Preserving Natural Diversity in Iowa\u27s Loess Hills: Challenges and Opportunities

The Loess Hills of western Iowa, due to their extent and depth, are of national importance for geological reasons. They also harbor a large portion of Iowa\u27s remaining biological diversity, the significance of which has been underscored by studies sponsored by the State Preserves Advisory Board during the past several years. A complex of rare species of plants and animals exist in the rugged terrain; many are Great Plains species which find their only Iowa stations in these Loess Hills. Management problems, such as rapid invasion of prairies by woody species, are manifest in this landform and must be addressed in the near future. Land protection measures are being addressed by the Department of National Resources, State Preserves Advisory Board, Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation, the Iowa Chapter of The Nature Conservancy and County Conservation Boards. The National Park Service has recently designated over 10,000 acres as a National Natural Landmark

Accent modulates access to word meaning: Evidence for a speaker-model account of spoken word recognition

Speech carries accent information relevant to determining the speaker’s linguistic and social background. A series of web-based experiments demonstrate that accent cues can modulate access to word meaning. In Experiments 1-3, British participants were more likely to retrieve the American dominant meaning (e.g., hat meaning of “bonnet”) in a word association task if they heard the words in an American than a British accent. In addition, results from a speeded semantic decision task (Experiment 4) and sentence comprehension task (Experiment 5) confirm that accent modulates on-line meaning retrieval such that comprehension of ambiguous words is easier when the relevant word meaning is dominant in the speaker’s dialect. Critically, neutral-accent speech items, created by morphing British- and American-accented recordings, were interpreted in a similar way to accented words when embedded in a context of accented words (Experiment 2). This finding indicates that listeners do not use accent to guide meaning retrieval on a word-by-word basis; instead they use accent information to determine the dialectic identity of a speaker and then use their experience of that dialect to guide meaning access for all words spoken by that person. These results motivate a speaker-model account of spoken word recognition in which comprehenders determine key characteristics of their interlocutor and use this knowledge to guide word meaning access

Complementary Patents and Market Structure

Many high technology goods are based on standards that require several essential patents owned by different IP holders. This gives rise to a complements and a double mark-up problem. We compare the welfare effects of two different business strategies dealing with these problems. Vertical integration of an IP holder and a downstream producer solves the double mark-up problem between these firms. Nevertheless, it may raise royalty rates and reduce output as compared to non-integration. Horizontal integration of IP holders solves the complements problem but not the double mark-up problem. Vertical integration discourages entry and reduces innovation incentives, while horizontal integration always benefits from entry and innovatio

The winds and currents mission concept

© The Author(s), 2019. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Rodriguez, E., Bourassa, M., Chelton, D., Farrar, J. T., Long, D., Perkovic-Martin, D., & Samelson, R. The winds and currents mission concept. Frontiers in Marine Science, 6, (2019): 438, doi:10.3389/fmars.2019.00438.The Winds and Currents Mission (WaCM) is a proposed approach to meet the need identified by the NRC Decadal Survey for the simultaneous measurements of ocean vector winds and currents. WaCM features a Ka-band pencil-beam Doppler scatterometer able to map ocean winds and currents globally. We review the principles behind the WaCM measurement and the requirements driving the mission. We then present an overview of the WaCM observatory and tie its capabilities to other OceanObs reviews and measurement approaches.ER was funded under NASA grant NNN13D462T. DC was funded under NASA grant NNX10AO98G. JF was funded under NASA grants NNX14AM71G and NNX16AH76G. DL was funded under NASA grant NNX14AM67G. DP-M was funded under NASA grant NNH13ZDA001N. RS was funded under NASA grant NNX14AM66G

Supplemental Control of Lepidopterous Pests on Bt Transgenic Sweet Corn with Biologically-Based Spray Treatments

Biologically-based spray treatments, including nucleopolyhedroviruses, neem, and spinosad, were evaluated as supplemental controls for the fall armyworm, Spodoptera frugiperda (J. E. Smith), and corn earworm, Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), on transgenic sweet corn, Zea mays (L.) (Poales: Poaceae), expressing a Cry1Ab toxin from Bacillus thuringiensis Berliner (Bacillales: Bacillaceae) (Bt). Overall, transgenic corn supported lower densities of both pests than did nontransgenic corn. Control of the fall armyworm was improved in both whorl-stage and tassel-stage corn by the use of either a nucleopolyhedrovirus or neem, but the greatest improvement was seen with spinosad. Only spinosad consistently reduced damage to ears, which was caused by both pest species. In general, efficacy of the spray materials did not differ greatly between transgenic and nontransgenic corn

