An overview of New England's economic performance in 2010

In the first calendar year following the Great Recession, signs of an economic recovery began to take shape across New England. An improving labor market picture, growth in income, indications of a stabilizing housing market, and booming exports spurred economic growth in the region in 2010. As a result, New England’s overall performance surpassed that of the nation as a whole.Economic conditions - New England

Morphological and molecular characterisation of Scutellonema species from yam (Dioscorea spp.) and a key to the species of the genus

The yam nematode, Scutellonema bradys, is a major threat to yam (Dioscorea spp.) production across yam-growing regions. In West Africa, this species cohabits with many morphologically similar congeners and, consequently, its accurate diagnosis is essential for control and for monitoring its movement. In the present study, 46 Scutellonema populations collected from yam rhizosphere and yam tubers in different agro-ecological zones in Ghana and Nigeria were characterised by their morphological features and by sequencing of the D2-D3 region of the 28S rDNA gene and the mitochondrial COI genes. Molecular phylogeny, molecular species delimitation and morphology revealed S. bradys, S. cavenessi, S. clathricaudatum and three undescribed species from yam rhizosphere. Only S. bradys was identified from yam tuber tissue, however. For barcoding and identifying Scutellonema spp., the most suitable marker used was the COI gene. Additionally, 99 new Scutellonema sequences were generated using populations obtained also from banana, carrot, maize and tomato, including the first for S. paralabiatum and S. clathricaudatum, enabling the development of a dichotomous key for identification of Scutellonema spp. The implications of these results are discussed

Reporting of conflicts of interest from drug trials in Cochrane reviews:cross sectional study

Objectives To investigate the degree to which Cochrane reviews of drug interventions published in 2010 reported conflicts of interest from included trials and, among reviews that reported this information, where it was located in the review documents. Design Cross sectional study. Data sources Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Selection criteria Systematic reviews of drug interventions published in 2010 in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, with review content classified as up to date in 2008 or later and with results from one or more randomised controlled trials. Results Of 151 included Cochrane reviews, 46 (30%, 95% confidence interval 24% to 38%) reported information on the funding sources of included trials, including 30 (20%, 14% to 27%) that reported information on trial funding for all included trials and 16 (11%, 7% to 17%) that reported for some, but not all, trials. Only 16 of the 151 Cochrane reviews (11%, 7% to 17%) provided any information on trial author-industry financial ties or trial author-industry employment. Information on trial funding and trial author-industry ties was reported in one to seven locations within each review, with no consistent reporting location observed. Conclusions Most Cochrane reviews of drug trials published in 2010 did not provide information on trial funding sources or trial author-industry financial ties or employment. When this information was reported, location of reporting was inconsistent across reviews

Healthier Bowen Shire Partnership: Healthy Eating, Healthy Shire Project, To Undertake a Comprehensive Research Project to Evaluate How Food and Nutrition Strategies Influence Determinant Risk Behaviours of Chronic Disease at a Local Level

The Healthy Eating, Healthy Shire Project (HEHS) was one of four population-based community-development projects that received funding from Health Promotion Queensland (HPQ) in 2003-2004. The major purpose of the funding was to implement food and nutrition strategies to influence determinant risk behaviours of chronic disease at the local level. Simultaneously, HPQ provided separate funds for a research team from the University of Queensland (UQ) to carry out an independent Evaluation Research Project (ERP) of the four projects. HEHS is managed by the Healthier Bowen Shire Partnership (HBSP) with support from the Bowen Shire Council. HBSP is a community health promotion organisation with strong links to the Queensland Health Tropical Population Health (QH/TPHU) and a wide cross section of community groups. A number of community groups in Bowen and Collinsville have participated in HBSP initiatives. These include: Bowen Shire Council, Bowen Neighbourhood Centre, , Collinsville Schools, Collinsville Lions Club, Collinsville Regional Health Service, Bowen State School, Bowen Flexi Care, Murroona Gardens, St Mary’s School, , Bowen and Collinsville Aged Care Sector, Local Canteens and Tuckshops and the Zonta Club of Bowen HBSP was originally a partnership between Bowen Shire Community, University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland Health (including the Bowen Health District Service and the Tropical Public Health Unit) and non-government organisations (including the National Heart Foundation of Australia, Queensland Branch). It was developed as a two-year, community capacity building project originally funded by Health Promotion Queensland in 2000. To achieve sustainability HBSP incorporated in 2002, with the aim of continuing its activities

