Space shuttle: Basic hypersonic force data for Grumman delta wing orbiter configurations ROS-NB1 and ROS-WB1

Hypervelocity wind tunnel tests at Mach 10 of delta wing space shuttle model

Shikimate pathway in apicomplexan parasites

No abstract available

Integrating water management, habitat modelling and water quality at basin scale environmental flow assessment - Tormes River (Spain)

"This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published in Hydrological Sciences Journal on 2014, available online: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2013.821573"Multidisciplinary models are useful for integrating different disciplines when addressing water planning and management problems. We combine water resources management, water quality and habitat analysis tools that were developed with the Decision Support System AQUATOOL at a basin scale. The water management model solves the allocation problem through network flow optimisation and considers the environmental flows in some river stretches. Once volumes and flows are estimated, the water quality model is applied. Furthermore, the flows are evaluated from an ecological perspective by using time series of aquatic species habitat indicators. This approach was applied in the Tormes River Water System, where agricultural demands jeopardise the environmental needs of the river ecosystem. Additionally, water quality problems in the lower part of the river result from wastewater loading and agricultural pollution. Our methodological framework can be used to define water management rules that maintain water supply, aquatic ecosystem and water quality legal standards. The integration of ecological and water management criteria in a software platform with objective criteria and heuristic optimisation procedures allows for the realistic assessment and application of environmental flows. Here, we improve the general methodological framework by assessing the hydrological alteration of selected environmental flow regime scenarios.This study was partially funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness and the SCARCE project [Consolider-Ingenio 2010 CSD2009-00065].Paredes Arquiola, J.; Solera Solera, A.; Martinez-Capel, F.; Momblanch Benavent, A.; Andreu Álvarez, J. (2014). Integrating water management, habitat modelling and water quality at basin scale environmental flow assessment - Tormes River (Spain). Hydrological Sciences Journal. 59(3-4):878-889. https://doi.org/10.1080/02626667.2013.821573S878889593-4Acreman, M. (2005). Linking science and decision-making: features and experience from environmental river flow setting. Environmental Modelling & Software, 20(2), 99-109. doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2003.08.019Andreu, J., Capilla, J., & Sanchís, E. (1996). AQUATOOL, a generalized decision-support system for water-resources planning and operational management. Journal of Hydrology, 177(3-4), 269-291. doi:10.1016/0022-1694(95)02963-xBelmar, O., Velasco, J., & Martinez-Capel, F. (2011). Hydrological Classification of Natural Flow Regimes to Support Environmental Flow Assessments in Intensively Regulated Mediterranean Rivers, Segura River Basin (Spain). Environmental Management, 47(5), 992-1004. doi:10.1007/s00267-011-9661-0Bovee, K.D., 1982.A guide to stream habitat analysis using the Instream Flow Incremental Methodology.Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service Instream Flow Information Paper #12.Garcia De Jalon, D. and Lurueña, J., 2000. Estudio para la determinación de caudales mínimos en varios tramos de la cuenca del Tormes y del Alberche (provincia de Ávila). Technical Report of the Universidad Politécnica de Madrid for Junta de Castilla y León. (In Spanish)Liu, Y., Gupta, H., Springer, E., & Wagener, T. (2008). Linking science with environmental decision making: Experiences from an integrated modeling approach to supporting sustainable water resources management. Environmental Modelling & Software, 23(7), 846-858. doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2007.10.007Martinez-Capel, F.et al. 2006. Validació biològica del règim de cabals de manteniment definits al pla sectorial de les conques internes de Catalunya en 10 trams fluvials. Technical report of the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia for the Agència Catalana de l’Aigua (Generalitat de Catalunya). (In Spanish)Olaya-Marín, E. J., Martínez-Capel, F., Soares Costa, R. M., & Alcaraz-Hernández, J. D. (2012). Modelling native fish richness to evaluate the effects of hydromorphological changes and river restoration (Júcar River Basin, Spain). Science of The Total Environment, 440, 95-105. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.07.093Olden, J. D., & Poff, N. L. (2003). Redundancy and the choice of hydrologic indices for characterizing streamflow regimes. River Research and Applications, 19(2), 101-121. doi:10.1002/rra.700Bain, M. B., & Meixler, M. S. (2008). A target fish community to guide river restoration. River Research and Applications, 24(4), 453-458. doi:10.1002/rra.1065Paredes, J., Andreu, J., & Solera, A. (2010). A decision support system for water quality issues in the Manzanares River (Madrid, Spain). Science of The Total Environment, 408(12), 2576-2589. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2010.02.037Paredes-Arquiola, J., Andreu-Álvarez, J., Martín-Monerris, M., & Solera, A. (2010). Water Quantity and Quality Models Applied to the Jucar River Basin, Spain. Water Resources Management, 24(11), 2759-2779. doi:10.1007/s11269-010-9578-zParedes-Arquiola, J.et al. 2011. Implementing environmental flows in complex water resources systems – case study: the Duero river basin, Spain.River Research and Applications, 29, 451–468. doi:10.1002/rra.1617Poff, N. L., Allan, J. D., Bain, M. B., Karr, J. R., Prestegaard, K. L., Richter, B. D., … Stromberg, J. C. (1997). The Natural Flow Regime. BioScience, 47(11), 769-784. doi:10.2307/1313099POFF, N. L., RICHTER, B. D., ARTHINGTON, A. H., BUNN, S. E., NAIMAN, R. J., KENDY, E., … WARNER, A. (2010). The ecological limits of hydrologic alteration (ELOHA): a new framework for developing regional environmental flow standards. Freshwater Biology, 55(1), 147-170. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2427.2009.02204.xSolomon, S.et al. 2007.Climate change 2007: The physical science basis.Contribution of Working Group I to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press

