Fine-grained climate data alters the interpretation of a trait-based cline

Investigating responses to climate often rely on macroclimatic models. This is problematic because of the potential to miss or wrongly attribute relationships. Here we compare the explanatory power of macroclimatic models and near-surface topoclimatic models. Body-size measurements of the ant species, Iridomyrmex purpureus, were collected from separate colonies spanning a range of climatic conditions in a large region (∼75,000 km2) of Australia. Regional regression was used to derive two topoclimatic variables, while ANUCLIM was used to derive macroclimatic variables. Relationships were tested using linear mixed-effect models with Akaike information criterion used as an indication of the relative goodness of fit for each model. Significant trends for both topoclimatic variables with body size were detected but only one of the three macroclimatic variables showed a significant trend. Although the significant macroclimatic variable was correlated with one of the topoclimatic variables, the topoclimatic variable had greater explanatory power. Few studies have considered climatic data accuracy or the effects of inaccurately quantified climatic data on ecological theory. This cannot continue to be ignored. As we show in this study, there is potential for important trends to go undetected and interpretation of results to be completely different. Copyright © 2013 Gollan et al

Inflammation and endothelial function: Direct vascular effects of human C-reactive protein on nitric oxide bioavailability

Background - Circulating concentrations of the sensitive inflammatory marker C-reactive protein (CRP) predict future cardiovascular events, and CRP is elevated during sepsis and inflammation, when vascular reactivity may be modulated. We therefore investigated the direct effect of CRP on vascular reactivity. Methods and Results - The effects of isolated, pure human CRP on vasoreactivity and protein expression were studied in vascular rings and cells in vitro, and effects on blood pressure were studied in rats in vivo. The temporal relationship between changes in CRP concentration and brachial flow-mediated dilation was also studied in humans after vaccination with Salmonella typhi capsular polysaccharide, a model of inflammatory endothelial dysfunction. In contrast to some previous reports, highly purified and well-characterized human CRP specifically induced hyporeactivity to phenylephrine in rings of human internal mammary artery and rat aorta that was mediated through physiological antagonism by nitric oxide (NO). CRP did not alter endothelial NO synthase protein expression but increased protein expression of GTP cyclohydrolase-1, the rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of tetrahydrobiopterin, the NO synthase cofactor. In the vaccine model of inflammatory endothelial dysfunction in humans, increased CRP concentration coincided with the resolution rather than the development of endothelial dysfunction, consistent with the vitro findings; however, administration of human CRP to rats had no effect on blood pressure. Conclusions - Pure human CRP has specific, direct effects on vascular function in vitro via increased NO production; however, further clarification of the effect, if any, of CRP on vascular reactivity in humans in vivo will require clinical studies using specific inhibitors of CRP. © 2005 American Heart Association, Inc

Neural signals of “intensity” but not “wanting” or “liking” of rewards may be trait markers for depression

We have shown previously that particpants “at risk” of depression have decreased neural processing of reward suggesting this might be a neural biomarker for depression. However, how the neural signal related to subjective experiences of reward (wanting, liking, intensity) might differ as trait markers for depression, is as yet unknown. Using SPM8 parametric modulation analysis the neural signal related to the subjective report of wanting, liking and intensity was compared between 25 young people with a biological parent with depression (FH) and 25 age/gender matched controls. In a second study the neural signal related to the subjective report of wanting, liking and intensity was compared between 13 unmedicated recovered depressed (RD) patients and 14 healthy age/gender matched controls. The analysis revealed differences in the neural signal for wanting, liking and intensity ratings in the ventral striatum, dmPFC and caudate respectively in the RD group compared to controls . Despite no differences in the FH groups neural signal for wanting and liking there was a difference in the neural signal for intensity ratings in the dACC and anterior insula compared to controls. These results suggest that the neural substrates tracking the intensity but not the wanting or liking for rewards and punishers might be a trait marker for depression

Oral health and nutritional characteristics of adults with morbid obesity: a multivariate analysis.

