Identifying geochemical hot moments and their controls on a contaminated river floodplain system using wavelet and entropy approaches

Geochemical hot moments are defined here as short periods of time that are associated with disproportionally high levels of concentrations (biogeochemically-driven or transport-related) relative to longer intervening time periods. We used entropy and wavelet techniques to identify temporal variability in geochemical constituents and their controls along three transects within a contaminated floodplain system near Rifle CO. Results indicated that transport-dominated hot moments drove overall geochemical processing in the contaminated groundwater and seep zones. These hot moments were associated with seasonal hydrologic variability (∼4 months) in the contaminated aquifer and with annual hydrologic cycle and residence times in the seep zone. Hot moments associated with a naturally reduced zone within the aquifer were found to be biogeochemically-driven, with a different dominant frequency (∼3 months) and no correlation to hydrologic or weather variations, in contrast to what is observed in other regions of the floodplain

A Similarity Measure for GPU Kernel Subgraph Matching

Accelerator architectures specialize in executing SIMD (single instruction, multiple data) in lockstep. Because the majority of CUDA applications are parallelized loops, control flow information can provide an in-depth characterization of a kernel. CUDAflow is a tool that statically separates CUDA binaries into basic block regions and dynamically measures instruction and basic block frequencies. CUDAflow captures this information in a control flow graph (CFG) and performs subgraph matching across various kernel's CFGs to gain insights to an application's resource requirements, based on the shape and traversal of the graph, instruction operations executed and registers allocated, among other information. The utility of CUDAflow is demonstrated with SHOC and Rodinia application case studies on a variety of GPU architectures, revealing novel thread divergence characteristics that facilitates end users, autotuners and compilers in generating high performing code

IgE-Mediated Hypersensitivity Reactions to Cannabis in Laboratory Personnel

Background: There have been sporadic reports of hypersensitivity reactions to plants of the Cannabinaceae family (hemp and hops), but it has remained unclear whether these reactions are immunologic or nonimmunologic in nature. Objective: We examined the IgE-binding and histamine-releasing properties of hashish and marijuana extracts by CAP-FEIA and a basophil histamine release test. Methods: Two workers at a forensic laboratory suffered from nasal congestion, rbinitis, sneezing and asthmatic symptoms upon occupational contact with hashish or marijuana, which they had handled frequently for 25 and 16 years, respectively. Neither patient had a history of atopic disease. Serum was analyzed for specific IgE antibodies to hashish or marijuana extract by research prototype ImmunoCAP, and histamine release from basophils upon exposure to hashish or marijuana extracts was assessed. Results were matched to those of 4 nonatopic and 10 atopic control subjects with no known history of recreational or occupational exposure to marijuana or hashish. Results: Patient 1 had specific IgE to both hashish and marijuana (CAP class 2), and patient 2 to marijuana only (CAP class 2). Controls proved negative for specific IgE except for 2 atopic individuals with CAP class 1 to marijuana and 1 other atopic individual with CAP class 1 to hashish. Stimulation of basophils with hashish or marijuana extracts elicited histamine release from basophils of both patients and 4 atopic control subjects. Conclusions: Our results suggest an IgE-related pathomechanism for hypersensitivity reactions to marijuana or hashish. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base

Investigating Microtopographic and Soil Controls on a Mountainous Meadow Plant Community Using High-Resolution Remote Sensing and Surface Geophysical Data

This study aims to investigate the microtopographic controls that dictate the heterogeneity of plant communities in a mountainous floodplain-hillslope system, using remote sensing and surface geophysical techniques. Working within a lower montane floodplain-hillslope study site (750 m × 750 m) in the Upper Colorado River Basin, we developed a new data fusion framework, based on machine learning and feature engineering, that exploits remote sensing optical and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) data to estimate the distribution of key plant meadow communities at submeter resolution. We collected surface electrical resistivity tomography data to explore the variability in soil properties along a floodplain-hillslope transect at 0.50-m resolution and extracted LiDAR-derived metrics to model the rapid change in microtopography. We then investigated the covariability among the estimated plant community distributions, soil information, and topographic metrics. Results show that our framework estimated the distribution of nine plant communities with higher accuracy (87% versus 80% overall; 85% versus 60% for shrubs) compared to conventional classification approaches. Analysis of the covariabilities reveals a strong correlation between plant community distribution, soil electric conductivity, and slope, indicating that soil moisture is a primary control on heterogeneous spatial distribution. At the same time, microtopography plays an important role in creating particular ecosystem niches for some of the communities. Such relationships could be exploited to provide information about the spatial variability of soil properties. This highly transferable framework can be employed within long-term monitoring to capture community-specific physiological responses to perturbations, offering the possibility of bridging local plot-scale observations with large landscape monitoring