Microhabitat competition between Iberian fish species and the endangered Júcar nase (Parachondrostoma arrigonis; Steindachner, 1866)

"This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Journal of Ecohydraulics on 24-01-2017, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/24705357.2016.1276417"[EN] Competition with invasive species is recognized as having a major impact on biodiversity conservation. The upper part of the Cabriel River (Eastern Iberian Peninsula) harbours the most important population of the Júcar nase (Parachondrostoma arrigonis; Steindachner, 1866), a fish species in imminent danger of extinction. Currently, this species cohabits with several non-native species, such as the Iberian nase (Pseudochondrostoma polylepis; Steindachner, 1864) and the bermejuela (Achondrostoma arcasii; Steindachner, 1866). The potential habitat competition with these species was studied by analysing the spatial and temporal overlapping of suitable microhabitats. Generalized Additive Mixed Models (GAMMs) were developed to model microhabitat selection and these GAMMs were used to assess the habitat suitability (i.e. probability of presence) under several flows simulated with River2D. The Júcar nase will compete, spatially and temporally, for the few suitable microhabitats with bermejuela and, to a lesser extent, with small Iberian nase; conversely, large Iberian nase was of minor concern, due to increased differences in habitat preferences. This study represents an important assessment of potential competition and, therefore, these results might assist to better define future management practices in the upper part of the Cabriel River.This study was funded by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness through the SCARCE project (Consolider Ingenio 2010 CSD2009 00065); the Universitat Politècnica de València, through the project UPPTE/2012/294 [PAID 06 12]; it was also partially funded by the IMPADAPT project (CGL2013-48424-C2-1-R) with Spanish MINECO (Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad) and FEDER funds. The authors would like to thank the help of the Conselleria de Territori i Vivenda (Generalitat Valenciana) and the Confederación Hidrográfica del Júcar (Spanish government), which provided environmental data to Alfredo Ollero, and the two anonymous reviewers who first suggested the submission of the paper to a regular journal. Finally, we would like to thank TECNOMA S.A. for the development of the hydraulic model.Muñoz Mas, R.; Soares Costa, RM.; Alcaraz-Hernández, JD.; Martinez-Capel, F. (2017). Microhabitat competition between Iberian fish species and the endangered Júcar nase (Parachondrostoma arrigonis; Steindachner, 1866). Journal of Ecohydraulics. 2(1):3-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/24705357.2016.1276417S31521Alcaraz, C., Carmona-Catot, G., Risueño, P., Perea, S., Pérez, C., Doadrio, I., & Aparicio, E. (2014). Assessing population status of Parachondrostoma arrigonis (Steindachner, 1866), threats and conservation perspectives. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 98(1), 443-455. doi:10.1007/s10641-014-0274-3ALMEIDA, D., & GROSSMAN, G. D. (2012). Utility of direct observational methods for assessing competitive interactions between non-native and native freshwater fishes. 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Development and validation of numerical habitat models for juveniles of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar). Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 57(10), 2065-2075. doi:10.1139/f00-162Guisan, A., Graham, C. H., Elith, J., & Huettmann, F. (2007). Sensitivity of predictive species distribution models to change in grain size. Diversity and Distributions, 13(3), 332-340. doi:10.1111/j.1472-4642.2007.00342.xHeggenes, J., Brabrand, Åg., & Saltveit, S. (1990). Comparison of Three Methods for Studies of Stream Habitat Use by Young Brown Trout and Atlantic Salmon. