Tracking and imaging gamma ray experiment (TIGRE) for 1 to 100 MEV gamma ray astronomy

A large international collaboration from the high energy astrophysics community has proposed the Tracking and Imaging Gamma Ray Experiment (TIGRE) for future space observations. TIGRE will image and perform energy spectroscopy measurements on celestial sources of gamma rays in the energy range from 1 to 100 MeV. This has been a difficult energy range experimentally for gamma ray astronomy but is vital for the future considering the recent exciting measurements below 1 and above 100 MeV. TIGRE is both a double scatter Compton and gamma ray pair telescope with direct imaging of individual gamma ray events. Multi‐layers of Si strip detectors are used as Compton and pair converters CsI(Tl) scintillation detectors are used as a position sensitive calorimeter. Alternatively, thick GE strip detectors may be used for the calorimeter. The Si detectors are able to track electrons and positrons through successive Si layers and measure their directions and energy losses. Compton and pair events are completely reconstructed allowing each event to be imaged on the sky. TIGRE will provide an order‐of‐magnitude improvement in discrete source sensitivity in the 1 to 100 MeV energy range and determine spectra with excellent energy and excellent angular resolutions. It’s wide field‐of‐view of π sr permits observations of the entire sky for extended periods of time over the life of the mission

Corticosteroid induced osteoporosis : guidelines for treatment

BACKGROUND: Last year, Australian Family Physician published Guidelines for Management of Postmenopausal Osteoporosis\u27. which were developed by Osteoporosis Australia. Recently, significant advances in our understanding of the treatment of corticosteroid osteoporosis have occurred.OBJECTIVE: The following guidelines also developed by Osteoporosis Australia, and supported by the National Asthma Campaign, are to help general practitioners identify those patients at risk of this problem and to provide information about current treatment strategies.DISCUSSION: Corticosteroids are widely used and effective agents for the control of many inflammatory diseases. Corticosteroid osteoporosis is a common problem associated with the long term high dose use of these medications. <br /

Climatological aspects of the optical properties of fine/coarse mode aerosol mixtures

Aerosol mixtures composed of coarse mode desert dust combined with fine mode combustion generated aerosols (from fossil fuel and biomass burning sources) were investigated at three locations that are in and/or downwind of major global aerosol emission source regions. Multiyear monitoring data at Aerosol Robotic Network sites in Beijing (central eastern China), Kanpur (Indo-Gangetic Plain, northern India), and Ilorin (Nigeria, Sudanian zone of West Africa) were utilized to study the climatological characteristics of aerosol optical properties. Multiyear climatological averages of spectral single scattering albedo (SSA) versus fine mode fraction (FMF) of aerosol optical depth at 675 nm at all three sites exhibited relatively linear trends up to similar to 50% FMF. This suggests the possibility that external linear mixing of both fine and coarse mode components (weighted by FMF) dominates the SSA variation, where the SSA of each component remains relatively constant for this range of FMF only. However, it is likely that a combination of other factors is also involved in determining the dynamics of SSA as a function of FMF, such as fine mode particles adhering to coarse mode dust. The spectral variation of the climatological averaged aerosol absorption optical depth (AAOD) was nearly linear in logarithmic coordinates over the wavelength range of 440-870 nm for both the Kanpur and Ilorin sites. However, at two sites in China (Beijing and Xianghe), a distinct nonlinearity in spectral AAOD in logarithmic space was observed, suggesting the possibility of anomalously strong absorption in coarse mode aerosols increasing the 870 nm AAOD

Seeking Abraham: A Report of Furman University\u27s Task Force on Slavery and Justice. Second Edition

This second edition of the Seeking Abraham Report includes additional appendices, such as Appendix B, the Special Committee on Slavery and Justice’s Report to the Board of Trustees. The Special Committee’s recommendations were accepted unanimously by the Board, meaning that the university will begin to implement a version of the key campus grounds recommendations of the report in the 2019-2020 academic year

