ECONOMIC FEASIBILITY OF PRECISION IRRIGATION IN THE NORTHERN TEXAS HIGH PLAINS

The benefit of changing to Variable Rate Irrigation (VRI) from uniform application methods needs to be assessed for technology adoption. Precision irrigation involves water application in optimum amounts. Results indicate that feasibility of precision irrigation depends on field variability, crop value, economies of scale, and useful life of the equipment.Land Economics/Use,

red, black, & GREEN: a blues by Marc Bamuthi Joseph (review) [play review]

Through a mesmerizing hybridization of hip-hop aesthetics, dance, spoken word, visual art, rhythm, song, theatre, and film, red, black, & GREEN: a blues offered a powerful, ecologically engaged performance that built a personalized and emotional connection among issues of survival, urban wastelands, violence, food scarcity, poverty, homelessness, toxic dumping, and intergenerational health. Marc Bamuthi Joseph created and performed red, black, & GREEN in collaboration with visual artist/set designer Theaster Gates, as well as actor/dancer Traci Tolmaire, drummer/beat-boxer/turntablist Tommy Shepherd (aka Emcee Soulati), and vocalist Yaw. Commissioned by the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, this immersive production has collaborated with audiences in San Francisco, Chicago, Houston, New York, Boston, and Seattle, among other cities, to build a new vision of sustainability, with additional performances scheduled into 2014

The multifocal pattern electroretinogram in glaucoma

AbstractBackground: The pattern ERG can be used to detect early glaucomatous change, because the response of cells in the inner retina from (typically) 20°–40° of area is reduced before perimetric abnormality is certain. The multifocal pattern electroretinogram (mfPERG) allows analysis of many local regions within this area. The aim of this study was to investigate whether in patients with presumed glaucoma the mfPERG permits diagnosis and discrimination from normals.Methods: Measurements on 25 age-related normal eyes were compared to those on 23 eyes with different stages of glaucoma. A RETIScan system was used to generate a stimulus pattern of 19 hexagons, each consisting of six triangles. The triangles pattern-reversed black to white at 75 Hz. Those 19 hexagons were grouped into three stimulus regions: a central field, a middle, and a peripheral ring. The complete array subtended 48° at the eye. The hexagons alternated between black and white, in a temporal pattern that followed a corrected binary m-sequence (length 512, 10 cycles with 39 s each). The amplitudes and latencies of positive responses at approximately 50 ms (P-50) and negative responses at approximately 95 ms (N-95) were analyzed.Results: In patients with glaucoma the P-50 and N-95 components of the mfPERG were significantly reduced for the central area and both outer rings compared to normal volunteers (p<0.001, Mann–Whitney-U). The most distinct reduction was observed for N-95 and the central ring. Changes in latencies were not conclusive. The reduction of the components increased with the stage of glaucoma. A predictive model for detecting early glaucomatous changes was designed based on P-50–N-95 with 88% sensitivity and 76% specificity.Conclusion: In glaucoma a marked reduction of components, especially centrally is observed in the mfPERG. This hints to an early involvement of central ganglion cells and may be useful for future functional tests

Limits: Essays on the Limitations of Science and Religion

The work begins with an investigation of the mind-body problem by Arden Baxter, who argues that the mind is not reducible to the brain in practice even if it may be in theory. Evan Rapone opines that a new and concise definition of science is required, and then provides one. In an analysis of Kant’s Critique of Pure Reason, Madeleine Scott suggests that “the unthinkable will become thinkable” should we be able to transcend the limits of cognitive science by combining it with philosophical investigation. Morgan McConnell investigates the relationship between metaphors and models and concludes that the limits of science are intimately connected to the limits of language. Finally, Sara Nelson brings a Christian perspective to the work and proposes that the nature of the divine ensures that humans can never answer some of the most fundamental questions

Evaluation of a breathing retraining intervention to improve quality of life in asthma: quantitative process analysis of the BREATHE randomised controlled trial

