treatment can prevent blindness.Objective. To report on the efficacy of using antivascular endothelial growth factor (bevacizumab) as first-line therapy in ROP.Methods. This was a retrospective analysis of patients with ROP treated at St John Eye Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa, over a 3-year period. Outcome measures were the clinical response to intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) as well as the economic impact of IVB therapy.Results. Twenty-three patients were treated for active ROP or type 1 disease, in 44 eyes. Two patients required treatment in one eye only. The mean birth weight of these patients was 1 074 g (range 810 - 1 480). Response to treatment outcome was available for 22 patients (43 eyes). The mean follow-up period was 9 months (range 1 - 18). Forty-one eyes (95.3%) showed complete regression or non-progression of the disease. Two eyes (one eye each in two patients) progressed to advanced disease. There were no short-term adverse events. A cost-effective model showed that IVB treatment was much more economical than laser therapy.Conclusion. IVB is a safe and effective first-line treatment for ROP and should be considered in resource-limited centres

The efficacy of intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor as primary treatment of retinopathy of prematurity: Experience from a tertiary hospital

Background. Retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) is a vasoproliferative disease affecting premature babies and a major cause of blindness in childhood. Appropriate screening and treatment can prevent blindness.Objective. To report on the efficacy of using antivascular endothelial growth factor (bevacizumab) as first-line therapy in ROP.Methods. This was a retrospective analysis of patients with ROP treated at St John Eye Hospital, Johannesburg, South Africa, over a 3-year period. Outcome measures were the clinical response to intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) as well as the economic impact of IVB therapy.Results. Twenty-three patients were treated for active ROP or type 1 disease, in 44 eyes. Two patients required treatment in one eye only. The mean birth weight of these patients was 1 074 g (range 810 - 1 480). Response to treatment outcome was available for 22 patients (43 eyes). The mean follow-up period was 9 months (range 1 - 18). Forty-one eyes (95.3%) showed complete regression or non-progression of the disease. Two eyes (one eye each in two patients) progressed to advanced disease. There were no short-term adverse events. A cost-effective model showed that IVB treatment was much more economical than laser therapy.Conclusion. IVB is a safe and effective first-line treatment for ROP and should be considered in resource-limited centres

Effect of palm bunch ash treatment on remediation and growth performance of Zea mays in crude oil polluted soil

The effect of polluted hydrocarbon (PHC) soil altering the fertility of the soil for effective plant growth yield is a major concern. This study examines the use of oil palm bunch ash as biostimulation technique for bioremediation of PHC soils. Under strict compliance of oil treatment of 10g, 20g, 30g, 40g, 50g, and 60g with oil palm bunch ash on soil samples of 2kg weighed surface soil of 0-20cm polluted and non-polluted sites were collected randomly into perforated planting bags. Various results of residual and cumulative effect on treated soil of oil palm bunch ash enhances the improvement of Zea mays growth performance at 7WAP (7 weeks after planting) after eight months post-treated soils. The residual result shows that optimum treatment favoured 40g/2kg soil with plant emergence ( 41.67% ), plant height ( 22.77cm) and dry matter ( 0.7235g ), while cumulative treatment revealed 30g/2kg treatment as optimum with plant emergence ( 91.67% ), plant height ( 24.40 cm) and dry matter ( 0.8202g ). No doubt, this study of treating PHC soil with oil palm bunch ash at the above mentioned treatment levels improved soil performance for plant growth by reducing the hydrophobic nature of soils which resulted to improvement in the availability of water, oxygen and mineralization of soils. Key words: Biostimulation, Bioremediation, Residual, Cumulative, Plant Performance.

Monsoon prawn fishery by 'Matabala' along the Mangalore coast—a critical study

The article presents a report on a critical study about 'Matabala' also known as 'Disco net' (small version of purse seine net made of nylon), a gear used along the Mangalore coast during monsoon period. It was considered that the net was much more size specific to catch large sized prawns

Fomitopsis pinicola in healthful dietary approach and their therapeutic potentials

Certain macrofungi species have been used for medical purposes and as nutrients since the old times. The present study aims to determine and compare total antioxidant status (TAS), total oxidant status (TOS), oxidative stress index (OSI) values, and Fe, Zn, Cu, Pb, and Ni levels in Fomitopsis pinicola (Sw.) P. Karst samples gathered in Balıkesir province Kazdağı National Park and Yalova province Çınarcık Hasan Baba Woods in Turkey. TAS, TOS, and OSI values of mushroom samples were measured with Rel Assay kits. Mushroom heavy metal content was determined using an atomic absorption spectrophotometer and wet decomposition procedure. In the samples collected from Çınarcık district, OSI values were 0.99±0.03, while in the samples collected from Kazdağı National Park, OSI values were 0.13±0.01. Fe content in the samples collected from Çınarcık district were 265.9±70.5 ppm, while Fe content in the samples collected from Kazdağı National Park were 31.31±1.43 ppm. As a result, it is considered that the mushrooms could be used as antioxidant source. Furthermore, it could be argued that as a result of the increase in heavy metal levels, the production of oxidants increases in living organisms, which in turn increases the oxidative stress index

Big Sharks in the Salish Sea: combining passive acoustics with the Salish Sea model to predict Sixgill Shark (Hexanchus griseus) presence

Examination of species-environment relationships that determine broad-scale distribution patterns is a key focus of ecological research. Characterizing animal-habitat associations in the marine environment is particularly challenging given the opacity of the ocean, and addressing this question in marine systems has consequently lagged behind terrestrial systems. In this project, we have leveraged existing data on locations of a large marine predator, the Sixgill Shark, Hexanchus griseus, and linked that with the PNNL’s Salish Sea Model over the domain of shark movement in Puget Sound, Washington state. Twenty-nine Sixgill sharks were tracked from 2005-2009 across 130 hydrophone receivers with tags that reported not only individual presence but also depth. Temperature, salinity, and dissolved oxygen data were sampled from those locations and depths to generate a species distribution model for Sixgill sharks in the Puget Sound ecosystem. This study generated two key findings. First, the models indicate that sharks inhabit areas with higher salinity and exhibit temperature associations within Puget Sound that suggest a narrower behavioral preference than physiological limitations. Second, despite its course resolution and presence/absence character, passive telemetry data performs well in resolving species distribution models. Such results can be used to produce large scale, 3D maps of suitable habitat for marine species. Results establish that these acoustic technologies, when paired with sufficient environmental data, can extend analytical approaches common to terrestrial systems to the management and conservation of marine organisms