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 119(1), 101-111. doi:10.1577/1548-8659(1990)1192.3.co;2Jowett, I. G., & Davey, A. J. H. (2007). A Comparison of Composite Habitat Suitability Indices and Generalized Additive Models of Invertebrate Abundance and Fish Presence–Habitat Availability. Transactions of the American Fisheries Society, 136(2), 428-444. doi:10.1577/t06-104.1Jowett, I. G., & Duncan, M. J. (2012). 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Towards the conservation of freshwater fish: Iberian Rivers as an example of threats and management practices. Reviews in Fish Biology and Fisheries, 23(1), 1-22. doi:10.1007/s11160-012-9275-5Maggini, R., Lehmann, A., Zimmermann, N. E., & Guisan, A. (2006). Improving generalized regression analysis for the spatial prediction of forest communities. Journal of Biogeography, 33(10), 1729-1749. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2699.2006.01465.xMarr, S. M., Olden, J. D., Leprieur, F., Arismendi, I., Ćaleta, M., Morgan, D. L., … García-Berthou, E. (2013). A global assessment of freshwater fish introductions in mediterranean-climate regions. Hydrobiologia, 719(1), 317-329. doi:10.1007/s10750-013-1486-9MARTÍNEZ-CAPEL, F., GARCÍA DE JALÓN, D., WERENITZKY, D., BAEZA, D., & RODILLA-ALAMÁ, M. (2009). Microhabitat use by three endemic Iberian cyprinids in Mediterranean rivers (Tagus River Basin, Spain). Fisheries Management and Ecology, 16(1), 52-60. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2400.2008.00645.xMouton, A. M., Alcaraz-Hernández, J. D., De Baets, B., Goethals, P. L. M., & Martínez-Capel, F. (2011). Data-driven fuzzy habitat suitability models for brown trout in Spanish Mediterranean rivers. Environmental Modelling & Software, 26(5), 615-622. doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2010.12.001Mouton, A. M., De Baets, B., & Goethals, P. L. M. (2010). Ecological relevance of performance criteria for species distribution models. Ecological Modelling, 221(16), 1995-2002. doi:10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.04.017Muñoz-Mas, R., Fukuda, S., Vezza, P., & Martínez-Capel, F. (2016). Comparing four methods for decision-tree induction: A case study on the invasive Iberian gudgeon ( Gobio lozanoi ; Doadrio and Madeira, 2004). Ecological Informatics, 34, 22-34. doi:10.1016/j.ecoinf.2016.04.011Muñoz-Mas, R., Lopez-Nicolas, A., Martínez-Capel, F., & Pulido-Velazquez, M. (2016). Shifts in the suitable habitat available for brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) under short-term climate change scenarios. Science of The Total Environment, 544, 686-700. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2015.11.147Muñoz-Mas, R., Martínez-Capel, F., Garófano-Gómez, V., & Mouton, A. M. (2014). Application of Probabilistic Neural Networks to microhabitat suitability modelling for adult brown trout (Salmo trutta L.) in Iberian rivers. Environmental Modelling & Software, 59, 30-43. doi:10.1016/j.envsoft.2014.05.003Muñoz-Mas, R., Martínez-Capel, F., Schneider, M., & Mouton, A. M. (2012). Assessment of brown trout habitat suitability in the Jucar River Basin (SPAIN): Comparison of data-driven approaches with fuzzy-logic models and univariate suitability curves. Science of The Total Environment, 440, 123-131. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2012.07.074Muñoz-Mas, R., Papadaki, C., Martínez-Capel, F., Zogaris, S., Ntoanidis, L., & Dimitriou, E. (2016). Generalized additive and fuzzy models in environmental flow assessment: A comparison employing the West Balkan trout (Salmo farioides; Karaman, 1938). 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A Randomized Controlled Trial of Folate Supplementation When Treating Malaria in Pregnancy with Sulfadoxine-Pyrimethamine

