The political career of Henry, third Earl Grey ( 1826 - 52 )

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Optimizing the Delivery of a GFP Gene via a Biocompatible Nanocarrier in Daphnia and a Chironomid

Current pest control methods impose risks including pest resistance to insecticides, bioaccumulation of the insecticide, and ecosystem impact. There is a need for a better and more sustainable method of pest control in order to protect the environment and the populations reliant on it. Currently, an alternative method of pest control uses RNA interference (RNAi), that exploits heterologous protein expression to disable the insect pest, delivered by the use of nanoparticles. Nanocarriers show great promise in this method of use, but concerns of cytotoxicity, biodegradability, and transfer to off target organisms require careful consideration. This study focuses on optimizing a biocompatible nanoparticle-mediated gene delivery system in a chironomid species and Daphnia spp. (Daphnia) to induce transient GFP expression. A weak GFP expression was detected in the head and thoracic regions of Daphnia, but additional trials with a few changes in protocol are expected to yield more conclusive results. The successful expression of GFP would provide insight on the molecular mechanisms and interactions involved in nanoparticle-mediated gene delivery, as well as broaden understanding of a biocompatible nanocarrier’s use with insect

Cost comparison of asthma treatments in 12-week study : caution about matching and short observational follow-up

This review was funded by Observational and Pragmatic Research Institute Pte Ltd.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Bringing Salary Transparency to the World: Computing Robust Compensation Insights via LinkedIn Salary

The recently launched LinkedIn Salary product has been designed with the goal of providing compensation insights to the world's professionals and thereby helping them optimize their earning potential. We describe the overall design and architecture of the statistical modeling system underlying this product. We focus on the unique data mining challenges while designing and implementing the system, and describe the modeling components such as Bayesian hierarchical smoothing that help to compute and present robust compensation insights to users. We report on extensive evaluation with nearly one year of de-identified compensation data collected from over one million LinkedIn users, thereby demonstrating the efficacy of the statistical models. We also highlight the lessons learned through the deployment of our system at LinkedIn.Comment: Conference information: ACM International Conference on Information and Knowledge Management (CIKM 2017

Moving beyond a limited follow-up in cost-effectiveness analyses of behavioral interventions

Background Cost-effectiveness analyses of behavioral interventions typically use a dichotomous outcome criterion. However, achieving behavioral change is a complex process involving several steps towards a change in behavior. Delayed effects may occur after an intervention period ends, which can lead to underestimation of these interventions. To account for such delayed effects, intermediate outcomes of behavioral change may be used in cost-effectiveness analyses. The aim of this study is to model cognitive parameters of behavioral change into a cost-effectiveness model of a behavioral intervention. Methods The cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) of an existing dataset from an RCT in which an high-intensity smoking cessation intervention was compared with a medium-intensity intervention, was re-analyzed by modeling the stages of change of the Transtheoretical Model of behavioral change. Probabilities were obtained from the dataset and literature and a sensitivity analysis was performed. Results In the original CEA over the first 12 months, the high-intensity intervention dominated in approximately 58% of the cases. After modeling the cognitive parameters to a future 2nd year of follow-up, this was the case in approximately 79%. Conclusion This study showed that modeling of future behavioral change in CEA of a behavioral intervention further strengthened the results of the standard CEA. Ultimately, modeling future behavioral change could have important consequences for health policy development in general and the adoption of behavioral interventions in particular

Growth, Structural and Micro hardness studies of KSbF4 and K2SbF5 crystals

Interest in Potassium Fluoro Antimonate crystals has been increased for the last four decades due its superionic conduction and its unusual electro-optic properties. Potassium tetra fluoro antimonate (KSbF4) and Potassium penta fluoro antimonite (K2SbF5) crystals have been grown by slow evaporation method. KSbF4 crystallizes into orthorhombic structure with a space group Pmmn. K2SbF5 belongs to orthorhombic crystal system with a space group Cmcm.nbsp Micro indentation analysis on these crystals indicates that they are moderately softer substances. Both crystals revealed reverse indentation size effect (RISE). Variation of stiffness constant with load has been discussed. Yield strength for KSbF4 and K2SbF5 crystals have been found out as 16.72 and 16.941 MPa respectively.nbs

A study of design change management for infrastructure development projects in New Zealand

Design changes seem to be an inevitable part of engineering, procurement and construction EPC projects. Such changes create a need for a proactive approach to adjusting project scope, cost and time (the triple constraints) for efficiency and effectiveness in overall delivery. This study investigates the causes and implications of design changes in order to improve design change management practices. Data for the study were obtained through online interviews with New Zealand industry practitioners. Thematic analysis was used to collate the results into meaningful data. The study found that design changes were predominantly caused by clients’ inadequate strategic planning, insufficient attention to design, EPC contractors’ inadequate design ability, and on-site variations. There were three categories of such design changes: direct impact on the project, the reciprocal and complementary effect on stakeholders, and the far-reaching impact on the community. The study concludes by suggesting improvements, such as strengthening the integration of project teams to enhance design quality, strategic alignment of stakeholders at the planning stage, early contractor involvement (ECI) between the planning and design phases, and improving collaboration between design and construction teams. Further, a combination of high technical skills (e.g., design ability) and soft skills (can-do attitude, interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, documentation skills, etc.) are needed to generate the desired improvement in design change management.fals

Distribution of primary health care facilities in Mtwara District, Tanzania: availability and accessibility of services

Background: Access to health care services is a significant factor to health seeking practices that contributes to a healthy population. Improving health care accessibility is an important health priority in low-income countries. The objective of this study was to determine distribution of health care facilities and identify the high priority areas, which require more services in Mtwara, southern Tanzania.Methods: This study was carried in Mtwara Rural district of southern Tanzania and involved health care facilities. A hand held global positioning system was used to geo-reference the coordinates of all facilities. A questionnaire with both closed and open-ended questions was used to gather information from patients who attended the respective facilities. Interviews with district health officials and facility in-charges were conducted.Results:  There were 38 health in the district. Most of them were located within southern part of the district. The majority of facilities (97%) were government owned. On average each facility was serving 2,400 population. Malaria management, reproductive and child health services, family planning and integrated management of childhood illnesses were offered by all health facilities in the district. Prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV was offered by 34 (89.5%) facilities. Tuberculosis services were offered by only 3 facilities while voluntary counselling and testing of HIV and anti-retroviral treatment services were available in 15 and 10 health facilities, respectively. Only 4 facilities had laboratory and inpatients services. The majority of the staff included Medical Attendants (39%), Nurse Midwives (34%), and Clinical Officers (20%). Assistant Medical Officers and Nursing Officers each accounted for 2% of the total staff. There were no Medical Officers, laboratory technicians or pharmaceutical technicians in the district.  A total of 408 health facility clients (≥18yrs) were interviewed. Factors influencing the choice of a health facility were the availability of special services, medicine and qualified human resources.Conclusion: The majority of facilities in Mtwara are government and there is disparity in the distribution of the facilities. Availability of medicines and qualified human resources were the major factors on the preference for accessing health care services