National characteristics and variation in Arabic handwriting

From each of four Arabic countries; Morocco, Tunisia, Jordan and Oman, 150 participants produced handwriting samples which were examined to assess whether national characteristics were discernible. Ten characters, which have different configurations depending upon their position in the word, along with one short word, were classified into distinguishable forms, and these forms recorded for each handwriting sample. Tests of independence showed that character forms used were not independent of country (p < 0.001) for all but one character-position (this was dropped from subsequent analyses). A correspondence analysis ordination plot and analysis of similarity (R = 0.326, p = 0.0002) showed that whole samples were discernibly grouped by country, and a tree analysis produced a classification which was 71% accurate for the original data and 83% accurate for 80 new handwriting samples that underwent ‘blind’ classification. When the countries were combined into two regions, North Africa and Middle East, the grouping was more marked. Thus, there appears to be some scope for narrowing down the nationality, and particularly the wider geographical region of an author based upon the character forms they use in Arabic handwriting

Data curation: a study of researcher practices and needs

Colorado State University librarians conducted five focus groups with thirty-one faculty, research scientists, and research associates. The groups explored: (1) The nature of data sets that these researchers create or maintain; (2) How participants manage their data; (3) Needs for support that the participants identify in relation to sharing, curating, and preserving their data; and (4) The feasibility of adapting the Purdue University Libraries' Data Curation Profiles Toolkit interview protocol for use in focus groups with researchers. The authors report their review of related literature, themes that emerged from analysis of the focus groups, and implications for related library services

Adoption Process for the Model Aquatic Health Code: An Example

In 2014 the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published the first edition of the Model Aquatic Health Code (MAHC). This document represented the inaugural introduction of a federal policy guideline with a direct focus in the area of aquatic venue operation and maintenance with the sole purpose of improving the nature of public health in the field. The Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) began the review and adoption process soon after the policy’s release. The ISDH process is proposed as one method for others to consider. The background and history of the MAHC are presented in this manuscript along with an overview of the adoption process to date that has been employed by the State of Indiana. In addition, information is provided on the Diffusion of Innovations Theory (DIT) as a possible method for assessing the long-term adoption of the MAHC on a national level

Maturation of auditory temporal integration and inhibition assessed with event-related potentials (ERPs)

Background: We examined development of auditory temporal integration and inhibition by assessing electrophysiological responses to tone pairs separated by interstimulus intervals (ISIs) of 25, 50, 100, 200, 400, and 800 ms in 28 children aged 7 to 9 years, and 15 adults.Results: In adults a distinct neural response was elicited to tones presented at ISIs of 25 ms or longer, whereas in children this was only seen in response to tones presented at ISIs above 100 ms. In adults, late N1 amplitude was larger for the second tone of the tone pair when separated by ISIs as short as 100 ms, consistent with the perceptual integration of successive stimuli within the temporal window of integration. In contrast, children showed enhanced negativity only when tone pairs were separated by ISIs of 200 ms. In children, the amplitude of the P1 component was attenuated at ISIs below 200 ms, consistent with a refractory process.Conclusions: These results indicate that adults integrate sequential auditory information into smaller temporal segments than children. These results suggest that there are marked maturational changes from childhood to adulthood in the perceptual processes underpinning the grouping of incoming auditory sensory information, and that electrophysiological measures provide a sensitive, non-invasive method allowing further examination of these changes

The similarity of the effect of carbohydrase or prebiotic supplementation in broilers aged 21 days, fed mixed cereal diets and challenged with coccidiosis infection

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect on growth performance and nutrient utilisation when supplementing diets deficient in energy and protein with carbohydrase enzymes or xylo-oligosaccharide in broilers challenged with coccidia. 960 Ross 308 broilers were used in this 21-day study. The treatments were arranged into a 2×4 factorial with 2 challenge states (challenged and non-challenged) and 4 different additive types (control, xylanase alone, xylanase and β-glucanase mixture and xylo-oligosaccharide). On day 14, the challenged group received 12× the recommended dose of coccidiosis vaccine while the non-challenged group received a sham treatment of water only. The birds and feed were weighed on days 0, 14 and 21. On day 21, two birds per pen were euthanized, the caeca were removed and the contents collected for short chain fatty acid analysis. Six more birds per pen were euthanized and ileal digesta were collected and pooled per pen for nutrient digestibility analysis. Feed intake was greater (P &lt; 0.05) on days 14 and 21 when xylo-oligosaccharide was included in the diet compared to the xylanase and β-glucanase mixture in birds challenged with coccidiosis. Including xylo-oligosaccharide in the diet improved (P &lt; 0.05) the digestibility of nitrogen and supplementing diets with the xylanase and β-glucanase mixture improved (P &lt; 0.05) the digestibility of several amino acids. The concentration of arabinose and xylose was (P &lt; 0.001) greater when broiler diets were supplemented with carbohydrase enzymes or xylo-oligosaccharide compared to the control. Although there was an increase in short chain fatty acid production due to the addition of carbohydrase enzymes or xylo-oligosaccharide, there was no additive effect on the %G+C profile of caecal bacteria however there was a negative effect of coccidiosis. In conclusion, the similarity in the response to carbohydrase enzymes or xylo-oligosaccharide supplementation illustrates that the hydrolysis products from carbohydrase activity may have prebiotic like effects