OBJECTIVES: Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) is an antimalarial drug that acts on the folate metabolism of the malaria parasite. We investigated whether folate (FA) supplementation in a high or a low dose affects the efficacy of SP for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria in pregnant women. DESIGN: This was a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial. SETTING: The trial was carried out at three hospitals in western Kenya. PARTICIPANTS: The participants were 488 pregnant women presenting at their first antenatal visit with uncomplicated malaria parasitaemia (density of ≥ 500 parasites/μl), a haemoglobin level higher than 7 g/dl, a gestational age between 17 and 34 weeks, and no history of antimalarial or FA use, or sulfa allergy. A total of 415 women completed the study. INTERVENTIONS: All participants received SP and iron supplementation. They were randomized to the following arms: FA 5 mg, FA 0.4 mg, or FA placebo. After 14 days, all participants continued with FA 5 mg daily as per national guidelines. Participants were followed at days 2, 3, 7, 14, 21, and 28 or until treatment failure. OUTCOME MEASURES: The outcomes were SP failure rate and change in haemoglobin at day 14. RESULTS: The proportion of treatment failure at day 14 was 13.9% (19/137) in the placebo group, 14.5% (20/138) in the FA 0.4 mg arm (adjusted hazard ratio [AHR], 1.07; 98.7% confidence interval [CI], 0.48 to 2.37; p = 0.8), and 27.1% (38/140) in the FA 5 mg arm (AHR, 2.19; 98.7% CI, 1.09 to 4.40; p = 0.005). The haemoglobin levels at day 14 were not different relative to placebo (mean difference for FA 5 mg, 0.17 g/dl; 98.7% CI, −0.19 to 0.52; and for FA 0.4 mg, 0.14 g/dl; 98.7% CI, −0.21 to 0.49). CONCLUSIONS: Concomitant use of 5 mg FA supplementation compromises the efficacy of SP for the treatment of uncomplicated malaria in pregnant women. Countries that use SP for treatment or prevention of malaria in pregnancy need to evaluate their antenatal policy on timing or dose of FA supplementation

Establishment of an In Vitro Assay for Assessing the Effects of Drugs on the Liver Stages of Plasmodium vivax Malaria

Plasmodium vivax (Pv) is the second most important human malaria parasite. Recent data indicate that the impact of Pv malaria on the health and economies of the developing world has been dramatically underestimated. Pv has a unique feature in its life cycle. Uninucleate sporozoites (spz), after invasion of human hepatocytes, either proceed to develop into tens of thousands of merozoites within the infected hepatocytes or remain as dormant forms called hypnozoites, which cause relapses of malaria months to several years after the primary infection. Elimination of malaria caused by Pv will be facilitated by developing a safe, highly effective drug that eliminates Pv liver stages, including hypnozoites. Identification and development of such a drug would be facilitated by the development of a medium to high throughput assay for screening drugs against Pv liver stages. We undertook the present pilot study to (1) assess the feasibility of producing large quantities of purified, vialed, cryopreserved Pv sporozoites and (2) establish a system for culturing the liver stages of Pv in order to assess the effects of drugs on the liver stages of Pv. We used primaquine (PQ) to establish this assay model, because PQ is the only licensed drug known to clear all Pv hepatocyte stages, including hypnozoites, and the effect of PQ on Pv hepatocyte stage development in vitro has not previously been reported. We report that we have established the capacity to reproducibly infect hepatoma cells with purified, cyropreserved Pv spz from the same lot, quantitate the primary outcome variable of infected hepatoma cells and demonstrate the inhibitory activity of primaquine on the infected hepatoma cells. We have also identified small parasite forms that may be hypnozoites. These data provide the foundation for finalizing a medium throughput, high content assay to identify new drugs for the elimination of all Pv liver stages

Explosive pulsed power experimental capability at LLNL

Abstract not provide

Expectations, perceptions, and physiotherapy predict prolonged sick leave in subacute low back pain

