Geophysical monitoring of simulated homicide burials for forensic investigations

Finding hidden bodies, believed to have been murdered and buried, is problematic, expensive in terms of human resource and currently has low success rates for law enforcement agencies. Here we present, for the first time, ten years of multidisciplinary geophysical monitoring of simulated clandestine graves using animal analogues. Results will provide forensic search teams with crucial information on optimal detection techniques, equipment configuration and datasets for comparison to active and unsolved cold case searches. Electrical Resistivity (ER) surveys showed a naked burial produced large, low-resistivity anomalies for up to four years, but then the body became difficult to image. A wrapped burial had consistent small, high-resistivity anomalies for four years, then large high-resistivity anomalies until the survey period end. Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) 110-900 MHz surveys showed the wrapped burial could be detected throughout. 225 MHz GPR data was optimal, but the naked burial was poorly imaged after six years. Results suggested conducting both ER and GPR surveys if the burial style was unknown when searching for interred remains. Surveys in winter and spring produced the best datasets, and, as post-burial time increases, surveying in these seasons became increasingly important. This multidisciplinary study provides critical new insights for law enforcement and families of the disappeared worldwide

NIH Workshop 2018: Towards Minimally Invasive or Noninvasive Approaches to Assess Tissue Oxygenation Pre- and Post-transfusion

Because blood transfusion is one of the most common therapeutic interventions in hospitalized patients, much recent research has focused on improving the storage quality in vitro of donor red blood cells (RBCs) that are then used for transfusion. However, there is a significant need for enhancing our understanding of the efficacy of the transfused RBCs in vivo. To this end, the NIH sponsored a one-and-a-half-day workshop that brought together experts in multiple disciplines relevant to tissue oxygenation (eg, transfusion medicine, critical care medicine, cardiology, neurology, neonatology and pediatrics, bioengineering, biochemistry, and imaging). These individuals presented their latest findings, discussed key challenges, and aimed to identify opportunities for facilitating development of new technologies and/or biomarker panels to assess tissue oxygenation in a minimally-invasive to non-invasive fashion, before and after RBC transfusion

NIH Workshop 2018: Towards Minimally-invasive or Non-invasive Approaches to Assess Tissue Oxygenation Pre- and Post-Transfusion

Because blood transfusion is one of the most common therapeutic interventions in hospitalized patients, much recent research has focused on improving the storage quality in vitro of donor red blood cells (RBCs) that are then used for transfusion. However, there is a significant need for enhancing our understanding of the efficacy of the transfused RBCs in vivo. To this end, the NIH sponsored a one-and-a-half-day workshop that brought together experts in multiple disciplines relevant to tissue oxygenation (e.g., transfusion medicine, critical care medicine, cardiology, neurology, neonatology and pediatrics, bioengineering, biochemistry, and imaging). These individuals presented their latest findings, discussed key challenges, and aimed to construct recommendations for facilitating development of new technologies and/or biomarker panels to assess tissue oxygenation in a minimally-invasive to non-invasive fashion, before and after RBC transfusion. The workshop was structured into four sessions: (1) Global Perspective; (2) Organ Systems; (3) Neonatology; and (4) Emerging Technologies. The first day provided an overview of current approaches in the clinical setting, both from a global perspective, including the use of metabolomics for studying RBCs and tissue perfusion, and from a more focused perspective, including tissue oxygenation assessments in neonates and in specific adult organ systems. The second day focused on emerging technologies, which could be applied pre- and post-RBC transfusion, to assess tissue oxygenation in minimally-invasive or non-invasive ways. Each day concluded with an open-microphone discussion among the speakers and workshop participants. The workshop presentations and ensuing interdisciplinary discussions highlighted the potential of technologies to combine global “omics” signatures with additional measures (e.g., thenar eminence measurements or various imaging methods) to predict which patients could potentially benefit from a RBC transfusion and whether the ensuing RBC transfusion was effective. The discussions highlighted the need for collaborations across the various disciplines represented at the meeting to leverage existing technologies and to develop novel approaches for assessing RBC transfusion efficacy in various clinical settings. Although the Workshop took place in April, 2018, the concepts described and the ensuing discussions were, perhaps, even more relevant in April, 2020, at the time of writing this manuscript, during the explosive growth of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Thus, issues relating to maintaining and improving tissue oxygenation and perfusion are especially pertinent because of the extensive pulmonary damage resulting from SARS-CoV-2 infection [1], compromises in perfusion caused by thrombotic-embolic phenomena [2], and damage to circulating RBCs, potentially compromising their oxygen-carrying capacity [3]. The severe end organ effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection mandate even more urgency for improving our understanding of tissue perfusion and oxygenation, improve methods for measuring and monitoring them, and develop novel ways of enhancing them

