1,353 research outputs found
Facebook: How Likes and Followers Affect Users Perception and Leadership
The online social network, Facebook, creates a problem in which likes , and followers give a user the appearance of leadership. The accumulation of likes in the online social network environment, such as Facebook, might offer non-legitimate leader status, similar to campaign donations contributing to the appeal of a political candidate. This appearance of Facebook popularity through likes possibly skews the other members\u27 perspective regarding a user\u27s leadership competence. The user often looks official, popular, and influential through the advent of likes and followers. Any opinions of a user with accumulated likes could be taken with greater weight than a user with significantly fewer likes and followers. The objective of this study finds if the accumulation of likes and followers on Facebook leads to perceived user leadership status. The data includes a Facebook user questionnaire survey and subsequent data analysis. This qualitative study may provide a useful expansion of our traditional definition of leadership. The expansion could enhance academic and leadership studies courses with a greater understanding of online social capital
Traveling waves for a model of the Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction
Following J.D. Murray, we consider a system of two differential equations
that models traveling fronts in the Noyes-Field theory of the
Belousov-Zhabotinsky (BZ) chemical reaction. We are also interested in the
situation when the system incorporates a delay . As we show, the BZ
system has a dual character: it is monostable when its key parameter and it is bistable when . For , and for each
admissible wave speed, we prove the uniqueness of monotone wavefronts. Next, a
concept of regular super-solutions is introduced as a main tool for generating
new comparison solutions for the BZ system. This allows to improve all
previously known upper estimations for the minimal speed of propagation in the
BZ system, independently whether it is monostable, bistable, delayed or not.
Special attention is given to the critical case which to some extent
resembles to the Zeldovich equation.Comment: 23 pages, to appear in the Journal of Differential Equation
Evaluation of dietary intake of lactating women in China and its potential impact on the health of mothers and infants
BACKGROUND: Optimal nutrition for lactating mothers is importance for mother and infantsβ health and well-being. We determined the nutrient intake and dietary changes during the first 3-month of lactation, and its potential effect on health and disease risk. METHOD: Personal interviews were conducted to collect a 24h diet recall questionnaire from 199 healthy lactating women in the postpartum days 2, 7, 30, 90 and healthy 58 non-pregnant women served as the controls. RESULTS: We found in lactating women (1) the mean daily energy and carbohydrate intake was lower than that of the Chinese Recommended Nutrient Intake (RNI, 2600 Kcal, 357.5β~β422.5g) by 11%β~β17% and 33%β~β49%, respectively; (2) the fat intake increased from 3% to 13%, which was 9β~β77% higher than the RNI (57β~β86.7g); (3) the protein intake exceeded the RNI of 85g by 32β~β53%; (4) the total calories consumed from carbohydrate (39%-44%), fat (34%β~β42%) and protein (20%-23%) failed to meet Chinese RNI (5) the intake of vitamin C, B1, folate, zinc, dietary fiber, and calcium was 5%β~β73% lower than the RNI while vitamin B(2), B(3), E, iron and selenium intake was 20% to 3 times higher than the RNI. Nutrient intake in the control group was lower for all nutrients than the recommended RNI. CONCLUSION: Lactating women on a self-selected diet did not meet the Chinese RNI for many important micronutrients, which may influence the nutritional composition of breast milk and thus impact the potential health of mothers and infants. RNI should consider the regional dietary habits and culture. A single national RNI is not applicable for all of China. Nutritional education into the community is needed
Planet Hunters. VIII. Characterization of 41 Long-Period Exoplanet Candidates from Kepler Archival Data
The census of exoplanets is incomplete for orbital distances larger than 1
AU. Here, we present 41 long-period planet candidates in 38 systems identified
by Planet Hunters based on Kepler archival data (Q0-Q17). Among them, 17
exhibit only one transit, 14 have two visible transits and 10 have more than
three visible transits. For planet candidates with only one visible transit, we
estimate their orbital periods based on transit duration and host star
properties. The majority of the planet candidates in this work (75%) have
orbital periods that correspond to distances of 1-3 AU from their host stars.
We conduct follow-up imaging and spectroscopic observations to validate and
characterize planet host stars. In total, we obtain adaptive optics images for
33 stars to search for possible blending sources. Six stars have stellar
companions within 4". We obtain high-resolution spectra for 6 stars to
determine their physical properties. Stellar properties for other stars are
obtained from the NASA Exoplanet Archive and the Kepler Stellar Catalog by
Huber et al. (2014). We validate 7 planet candidates that have planet
confidence over 0.997 (3-{\sigma} level). These validated planets include 3
single-transit planets (KIC-3558849b, KIC-5951458b, and KIC-8540376c), 3
planets with double transits (KIC-8540376b, KIC-9663113b, and KIC-10525077b),
and 1 planet with 4 transits (KIC-5437945b). This work provides assessment
regarding the existence of planets at wide separations and the associated false
positive rate for transiting observation (17%-33%). More than half of the
long-period planets with at least three transits in this paper exhibit transit
timing variations up to 41 hours, which suggest additional components that
dynamically interact with the transiting planet candidates. The nature of these
components can be determined by follow-up radial velocity and transit
observations.Comment: Published on ApJ, 815, 127 Notations of validated planets are changed
in accordance with naming convention of NASA Exoplanet Archiv
Clinical trial of laronidase in Hurler syndrome after hematopoietic cell transplantation.