Objective: Explore group differences between interventions (DVD and booklet (DVDB) versus face-to-face and booklet (F2FB), versus usual care) in the BREATHE trial of breathing retraining for asthma. Design: Quantitative process analysis exploring group expectancy, experience and practice before and after intervention delivery for the main trial. Setting: Primary care subjects: Adults with asthma (DVDB n = 261; F2FB n = 132). Main measures: Baseline - expectancy about breathing retraining; Follow-up 3, 6 and 12 months - self-efficacy, treatment experience (enjoyment of treatment, perceptions of physiotherapist, perceptions of barriers), amount of practice (weeks, days/week, times/day), continued practice; All time points - anxiety (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), asthma QoL (Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire). Results: No group differences in baseline expectancy. Statistically significant results (p<0.05) indicated that: At follow-up F2FB participants perceived greater need for a physiotherapist than DVDB participants (3.43 (0.87) versus 2.15 (1.26)). F2FB participants reported greater enjoyment of core techniques (such as stomach breathing 7.42(1.67) versus 6.13 (1.99) (DVDB)). Fewer F2FB participants reported problems due to doubts (24 (22.9%) versus 90 (54.2%). F2FB participants completed more practice sessions (75.01 (46.38) versus 48.56 (44.71)). Amount of practice was not significantly related to QoL. In the DVDB arm, greater confidence in breathing retraining ability explained 3.9% of variance in QoL at 12 months. Conclusions: Adults with asthma receiving breathing retraining face-to-face report greater enjoyment and undertaking more practice than those receiving a DVD and booklet, but practice is not related to QoL. Greater confidence in ability to do breathing retraining is associated with improved QoL

Physiotherapy breathing retraining for asthma: a randomised controlled trial

Background Despite effective pharmacotherapy, asthma continues to impair quality of life for most patients. Non-pharmacological approaches, including breathing retraining, are therefore of great interest to patients. However, clinicians rarely advocate breathing retraining and access to this intervention is restricted for most patients due to the limited availability of suitable physiotherapists and poor integration of breathing retraining into standard care. We aimed to assess the effectiveness of a digital self-guided breathing retraining intervention. Methods In this randomised controlled trial, we recruited patients from 34 general practices in the UK. Eligibility criteria for patients with asthma were broad, comprising a physician diagnosis of asthma, age of 16–70 years, receipt of at least one anti-asthma medication in the previous year, and impaired asthma-related quality of life (Asthma Quality of Life Questionnaire [AQLQ] score of <5·5). We developed a self-guided intervention, which was delivered as a DVD plus a printed booklet (DVDB). Participants were randomly assigned to receive either the DVDB intervention, three face-to-face breathing retraining sessions, or standard care, in a 2:1:2 ratio, for 12 months. Randomisation was achieved using the Southampton Clinical Trials Unit telephone randomisation service by use of random number generators. The primary outcome was the AQLQ score in the intention-to-treat population at 12 months. The trial was powered to show equivalence between the two active intervention groups, and superiority of both intervention groups over usual care. Secondary outcomes included patient-reported and physiological measures of asthma control, patient acceptability, and health-care costs. This trial was registered with International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number registry, number ISRCTN88318003. Findings Between Nov 5, 2012 and Jan 28, 2014, invitations to participate in the study were sent to 15 203 patients with general practitioner-diagnosed asthma, of whom 655 were recruited into the study. AQLQ scores at 12 months were significantly higher in the DVDB group (mean 5·40, SD 1·14) than in the usual care group (5·12, SD 1·17; adjusted mean difference 0·28, 95% CI 0·11 to 0·44), and in the face-to-face group (5·33, SD 1·06) than in the usual care group (adjusted mean difference 0·24, 95% CI 0·04 to 0·44); AQLQ scores were similar between the DVDB group and the face-to-face group (0·04, 95% CI −0·16 to 0·24). There were no significant differences between the randomisation groups in FEV1 or fraction of exhaled nitric oxide. 744 adverse events occurred in 272 patients: 101 (39%) of 261 patients in the DVDB group, 55 (42%) of 132 patients in the face-to-face group, and 132 (50%) of 262 in the usual care group, with patients reporting one or more event. 11 (4%) patients in the DVDB group, four (3%) patients in the face-to-face group, and 20 (8%) patients in the usual care group had a serious adverse event. Interpretation Breathing retraining programmes improve quality of life in patients with incompletely controlled asthma despite having little effect on lung function or airway inflammation. Such programmes can be delivered conveniently and cost-effectively as a self-guided digital audiovisual programme, so might also reduce health-care costs