Measurement of the photon and jet production with the ATLAS detector

Production of prompt isolated photons at hadron colliders provides a probe of perturbative QCD and can be used to study the gluon density function of the proton. The ATLAS collaboration has performed precise measurements of the inclusive production of isolated prompt photons in 20.2 fb${}^{-1}$ of data collected at $\sqrt{s}=8$ TeV and in 6.4 pb${}^{-1}$ of data collected at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. The measurements are compared with state-of-the-art theory predictions at NLO in QCD and with predictions of several MC generators. Production of inclusive jets at hadron colliders also provides a probe of perturbative QCD. The inclusive jet production cross-section was measured in 78 pb${}^{-1}$ of data collected at $\sqrt{s}=13$ TeV. Results have been compared with (state-of-the-art) theory predictions at NLO in QCD, interfaced with different parton distribution functions

International Service Project Supporting Children\u27s Sensory/Emotional Needs

Background: Health care providers in the United States must be prepared to collaborate inter-professionally for optimal care with culturally diverse populations. As of 2016, more than a quarter of the overall U.S. population was made up of immigrants and their U.S. born children (Zong, Batalova, & Hallock, 2017). International service-learning experiences have been used across a variety of health care educational programs, some providing inter-professional rehabilitation services, to help prepare students to work with individuals from varying cultures (Buff et al., 2015; Mu et al., 2016). Field immersion experiences can support the development of cultural competency in health care students, allowing them to better understand how culture is related to future professional practice (Ekelman, Dal Bello-Haas, Bazyk, & Bazyk, 2003). Cultural competency can be defined as “the ongoing process in which the health care provider continually strives to achieve the ability to effectively work within the cultural context of the client (including) individual, family, community” (Campinha-Bacote, 2002, p. 181). Recent studies support that interprofessional teams of health care students participating in service-learning experiences develop improved transcultural self-efficacy, including their knowledge on how cultural factors can influence the provision of health care (Cerny, Svien, Johnson, & Hansmeier, 2018). Potter’s House Association International (PHAI) serves some of the nearly 13,000 individuals living in extreme poverty at Guatemala City’s garbage dump. PHAI is a non-profit organization that uses a holistic approach to address not only economic poverty but also poverty of knowledge, support networks, social-emotional health, civic involvement, spirituality, and physical health (Potter’s House, n.d.) Faculty and students from the University of St. Augustine for Health Sciences (USAHS) in Austin have supported PHAI with annual, week-long service-learning trips over the past five years. In April 2018, occupational therapy (OT) students on the service trip were tasked with using grant-awarded funds to build a sensory room and provide education for PHAI staff on sensory and emotional regulation strategies to support the more than 200 children served at the community center Methods: Pre-trip planning included collaboration with PHAI staff to identify specific needs of the children and center; Four sessions of pre-departure training with USAHS faculty to address concepts related to global health service, including improving cultural competency, discussing potential ethical dilemmas, and other preparations for the service trip; and mentoring of OT students by USAHS OT faculty during preparation Discussion: Consideration of client factors, occupations, environments, and contexts of the children served by PHAI were essential when developing the sensory room and trainings. Ongoing collaboration between the USAHS service team and PHAI staff allowed educational programs to target emotional regulation and training of staff on use of the equipment to meet both general and specific needs of the children. Pre-planning and collaboration allowed the service team to overcome common barriers experienced on service trips to resource-limited regions. Future considerations include follow-up with PHAI staff to process successes, problem-solve failures, and identify additional needs

Heuristics‐enhanced geospatial machine learning (SaaS) of an ancient Mediterranean environment

Raw soil core physical data used in machine learning algorithms with corresponding spatial remotely sensed data is an emerging science. Using data derived from soil core samples previously collected in Universal Transverse Mercator zone 50 (Western Australia) and remotely sensed data, a model that predicted ground movement (GM) was developed specific to Australian Standards manual AS 1726–2017. This is the first approach for Australian soils and first in the world for soils older than 200 million yr. The model developed reliably predicted GM with 91.1% accuracy. The error obtained from the prediction is within acceptable limits currently used by engineers in calculations concerning soil classification for engineering purposes. Concerning the remotely sensed data analyzed, accuracy of the Atterberg limits method might be improved if additional information about soil structure (layering and horizon) or other variables (seasonal data) are built into this model. This model can be used to save on construction material costs, reduce the potential for human error associated with data collection and sample manipulation, but also fast-track (by up to 6 wk based on current wait times) building approvals while ensuring compliance to the relevant legislation. This platform also reduces the environmental effects of invasive drilling techniques. A requirement within principles of sustainable building practices, and associated with current standards commonly used by structural engineers who may seek better understanding of soil properties in Australia as a software service (with application potential in North America)

Stacked structure learning for lifted relational neural networks

Lifted Relational Neural Networks (LRNNs) describe relational domains using weighted first-order rules which act as templates for constructing feed-forward neural networks. While previous work has shown that using LRNNs can lead to state-of-the-art results in various ILP tasks, these results depended on hand-crafted rules. In this paper, we extend the framework of LRNNs with structure learning, thus enabling a fully automated learning process. Similarly to many ILP methods, our structure learning algorithm proceeds in an iterative fashion by top-down searching through the hypothesis space of all possible Horn clauses, considering the predicates that occur in the training examples as well as invented soft concepts entailed by the best weighted rules found so far. In the experiments, we demonstrate the ability to automatically induce useful hierarchical soft concepts leading to deep LRNNs with a competitive predictive power

Reversible conversion in the brassinosteroid quartet castasterone, brassinolide and their 3 beta-epimers

The metabolism of deuterated brassinosteroids has been studied in excised leaves of Secale cereale, and in vitro in seedlings of Arabidopsis thaliana and cell suspension cultures of Lycopersicon esculentum. In addition to the known biosynthetic convers

Host strain specific sex pheromone variation in Spodoptera frugiperda

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The fall armyworm <it>Spodoptera frugiperda </it>(Lepidoptera; Noctuidae) consists of two distinct strains with different host plant preferences for corn and rice. To assess whether pheromonal-mediated behavioral isolation accompanies the habitat isolation on different host plants, we compared the sex pheromone composition among females of the two strains. Pheromone glands were extracted with or without injection of pheromone biosynthesis activating neuropeptide (PBAN). To assess the mode of inheritance of this variation, we also analyzed the pheromone composition of F₁hybrid females.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Relative to intra-strain variation, the pheromone composition of the two strains differed significantly. Corn strain females contained significantly more of the second most abundant pheromone compound Z11-16:Ac (m), and significantly less of most other compounds, than rice strain females. When females were injected with PBAN before their glands were extracted, the differences between the strains were less pronounced but still statistically significant. The pheromone composition of hybrid females showed a maternal inheritance of the major component Z9-14:Ac (M) as well as of Z11-16:Ac (m). Most other compounds showed an inheritance indicating genetic dominance of the corn strain. The within-strain phenotypic correlations among the various components were consistent with their hypothesized biosynthetic pathway, and between-strain differences in the correlation structure suggested candidate genes that may explain the pheromone differences between the two strains. These include Δ9- and Δ11 desaturases, and possibly also a Δ7-desaturase, although the latter has not been identified in insects so far.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The two host strains of <it>S. frugiperda </it>produce systematically differing female sex pheromone blends. Previously-documented geographic variation in the sexual communication of this species did not take strain identity into account, and thus may be partly explained by different strain occurrence in different regions. The finding of pheromone differences reinforces the possibility of incipient reproductive isolation among these strains, previously shown to differ in the timing of nocturnal mating activity and host plant use. Finding the genetic basis of the pheromone differences, as well as these other biological traits, will help to elucidate the role of premating isolation in the continuing differentiation of these two strains that may eventually lead to speciation.</p