Crop Updates 2001 - Pulses

This session covers sixty six papers from different authors: 1. Pulse Industry Highlights 2. CONTRIBUTORS 3. BACKGROUND 4. SUMMARY OF PREVIOUS RESULTS 2000 REGIONAL ROUNDUP 5. Northern agricultural Region, M. Harries, W. O’Neill, Agriculture Western Australia 6. Central Agricultural Region, R. French, Agriculture Western Australia 7. Great Southern and Lakes,N. Brandon, N. Runciman and S. White,Agriculture Western Australia 8. Esperance, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia PULSE PRODUCTION AGRONOMY AND GENETIC IMPROVEMENT Faba bean: 9. germplasm evaluation, 10. Variety evaluation, 11. Sowing rate and time of sowing, Variation in root morphology, P. White and T. Pope, Agriculture Western Australia Desi chickpea: 12. Breeding highlights, 13. Variety evaluation, 14. Seed discolouration, C. Veitch, Agriculture Western Australia, 15. Performance under drought stress, J. Berger, N.C. Turner, CLIMA and CSIRO Plant Industry , K.H.M. Siddique, Agriculture Western Australia & CLIMA, 16. Resistance to chilling at flowering and to budworm, H. Clarke, CLIMA, 17. Effect of row spacing, sowing rate and orientation on growth and seed yield, G. Riethmuller, W. MacLeod, Agriculture Western Australia Kabuli chickpea, 18. variety and germplasm evaluation, 19. Premium quality kabuli chickpea development in the ORIA, 20. International screening for ascochyta blight resistance, 21. Evaluation of ascochyta resistant germplasm in Australia Field pea 22. Breeding highlights, 23. Variety evaluation, 24. Agronomic and varietal effects on seed quality, R. French, J. Millar and T.N. Khan, Agriculture Western Australia, 25. Seed yield and quality in the Great Southern, N. Brandon, R. Beermier, N. Brown and S. White,Agriculture Western Australia, 26. Herbicide tolerance of new varieties and lines, Esperance region, M. Seymour,Agriculture Western Australia, 27. Mullewa, H. Dhammu and T. Piper, D. Nicholson, M. D\u27Antuono, Agriculture Western Australia 28. Herbicide tolerance of Cooke on marginal soil, H. Dhammu and T. Piper, D.Nicholson, M. D\u27Antuono, Agriculture Western Australia, 29. Post emergent weed control using Raptor® Lentil 30. Variety evaluation 31. Evaluation of advanced breeding lines from CIPAL 32. Elite germplasm from ICARDA and ACIAR project, K. Regan,Agriculture Western Australia, J. Clements and K.H.M. Siddique, Agriculture Western Australia and CLIMA, C. Francis CLIMA 33. Single row evaluation of F3/F4 breeding lines, K. Regan,Agriculture Western Australia, J. Clements, Agriculture Western Australia and CLIMA Vetch 34. Germplasm evaluation 35. Time of sowing x fungicide, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia 36. Tolerance to post emergent application of Sniper® M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia 37. Herbicide tolerance Narbon bean 38. Germplasm evaluation, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia 39. Herbicide tolerance, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia 40. Post emergent use of knockdown herbicides, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia Albus lupin 41. Time of sowing, N. Brandon and R. Beermier, Agriculture Western Australia Lathyrus development 42. Field evaluation, C. Hanbury and K.H.M. Siddique, CLIMA and Agriculture Western Australia 43. Animal feeding trials, C. Hanbury and K.H.M. Siddique, Agriculture Western Australia, C. White, CSIRO, B. Mullan, Agriculture Western Australia, B. Hughes, SARDI, South Australia Species comparison 44. Time of sowing 45. Seed moisture of pulse species at harvest, G.P. Riethmuller and R.J. French Agriculture Western Australia 46.Rotational benefits of pulses on grey clay soils, N. Brandon, R. Beermier, R. Bowie, J. Warburton, Agriculture Western Australia P. Fisher, NRE, Victoria, M. Braimbridge, UWA Centre for Land Rehabilitation , F. Hoyle and W. Bowden, Agriculture Western Australia 47. Pulse species response to phosphorus and zinc, S. Lawrence, Z. Rengel, UWA, S.P. Loss, CSBP futurefarm M.D.A. Bolland, K.H.M. Siddique, W. Bowden, R. Brennan, Agriculture Western Australia 48. The effect of soil applied lime and lime pelleting on pulses, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia 49. Antitranspirants 50. Mapping soils for pulses in the Great Southern, N. Brandon, P. Tille, N. Schoknecht, Agriculture Western Australia DEMONSTRATION OF PULSES IN THE FARMING SYSTEM 51. New field pea and faba bean varieties in the Great Southern 52. Harvesting methods for field pea in the Great Southern, N. Brandon, R. Beermier, M. Seymour, Agriculture Western Australia DISEASE AND PEST MANAGEMENT 53.Ascochyta blight of chickpea 54. Seed dressing and sowing depth 55. Foliar fungicide sprays 56. The ascochyta management package for 2001 57. Initiation ascochyta disease from infected stubble, J. Galloway and W. MacLeod, Agriculture Western Australia 58. Black spot of field pea 59. Ascochyta blight of chickpea 60. Ascochyta blight of faba bean 61. Pulse disease diagnostics, D. Wright and N. Burges Agriculture Western Australia Viruses in pulses 62. Virus infection causes seed discolouration and poor seed quality R. Jones and L. Latham, Agriculture Western Australia Insect pests 63. Aphid ecology in pulses, O. Edwards, J. Ridsdill-Smith and R. Horbury, CSIRO Entomology 64. Evaluation of transgenic field pea against pea weevils (Bruchus pisorum), Ms M.J. de Sousa Majer, Curtin University of Technology; N.C. Turner, CSIRO Plant Industry and D. Hardie, Agriculture Western Australia 65. Searching for markers for resistance to pea weevil, O. Byrne, CLIMA and Plant Sciences, UWA, N. Galwey, Plant Sciences, UWA, D. Hardie,Agriculture Western Australia and P. Smith, Botany, UWA 66. Improved stored grain fumigation on-farm with Phoscard®, R. Emery and E. Kostas, Agriculture Western Australia ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS PUBLICATIONS BY PULSE PRODUCTIVITY PROJECT STAFF VARIETIES PRODUCED AND COMMERCIALLY RELEASE