The demand for sports and exercise: Results from an illustrative survey

Funding from the Department of Health policy research programme was used in this study.There is a paucity of empirical evidence on the extent to which price and perceived benefits affect the level of participation in sports and exercise. Using an illustrative sample of 60 adults at Brunel University, West London, we investigate the determinants of demand for sports and exercise. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews that covered indicators of sports and exercise behaviour; money/time price and perceived benefits of participation; and socio- economic/demographic details. Count, linear and probit regression models were fitted as appropriate. Seventy eight per cent of the sample participated in sports and exercise and spent an average of £27 per month and an average of 20 min travelling per occasion of sports and exercise. The demand for sport and exercise was negatively associated with time (travel or access time) and ‘variable’ price and positively correlated with ‘fixed’ price. Demand was price inelastic, except in the case of meeting the UK government’s recommended level of participation, which is time price elastic (elasticity = −2.2). The implications of data from a larger nationally representative sample as well as the role of economic incentives in influencing uptake of sports and exercise are discussed.This article is available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund

The impact of the ATLAS zero-lepton, jets and missing momentum search on a CMSSM fit

Recent ATLAS data significantly extend the exclusion limits for supersymmetric particles. We examine the impact of such data on global fits of the constrained minimal supersymmetric standard model (CMSSM) to indirect and cosmological data. We calculate the likelihood map of the ATLAS search, taking into account systematic errors on the signal and on the background. We validate our calculation against the ATLAS determinaton of 95% confidence level exclusion contours. A previous CMSSM global fit is then re-weighted by the likelihood map, which takes a bite at the high probability density region of the global fit, pushing scalar and gaugino masses up.Comment: 16 pages, 7 figures. v2 has bigger figures and fixed typos. v3 has clarified explanation of our handling of signal systematic

Malaria mortality in Africa and Asia: evidence from INDEPTH health and demographic surveillance system sites.

BACKGROUND: Malaria continues to be a major cause of infectious disease mortality in tropical regions. However, deaths from malaria are most often not individually documented, and as a result overall understanding of malaria epidemiology is inadequate. INDEPTH Network members maintain population surveillance in Health and Demographic Surveillance System sites across Africa and Asia, in which individual deaths are followed up with verbal autopsies. OBJECTIVE: To present patterns of malaria mortality determined by verbal autopsy from INDEPTH sites across Africa and Asia, comparing these findings with other relevant information on malaria in the same regions. DESIGN: From a database covering 111,910 deaths over 12,204,043 person-years in 22 sites, in which verbal autopsy data were handled according to the WHO 2012 standard and processed using the InterVA-4 model, over 6,000 deaths were attributed to malaria. The overall period covered was 1992-2012, but two-thirds of the observations related to 2006-2012. These deaths were analysed by site, time period, age group and sex to investigate epidemiological differences in malaria mortality. RESULTS: Rates of malaria mortality varied by 1:10,000 across the sites, with generally low rates in Asia (one site recording no malaria deaths over 0.5 million person-years) and some of the highest rates in West Africa (Nouna, Burkina Faso: 2.47 per 1,000 person-years). Childhood malaria mortality rates were strongly correlated with Malaria Atlas Project estimates of Plasmodium falciparum parasite rates for the same locations. Adult malaria mortality rates, while lower than corresponding childhood rates, were strongly correlated with childhood rates at the site level. CONCLUSIONS: The wide variations observed in malaria mortality, which were nevertheless consistent with various other estimates, suggest that population-based registration of deaths using verbal autopsy is a useful approach to understanding the details of malaria epidemiology