Reporting of Conflicts of Interest in Meta-analyses of Trials of Pharmacological Treatments

Context Disclosure of conflicts of interest (COIs) from pharmaceutical industry study funding and author-industry financial relationships is sometimes recommended for randomized controlled trials (RCTs) published in biomedical journals. Authors of meta-analyses, however, are not required to report COIs disclosed in original reports of included RCTs. Objective To investigate whether meta-analyses of pharmacological treatments published in high-impact biomedical journals report COIs disclosed in included RCTs. Data Sources and Study Selection We selected the 3 most recent meta-analyses of patented pharmacological treatments published January 2009 through October 2009 in each general medicine journal with an impact factor of at least 10; in high-impact journals in each of the 5 specialty medicine areas with the greatest 2008 global therapeutic sales (oncology, cardiology, respiratory medicine, endocrinology, and gastroenterology); and in the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. Data Extraction Two investigators independently extracted data on disclosed study funding, author-industry financial ties, and author employment from each meta-analysis, from RCTs included in each meta-analysis, and on whether meta-analyses reported disclosed COIs of included RCTs. Results Of 29 meta-analyses reviewed, which included 509 RCTs, only 2 meta-analyses (7%) reported RCT funding sources; and 0 reported RCT author-industry ties or employment by the pharmaceutical industry. Of 318 meta-analyzed RCTs that reported funding sources, 219 (69%) were industry funded; and 91 of 132 (69%) that reported author financial disclosures had 1 or more authors with pharmaceutical industry financial ties. In 7 of the 29 meta-analyses reviewed, 100% of included RCTs had at least 1 form of disclosed COI (pharmaceutical industry funding, author-industry financial ties, or employment), yet only 1 of these 7 meta-analyses reported RCT funding sources, and 0 reported RCT author-industry ties or employment. Conclusion Among a group of meta-analyses of pharmacological treatments published in high-impact biomedical journals, information concerning primary study funding and author COIs for the included RCTs were only rarely reported. JAMA. 2011;305(10):1008-1017 www.jama.co

Early Childhood/Child Welfare Priority

This is the executive summary of a white paper that describes the context, current capacity, areas of opportunity, and next steps for the UNO Early Childhood/Child Welfare Priority (ECCW). It responds to the need for comprehensive integrated systems of services designed to give all young children (birth through age eight) access to what they need in the early years to succeed in school and in life. In this context, UNO recognizes ECCW as critical to our metropolitan university mission. Further, we must come together with early childhood service providers, P-12 districts, parents, policy makers, other University of Nebraska campuses, community service agencies and businesses to improve learning and developmental outcomes for all children, with emphasis on children who are at-risk and those with special needs

Hoosier Housing Ready Toolkit: Ten Steps to Success for Rural Counties

Communities are at different points of readiness to increase their housing stock. With guidance from the Hoosier Housing Ready Toolkit, local leaders and residents explore and determine the paths that meet their town or city's specific housing needs. The toolkit includes housing market data resources, a quality-of-place inventory, a visioning guide, local government zoning and planning information, a tax model to help communities determine the cost and benefit of new housing units, and a site identification guide, among other resources

Observation of Parametric Instability in Advanced LIGO

Parametric instabilities have long been studied as a potentially limiting effect in high-power interferometric gravitational wave detectors. Until now, however, these instabilities have never been observed in a kilometer-scale interferometer. In this work we describe the first observation of parametric instability in an Advanced LIGO detector, and the means by which it has been removed as a barrier to progress