Lunar navigation study, sections 1 through 7 Final report, Jun. 1964 - May 1965

Lunar navigation analysis using passive nongyro, inertial navigation, and radio frequency technolog

Lunar navigation study, summary volume Final report, Jun. 1964 - May 1965

Lunar surface navigation and guidance study to implement lunar surface vehicle exploration mission

Blood Pressure in Older Adults: the Importance of Frailty

The importance of high blood pressure (BP) and the effect of BP lowering in older adults remain controversial due to the mixed evidence in this population. Frailty status may resolve the apparently conflicting findings and identify subpopulations who share common risk. Emerging evidence demonstrates that low BP is associated with poor outcomes in older frail adults or those with poor functional status. In contrast, in non-frail older adults, low BP appears beneficial. Frail older adults may be at increased risk of hypotension, serious fall injuries, and polypharmacy. Additionally, peripheral BP may not be the best prognostic measure in this population. The majority of clinical practice guidelines give little recommendation for frail older adults, which is likely due to their systematic underrepresentation in randomized controlled trials. Future studies need to consider modifications to safely include frail older adults, and guidelines should consider inclusion of evidence beyond randomized controlled trials.This article is part of the Topical Collection on Resistant Hypertension. This is an author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by Springer and can be found at: http://www.springer.com/medicine/internal/journal/11906Keywords: Antihypertensive medications, Cognitive function, Aged, Physical function, Falls, Frailt

Discovery of induced point mutations in maize genes by TILLING

BACKGROUND: Going from a gene sequence to its function in the context of a whole organism requires a strategy for targeting mutations, referred to as reverse genetics. Reverse genetics is highly desirable in the modern genomics era; however, the most powerful methods are generally restricted to a few model organisms. Previously, we introduced a reverse-genetic strategy with the potential for general applicability to organisms that lack well-developed genetic tools. Our TILLING (Targeting Induced Local Lesions IN Genomes) method uses chemical mutagenesis followed by screening for single-base changes to discover induced mutations that alter protein function. TILLING was shown to be an effective reverse genetic strategy by the establishment of a high-throughput TILLING facility and the delivery of thousands of point mutations in hundreds of Arabidopsis genes to members of the plant biology community. RESULTS: We demonstrate that high-throughput TILLING is applicable to maize, an important crop plant with a large genome but with limited reverse-genetic resources currently available. We screened pools of DNA samples for mutations in 1-kb segments from 11 different genes, obtaining 17 independent induced mutations from a population of 750 pollen-mutagenized maize plants. One of the genes targeted was the DMT102 chromomethylase gene, for which we obtained an allelic series of three missense mutations that are predicted to be strongly deleterious. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings indicate that TILLING is a broadly applicable and efficient reverse-genetic strategy. We are establishing a public TILLING service for maize modeled on the existing Arabidopsis TILLING Project

Movement and activity pattern of a collared tigress in a human-dominated landscape in central India

Tigers (Panthera tigris) are wide-ranging species, and a permeable landscape matrix outside Protected Areas (PAs) is extremely important for their dispersal. A tigress which had fallen in a water duct in the Nagpur district was rescued by the Forest Department on 12th October, 2011 and released on 27th November, 2011 in a forest adjacent to the site of capture. A GPS-GSM collar that we fitted on her indicated that she remained in the same forest area until 25th December, 2011, and then moved eastwards into a human-dominated landscape where she was present until 25th March, 2012, after which the GPS battery ceased to function. She moved a minimum distance of 454.65 km from the time of her release up to 25th March, 2012, using a total area of 726 km² (95% MCP), but between 30th December, 2011 and 25th March, 2012, after moving into the human-dominated forest-agricultural landscape her home range was 431 km² (95% MCP). Her home range also encompassed villages, roads and croplands. Her activity was largely nocturnal and she rested in dense foliage inside forest patches during the day. About half of all the prey items that we identified during this period (n = 12) were wild pigs (Sus scrofa). Although, she was present very close to areas where humans were active in the day, no untoward incident occurred. She was photographed in April 2013, a year after the collar stopped functioning, in the same region about 40 km from the release site, indicating that she is still present in the human-dominated area. Very little is known about tiger ecology, and their temporal and spatial patterns of movement, outside PAs. These areas will be crucial in terms of dispersal between PAs as well as sensitive in terms of conflict