First Steps towards Underdominant Genetic Transformation of Insect Populations

The idea of introducing genetic modifications into wild populations of insects to stop them from spreading diseases is more than 40 years old. Synthetic disease refractory genes have been successfully generated for mosquito vectors of dengue fever and human malaria. Equally important is the development of population transformation systems to drive and maintain disease refractory genes at high frequency in populations. We demonstrate an underdominant population transformation system in Drosophila melanogaster that has the property of being both spatially self-limiting and reversible to the original genetic state. Both population transformation and its reversal can be largely achieved within as few as 5 generations. The described genetic construct {Ud} is composed of two genes; (1) a UAS-RpL14.dsRNA targeting RNAi to a haploinsufficient gene RpL14 and (2) an RNAi insensitive RpL14 rescue. In this proof-of-principle system the UAS-RpL14.dsRNA knock-down gene is placed under the control of an Actin5c-GAL4 driver located on a different chromosome to the {Ud} insert. This configuration would not be effective in wild populations without incorporating the Actin5c-GAL4 driver as part of the {Ud} construct (or replacing the UAS promoter with an appropriate direct promoter). It is however anticipated that the approach that underlies this underdominant system could potentially be applied to a number of species. Figure

Advancing Tests of Relativistic Gravity via Laser Ranging to Phobos

Phobos Laser Ranging (PLR) is a concept for a space mission designed to advance tests of relativistic gravity in the solar system. PLR's primary objective is to measure the curvature of space around the Sun, represented by the Eddington parameter $\gamma$, with an accuracy of two parts in $10^7$, thereby improving today's best result by two orders of magnitude. Other mission goals include measurements of the time-rate-of-change of the gravitational constant, $G$ and of the gravitational inverse square law at 1.5 AU distances--with up to two orders-of-magnitude improvement for each. The science parameters will be estimated using laser ranging measurements of the distance between an Earth station and an active laser transponder on Phobos capable of reaching mm-level range resolution. A transponder on Phobos sending 0.25 mJ, 10 ps pulses at 1 kHz, and receiving asynchronous 1 kHz pulses from earth via a 12 cm aperture will permit links that even at maximum range will exceed a photon per second. A total measurement precision of 50 ps demands a few hundred photons to average to 1 mm (3.3 ps) range precision. Existing satellite laser ranging (SLR) facilities--with appropriate augmentation--may be able to participate in PLR. Since Phobos' orbital period is about 8 hours, each observatory is guaranteed visibility of the Phobos instrument every Earth day. Given the current technology readiness level, PLR could be started in 2011 for launch in 2016 for 3 years of science operations. We discuss the PLR's science objectives, instrument, and mission design. We also present the details of science simulations performed to support the mission's primary objectives.Comment: 25 pages, 10 figures, 9 table

Health services research in the public healthcare system in Hong Kong: An analysis of over 1 million antihypertensive prescriptions between 2004-2007 as an example of the potential and pitfalls of using routinely collected electronic patient data

<b>Objectives</b> Increasing use is being made of routinely collected electronic patient data in health services research. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential usefulness of a comprehensive database used routinely in the public healthcare system in Hong Kong, using antihypertensive drug prescriptions in primary care as an example.<p></p> <b>Methods</b> Data on antihypertensive drug prescriptions were retrieved from the electronic Clinical Management System (e-CMS) of all primary care clinics run by the Health Authority (HA) in the New Territory East (NTE) cluster of Hong Kong between January 2004 and June 2007. Information was also retrieved on patients’ demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, visit type (new or follow-up), and relevant diseases (International Classification of Primary Care, ICPC codes). <p></p> <b>Results</b> 1,096,282 visit episodes were accessed, representing 93,450 patients. Patients’ demographic and socio-economic details were recorded in all cases. Prescription details for anti-hypertensive drugs were missing in only 18 patients (0.02%). However, ICPC-code was missing for 36,409 patients (39%). Significant independent predictors of whether disease codes were applied included patient age > 70 years (OR 2.18), female gender (OR 1.20), district of residence (range of ORs in more rural districts; 0.32-0.41), type of clinic (OR in Family Medicine Specialist Clinics; 1.45) and type of visit (OR follow-up visit; 2.39). <p></p> In the 57,041 patients with an ICPC-code, uncomplicated hypertension (ICPC K86) was recorded in 45,859 patients (82.1%). The characteristics of these patients were very similar to those of the non-coded group, suggesting that most non-coded patients on antihypertensive drugs are likely to have uncomplicated hypertension. <p></p> <b>Conclusion</b> The e-CMS database of the HA in Hong Kong varies in quality in terms of recorded information. Potential future health services research using demographic and prescription information is highly feasible but for disease-specific research dependant on ICPC codes some caution is warranted. In the case of uncomplicated hypertension, future research on pharmaco-epidemiology (such as prescription patterns) and clinical issues (such as side-effects of medications on metabolic parameters) seems feasible given the large size of the data set and the comparability of coded and non-coded patients