Plain language about shift-work

"Basic facts about shiftwork and suggestions for making life while on shift work easier were provided. General topics discussed included how to examine work schedules, health and safety effects of shiftwork, improving shiftwork through the organization, and coping strategies for the individual. Important factors to consider included shift length, how many shifts between rest days, how many rest days are on weekends, overtime, rest is taken between shifts, rest is taken during the shift, and whether the work schedule is regular and predictable. Shiftwork has immediate effects on sleep habits; attendant sleep loss makes it far easier to fall asleep at inappropriate times, affecting a worker's ability to perform safely and efficiently. The internal circadian rhythm affects how alert people feel, which in turn affects their ability to perform. Workers performing poorly are more likely to make errors that could result in accidents or injuries. Psychological concerns include missing out on family and social activities. Long term health effects include digestive problems and heart disease. Suggestions were offered to improve shift work schedule design. Coping strategies for the individual included getting enough good sleep, protecting sleep time, getting exercise, using relaxation techniques, maintaining a proper diet, using bright light to change peak alertness periods, and avoiding overuse of caffeine, alcohol or other drugs. " - NIOSHTIC-2Roger R. Rosa, Michael J. Colligan.Shipping list no.: 98-0018-P.Includes bibliographical references (p. 37-38)

Application of triggered lightning numerical models to the F106B and extension to other aircraft

The goal of the F106B Thunderstorm Research Program is to characterize the lightning environment for aircraft in flight. This report describes the application of numerical electromagnetic models to this problem. Topics include: (1) Extensive application of linear triggered lightning to F106B data; (2) Electrostatic analysis of F106B field mill data; (3) Application of subgrid modeling to F106B nose region, including both static and nonlinear models; (4) Extension of F106B results to other aircraft of varying sizes and shapes; and (5) Application of nonlinear model to interaction of F106B with lightning leader-return stroke event

Establishing the precision and robustness of farmers’ crop experiments

Precision farming technologies such as global positioning, input placement technologies and on-the-go yield monitoring now provide farmers with the means to conduct their own experiments at scales relevant to their decisions with minimal disruption. However, these experiments are generally incompatible with conventional statistical methods and alternative models of response variables (e.g. yield) must be estimated if the effect of the management decision is to be distinguished from other sources of variation. We explore the precision and robustness of such experiments using four sources of data and experimental designs of different degrees of complexity. We see that there is a trade-off between the precision of the experiment and its complexity and hence implementation cost. In yield experiments with small-grain cereals, standard errors of treatment effects in yield of less than 0.05 t/ha can potentially be achieved when the treatment is varied along the field traffic row and standard errors of less than 0.1 t/ha can potentially be achieved when single treatments are applied in each row but the experiment includes multiple disconnected repetitions of each treatment. Simpler split-field designs are less robust since it can be difficult to distinguish treatment effects from independent spatial trends and discontinuities in the response variable. In some instances, the potential precision is not realised because the data include noise or artefacts that are unrelated to crop performance. Further yield sensor developments are required to minimise these occurrences. The model-based statistical analyses of these experiments require assumptions regarding the variation of the response variable. We see that when these assumptions are inappropriate (e.g. if the correlation between response variable measurements is poorly modelled) then the inferences from the experiments can be unreliable. In particular, we see that the spatial correlation amongst yield measurements tends to be greater along the farm traffic row than perpendicular to it. Standard isotropic models of spatial correlation do not accommodate this feature and led to substantial under-estimation of the standard errors

PLoS Pathog

Cells employ active measures to restrict infection by pathogens, even prior to responses from the innate and humoral immune defenses. In this context selective autophagy is activated upon pathogen induced membrane rupture to sequester and deliver membrane fragments and their pathogen contents for lysosomal degradation. Adenoviruses, which breach the endosome upon entry, escape this fate by penetrating into the cytosol prior to autophagosome sequestration of the ruptured endosome. We show that virus induced membrane damage is recognized through Galectin-8 and sequesters the autophagy receptors NDP52 and p62. We further show that a conserved PPxY motif in the viral membrane lytic protein VI is critical for efficient viral evasion of autophagic sequestration after endosomal lysis. Comparing the wildtype with a PPxY-mutant virus we show that depletion of Galectin-8 or suppression of autophagy in ATG5-/- MEFs rescues infectivity of the PPxY-mutant virus while depletion of the autophagy receptors NDP52, p62 has only minor effects. Furthermore we show that wildtype viruses exploit the autophagic machinery for efficient nuclear genome delivery and control autophagosome formation via the cellular ubiquitin ligase Nedd4.2 resulting in reduced antigenic presentation. Our data thus demonstrate that a short PPxY-peptide motif in the adenoviral capsid permits multi-layered viral control of autophagic processes during entry

BRCA2 polymorphic stop codon K3326X and the risk of breast, prostate, and ovarian cancers