The Ninth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the SDSS-III Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey

The Sloan Digital Sky Survey III (SDSS-III) presents the first spectroscopic data from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS). This ninth data release (DR9) of the SDSS project includes 535,995 new galaxy spectra (median z=0.52), 102,100 new quasar spectra (median z=2.32), and 90,897 new stellar spectra, along with the data presented in previous data releases. These spectra were obtained with the new BOSS spectrograph and were taken between 2009 December and 2011 July. In addition, the stellar parameters pipeline, which determines radial velocities, surface temperatures, surface gravities, and metallicities of stars, has been updated and refined with improvements in temperature estimates for stars with T_eff<5000 K and in metallicity estimates for stars with [Fe/H]>-0.5. DR9 includes new stellar parameters for all stars presented in DR8, including stars from SDSS-I and II, as well as those observed as part of the SDSS-III Sloan Extension for Galactic Understanding and Exploration-2 (SEGUE-2). The astrometry error introduced in the DR8 imaging catalogs has been corrected in the DR9 data products. The next data release for SDSS-III will be in Summer 2013, which will present the first data from the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE) along with another year of data from BOSS, followed by the final SDSS-III data release in December 2014.Comment: 9 figures; 2 tables. Submitted to ApJS. DR9 is available at http://www.sdss3.org/dr

The Eleventh and Twelfth Data Releases of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: Final Data from SDSS-III

The third generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-III) took data from 2008 to 2014 using the original SDSS wide-field imager, the original and an upgraded multi-object fiber-fed optical spectrograph, a new near-infrared high-resolution spectrograph, and a novel optical interferometer. All of the data from SDSS-III are now made public. In particular, this paper describes Data Release 11 (DR11) including all data acquired through 2013 July, and Data Release 12 (DR12) adding data acquired through 2014 July (including all data included in previous data releases), marking the end of SDSS-III observing. Relative to our previous public release (DR10), DR12 adds one million new spectra of galaxies and quasars from the Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (BOSS) over an additional 3000 deg2 of sky, more than triples the number of H-band spectra of stars as part of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE), and includes repeated accurate radial velocity measurements of 5500 stars from the Multi-object APO Radial Velocity Exoplanet Large-area Survey (MARVELS). The APOGEE outputs now include the measured abundances of 15 different elements for each star. In total, SDSS-III added 5200 deg2 of ugriz imaging; 155,520 spectra of 138,099 stars as part of the Sloan Exploration of Galactic Understanding and Evolution 2 (SEGUE-2) survey; 2,497,484 BOSS spectra of 1,372,737 galaxies, 294,512 quasars, and 247,216 stars over 9376 deg2; 618,080 APOGEE spectra of 156,593 stars; and 197,040 MARVELS spectra of 5513 stars. Since its first light in 1998, SDSS has imaged over 1/3 of the Celestial sphere in five bands and obtained over five million astronomical spectra. \ua9 2015. The American Astronomical Society

SDSS-III: Massive Spectroscopic Surveys of the Distant Universe, the Milky Way Galaxy, and Extra-Solar Planetary Systems

