X-ray variability of the quasar 3C273

Observations of the quasar 3C273 made during 1975-77 have shown that the X-ray flux varied on a time scale of several months. No similar variation was present in radio and optical data taken at similar times. If this variation results from luminosity variations of a central compact object, then an upper limit of ≤4 x 1017cm can be set on its dimensions

A Latent Profile Analysis of Age of Onset in Pathological Skin Picking

Background Pathological Skin Picking (PSP) may begin at any age, but the most common age of onset is during adolescence. Age of onset is a potentially useful clinical marker to delineate subtypes of psychiatric disorders. The present study sought to examine empirically defined age of onset groups in adults with PSP and assess whether groups differed on clinical characteristics. Method Participants were 701 adult respondents to an internet survey, who endorsed recurrent skin picking with tissue damage and impairment. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was conducted to identify subtypes of PSP based on age of onset. Then subgroups were compared on demographic and clinical characteristics. Results The best fitting LPA model was a two-class solution comprised of a large group with average age of onset in adolescence (n = 650; 92.9% of the sample; Mean age of onset = 13.6 years) and a small group with average onset in middle adulthood (n = 50; 7.1% of the sample; Mean age of onset = 42.8 years). Relative to the early onset group, the late onset group reported significantly less focused picking, less skin picking-related impairment, lower rates of co-occurring body-focused repetitive behaviors, and trends towards reduced family history of PSP. Individuals in the late onset group also reported increased rates of comorbid depression, anxiety and posttraumatic stress disorder, and were more likely to report that initial picking onset seemed related to or followed depression/anxiety and physical illness. Conclusion Findings suggest the presence of two distinct PSP age of onset groups: (1) an early onset group with average onset in adolescence, clinical characteristics suggestive of greater picking-related burden and familiality, and a profile more representative of the general PSP population; and (2) a late onset group with average onset in middle adulthood, increased co-occurring affective and trauma conditions, and initial onset associated with or following other mental health and physical problems. Future replication is needed to assess the validity and clinical utility of these subgroups

Battery-operated Independent Radiation Detector Data Report from Exploration Flight Test 1

Citation: Bahadori AA, Semones EJ, Gaza R, Kroupa M, Rios RR, Stoffle NN, Campbell-Ricketts T, Pinsky LS, and Turecek D 2015 Battery-operated Independent Radiation Detector Data Report from Exploration Flight Test 1 NASA/TP-2015-218575 NASA Johnson Space Center: Houston, TX http://ston.jsc.nasa.gov/collections/TRS/397.refer.htmlThis report summarizes the data acquired by the Battery-operated Independent Radiation Detector (BIRD) during Exploration Flight Test 1 (EFT-1). The BIRD, consisting of two redundant subsystems isolated electronically from the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV), was developed to fly on the Orion EFT-1 to acquire radiation data throughout the mission. The BIRD subsystems successfully triggered using on-board accelerometers in response to launch accelerations, acquired and archived data through landing, and completed the shut down routine when battery voltage decreased to a specified value. The data acquired are important for understanding the radiation environment within the Orion MPCV during transit through the trapped radiation belts

How effective are on-farm conservation land management strategies for preserving ecosystem services in developing countries? A systematic map protocol

Background An extensive body of literature in the field of agro-ecology claims to show the positive effects that maintenance of ecosystem services can have on sustainably meeting future food demand, by making farms more productive and resilient, and contributing to better nutrition and livelihoods of farmers. In Africa alone, some research has estimated a two-fold yield increase if food producers capitalize on new and existing knowledge from science and technology. Site-specific strategies adopted with the aim of improving ecosystem services may incorporate principles of multifunctional agriculture, sustainable intensification and conservation agriculture. However, a coherent synthesis and review of the evidence of these claims is largely absent, and the quality of much of this literature is questionable. Moreover, inconsistent effects have commonly been reported, while empirical evidence to support assumed improvements is largely lacking. Objectives This systematic map is stimulated by an interest to (1) collate evidence on the effectiveness of on-farm conservation land management for preserving and enhancing ecosystem services in agricultural landscapes, by drawing together the currently fragmented and multidisciplinary literature base, and (2) geographically map what indicators have been used to assess on-farm conservation land management. For both questions, we will focus on 74 low-income and developing countries, where much of the world’s agricultural expansion is occurring, yet 80% of arable land is already used and croplands are yielding well below their potential. Methods/Design To this end, reviewers will systematically search bibliographic databases for peer-reviewed research from Web of Science, SCOPUS, AGRICOLA, AGRIS databases and CAB abstracts, and grey literature from Google Scholar, and 22 subject-specific or institutional websites. Boolean search operators will be used to create search strings where applicable. Ecosystem services included in the study are pollination services; pest-, carbon-, soil-, and water-regulation; nutrient cycling; medicinal and aromatic plants; fuel wood and cultural services. Outputs of the systematic map will include a database, technical report and an online interactive map, searchable by topic. The results of this map are expected to provide clarity about synergistic outcomes of conservation land management, which will help support local decision-making