Background: The K3326X variant in BRCA2 (BRCA2*c.9976A>T; p.Lys3326*; rs11571833) has been found to be associated with small increased risks of breast cancer. However, it is not clear to what extent linkage disequilibrium with fully pathogenic mutations might account for this association. There is scant information about the effect of K3326X in other hormone-related cancers. Methods: Using weighted logistic regression, we analyzed data from the large iCOGS study including 76 637 cancer case patients and 83 796 control patients to estimate odds ratios (ORw) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for K3326X variant carriers in relation to breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer risks, with weights defined as probability of not having a pathogenic BRCA2 variant. Using Cox proportional hazards modeling, we also examined the associations of K3326X with breast and ovarian cancer risks among 7183 BRCA1 variant carriers. All statistical tests were two-sided. Results: The K3326X variant was associated with breast (ORw = 1.28, 95% CI = 1.17 to 1.40, P = 5.9x10- 6) and invasive ovarian cancer (ORw = 1.26, 95% CI = 1.10 to 1.43, P = 3.8x10-3). These associations were stronger for serous ovarian cancer and for estrogen receptor–negative breast cancer (ORw = 1.46, 95% CI = 1.2 to 1.70, P = 3.4x10-5 and ORw = 1.50, 95% CI = 1.28 to 1.76, P = 4.1x10-5, respectively). For BRCA1 mutation carriers, there was a statistically significant inverse association of the K3326X variant with risk of ovarian cancer (HR = 0.43, 95% CI = 0.22 to 0.84, P = .013) but no association with breast cancer. No association with prostate cancer was observed. Conclusions: Our study provides evidence that the K3326X variant is associated with risk of developing breast and ovarian cancers independent of other pathogenic variants in BRCA2. Further studies are needed to determine the biological mechanism of action responsible for these associations

Parent-of-origin-specific allelic associations among 106 genomic loci for age at menarche.

Age at menarche is a marker of timing of puberty in females. It varies widely between individuals, is a heritable trait and is associated with risks for obesity, type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, breast cancer and all-cause mortality. Studies of rare human disorders of puberty and animal models point to a complex hypothalamic-pituitary-hormonal regulation, but the mechanisms that determine pubertal timing and underlie its links to disease risk remain unclear. Here, using genome-wide and custom-genotyping arrays in up to 182,416 women of European descent from 57 studies, we found robust evidence (P < 5 × 10(-8)) for 123 signals at 106 genomic loci associated with age at menarche. Many loci were associated with other pubertal traits in both sexes, and there was substantial overlap with genes implicated in body mass index and various diseases, including rare disorders of puberty. Menarche signals were enriched in imprinted regions, with three loci (DLK1-WDR25, MKRN3-MAGEL2 and KCNK9) demonstrating parent-of-origin-specific associations concordant with known parental expression patterns. Pathway analyses implicated nuclear hormone receptors, particularly retinoic acid and γ-aminobutyric acid-B2 receptor signalling, among novel mechanisms that regulate pubertal timing in humans. Our findings suggest a genetic architecture involving at least hundreds of common variants in the coordinated timing of the pubertal transition

Tutor and Student Assessments of Academic Writing Tutorials: What is "Success"?

The university writing center provides a key support service within the institution, and as such must find ways to evaluate the impact of the instruction they provide. However, many studies of tutorial effectiveness lack adequate analyses of tutorial talk and of both student and tutor interpretations of behavior and outcomes. This study characterizes successful writing tutorials by employing a hybrid mnethodology, interactional sociolinguistics, combining conversation-analytic and ethnographic techniques. Twelve tutorials, six with native speakers of English (NSs) and six with nonnative speakers (NNSs), were analyzed for features such as topic introduction, type and frequency of directives and their mitigation, volubility, overlaps, backchannels, and laughter. By triangulating this analysis with participant interpretations compiled from interview data, a profile of a "successful" tutorial emerged. Associated with perceived success were conversational turn structure, tutor mitigation of directives, simultaneous laughter, affiliative overlaps, and small talk. In addition, symmetrical interpretations of directive forcefulness and tutor "helpfulness" characterized successful tutorials. Implications of the study are both theoretical and practical. Recommendations are made that tutor preparation and in-service training emphasize less idealized, more pragmatic conceptualizations of tutor roles and actions and focus on behaviors demonstrated as constitutive of success

Search for CP Violation in the Decay Z -> b (b bar) g

About three million hadronic decays of the Z collected by ALEPH in the years 1991-1994 are used to search for anomalous CP violation beyond the Standard Model in the decay Z -> b \bar{b} g. The study is performed by analyzing angular correlations between the two quarks and the gluon in three-jet events and by measuring the differential two-jet rate. No signal of CP violation is found. For the combinations of anomalous CP violating couplings, ${\hat{h}}_b = {\hat{h}}_{Ab}g_{Vb}-{\hat{h}}_{Vb}g_{Ab}$ and $h^{\ast}_b = \sqrt{\hat{h}_{Vb}^{2}+\hat{h}_{Ab}^{2}}$, limits of \hat{h}_b < 0.59$and$h^{\ast}_{b} < 3.02$ are given at 95\% CL.Comment: 8 pages, 1 postscript figure, uses here.sty, epsfig.st