ELECTRICAL RESISTANCE HEATING OF SOILS AT C-REACTOR AT THE SAVANNAH RIVER SITE

Chlorinated solvent contamination of soils and groundwater is an endemic problem at the Savannah River Site (SRS), and originated as by-products from the nuclear materials manufacturing process. Five nuclear reactors at the SRS produced special nuclear materials for the nation's defense program throughout the cold war era. An important step in the process was thorough degreasing of the fuel and target assemblies prior to irradiation. Discharges from this degreasing process resulted in significant groundwater contamination that would continue well into the future unless a soil remediation action was performed. The largest reactor contamination plume originated from C-Reactor and an interim action was selected in 2004 to remove the residual trichloroethylene (TCE) source material by electrical resistance heating (ERH) technology. This would be followed by monitoring to determine the rate of decrease in concentration in the contaminant plume. Because of the existence of numerous chlorinated solvent sources around SRS, it was elected to generate in-house expertise in the design and operation of ERH, together with the construction of a portable ERH/SVE system that could be deployed at multiple locations around the site. This paper describes the waste unit characteristics, the ERH system design and operation, together with extensive data accumulated from the first deployment adjacent to the C-Reactor building. The installation heated the vadose zone down to 62 feet bgs over a 60 day period during the summer of 2006 and raised soil temperatures to over 200 F. A total of 730 lbs of trichloroethylene (TCE) were removed over this period, and subsequent sampling indicated a removal efficiency of 99.4%

Routine Pediatric Enterovirus 71 Vaccination in China: a Cost-Effectiveness Analysis.

BACKGROUND: China accounted for 87% (9.8 million/11.3 million) of all hand, foot, and mouth disease (HFMD) cases reported to WHO during 2010-2014. Enterovirus 71 (EV71) is responsible for most of the severe HFMD cases. Three EV71 vaccines recently demonstrated good efficacy in children aged 6-71 mo. Here we assessed the cost-effectiveness of routine pediatric EV71 vaccination in China. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We characterized the economic and health burden of EV71-associated HFMD (EV71-HFMD) in China using (i) the national surveillance database, (ii) virological surveillance records from all provinces, and (iii) a caregiver survey on the household costs and health utility loss for 1,787 laboratory-confirmed pediatric cases. Using a static model parameterized with these data, we estimated the effective vaccine cost (EVC, defined as cost/efficacy or simply the cost of a 100% efficacious vaccine) below which routine pediatric vaccination would be considered cost-effective. We performed the base-case analysis from the societal perspective with a willingness-to-pay threshold of one times the gross domestic product per capita (GDPpc) and an annual discount rate of 3%. We performed uncertainty analysis by (i) accounting for the uncertainty in the risk of EV71-HFMD due to missing laboratory data in the national database, (ii) excluding productivity loss of parents and caregivers, (iii) increasing the willingness-to-pay threshold to three times GDPpc, (iv) increasing the discount rate to 6%, and (v) accounting for the proportion of EV71-HFMD cases not registered by national surveillance. In each of these scenarios, we performed probabilistic sensitivity analysis to account for parametric uncertainty in our estimates of the risk of EV71-HFMD and the expected costs and health utility loss due to EV71-HFMD. Routine pediatric EV71 vaccination would be cost-saving if the all-inclusive EVC is below US$10.6 (95$9.7-US$11.5) and would remain cost-effective if EVC is below US$17.9 (95% CI US$16.9-US$18.8) in the base case, but these ceilings could be up to 66% higher if all the test-negative cases with missing laboratory data are EV71-HFMD. The EVC ceiling is (i) 10%-14% lower if productivity loss of parents/caregivers is excluded, (ii) 58%-84% higher if the willingness-to-pay threshold is increased to three times GDPpc, (iii) 14%-19% lower if the discount rate is increased to 6%, and (iv) 36% (95% CI 23%-50%) higher if the proportion of EV71-HFMD registered by national surveillance is the same as that observed in the three EV71 vaccine phase III trials. The validity of our results relies on the following assumptions: (i) self-reported hospital charges are a good proxy for the opportunity cost of care, (ii) the cost and health utility loss estimates based on laboratory-confirmed EV71-HFMD cases are representative of all EV71-HFMD cases, and (iii) the long-term average risk of EV71-HFMD in the future is similar to that registered by national surveillance during 2010-2013. CONCLUSIONS: Compared to no vaccination, routine pediatric EV71 vaccination would be very cost-effective in China if the cost of immunization (including all logistical, procurement, and administration costs needed to confer 5 y of vaccine protection) is below US$12.0-US$18.3, depending on the choice of vaccine among the three candidates. Given that the annual number of births in China has been around 16 million in recent years, the annual costs for routine pediatric EV71 vaccination at this cost range should not exceed US$192-US$293 million. Our results can be used to determine the optimal vaccine when the prices of the three vaccines are known

