The \u3ci\u3ePesticides and Farmworker Health Toolkit\u3c/i\u3e: An Innovative Model for Developing an Evidence-Informed Program for a Low-Literacy, Latino Immigrant Audience

Migrant and seasonal farmworkers are typically Spanish-speaking, Latino immigrants with limited formal education and low literacy skills and, as such, are a vulnerable population. We describe the development of the Pesticides and Farmworker Health Toolkit, a pesticide safety and health curriculum designed to communicate to farmworkers pesticide hazards found in their working environments. Using evidence-informed principles, the Toolkit curriculum for low-literacy, Latino farmworkers and its developmental process described herein serve as an innovative and useful model for Extension programming with non-traditional audiences

Weak Interaction Studies with 6He

The 6He nucleus is an ideal candidate to study the weak interaction. To this end we have built a high-intensity source of 6He delivering ~10^10 atoms/s to experiments. Taking full advantage of that available intensity we have performed a high-precision measurement of the 6He half-life that directly probes the axial part of the nuclear Hamiltonian. Currently, we are preparing a measurement of the beta-neutrino angular correlation in 6He beta decay that will allow to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model in the form of tensor currents.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures, proceedings for the Eleventh Conference on the Intersections of Particle and Nuclear Physics (CIPANP 2012

Comparison of Plankton Catch by Three Light-Trap Designs in the Northern Gulf of Mexico

The ichthyoplankton catch and zooplankton biomass estimates of three light-trap designs-cylindrical, quatrefoil, and rectangular-were compared over three consecutive nights at an offshore petroleum platform in the northern Gulf of Mexico. The quatrefoil light trap had higher fish and zooplankton abundance estimates than the other two designs. Categorical analysis of the two abundant fish taxa, Opisthonema oglinum and Anchoa spp., indicated that catch by the quatrefoil and rectangular traps was similar, capturing more larvae than juveniles and more O. oglinum than Anchoa spp. relative to cylindrical trap catch. Across all fish species, the quatrefoil captured a greater percentage of larvae. Other ontogenetic and species-specific differences were noted among the light-trap designs. Samples from vertical plankton tows underestimated larger size classes compared to light-trap catch. Light-trap catch per unit effort (CPUE) declined through the night, especially for the quatrefoil, and increased with depth. In contrast, the percentage of larvae captured across all traps increased through the night and decreased with depth, indicating that CPUE was related mostly to juvenile catch. The percentage of larvae also decreased with increasing water current speed

Robust Estimators in Generalized Pareto Models

This paper deals with optimally-robust parameter estimation in generalized Pareto distributions (GPDs). These arise naturally in many situations where one is interested in the behavior of extreme events as motivated by the Pickands-Balkema-de Haan extreme value theorem (PBHT). The application we have in mind is calculation of the regulatory capital required by Basel II for a bank to cover operational risk. In this context the tail behavior of the underlying distribution is crucial. This is where extreme value theory enters, suggesting to estimate these high quantiles parameterically using, e.g. GPDs. Robust statistics in this context offers procedures bounding the influence of single observations, so provides reliable inference in the presence of moderate deviations from the distributional model assumptions, respectively from the mechanisms underlying the PBHT.Comment: 26pages, 6 figure

United States Fish and Wildlife Service Reports

Biological investigations of king salmon, striped bass, and shad, water flow in relation to fish populations in the Sacramento - San Joaquin Delta

Eine verbesserte fluorimetrische Cortisolbestimmung im Serum

Die fluorimetrische Methode zur Bestimmung von Serumcortisol wurde durch blasenfreie Füllung einer Spezialküvette mittels Pumpvorrichtung, durch Benützung eines Spectralfluorimeters, sowie Verlegung des Meßzeitpunktes (80 min) und durch optimale Anregung (464 nm) und Emissionsmessung (522 nm) verbessert. Empfindlichkeit (<1 µg Cortisol/100 ml), Richtigkeit, Genauigkeit, Reproduzierbarkeit von Tag zu Tag (VK=6–7%) und Störfaktoren der Methode werden angegeben. Mit dieser Methode wurden Normalberciche für die 9 Uhr-Nüchterncortisolwerte und die i.v. ACTH-Belastung ermittelt. Bei NNR-insuffizienten Patienten (M. Addison; Zustand nach Operation eines Hypophysentumors; total Adrenalektomierte) wurden i.v. ACTH-Belastungen durchgeführt, wobei sich bereits beim 9 Uhr-Nüchterncortisolwert eine diagnostisch gut brauchbare Trennung gegenüber dem Normalbereich ergab. Unter Dexamethasonsubstitution wurden bei NNR-Insuffizienz sehr niedrige Cortisolspiegel gemessen, was für die Spezifität der Methode spricht. Dic Bestimmung des 24 Std-Rhythmus der Cortisolwerte bei NNR-Insuffizienten zeigte, daß besonders in den frühen Morgenstunden im Vergleich zu Normalpersonen erniedrigte Cortisolspiegel bestehen. Daraus wird ein besserer Verteilungsvorschlag für die Cortisol-substitution abgeleitet.The fluorimetric determination of serum cortisol was improved 1. using a pumpdevice to fill a special microcuvette avoiding the development of small bubbles, 2. using a recording spectrofluorometer with optimal absorption (464 nm) and emission (522 nm), and 3. allowing for maximal fluorescence of cortisol (80 min). Sensitivity (<1 µg cortisol/100 ml), accuracy, precision and specificity of the method are reported. Normal values of 9.00 a.m. serum cortisol (9.7–32.0 µg/100 ml) and of values before and after ACTH infusion tests were determined. For adrenal insufficiency (Addisons disease, total adrenalectomy, or after hypophysectomy) the 9.00 a.m. values of serum cortisol were generally satisfactory for diagnosis. In partial adrenal insufficiency ACTH infusion tests had to be performed. Very low levels of serum cortisol (2–4 µg/100 ml) were obtained, when patients with adrenal insufficiency were substituted with dexamethasone for three days, proving the specificity of the method. Determination of circadian rhythms of serum cortisol in patients with adrenal insufficiency on cortisol substitutive therapy in divided doses demonstrated cortisol levels far below the normal values during the carly morning hours. This situation should be improved by dividing the cortisol dose as follows: 6 a.m.: 10 mg, 10 a.m.: 5 mg, 2 p.m.: 5 mg and 8 p.m. or later: 10 mg cortisol