The effect of carbohydrases or prebiotic oligosaccharides on growth performance, nutrient utilisation and the development of the small intestine and immune organs in broilers fed nutrient-adequate diets based on either wheat or barley

BACKGROUND: Non‐starch polysaccharides are large complex molecules and are found in cereal grains. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of carbohydrase enzymes or prebiotic oligosaccharides on growth performance, nutrient utilisation and weight of organs associated with the immune system in broilers fed wheat‐ or barley‐based diets. RESULTS: In wheat‐based diets, feed intake was lower (P &lt; 0.05) following xylo‐oligosaccharide supplementation, whereas in barley‐based diets feed intake was greater (P &lt; 0.05) following β‐glucanase supplementation. Gross energy digestibility was improved (P &lt; 0.01) when either level of xylanase was added to wheat diets. Ileal digestible energy was greater (P &lt; 0.01) in wheat diets including an additive compared with the control diet. In wheat diets, bursa weight was lower (P &lt; 0.05) following xylo‐oligosaccharide supplementation compared with the control treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The current study showed that supplemented carbohydrases or prebiotic oligosaccharides could alter the development of immune organs or small intestine without any significant effect on growth performance in broilers receiving nutrient‐adequate diets

Building an Economical and Sustainable Lunar Infrastructure to Enable Lunar Industrialization

A new concept study was initiated to examine the architecture needed to gradually develop an economical, evolvable and sustainable lunar infrastructure using a public/private partnerships approach. This approach would establish partnership agreements between NASA and industry teams to develop a lunar infrastructure system that would be mutually beneficial. This approach would also require NASA and its industry partners to share costs in the development phase and then transfer operation of these infrastructure services back to its industry owners in the execution phase. These infrastructure services may include but are not limited to the following: lunar cargo transportation, power stations, communication towers and satellites, autonomous rover operations, landing pads and resource extraction operations. The public/private partnerships approach used in this study leveraged best practices from NASA's Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program which introduced an innovative and economical approach for partnering with industry to develop commercial cargo services to the International Space Station. This program was planned together with the ISS Commercial Resupply Services (CRS) contracts which was responsible for initiating commercial cargo delivery services to the ISS for the first time. The public/private partnerships approach undertaken in the COTS program proved to be very successful in dramatically reducing development costs for these ISS cargo delivery services as well as substantially reducing operational costs. To continue on this successful path towards installing economical infrastructure services for LEO and beyond, this new study, named Lunar COTS (Commercial Operations and Transport Services), was conducted to examine extending the NASA COTS model to cis-lunar space and the lunar surface. The goals of the Lunar COTS concept are to: 1) develop and demonstrate affordable and commercial cis-lunar and surface capabilities, such as lunar cargo delivery and surface power generation, in partnership with industry; 2) incentivize industry to establish economical and sustainable lunar infrastructure services to support NASA missions and initiate lunar commerce; and 3) encourage creation of new space markets for economic growth and benefit. A phased-development approach was also studied to allow for incremental development and demonstration of capabilities needed to build a lunar infrastructure. This paper will describe the Lunar COTS concept goals, objectives and approach for building an economical and sustainable lunar infrastructure. It will also describe the technical challenges and advantages of developing and operating each infrastructure element. It will also describe the potential benefits and progress that can be accomplished in the initial phase of this Lunar COTS approach. Finally, the paper will also look forward to the potential of a robust lunar industrialization environment and its potential effect on the next 50 years of space exploration

A quantitative cross-sectional survey of psychosocial stimulation and counselling interventions at nutritional rehabilitation units in Southern Malawi

Background Inpatient treatment at nutritional rehabilitation units (NRUs) is needed for children who have severe acute malnutrition (SAM) and acute illness, loss of appetite, or severe oedema. World Health Organization guidelines state that nutritional counselling should be done with primary caregivers at NRUs. These recommendations also include psychosocial stimulation interventions to improve developmental outcomes in children with SAM. However, there is limited information about the delivery of these types of interventions for caregivers and children in NRU settings. The primary objective of this research was therefore to obtain data about NRU resources, activities, and protocols relevant to psychosocial stimulation and counselling interventions during inpatient treatment of children with SAM. Methods A cross-sectional survey was administered by interview at all 16 NRUs in seven districts in Southern Malawi. Participants were health workers, nurses, and nutritionists employed at the respective NRUs. Results The response rate was 100% across NRUs. Half of participants said that psychosocial stimulation interventions are conducted at their respective NRUs, yet none of the NRUs have protocols for delivery of these interventions. Furthermore, 7/16 (44%) NRUs have no resources for psychosocial stimulation including play materials. Thirteen of 16 (81%) participants said that they feel this type of intervention is very important and 3/16 (19%) participants said that this somewhat important for children with SAM. All NRUs provide counselling to caregivers about breastfeeding and nutrition; 15/16 (94%) also give counselling about water, sanitation and hygiene. Conclusions Ultimately, results from this survey highlighted that there is a need to invest in comprehensive interventions to improve developmental and nutritional outcomes in these vulnerable children requiring admission to NRUs