Lunar navigation study, sections 8 through 10 and appendices Final report, Jun. 1964 - May 1965

Component capabilities and requirements for lunar navigation concept

The KELT Follow-Up Network And Transit False-Positive Catalog: Pre-Vetted False Positives For TESS

The Kilodegree Extremely Little Telescope (KELT) project has been conducting a photometric survey of transiting planets orbiting bright stars for over 10 years. The KELT images have a pixel scale of ~23\u27\u27 pixel⁻¹—very similar to that of NASA\u27s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS)—as well as a large point-spread function, and the KELT reduction pipeline uses a weighted photometric aperture with radius 3\u27. At this angular scale, multiple stars are typically blended in the photometric apertures. In order to identify false positives and confirm transiting exoplanets, we have assembled a follow-up network (KELT-FUN) to conduct imaging with spatial resolution, cadence, and photometric precision higher than the KELT telescopes, as well as spectroscopic observations of the candidate host stars. The KELT-FUN team has followed-up over 1600 planet candidates since 2011, resulting in more than 20 planet discoveries. Excluding ~450 false alarms of non-astrophysical origin (i.e., instrumental noise or systematics), we present an all-sky catalog of the 1128 bright stars (6 \u3c V \u3c 13) that show transit-like features in the KELT light curves, but which were subsequently determined to be astrophysical false positives (FPs) after photometric and/or spectroscopic follow-up observations. The KELT-FUN team continues to pursue KELT and other planet candidates and will eventually follow up certain classes of TESS candidates. The KELT FP catalog will help minimize the duplication of follow-up observations by current and future transit surveys such as TESS

Performance-related pay and the teaching profession: a review of the literature

This is a postprint of an article whose final and definitive form has been published in Research Papers in Education© 2002 Copyright Taylor & Francis; Research Papers in Education is available online at http://www.informaworld.comThis paper examines and summarizes research into performance-related pay. It was undertaken as part of the Teachers' Incentive Pay Project, currently in progress at the University of Exeter, which is a study of the introduction of threshold assessment and performance management for teachers in schools in England and Wales. The paper examines research into the effects of pay on employees' behaviour and considers the claimed benefits and disadvantages of performance-related pay, both generally and with particular reference to the teaching profession. Proponents of performance-related pay claim that it improves the motivation of employees and assists in the recruitment and retention of high quality staff. Disadvantages include: neglect of unrewarded tasks; disagreement about goals; competitiveness; lack of openness about failings; cost and the possibility of demotivating those who are not rewarded. Performance-related pay has long been a feature of teachers' remuneration in the US, where it has usually been promoted in response to national crises perceived to be rooted in educational failure. Traditionally, most US merit pay schemes for teachers have not been long lasting. This paper considers research into a variety of US schemes, including studies of the conditions under which they are found to succeed. Performance-related pay works best in situations in which there are easily measured outcomes, such as in manufacturing, but the outcomes of teaching are many and varied and there have been problems related to measuring teachers' effectiveness. The paper reports claims by Odden (2000) that measuring teachers' performance is now more feasible and that, therefore, the time is right for the introduction of performance-related pay for teachers

Blood Pressure Lowering and Risk of Mortality in Chronic Kidney Disease: A Meta2 Analysis of Randomized Controlled Trials

