The annual cycle of Earth emitted radiation distribution

Measurements of longwave radiation from the Earth Radiation Budget (ERB) experiment aboard the Nimbus 6 spacecraft have been analyzed to show the annual cycle of the distribution of Earth emitted radiation

Turbulent Firms, Turbulent Wages?

Has greater turbulence among firms fueled rising wage instability in the U.S.? Gottschalk and Moffitt ([1994]) find that rising earnings instability was responsible for one third to one half of the rise in wage inequality during the 1980s. These growing transitory fluctuations remain largely unexplained. To help fill this gap, this paper further documents the recent rise in transitory fluctuations in compensation and investigates its linkage to the concurrent rise in volatility of firm performance documented by Comin and Mulani [2005] among others. After examining models that explain the relationship between firm and wage volatility, we investigate the linkage in three complementary panel data sets, each with its own virtues and limitations: the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (detailed information on workers, but no information on employers), COMPUSTAT (detailed firm information, but only average wage and employment levels about workers), and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland's Community Salary Survey (wages and employment for specific occupations for identified firms). We find complementary support for the hypothesis in all three data sets. We can rule out straightforward compositional churning as an explanation for the link to firm performance in high-frequency (over spans of 5 years) wage volatility, although not in more persistent fluctuations (between successive 5-year averages). We conclude that the rise in firm turbulence explains about sixty percent of the recent the rise in the high frequency (5-year) volatility of wages.

Deconvolution and analysis of wide-angle longwave radiation data from Nimbus 6 Earth radiation budget experiment for the first year

One year of longwave radiation data from July 1975 through June 1976 from the Nimbus 6 satellite Earth radiation budget experiment is analyzed by representing the radiation field by a spherical harmonic expansion. The data are from the wide field of view instrument. Contour maps of the longwave radiation field and spherical harmonic coefficients to degree 12 and order 12 are presented for a 12 month data period

Function and anatomy of plant siRNA pools derived from hairpin transgenes

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>RNA interference results in specific gene silencing by small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs). Synthetic siRNAs provide a powerful tool for manipulating gene expression but high cost suggests that novel siRNA production methods are desirable. Strong evolutionary conservation of siRNA structure suggested that siRNAs will retain cross-species function and that transgenic plants expressing heterologous siRNAs might serve as useful siRNA bioreactors. Here we report a detailed evaluation of the above proposition and present evidence regarding structural features of siRNAs extracted from plants.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Testing the gene silencing capacity of plant-derived siRNAs in mammalian cells proved to be very challenging and required partial siRNA purification and design of a highly sensitive assay. Using the above assay we found that plant-derived siRNAs are ineffective for gene silencing in mammalian cells. Plant-derived siRNAs are almost exclusively double-stranded and most likely comprise a mixture of bona fide siRNAs and aberrant partially complementary duplexes. We also provide indirect evidence that plant-derived siRNAs may contain a hitherto undetected physiological modification, distinct from 3' terminal 2-O-methylation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>siRNAs produced from plant hairpin transgenes and extracted from plants are ineffective for gene silencing in mammalian cells. Thus our findings establish that a previous claim that transgenic plants offer a cost-effective, scalable and sustainable source of siRNAs is unwarranted. Our results also indicate that the presence of aberrant siRNA duplexes and possibly a plant-specific siRNA modification, compromises the gene silencing capacity of plant-derived siRNAs in mammalian cells.</p

Semiconductor Noise

Contains research objectives and reports on two research projects

Correction: CO2 induced phase transitions in diamine-appended metal-organic frameworks.

[This corrects the article DOI: 10.1039/C5SC01828E.]

Understanding the Social Networks That Form within the Context of an Obesity Prevention Intervention

Background. Antiobesity interventions have generally failed. Research now suggests that interventions must be informed by an understanding of the social environment. Objective. To examine if new social networks form between families participating in a group-level pediatric obesity prevention trial. Methods. Latino parent-preschool child dyads (N = 79) completed the 3-month trial. The intervention met weekly in consistent groups to practice healthy lifestyles. The control met monthly in inconsistent groups to learn about school readiness. UCINET and SIENA were used to examine network dynamics. Results. Children's mean age was 4.2 years (SD = 0.9), and 44% were overweight/obese (BMI ≥ 85th percentile). Parents were predominantly mothers (97%), with a mean age of 31.4 years (SD = 5.4), and 81% were overweight/obese (BMI ≥ 25). Over the study, a new social network evolved among participating families. Parents selectively formed friendship ties based on child BMI z-score, (t = 2.08; P < .05). This reveals the tendency for mothers to form new friendships with mothers whose children have similar body types. Discussion. Participating in a group-level intervention resulted in new social network formation. New ties were greatest with mothers who had children of similar body types. This finding might contribute to the known inability of parents to recognize child overweight

Child diet over three seasons in rural Zambia: Assessments of usual nutrient intake adequacy, components of intake variation and dietary diversity score performance

Inadequate dietary intakes are a key underlying cause of undernutrition, which places children at risk for impaired growth and development. Current estimates of prevalence of nutrient inadequacies are needed for the design of interventions to improve child diet. Estimates of nutrient intake variance components and validation of dietary diversity scores (DDS) among children are needed to design studies of nutrient intakes or population-level dietary adequacy, respectively. We conducted seven repeat 24-hour dietary recalls over six months among 4- to 8-year-old rural Zambian children (n=202). Participating children were enrolled in the non-intervened arm of a biofortified maize efficacy trial. We calculated observed nutrient intakes, frequencies of food consumption, usual intakes over six months, usual intakes by survey round and 7- and 10-food group DDS by survey round. Usual nutrient intakes over six months were used to estimate the prevalence of inadequacy of eleven micronutrients. We estimated within-person, between-person and seasonal components of variance in observed nutrient intakes. The performance of each DDS relative to overall nutrient intake adequacy and to usual intakes of five selected micronutrients was assessed by season. Children’s diets were heavily plant based and included few animal source foods. Estimated prevalence of inadequate calcium, vitamin B12, folate and iron intakes was >99%, 76%, 57% and 25%, respectively. Mean nutrient intakes differed significantly between three agricultural seasons and season accounted for 3%–23% of total intake variance. Within- to between-person variance ratios were high due to low between-person variance. DDS were associated with overall intake adequacy, but this association was significantly weaker in the late lean season than in the late post-harvest or early lean seasons. The heavily plant-based diet of rural Zambian children places them at risk for inadequate nutrient intakes. Because nutrient intakes vary by season, future studies estimating usual intakes should include repeat observations in multiple seasons. The 10-food group DDS is recommended over the 7-food group DDS for use as a population-level indicator of dietary adequacy