Composing first species counterpoint with a variable neighbourhood search algorithm

In this article, a variable neighbourhood search (VNS) algorithm is developed that can generate musical fragments consisting of a melody for the cantus firmus and the first species counterpoint. The objective function of the algorithm is based on a quantification of existing rules for counterpoint. The VNS algorithm developed in this article is a local search algorithm that starts from a randomly generated melody and improves it by changing one or two notes at a time. A thorough parametric analysis of the VNS reveals the significance of the algorithm's parameters on the quality of the composed fragment, as well as their optimal settings. A comparison of the VNS algorithm with a developed genetic algorithm shows that the VNS is more efficient. The VNS algorithm has been implemented in a user-friendly software environment for composition, called Optimuse. Optimuse allows a user to specify a number of characteristics such as length, key and mode. Based on this information, Optimuse 'composes' both cantus firmus and first species counterpoint. Alternatively, the user may specify a cantus firmus, and let Optimuse compose the accompanying first species counterpoint. © 2012 Taylor & Francis

riboviz 2:A flexible and robust ribosome profiling data analysis and visualization workflow

MOTIVATION: Ribosome profiling, or Ribo-seq, is the state-of-the-art method for quantifying protein synthesis in living cells. Computational analysis of Ribo-seq data remains challenging due to the complexity of the procedure, as well as variations introduced for specific organisms or specialized analyses. RESULTS: We present riboviz 2, an updated riboviz package, for the comprehensive transcript-centric analysis and visualization of Ribo-seq data. riboviz 2 includes an analysis workflow built on the Nextflow workflow management system for end-to-end processing of Ribo-seq data. riboviz 2 has been extensively tested on diverse species and library preparation strategies, including multiplexed samples. riboviz 2 is flexible and uses open, documented file formats, allowing users to integrate new analyses with the pipeline. AVAILABILITY AND IMPLEMENTATION: riboviz 2 is freely available at github.com/riboviz/riboviz

Microtubules in Bacteria: Ancient Tubulins Build a Five-Protofilament Homolog of the Eukaryotic Cytoskeleton

Microtubules play crucial roles in cytokinesis, transport, and motility, and are therefore superb targets for anti-cancer drugs. All tubulins evolved from a common ancestor they share with the distantly related bacterial cell division protein FtsZ, but while eukaryotic tubulins evolved into highly conserved microtubule-forming heterodimers, bacterial FtsZ presumably continued to function as single homopolymeric protofilaments as it does today. Microtubules have not previously been found in bacteria, and we lack insight into their evolution from the tubulin/FtsZ ancestor. Using electron cryomicroscopy, here we show that the tubulin homologs BtubA and BtubB form microtubules in bacteria and suggest these be referred to as “bacterial microtubules” (bMTs). bMTs share important features with their eukaryotic counterparts, such as straight protofilaments and similar protofilament interactions. bMTs are composed of only five protofilaments, however, instead of the 13 typical in eukaryotes. These and other results suggest that rather than being derived from modern eukaryotic tubulin, BtubA and BtubB arose from early tubulin intermediates that formed small microtubules. Since we show that bacterial microtubules can be produced in abundance in vitro without chaperones, they should be useful tools for tubulin research and drug screening

Weak Interaction Studies ith \u3csup\u3e6\u3c/sup\u3eHe

The 6He nucleus is an ideal candidate to study the weak interaction. To this end we have built a high-intensity source of 6He delivering ∼1010 atoms/s to experiments. Taking full advantage of that available intensity we have performed a high-precision measurement of the 6He half-life that directly probes the axial part of the nuclear Hamiltonian. Currently, we are preparing a measurement of the beta-neutrino angular correlation in 6He beta decay that will allow to search for new physics beyond the Standard Model in the form of tensor currents. © 2013 AIP Publishing LLC