Importance: Trials in hypertensive patients demonstrate that intensive blood pressure (BP) lowering reduces risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and all-cause mortality, but may increase risk of chronic kidney disease (CKD) incidence and progression. Whether intensive BP lowering is associated with a mortality benefit in patients with prevalent CKD remains unknown. Objective: We conducted a meta-analysis of Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to determine if more intensive, compared with a less intensive, BP control is associated with reduced mortality risk in persons with CKD stages 3-5. Data Sources: Ovid Medline, Cochrane Library, Embase, Pubmed, Science Citation Index, Google Scholar, and ClinicalTrials.gov electronic databases. Study Selection: All RCTs that compared two defined BP targets (either active treatment vs.placebo or no treatment, or intensive vs. less intensive BP control) and enrolled adult (≥18years) persons with CKD stages 3-5 (estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) <60 mL/min/1.73m2) exclusively or that included a CKD subgroup between January 1950 and June 2016 were included. Data extraction and synthesis: Two reviewers independently evaluated study quality and extracted characteristics and mortality events among persons with CKD within the intervention phase for each trial. When outcomes within the CKD group had not previously been published, we contacted trial investigators and requested data within the CKD subset of their original trials. Main outcomes and measures: All-cause mortality during the active treatment phase of each trial. Results: We identified 30 RCTs that potentially met inclusion criteria, among which we were able to extract the CKD subset mortality data in 18 trials. Among these, there were 1293 deaths among 15,924 participants with CKD. The mean baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP) was 148±16 mm hg in both intensive and less-intensive arms. The mean SBP dropped by 16 mm Hg to 132 mm Hg in the intensive arm and by 8 mm Hg to 140 mm Hg in the less-intensive arm. More vs. less-intensive BP control resulted in 14% lower risk of all-cause mortality (Odds Ratio (OR) 0.86; 95% CI 0.76 to 0.97, p = 0.01); a finding that was without significant heterogeneity and appeared consistent across multiple subgroups including type of treatment in the comparator arm (placebo vs. less intensive BP target), length of follow-up, presence of diabetes, CKD severity, baseline systolic blood pressure (SBP), achieved SBP during the trial and degree of SBP differences across the treatment arms. Conclusion and Relevance: Randomization to more intensive BP control is associated with lower mortality risk among trial participants with hypertension and CKD. Further studies are required to define absolute BP targets for maximal benefit and minimal harm

Association of physical function with predialysis blood pressure in patients on hemodialysis

BACKGROUND: New information from various clinical settings suggests that tight blood pressure control may not reduce mortality and may be associated with more side effects. METHODS: We performed cross-sectional multivariable ordered logistic regression to examine the association between predialysis blood pressure and the short physical performance battery (SPPB) in a cohort of 749 prevalent hemodialysis patients in the San Francisco and Atlanta areas recruited from July 2009 to August 2011 to study the relationship between systolic blood pressure and objective measures of physical function. Mean blood pressure for three hemodialysis sessions was analyzed in the following categories: <110 mmHg, 110-129 mmHg (reference), 130-159 mmHg, and ≥160 mmHg. SPPB includes three components: timed repeated chair stands, timed 15-ft walk, and balance tests. SPPB was categorized into ordinal groups (≤6, 7-9, 10-12) based on prior literature. RESULTS: Patients with blood pressure 130-159 mmHg had lower odds (OR 0.57, 95% CI 0.35-0.93) of scoring in a lower SPPB category than those whose blood pressure was between 110 and 129 mmHg, while those with blood pressure ≥160 mmHg had 0.56 times odds (95% CI 0.33-0.94) of scoring in a lower category when compared with blood pressure 110-129 mmHg. When individual components were examined, blood pressure was significantly associated with chair stand (130-159 mmHg: OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.38-0.92) and gait speed (≥160 mmHg: OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.35-0.98). Blood pressure ≥160 mmHg was not associated with substantially higher SPPB score compared with 130-159 mmHg. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with systolic blood pressure at or above 130 mmHg had better physical performance than patients with lower blood pressure in the normotensive range. The risk-benefit tradeoff of aggressive blood pressure control, particularly in low-functioning patients, should be reexamined