New Supernova Candidates from SDSS-DR7 of Spectral Survey

The letter presents 25 discovered supernova candidates from SDSS-DR7 with our dedicated method, called Sample Decrease, and 10 of them were confirmed by other research groups, and listed in this letter. Another 15 are first discovered including 14 type Ia and one type II based on Supernova Identification (SNID) analysis. The results proved that our method is reliable, and the description of the method and some detailed spectra analysis procedures were also presented in this letter.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure

Identifying and Measuring the Effect of Firm Clusters Among Certified Organic Processors and Handlers

This paper investigates the certified organic handler sector, a specialized component of the middle part of the farm-to-table marketing chain, and documents the impacts of firm agglomeration (or firm clusters) on firm-level performance or firm-level decisions. After accounting for endogeneity in firm clustering, our findings confirm that firm clusters have significant impacts, though the estimate of the impact depends on how a firm cluster is defined. For example, significant impacts on sales per employee range from an additional $0.17 million to$1.47 million, depending on whether a small or large number of firms is used as the minimum number to define a firm cluster.firm clusters, organic, treatment effects, Agribusiness, Agricultural and Food Policy, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Development of the NTP Pool Project in Taiwan

Among the standard time reporting systems, the Network Time Protocol (NTP) provides an easy and accurate way for the accessing the Universal time. The NTP is taking the benefit of the pervasiveness of the computer network during the recent information-oriented modern world. The NTP Pool Project is the project to provide a distributed framework of the NTP servers. As the ever-increasing amounts of the requests of the standard time, the number of the NTP servers provided by the NTP Pool Project will be extended correspondingly. This paper will provide the detailed introduction on the framework of the NTP Pool Project, the development of the NTP Pool Project in Taiwan at the present time, and the followed by the suggestions of the implementation of the NTP pool project

Assimilating Altimetric Data into a South China Sea Model

Sea surface heights from the TOPEX/Poseidon altimeter are assimilated into a three-dimensional primitive equation model to derive the circulation in the South China Sea. With data assimilation the model resolves not only the basinwide circulation but also a dipole off Vietnam and a low/high feature near the Luzon Strait. Mesoscale features are missing in the simulation without data assimilation because of poor resolution in the wind field and inadequate knowledge of the transport through the Luzon Strait. Compared to the case without data assimilation, data assimilation reduces the root mean square error between the simulated and observed sea surface heights by a factor of 2-3. Circulation derived from data assimilation under climatological conditions is contrasted with that during El Nino. In the normal winter of 1993-1994, flow at 50 m depth is strong and cyclonic. Flow at 900 m depth is cyclonic as well. The deep cyclone persists into the following summer. During the 1994-1995 Fl Nino winter, features in the flow field at 50 m depth either weaken or disappear, and circulation at 900 m depth is anticyclonic. In the summer of 1995 the dipole and the eastward jet off Vietnam at 50 m depth are missing, and the anticyclonic circulation at 900 m depth persists. Temperature at 65 m shows significant warming from fall 1994 to summer 1995. A weakened flow field and warming in the upper ocean are consistent with findings from earlier Fl Nino events

Deferoxamine retinopathy: spectral domain-optical coherence tomography findings

Al-Djamiʿ li Ibn al-BaïtharNumérisation effectuée à partir d'un document de substitution

4-(Imidazol-1-yl)benzoic acid

In the title mol­ecule, C10H8N2O2, the imidazole and benzene rings form a dihedral angle of 14.5 (1)°. In the crystal, inter­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into chains extending in [01], which are further linked into sheets parallel to (102) through weak C—H⋯O inter­actions

A Survey on Clinical Research Training Status and Needs in Public Hospitals from Shenzhen

Objective: To obtain information on the current clinical research training status and evaluate the training needs comprehensively for medical staff in hospitals.Methods: This survey was initiated and conducted by the Health and Family Planning Commission of Shenzhen in conjunction with the Peking University Clinical Research Institute (Shenzhen) from Sep 2016 through Nov 2016. It was planned that no less than 10% of the total staff from each participating hospital were invited to complete the survey. All participants filled out the questionnaire anonymously and voluntarily.Results: A total of 644 subjects from 12 hospitals completed the survey with the response rate of 28.7%. The majority of respondents (80%) have attended training related to clinical research knowledge and skills, however, medical research ethical aspects and statistics knowledge have been provided only for 40% and 27% of respondents, respectively. With regard to preference on training subjects and contents, Protocol design and development (74%) is ranked first, followed by the data analysis and summary (59%) among those researchers from medical professions. Project management and quality control course are mostly demanded for technicians and nurses (53%). Unpredictably, no more than 40% of the respondents consider that it is necessary to receive “Regulation and Research ethics” course even for those Principal investigators.Conclusions: Our survey results indicated that training subjects on protocol design and research ethics are urgently needed and relatively inadequate in China. An appropriate clinical research competency training model should be developed and provided for hospital staffs in China

Deferoxamine retinopathy: spectral domain-optical coherence tomography findings

BACKGROUND: To describe the spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) findings of a patient who developed pigmentary retinopathy following high-dose deferoxamine administration. CASE PRESENTATION: A 34-year-old man with thalassemia major complained of nyctalopia and decreased vision following high-dose intravenous deferoxamine to treat systemic iron overload. Fundus examination revealed multiple discrete hypo-pigmented lesions at the posterior pole and mid-peripheral retina. Recovery was partial following cessation of desferrioxamine six weeks later. A follow-up SD-OCT showed multiple accumulated hyper-reflective deposits primarily in the choroid, retina pigment epithelium (RPE), and inner segment and outer segment (IS/OS) junction. CONCLUSION: Deferoxamine retinopathy primarily targets the RPE–Bruch membrane–photoreceptor complex, extending from the peri-fovea to the peripheral retina with foveola sparing. An SD-OCT examination can serve as a simple, noninvasive tool for early detection and long-term follow-up

EFFECT OF KNEE TAPING ON THE KNEE KINEMATICS DURING LEVEL WALKING

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of knee taping on the knee kinematics during level walking. Fifteen healthy subjects participated in this study. Vicon Nexus motion analysis system was used. Reflective markers were placed on anatomical landmarks to compute the kinematics during level walking. Knee joint angle and range of motion were analyzed. Paired t test was used to compare the differences between no taping and knee taping. The results showed that the knee taping would increase the external rotation and decrease the internal rotation of the knee joint during level walking. Knee taping would decrease the adduction angle and the range of motion in the frontal plane during level walking compared to no taping. It is suggested that knee taping can be used for the people with ACL insufficiency to enhance the knee stability