BackgroundMucopolysaccharidosis I (MPS IH) is a lysosomal storage disease treated with hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) because it stabilizes cognitive deterioration, but is insufficient to alleviate all somatic manifestations. Intravenous laronidase improves somatic burden in attenuated MPS I. It is unknown whether laronidase can improve somatic disease following HCT in MPS IH. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of laronidase on somatic outcomes of patients with MPS IH previously treated with HCT.MethodsThis 2-year open-label pilot study of laronidase included ten patients (age 5-13 years) who were at least 2 years post-HCT and donor engrafted. Outcomes were assessed semi-annually and compared to historic controls.ResultsThe two youngest participants had a statistically significant improvement in growth compared to controls. Development of persistent high-titer anti-drug antibodies (ADA) was associated with poorer 6-min walk test (6MWT) performance; when patients with high ADA titers were excluded, there was a significant improvement in the 6MWT in the remaining seven patients.ConclusionsLaronidase seemed to improve growth in participants <8 years old, and 6MWT performance in participants without ADA. Given the small number of patients treated in this pilot study, additional study is needed before definitive conclusions can be made
Stress degradation studies and development of stability-indicating TLC-densitometry method for determination of prednisolone acetate and chloramphenicol in their individual and combined pharmaceutical formulations
A rapid and reproducible stability indicating TLC method was developed for the determination of prednisolone acetate and chloramphenicol in presence of their degraded products. Uniform degradation conditions were maintained by refluxing sixteen reaction mixtures for two hours at 80Β°C using parallel synthesizer including acidic, alkaline and neutral hydrolysis, oxidation and wet heating degradation. Oxidation at room temperature, photochemical and dry heating degradation studies were also carried out. Separation was done on TLC glass plates, pre-coated with silica gel 60F-254 using chloroform: methanol (14:1 v/v). Spots at Rf 0.21 Β± 0.02 and Rf 0.41 Β± 0.03 were recognized as chloramphenicol and prednisolone acetate, respectively. Quantitative analysis was done through densitometric measurements at multiwavelength (243 nm, Ξ»max of prednisolone acetate and 278 nm, Ξ»max of chloramphenicol), simultaneously. The developed method was optimized and validated as per ICH guidelines. Method was found linear over the concentration range of 200-6000 ng/spot with the correlation coefficient (r2 Β± S.D.) of 0.9976 Β± 3.5 and 0.9920 Β± 2.5 for prednisolone acetate and chloramphenicol, respectively. The developed TLC method can be applied for routine analysis of prednisolone acetate and chloramphenicol in presence of their degraded products in their individual and combined pharmaceutical formulations
Guidance for reconciling patent rights and disclosure of findings at scientific meetings
Open collaboration and sharing of information among scientists at scientific meetings can foster innovation and discovery. However, such sharing can be at odds with potential patenting and commercialization objectives. This tension may be mitigated if certain procedures are followed in the context of scientific meetings. The article first discusses what makes a scientific finding patentable and then sets out four specific patent issues for scientists to consider before attending a scientific meeting and sharing their research. Finally, it provides recommendations on how scientists can best protect their intellectual property rights while sharing information at scientific meetings
Genome sequencing of the extinct Eurasian wild aurochs, Bos primigenius, illuminates the phylogeography and evolution of cattle
Background
Domestication of the now-extinct wild aurochs, Bos primigenius, gave rise to the two major domestic extant cattle taxa, B. taurus and B. indicus. While previous genetic studies have shed some light on the evolutionary relationships between European aurochs and modern cattle, important questions remain unanswered, including the phylogenetic status of aurochs, whether gene flow from aurochs into early domestic populations occurred, and which genomic regions were subject to selection processes during and after domestication. Here, we address these questions using whole-genome sequencing data generated from an approximately 6,750-year-old British aurochs bone and genome sequence data from 81 additional cattle plus genome-wide single nucleotide polymorphism data from a diverse panel of 1,225 modern animals.
Results
Phylogenomic analyses place the aurochs as a distinct outgroup to the domestic B. taurus lineage, supporting the predominant Near Eastern origin of European cattle. Conversely, traditional British and Irish breeds share more genetic variants with this aurochs specimen than other European populations, supporting localized gene flow from aurochs into the ancestors of modern British and Irish cattle, perhaps through purposeful restocking by early herders in Britain. Finally, the functions of genes showing evidence for positive selection in B. taurus are enriched for neurobiology, growth, metabolism and immunobiology, suggesting that these biological processes have been important in the domestication of cattle.
Conclusions
This work provides important new information regarding the origins and functional evolution of modern cattle, revealing that the interface between early European domestic populations and wild aurochs was significantly more complex than previously thought
Body size in early life and risk of epithelial ovarian cancer: results from the Nurses' Health Studies
Adult body mass index (BMI) has been associated with ovarian cancer risk, but few studies have examined body size earlier in life. We prospectively examined associations of body fatness at ages 5 and 10, BMI at age 18, height, and birthweight with risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in the Nurses' Health Study (NHS: 110β311 women, 735 cases) and Nurses' Health Study II (NHSII: 113β059 women, 137 cases). Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). There was a weak inverse association between average body fatness at ages 5 and 10 and risk in the NHS (RR for heaviest vs most lean=0.81, 95% CI: 0.53β1.24, P for trend=0.04) and a nonsignificant positive association in the NHSII (RR=2.09, 95% CI: 0.98β4.48, P for trend=0.10), possibly due to differences in age and menopausal status. Height was positively associated with risk in both cohorts (RR for β©Ύ1.75 vs <1.6βm=1.43, 95% CI: 1.05β1.96, P for trend=0.001). Body mass index at the age of 18 years and birthweight were not associated with risk. Further research should examine the biological mechanisms underlying the observed associations
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