Genetic risk and a primary role for cell-mediated immune mechanisms in multiple sclerosis.

Multiple sclerosis is a common disease of the central nervous system in which the interplay between inflammatory and neurodegenerative processes typically results in intermittent neurological disturbance followed by progressive accumulation of disability. Epidemiological studies have shown that genetic factors are primarily responsible for the substantially increased frequency of the disease seen in the relatives of affected individuals, and systematic attempts to identify linkage in multiplex families have confirmed that variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) exerts the greatest individual effect on risk. Modestly powered genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have enabled more than 20 additional risk loci to be identified and have shown that multiple variants exerting modest individual effects have a key role in disease susceptibility. Most of the genetic architecture underlying susceptibility to the disease remains to be defined and is anticipated to require the analysis of sample sizes that are beyond the numbers currently available to individual research groups. In a collaborative GWAS involving 9,772 cases of European descent collected by 23 research groups working in 15 different countries, we have replicated almost all of the previously suggested associations and identified at least a further 29 novel susceptibility loci. Within the MHC we have refined the identity of the HLA-DRB1 risk alleles and confirmed that variation in the HLA-A gene underlies the independent protective effect attributable to the class I region. Immunologically relevant genes are significantly overrepresented among those mapping close to the identified loci and particularly implicate T-helper-cell differentiation in the pathogenesis of multiple sclerosis

Co-ordinated Airborne Studies in the Tropics (CAST)

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from the American Meteorological Society via http://dx.doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-14-00290.1The Co-ordinated Airborne Studies in the Tropics (CAST) project is studying the chemical composition of the atmosphere in the Tropical Warm Pool region to improve understanding of trace gas transport in convection. The main field activities of the CAST (Co-ordinated Airborne Studies in the Tropics) campaign took place in the West Pacific in January/February 2014. The field campaign was based in Guam (13.5°N, 144.8°E) using the UK FAAM BAe-146 atmospheric research aircraft and was coordinated with the ATTREX project with the unmanned Global Hawk and the CONTRAST campaign with the Gulfstream V aircraft. Together, the three aircraft were able to make detailed measurements of atmospheric structure and composition from the ocean surface to 20 km. These measurements are providing new information about the processes influencing halogen and ozone levels in the tropical West Pacific as well as the importance of trace gas transport in convection for the upper troposphere and stratosphere. The FAAM aircraft made a total of 25 flights between 1°S-14°N and 130°-155°E. It was used to sample at altitudes below 8 km with much of the time spent in the marine boundary layer. It measured a range of chemical species, and sampled extensively within the region of main inflow into the strong West Pacific convection. The CAST team also made ground-based measurements of a number of species (including daily ozonesondes) at the Atmospheric Radiation Measurement program site on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea (2.1°S, 147.4°E). This article presents an overview of the CAST project focussing on the design and operation of the West Pacific experiment. It additionally discusses some new developments in CAST, including flights of new instruments on the Global Hawk in February/March 2015.CAST is funded by NERC and STFC, with grant NE/ I030054/1 (lead award), NE/J006262/1, NE/J006238/1, NE/J006181/1, NE/J006211/1, NE/J006061/1, NE/J006157/1, NE/J006203/1, NE/J00619X/1, and NE/J006173/1. N. R. P. Harris was supported by a NERC Advanced Research Fellowship (NE/G014655/1). P. I. Palmer acknowledges his Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award. The BAe-146-301 Atmospheric Research Aircraft is flown by Directflight Ltd and managed by the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements, which is a joint entity of the Natural Environment Research Council and the Met Office. The authors thank the staff at FAAM, Directflight and Avalon Aero who worked so hard toward the success of the aircraft deployment in Guam, especially for their untiring efforts when spending an unforeseen 9 days in Chuuk. We thank the local staff at Chuuk and Palau, as well as the authorities in the Federated States of Micronesia for their help in facilitating our research flights. Special thanks go to the personnel associated with the ARM facility at Manus, Papua New Guinea without whose help the ground-based measurements would not have been possible. Thanks to the British Atmospheric Data Centre (BADC) for hosting our data and the NCAS Atmospheric Measurement Facility for providing the radiosonde and ground-based ozone equipment. Chlorophyll-a data used in Figure 1 were extracted using the Giovanni online data system, maintained by the NASA GES DISC. We also acknowledge the MODIS mission scientists and associated NASA personnel for the production of this data set. Finally we thank many individual associated with the ATTREX and CONTRAST campaigns for their help in the logistical planning, and we would like to single out Jim Bresch for his excellent and freely provided meteorological advice