Building on the legacy of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-I and II), SDSS-III is a program of four spectroscopic surveys on three scientific themes: dark energy and cosmological parameters, the history and structure of the Milky Way, and the population of giant planets around other stars. In keeping with SDSS tradition, SDSS-III will provide regular public releases of all its data, beginning with SDSS DR8 (which occurred in Jan 2011). This paper presents an overview of the four SDSS-III surveys. BOSS will measure redshifts of 1.5 million massive galaxies and Lya forest spectra of 150,000 quasars, using the BAO feature of large scale structure to obtain percent-level determinations of the distance scale and Hubble expansion rate at z<0.7 and at z~2.5. SEGUE-2, which is now completed, measured medium-resolution (R=1800) optical spectra of 118,000 stars in a variety of target categories, probing chemical evolution, stellar kinematics and substructure, and the mass profile of the dark matter halo from the solar neighborhood to distances of 100 kpc. APOGEE will obtain high-resolution (R~30,000), high signal-to-noise (S/N>100 per resolution element), H-band (1.51-1.70 micron) spectra of 10^5 evolved, late-type stars, measuring separate abundances for ~15 elements per star and creating the first high-precision spectroscopic survey of all Galactic stellar populations (bulge, bar, disks, halo) with a uniform set of stellar tracers and spectral diagnostics. MARVELS will monitor radial velocities of more than 8000 FGK stars with the sensitivity and cadence (10-40 m/s, ~24 visits per star) needed to detect giant planets with periods up to two years, providing an unprecedented data set for understanding the formation and dynamical evolution of giant planet systems. (Abridged)Comment: Revised to version published in The Astronomical Journa

Effect of angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitor and angiotensin receptor blocker initiation on organ support-free days in patients hospitalized with COVID-19

IMPORTANCE Overactivation of the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) may contribute to poor clinical outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Objective To determine whether angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor or angiotensin receptor blocker (ARB) initiation improves outcomes in patients hospitalized for COVID-19. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS In an ongoing, adaptive platform randomized clinical trial, 721 critically ill and 58 non–critically ill hospitalized adults were randomized to receive an RAS inhibitor or control between March 16, 2021, and February 25, 2022, at 69 sites in 7 countries (final follow-up on June 1, 2022). INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomized to receive open-label initiation of an ACE inhibitor (n = 257), ARB (n = 248), ARB in combination with DMX-200 (a chemokine receptor-2 inhibitor; n = 10), or no RAS inhibitor (control; n = 264) for up to 10 days. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was organ support–free days, a composite of hospital survival and days alive without cardiovascular or respiratory organ support through 21 days. The primary analysis was a bayesian cumulative logistic model. Odds ratios (ORs) greater than 1 represent improved outcomes. RESULTS On February 25, 2022, enrollment was discontinued due to safety concerns. Among 679 critically ill patients with available primary outcome data, the median age was 56 years and 239 participants (35.2%) were women. Median (IQR) organ support–free days among critically ill patients was 10 (–1 to 16) in the ACE inhibitor group (n = 231), 8 (–1 to 17) in the ARB group (n = 217), and 12 (0 to 17) in the control group (n = 231) (median adjusted odds ratios of 0.77 [95% bayesian credible interval, 0.58-1.06] for improvement for ACE inhibitor and 0.76 [95% credible interval, 0.56-1.05] for ARB compared with control). The posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitors and ARBs worsened organ support–free days compared with control were 94.9% and 95.4%, respectively. Hospital survival occurred in 166 of 231 critically ill participants (71.9%) in the ACE inhibitor group, 152 of 217 (70.0%) in the ARB group, and 182 of 231 (78.8%) in the control group (posterior probabilities that ACE inhibitor and ARB worsened hospital survival compared with control were 95.3% and 98.1%, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE In this trial, among critically ill adults with COVID-19, initiation of an ACE inhibitor or ARB did not improve, and likely worsened, clinical outcomes. TRIAL REGISTRATION ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT0273570

A Corpus of Machine Translation Errors Extracted from Translation Students Exercises

International audienceIn this paper, we present a freely available corpus of automatic translations accompanied with post-edited versions, annotated with labelsidentifying the different kinds of errors made by the MT system. These data have been extracted from translation students exercises thathave been corrected by a senior professor. This corpus can be useful for training quality estimation tools and for analyzing the types oferrors made MT system