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Brief intervention programs for subacute low back pain (LBP) result in significant reduction of sick leave compared to treatment as usual. Although effective, a substantial proportion of the patients do not return to work. This study investigates predictors of return to work in LBP patients participating in a randomized controlled trial comparing a brief intervention program (BI) with BI and physical exercise.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Predictors for not returning to work was examined in 246 patients sick listed 8-12 weeks for low back pain. The patients had participated in a randomized controlled trial, with BI (n = 122) and BI + physical exercise (n = 124). There were no significant differences between the two intervention groups on return to work. The groups were therefore merged in the analyses of predictors. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify predictors for non return to work at 3, 12, and 24 months of follow-up.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>At 3 months of follow-up, the strongest predictors for not returning to work were pain intensity while resting (OR = 5.6; CI = 1.7-19), the perception of constant back strain when working (OR = 4.1; CI = 1.5-12), negative expectations for return to work (OR = 4.2; CI = 1.7-10), and having been to a physiotherapist prior to participation in the trial (OR = 3.3; CI = 1.3-8.3). At 12 months, perceived reduced ability to walk far due to the complaints (OR = 2.6; CI = 1.3-5.4), pain during activities (OR = 2.4; CI = 1.1-5.1), and having been to a physiotherapist prior to participation in the trial (OR = 2.1; CI = 1.1-4.3) were the strongest predictors for non return to work. At 24 months age below 41 years (OR = 2.9; CI = 1.4-6.0) was the only significant predictor for non return to work.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It appears that return to work is highly dependant on individual and cognitive factors. Patients not returning to work after the interventions were characterized by negative expectations, perceptions about pain and disability, and previous physiotherapy treatment. This is the first study reporting that previous treatment by physiotherapists is a risk factor for long-term sick leave. This has not been reported before and is an interesting finding that deserves more scrutiny.</p

Effects of Point Mutations in Plasmodium falciparum Dihydrofolate Reductase and Dihydropterate Synthase Genes on Clinical Outcomes and In Vitro Susceptibility to Sulfadoxine and Pyrimethamine

Sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine was a common first line drug therapy to treat uncomplicated falciparum malaria, but increasing therapeutic failures associated with the development of significant levels of resistance worldwide has prompted change to alternative treatment regimes in many national malaria control programs. METHODOLOGY AND FINDING: We conducted an in vivo therapeutic efficacy trial of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine at two locations in the Peruvian Amazon enrolling 99 patients of which, 86 patients completed the protocol specified 28 day follow up. Our objective was to correlate the presence of polymorphisms in P. falciparum dihydrofolate reductase and dihydropteroate synthase to in vitro parasite susceptibility to sulfadoxine and pyrimethamine and to in vivo treatment outcomes. Inhibitory concentration 50 values of isolates increased with numbers of mutations (single [108N], sextuplet [BR/51I/108N/164L and 437G/581G]) and septuplet (BR/51I/108N/164L and 437G/540E/581G) with geometric means of 76 nM (35-166 nM), 582 nM (49-6890- nM) and 4909 (3575-6741 nM) nM for sulfadoxine and 33 nM (22-51 nM), 81 nM (19-345 nM), and 215 nM (176-262 nM) for pyrimethamine. A single mutation present in the isolate obtained at the time of enrollment from either dihydrofolate reductase (164L) or dihydropteroate synthase (540E) predicted treatment failure as well as any other single gene alone or in combination. Patients with the dihydrofolate reductase 164L mutation were 3.6 times as likely to be treatment failures [failures 85.4% (164L) vs 23.7% (I164); relative risk = 3.61; 95% CI: 2.14 - 6.64] while patients with the dihydropteroate synthase 540E were 2.6 times as likely to fail treatment (96.7% (540E) vs 37.5% (K540); relative risk = 2.58; 95% CI: 1.88 - 3.73). Patients with both dihydrofolate reductase 164L and dihydropteroate synthase 540E mutations were 4.1 times as likely to be treatment failures [96.7% vs 23.7%; RR = 4.08; 95% CI: 2.45 - 7.46] compared to patients having both wild forms (I164 and K540).In this part of the Amazon basin, it may be possible to predict treatment failure with sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine equally well by determination of either of the single mutations dihydrofolate reductase 164L or dihydropteroate synthase 540E.ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00951106