The impact of large scale licensing examinations in highly developed countries: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: To investigate the existing evidence base for the validity of large-scale licensing examinations including their impact. METHODS: Systematic review against a validity framework exploring: Embase (Ovid Medline); Medline (EBSCO); PubMed; Wiley Online; ScienceDirect; and PsychINFO from 2005 to April 2015. All papers were included when they discussed national or large regional (State level) examinations for clinical professionals, linked to examinations in early careers or near the point of graduation, and where success was required to subsequently be able to practice. Using a standardized data extraction form, two independent reviewers extracted study characteristics, with the rest of the team resolving any disagreement. A validity framework was used as developed by the American Educational Research Association, American Psychological Association, and National Council on Measurement in Education to evaluate each paper’s evidence to support or refute the validity of national licensing examinations. RESULTS: 24 published articles provided evidence of validity across the five domains of the validity framework. Most papers (n = 22) provided evidence of national licensing examinations relationships to other variables and their consequential validity. Overall there was evidence that those who do well on earlier or on subsequent examinations also do well on national testing. There is a correlation between NLE performance and some patient outcomes and rates of complaints, but no causal evidence has been established. CONCLUSIONS: The debate around licensure examinations is strong on opinion but weak on validity evidence. This is especially true of the wider claims that licensure examinations improve patient safety and practitioner competence

Thresholds of riparian forest use by terrestrial mammals in a fragmented Amazonian deforestation frontier

Species persistence in fragmented landscapes is intimately related to the quality, structure, and context of remaining habitat remnants. Riparian vegetation is legally protected within private landholdings in Brazil, so we quantitatively assessed occupancy patterns of terrestrial mammals in these remnants, examining under which circumstances different species effectively use them. We selected 38 riparian forest patches and five comparable riparian sites within continuous forest, at which we installed four to five camera-traps per site (199 camera-trap stations). Terrestrial mammal assemblages were sampled for 60 days per station during the dry seasons of 2013 and 2014. We modelled species occupancy and detection probabilities within riparian forest remnants, and examined the effects of patch size, habitat quality, and landscape structure on occupancy probabilities. We then scaled-up modelled occupancies to all 1915 riparian patches throughout the study region to identify which remnants retain the greatest potential to work as habitat for terrestrial vertebrates. Of the ten species for which occupancy was modelled, six responded to forest quality (remnant degradation, cattle intrusion, palm aggregations, and understorey density) or structure (remnant width, isolation, length, and area of the patch from which it originates). Patch suitability was lower considering habitat quality than landscape structure, and virtually all riparian remnants were unsuitable to maintain a high occupancy probability for all species that responded to forest patch quality or structure. Beyond safeguarding legal compliance concerning riparian remnant amount, ensuring terrestrial vertebrate persistence in fragmented landscapes will require curbing the drivers of forest degradation within private landholdings