Salve Regina Arboretum Ten Year Plan to Reach Level III Accreditation

The Salve Regina University Arboretum, located in Newport, Rhode Island is currently registered as a Level II arboretum and is intertwined with the city of Newport Arboretum. The university now has intentions to reach Level III status, as part of a ten-year plan. This plan was developed by the students of the Spring 2018 BIO 255: Conservation Biology course, instructed by Dr. Jameson Chace, Associate Professor of biology at Salve Regina University. As part of a curriculum geared towards civic engagement, the class focused on creating and optimizing strategies that can be applied to the ten-year plan. These strategies were applied to the plan categorically: a team to inventory the current tree collection; a team to develop formal educational programming; a team for informal educational programming; a team to establish goals for conservation initiative related to the arboretum; a team dedicated to research related to arboreta; and a team to develop a list of species of special interest to add to the arboretum in the coming years. In the following document, each team’s strategies for the ten-year plan are outlined. Each of the components of this plan incorporate means to fulfill the conditions to meet Level III arboretum status so that the arboretum can apply for official registration. The aforementioned teams were tasked with designing a foundation on which to work up from. This includes formal educational programming to be applied to classroom settings and informal educational programming which can be applied to community outreach-based settings. The teams that worked to strengthen the arboretum’s mission of conservation focused on researching trees that can fit into the current landscape while providing some sort of benefit to the surrounding flora/fauna. Further, many of the species of interest, such as the chestnut, hold historical value to the greater Rhode Island region. In all, the Salve Regina Arboretum must achieve a total of 500 unique species of trees and woody plants as part of its efforts to apply for Level III status. In addition to the programming and research performed so far by the student teams, the arboretum must also hire a curator to manage the programming and to oversee the arboretum as a whole. Additionally, the arboretum must continue to actively collaborate with other arboreta and should encourage scientific research. It is important to recognize that the Salve Regina University Arboretum has already been utilized in the field of microbiology and has gained some attention at the university as a resource for further research and investigation. This ten year plan, along with resources within in it, is designed to provide a list of potential guidelines and ideas that can be applied for the arboretum’s benefit and growth. The Salve Regina University arboretum is a continually growing and developing part of the greater Newport, Rhode Island community, and will continue to strengthen its mission and that of the university which oversees its success.https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/bio255_arboretum/1000/thumbnail.jp

Prospective Study of TMVR Using Balloon-Expandable Aortic Transcatheter Valves in MAC: MITRAL Trial 1-Year Outcomes

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to evaluate 1-year outcomes of valve-in-mitral annular calcification (ViMAC) in the MITRAL (Mitral Implantation of Transcatheter Valves) trial. BACKGROUND: The MITRAL trial is the first prospective study evaluating the feasibility of ViMAC using balloon-expandable aortic transcatheter heart valves. METHODS: A multicenter prospective study was conducted, enrolling high-risk surgical patients with severe mitral annular calcification and symptomatic severe mitral valve dysfunction at 13 U.S. sites. RESULTS: Between February 2015 and December 2017, 31 patients were enrolled (median age 74.5 years [interquartile range (IQR): 71.3 to 81.0 years], 71% women, median Society of Thoracic Surgeons score 6.3% [IQR: 5.0% to 8.8%], 87.1% in New York Heart Association functional class III or IV). Access was transatrial (48.4%), transseptal (48.4%), or transapical (3.2%). Technical success was 74.2%. Left ventricular outflow tract obstruction (LVOTO) with hemodynamic compromise occurred in 3 patients (transatrial, n = 1; transseptal, n = 1; transapical, n = 1). After LVOTO occurred in the first 2 patients, pre-emptive alcohol septal ablation was implemented to decrease risk in high-risk patients. No intraprocedural deaths or conversions to open heart surgery occurred during the index procedures. All-cause mortality at 30 days was 16.7% (transatrial, 21.4%; transseptal, 6.7%; transapical, 100% [n = 1]; p = 0.33) and at 1 year was 34.5% (transatrial, 38.5%; transseptal, 26.7%; p = 0.69). At 1-year follow-up, 83.3% of patients were in New York Heart Association functional class I or II, the median mean mitral valve gradient was 6.1 mm Hg (IQR: 5.6 to 7.1 mm Hg), and all patients had ≤1+ mitral regurgitation. CONCLUSIONS: At 1 year, ViMAC was associated with symptom improvement and stable transcatheter heart valve performance. Pre-emptive alcohol septal ablation may prevent transcatheter mitral valve replacement-induced LVOTO in patients at risk. Thirty-day mortality of patients treated via transseptal access was lower than predicted by the Society of Thoracic Surgeons score. Further studies are needed to evaluate safety and efficacy of ViMAC

Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead