Genome wide association mapping of grain arsenic, copper, molybdenum and zinc in rice (Oryza sativa L.) grown at four international field sites

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Trial of Optimal Personalised Care After Treatment for Gynaecological cancer (TOPCAT-G): a study protocol for a randomised feasibility trial

Background: Gynaecological cancers are diagnosed in over 1000 women in Wales every year. We estimate that this is costing the National Health Service (NHS) in excess of £1 million per annum for routine follow-up appointments alone. Follow-up care is not evidence-based, and there are no definitive guidelines from The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) for the type of follow-up that should be delivered. Standard care is to provide a regular medical review of the patient in a hospital-based outpatient clinic for a minimum of 5 years. This study is to evaluate the feasibility of a proposed alternative where the patients are delivered a specialist nurse-led telephone intervention known as Optimal Personalised Care After Treatment for Gynaecological cancer (OPCAT-G), which comprised of a protocol-based patient education, patient empowerment and structured needs assessment. Methods: The study will recruit female patients who have completed treatment for cervical, endometrial, epithelial ovarian or vulval cancer within the previous 3 months in Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) in North Wales. Following recruitment, participants will be randomised to one of two arms in the trial (standard care or OPCAT-G intervention). The primary outcomes for the trial are patient recruitment and attrition rates, and the secondary outcomes are quality of life, health status and capability, using the EORTC QLQ-C30, EQ- 5D-3L and ICECAP-A measures. Additionally, a client service receipt inventory (CSRI) will be collected in order to pilot an economic evaluation. Discussion: The results from this feasibility study will be used to inform a fully powered randomised controlled trial to evaluate the difference between standard care and the OPCAT-G intervention. Trial registration: ISRCTN45565436

Measurement of the inclusive and dijet cross-sections of b-jets in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector

The inclusive and dijet production cross-sections have been measured for jets containing b-hadrons (b-jets) in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of sqrt(s) = 7 TeV, using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements use data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 34 pb^-1. The b-jets are identified using either a lifetime-based method, where secondary decay vertices of b-hadrons in jets are reconstructed using information from the tracking detectors, or a muon-based method where the presence of a muon is used to identify semileptonic decays of b-hadrons inside jets. The inclusive b-jet cross-section is measured as a function of transverse momentum in the range 20 < pT < 400 GeV and rapidity in the range |y| < 2.1. The bbbar-dijet cross-section is measured as a function of the dijet invariant mass in the range 110 < m_jj < 760 GeV, the azimuthal angle difference between the two jets and the angular variable chi in two dijet mass regions. The results are compared with next-to-leading-order QCD predictions. Good agreement is observed between the measured cross-sections and the predictions obtained using POWHEG + Pythia. MC@NLO + Herwig shows good agreement with the measured bbbar-dijet cross-section. However, it does not reproduce the measured inclusive cross-section well, particularly for central b-jets with large transverse momenta.Comment: 10 pages plus author list (21 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final version published in European Physical Journal

From research to practice: Lay adherence counsellors' fidelity to an evidence-based intervention for promoting adherence to antiretroviral treatment in the Western Cape, South Africa

In the Western Cape, lay counsellors are tasked with supporting antiretroviral (ARV) adherence in public healthcare clinics. Thirty-nine counsellors in 21 Cape Town clinics were trained in Options for Health (Options), an evidence-based intervention based on motivational interviewing (MI). We evaluated counsellors’ ability to deliver Options for addressing poor adherence following 5 days training. Audio-recordings of counselling sessions collected following training were transcribed and translated into English. Thirty-five transcripts of sessions conducted by 35 counsellors were analysed for fidelity to the Options protocol, and using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment and Integrity (MITI) code. Counsellors struggled with some of the strategies associated with MI, such as assessing readiness-to-change and facilitating change talk. Overall, counsellors failed to achieve proficiency in the approach of MI according to the MITI. Counsellors were able to negotiate realistic plans for addressing patients’ barriers to adherence. Further efforts aimed at strengthening the ARV adherence counselling programme are needed.Department of HE and Training approved lis

Kombinasi Format Factory, U-lead dan Microsoft Office Powerpoint dalam Upaya Meningkatkan Kualitas Media Pembelajaran

Peserta didik mempunyai gaya belajar yang berbeda-beda. Gaya belajar tersebut meliputi auditori, visual dan kinestetik (VAK). Seorang guru harus mampu memenuhi kebutuhan masing-masing gaya belajar peserta didik tersebut. Salah satu cara yang dapat dilakukan adalah dengan menggunakan media pembelajaran berbasis VAK. Media pembelajaran berbasis VAK dapat dipenuhi dengan menyisipkan file video di dalamnya. Selain itu, penggunaan file video sebagai media pembelajaran mendukung implementasi pembelajaran saintifik pada kurikulum 2013. Namun, belum semua guru memiliki kemampuan untuk mengemas file video tersebut dalam bentuk media pembelajaran. Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk meningkatkan kemampuan guru-guru di SMA Negeri 1 Teras dan SMA Negeri 1 Boyolali dalam membuat media pembelajaran berbasis VAK dengan kombinasi software Format Factory, U-Lead dan PowerPoint. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terjadi peningkatan kemampuan para guru di SMA Negeri 1 Teras dan SMA Negeri 1 Boyolali dalam membuat media pembelajaran. Peningkatan kemampuan guru-guru tersebut berada di atas target yang direncanakan. Rerata peningkatan kemampuan guru-guru di SMA Negeri 1 Teras 7,87% di atas target, sedangkan di SMA Negeri 1 Boyolali 9,58% di atas target. Kata kunci: Media Pembelajaran, Format Factory, U-Lead, PowerPoint Students have different learning styles. Learning styles include visual learners, auditory learners, and kinesthetic learners. A teacher must be able to fulfill the needs of individual students\u27 learning styles. One way that can be applied is using Visual, Audio and Kinesthetic (VAK) learning media based. VAK-learning media based can be created by inserting video files on it. In addition, using video file as a learning media can support the implementation of scientific learning on the 2013 curriculum. However, not all teachers have the ability to use video files into a learning media. The purpose of this study is to improve the teachers\u27 ability at SMA Negeri 1 Teras and SMAN 1 Boyolali on making VAK-learning media based with a combination of Format Factory, U-Lead and PowerPoint software. The results showed that the teachers\u27 ability on making VAK-learning media based was increased. Increased the teachers\u27 ability was above planned target score. The mean score of the teachers\u27 ability at SMA Negeri 1 Teras 7.87% above the target, while at SMAN 1 Boyolali 9.58% above the target

Population genomics of marine zooplankton

Author Posting. © The Author(s), 2017. This is the author's version of the work. It is posted here for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Bucklin, Ann et al. "Population Genomics of Marine Zooplankton." Population Genomics: Marine Organisms. Ed. Om P. Rajora and Marjorie Oleksiak. Springer, 2018. doi:10.1007/13836_2017_9.The exceptionally large population size and cosmopolitan biogeographic distribution that distinguish many – but not all – marine zooplankton species generate similarly exceptional patterns of population genetic and genomic diversity and structure. The phylogenetic diversity of zooplankton has slowed the application of population genomic approaches, due to lack of genomic resources for closelyrelated species and diversity of genomic architecture, including highly-replicated genomes of many crustaceans. Use of numerous genomic markers, especially single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), is transforming our ability to analyze population genetics and connectivity of marine zooplankton, and providing new understanding and different answers than earlier analyses, which typically used mitochondrial DNA and microsatellite markers. Population genomic approaches have confirmed that, despite high dispersal potential, many zooplankton species exhibit genetic structuring among geographic populations, especially at large ocean-basin scales, and have revealed patterns and pathways of population connectivity that do not always track ocean circulation. Genomic and transcriptomic resources are critically needed to allow further examination of micro-evolution and local adaptation, including identification of genes that show evidence of selection. These new tools will also enable further examination of the significance of small-scale genetic heterogeneity of marine zooplankton, to discriminate genetic “noise” in large and patchy populations from local adaptation to environmental conditions and change.Support was provided by the US National Science Foundation to AB and RJO (PLR-1044982) and to RJO (MCB-1613856); support to IS and MC was provided by Nord University (Norway)

Measurement of triple gauge-boson couplings at 172 GeV

The triple gauge-boson couplings, Awp, Aw and Abp, have been measured using 34 semileptonically and 54 hadronically decaying WW candidate events. The events were selected in the data recorded during 1996 with the ALEPH detector at 172 GeV, corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 10.65 pb^-1. The triple gauge-boson couplings have been measured using optimal observables constructed from kinematic information of WW events. The results are in agreement with the Standard Model expectation

Determination of sin2 θeff w using jet charge measurements in hadronic Z decays

The electroweak mixing angle is determined with high precision from measurements of the mean difference between forward and backward hemisphere charges in hadronic decays of the Z. A data sample of 2.5 million hadronic Z decays recorded over the period 1990 to 1994 in the ALEPH detector at LEP is used. The mean charge separation between event hemispheres containing the original quark and antiquark is measured for bb̄ and cc̄ events in subsamples selected by their long lifetimes or using fast D*'s. The corresponding average charge separation for light quarks is measured in an inclusive sample from the anticorrelation between charges of opposite hemispheres and agrees with predictions of hadronisation models with a precision of 2%. It is shown that differences between light quark charge separations and the measured average can be determined using hadronisation models, with systematic uncertainties constrained by measurements of inclusive production of kaons, protons and A's. The separations are used to measure the electroweak mixing angle precisely as sin2 θeff w = 0.2322 ± 0.0008(exp. stat.) ±0.0007(exp. syst.) ± 0.0008(sep.). The first two errors are due to purely experimental sources whereas the third stems from uncertainties in the quark charge separations

Searches for neutral Higgs bosons in e+e−e^{+}e^{-} collisions at centre-of-mass energies from 192 to 202 GeV

Searches for neutral Higgs bosons are performed with the 237 pb^-1 of data collected in 1999 by the ALEPH detector at LEP, for centre-of-mass energies between 191.6 and 201.6 GeV. These searches apply to Higgs bosons within the context of the Standard Model and its minimal supersymmetric extension (MSSM) as well as to invisibly decaying Higgs bosons. No evidence of a signal is seen. A lower limit on the mass of the Standard Model Higgs boson of 107.7 GeV/c^2 at 95% confidence level is set. In the MSSM, lower limits of 91.2 and 91.6 GeV/c^2 are derived for the masses of the neutral Higgs bosons h and A, respectively. For a Higgs boson decaying invisibly and produced with the Standard Model cross section, masses below 106.4 GeV/c^2 are excluded