The relationship between oral health and nutritional aspects are complex, especially in individuals with chronic diseases and comorbidities, such as morbid obesity. Thus, the aim of the present study was to identify oral health and nutritional-related patterns in 113 individuals, aged 19–68 years (92 females), seeking treatment for morbid obesity. Sociodemographic variables and medical records were examined, in addition to the consumption of fruit, vegetables, candies, and processed foods. Measures of body mass index, neck, waist and hip, caries experience (DMFT index), Community Periodontal Index (CPI index), and salivary physicochemical aspects were gathered. Aspects of oral health-related quality of life and symptoms of dry mouth were evaluated by means of Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) and Xerostomia Inventory-XI questionnaires. K-means cluster analysis and, subsequently, comparisons between clusters (one-way ANOVA) were performed (α = 5%). Three clusters were generated: Cluster 1 (labeled “Young”; n = 77) was characterized by younger participants with higher BMI, who reported the use of distractors while eating, the smallest number of meals/day, and who consumed sweetened drinks and processed food the day before. Cluster 2 (labeled “Diabetic individuals”; n = 12) was characterized by older participants with the highest proportion of diabetic participants (100% were diabetic; 73% insulin users), lower BMI, higher DMFT index and OHIP-14 and xerostomia scores, and who reported having consumed fruit and vegetables the day before. Finally, Cluster 3 (labeled “Poor periodontal health”; n = 24) was characterized by participants with the worse periodontal condition (higher CPI), and lower salivary flow, pH, and buffer capacity. Cluster 1 and 2 were the groups that showed higher demand for nutritional and dietetic counseling, because of the poor eating behavior and higher serum glucose levels, respectively. On the other hand, Cluster 2 and 3 showed the higher demand for oral rehabilitation and dental treatment because of the loss of teeth and worse periodontal condition, respectively, besides the need for dietetic counseling. This sample of individuals with morbid obesity showed very unique oral-health and nutritional characteristics and special needs patterns that should be identified to adjust or change unhealthy habits, thus improving the assistance of this condition

Detection of fingerprint alterations using deep convolutional neural networks

Fingerprint alteration is a challenge that poses enormous security risks. As a result, many research efforts in the scientific community have attempted to address this issue. However, non-existence of publicly available datasets that contain obfuscation and distortion of fingerprints makes it difficult to identify the type of alteration. In this work we present the publicly available Sokoto-Coventry Fingerprints Dataset (SOCOFing), which provides ten fingerprints for 600 different subjects, as well as gender, hand and finger name for each image, among other unique characteristics. We also provide a total of 55,249 images with three levels of alteration for Z-cut, obliteration and central rotation synthetic alterations, which are the most common types of obfuscation and distortion. In addition, this paper proposes a Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to identify these alterations. The proposed CNN model achieves a classification accuracy rate of 98.55%. Results are also compared with a residual CNN model pre-trained on ImageNet, which produces an accuracy of 99.88%

Measuring Accuracy of Automated Parsing and Categorization Tools and Processes in Digital Investigations

This work presents a method for the measurement of the accuracy of evidential artifact extraction and categorization tasks in digital forensic investigations. Instead of focusing on the measurement of accuracy and errors in the functions of digital forensic tools, this work proposes the application of information retrieval measurement techniques that allow the incorporation of errors introduced by tools and analysis processes. This method uses a `gold standard' that is the collection of evidential objects determined by a digital investigator from suspect data with an unknown ground truth. This work proposes that the accuracy of tools and investigation processes can be evaluated compared to the derived gold standard using common precision and recall values. Two example case studies are presented showing the measurement of the accuracy of automated analysis tools as compared to an in-depth analysis by an expert. It is shown that such measurement can allow investigators to determine changes in accuracy of their processes over time, and determine if such a change is caused by their tools or knowledge.Comment: 17 pages, 2 appendices, 1 figure, 5th International Conference on Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime; Digital Forensics and Cyber Crime, pp. 147-169, 201