A national harmonised data collection network for neurodevelopmental disorders: A transdiagnostic assessment protocol for neurodevelopment, mental health, functioning and well-being

BACKGROUND: Children with neurodevelopmental disorders share common phenotypes, support needs and comorbidities. Such overlap suggests the value of transdiagnostic assessment pathways that contribute to knowledge about research and clinical needs of these children and their families. Despite this, large transdiagnostic data collection networks for neurodevelopmental disorders are not well developed. This paper describes the development of a nationally supported transdiagnostic clinical and research assessment protocol across Australia. The vision is to establish a harmonised network for data collection and collaboration that promotes transdiagnostic clinical practice and research. METHODS: Clinicians, researchers and community groups across Australia were consulted using surveys and national summits to identify assessment instruments and unmet needs. A national research committee was formed and, using a consensus approach, selected assessment instruments according to pre-determined criteria to form a harmonised transdiagnostic assessment protocol. RESULTS: Identified assessment instruments were clustered into domains of transdiagnostic assessment needs, which included child functioning/quality of life, child mental health, caregiver mental health, and family background information. From this, the research committee identified a core set of nine measures and an extended set of 14 measures that capture these domains with potential for further modifications as recommended by clinicians, researchers and community members. CONCLUSION: The protocol proposed here was established through a strong partnership between clinicians, researchers and the community. It will enable (i) consensus driven transdiagnostic clinical assessments for children with neurodevelopmental disorders, and (ii) research studies that will inform large transdiagnostic datasets across neurodevelopmental disorders and that can be used to inform research and policy beyond narrow diagnostic groups. The long-term vision is to use this framework to facilitate collaboration across clinics to enable large-scale data collection and research. Ultimately, the transdiagnostic assessment data can be used to inform practice and improve the lives of children with neurodevelopmental disorders and their families

Communications Biophysics

Contains reports on ten research projects.National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 P01 NS13126)National Institutes of Health (Training Grant 5 T32 NS0704)National Science Foundation (Grant BNS80-06369)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 R01 NS11153)National Science Foundation (Grant BNS77-16861)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS12846)National Science Foundation (Grant BNS77-21751)National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 P01 NS14092)Karmazin Foundation through the Council for the Arts at MITNational Institutes of Health (Fellowship 5 F32 NS06386)National Science Foundation (Fellowship SP179-14913)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 RO1 NS11080

Data Assimilation Enhancements to Air Force Weathers Land Information System

The United States Air Force (USAF) has a proud and storied tradition of enabling significant advancements in the area of characterizing and modeling land state information. 557th Weather Wing (557 WW; DoDs Executive Agent for Land Information) provides routine geospatial intelligence information to warfighters, planners, and decision makers at all echelons and services of the U.S. military, government and intelligence community. 557 WW and its predecessors have been home to the DoDs only operational regional and global land data analysis systems since January 1958. As a trusted partner since 2005, Air Force Weather (AFW) has relied on the Hydrological Sciences Laboratory at NASA/GSFC to lead the interagency scientific collaboration known as the Land Information System (LIS). LIS is an advanced software framework for high performance land surface modeling and data assimilation of geospatial intelligence (GEOINT) information