A case study of transport of tropical marine boundary layer and lower tropospheric air masses to the northern midlatitude upper troposphere

Low-ozone (<20 ppbv) air masses were observed in the upper troposphere in northern midlatitudes over the eastern United States and the North Atlantic Ocean on several occasions in October 1997 during the NASA Subsonic Assessment, Ozone and Nitrogen Oxide Experiment (SONEX) mission. Three cases of low-ozone air masses were shown to have originated in the tropical Pacific marine boundary layer or lower troposphere and advected poleward along a warm conveyor belt during a synoptic-scale disturbance. The tropopause was elevated in the region with the low-ozone air mass. Stratospheric intrusions accompanied the disturbances. On the basis of storm track and stratospheric intrusion climatologies, such events appear to be more frequent from September through March than the rest of the year. Copyright 2000 by the American Geophysical Union

Performance of parental genotypes and inheritance of Angular Leaf Spot (Phaeosariopsis griseola) resistance in the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris)

Two studies, one on performance of six common bean parental genotypes and another on inheritance of resistance to Phaeosariopsis griseola (Pg) in the common bean were carried out in Malawi. Common bean entries namely; Chimbamba, Nasaka, RC 15, CAL 143 and Mexico 54 were evaluated on station in the 2004/2005 growing season at Bunda, Dedza, Ng'onga and Ntchenachena sites. The second study started by generating F1s and then F2 and F3 seeds in greenhouse at Bunda College. CAL 143 and Mexico 54 were sources of Pg resistance genes while Chimbamba, Nasaka and RC 15 were susceptible recipient parents. Following green house trials, Pg resistance was evaluated on station in the samesites. CAL 143 was highest yielding but unstable across sites. RC 15 was stable and gave the highest yield at the dry-spell-stricken Ng’onga whereas Mexico 54 was superior at Ntchenachena but highly unstable across sites. Yield was strongly correlated to number of effective pods per plant in all genotypes. The inheritance study showed that resistance to Pg in the common bean is controlled by one gene using both CAL 143 and Mexico 54 as resistant parents.&#160

On the treatment of solid boundary in smoothed particle hydrodynamics

As a popular meshfree particle method, the smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) has suffered from not being able to directly implement the solid boundary conditions. This influences the SPH approximation accuracy and hinders its further development and application to engineering and scientific problems. In this paper, a coupled dynamic solid boundary treatment (SBT) algorithm has been proposed, after investigating the features of existing SPH SBT algorithms. The novelty of the coupled dynamic SBT algorithm includes a new repulsive force between approaching fluid and solid particles, and a new numerical approximation scheme for estimating field functions of virtual solid particles. The new SBT algorithm has been examined with three numerical examples including a typical dam-break flow, a dam-break flow with a sharp-edged obstacle, and a water entry problem. It is demonstrated that SPH with this coupled dynamic boundary algorithm can lead to accurate results with smooth pressure field, and that the new SBT algorithm is also suitable for complex and even moving solid boundaries.</div

Orchestrating ongoing interaction flows of strategy formation in and between meetings

Research has addressed how the practices and organization of strategy meetings shape strategy processes and outcomes. However, how interactive processes run between and feed into meetings—an integral aspect of how managers shape ongoing strategy emergence—remains relatively poorly understood. Through a strong processual-interactionist approach, we thus examine how in- and between-meeting practices interact and create combined effects in orchestrating ongoing flows of strategy formation. By considering strategy meetings as part of and punctuating chain-like, interactive processes of strategy formation, we develop an understanding of how in- and between-meeting practices dynamically interact—they enable, balance the effects of, and shape one another through the interaction flows in which they are engaged. The longitudinal case study reveals and explains the role of cross-over effects and coalescing between multiple simultaneous interaction flows, thereby advancing extant research on how series of interaction sequences shape strategy emergence and evolution