Alcohol-branded merchandise : Association with Australian adolescents’ drinking and parent attitudes

There is growing evidence that young people own alcohol-branded merchandise (ABM), and that ownership influences their drinking intentions and behaviours. However, there is a paucity of research on parents' knowledge or attitudes in relation to ownership of ABM. Study 1 (n = 210) identified high levels of ownership of ABM and associations between ABM and drinking attitudes and behaviours. In Study 2, focus groups with Australian parents found that they were aware of ABM—and many had items of ABM in their home—but they had generally not engaged in consideration of the potential impact on their children. They clearly perceived ABM as advertising and, on reflection, acknowledged that this form of marketing may influence children's decisions about drinking. There is a need to raise parental awareness of the effects of ABM and to endeavour to reduce children's exposure to this influential form of alcohol marketing

Automating biomedical data science through tree-based pipeline optimization

Over the past decade, data science and machine learning has grown from a mysterious art form to a staple tool across a variety of fields in academia, business, and government. In this paper, we introduce the concept of tree-based pipeline optimization for automating one of the most tedious parts of machine learning---pipeline design. We implement a Tree-based Pipeline Optimization Tool (TPOT) and demonstrate its effectiveness on a series of simulated and real-world genetic data sets. In particular, we show that TPOT can build machine learning pipelines that achieve competitive classification accuracy and discover novel pipeline operators---such as synthetic feature constructors---that significantly improve classification accuracy on these data sets. We also highlight the current challenges to pipeline optimization, such as the tendency to produce pipelines that overfit the data, and suggest future research paths to overcome these challenges. As such, this work represents an early step toward fully automating machine learning pipeline design.Comment: 16 pages, 5 figures, to appear in EvoBIO 2016 proceeding

Lecture capture: Early lessons learned and experiences shared

Lecture capture has been on the minds of university level teachers for some time. The ability to record teaching sessions for delivery online has a number of potential impacts, not all of them positive. The technology now exists to make it feasible and relatively affordable to deliver entire lectures online. But should we do it just because we can? This article aims to share our experiences in recording a series of organic chemistry lectures, and the findings of the evaluation that followed

Study protocol - A systematic review and meta-analysis of hypothermia in experimental traumatic brain injury: Why have promising animal studies not been replicated in pragmatic clinical trials?

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of death and permanent disability. Systemic hypothermia, a treatment used in TBI for many decades, has recently been found to be associated with neutral or unfavourable clinical outcomes despite apparently promising preclinical research. Systematic review and meta‐analysis is a tool to summarize literature and observe trends in experimental design and quality that underpin its general conclusions. Here we aim to use these techniques to describe the use of hypothermia in animal TBI models, collating data relating to outcome and both study design and quality. From here we intend to observe correlations between features and attempt to explain any discrepancies found between animal and clinical data. This protocol describes the relevant methodology in detail

Synthesis and structural characterisation of bismuth(III) hydroxamates and their activity against Helicobacter pylori

Seven new bismuth(III) hydroxamate complexes derived from the hydroxamic acids N-methylfurohydroxamic acid (H-MFHA), N-benzoyl-N-phenylhydroxamic acid (H-BPHA), salicylhydroxamic acid (H2-SHA), benzohydroxamic acid (H2-BHA), and acetohydroxamic acid (H2-AHA) have been synthesized and characterized. The complexes formed are either tris-hydroxamato complexes containing only mono-anionic ligands, [Bi(H-SHA)3], [Bi(MFHA)3] and [Bi(BPHA)3]; mixed-anion complexes, [Bi(SHA)(H-SHA)] and [Bi(AHA)(H-AHA)]; and potassium bismuthate complexes, K[Bi(SHA)2] and K[Bi(BHA)2]. The solid-state structure of three complexes has been determined through single crystal X-ray diffraction; [Bi(MFHA)3]2·Me2C[double bond, length as m-dash]O, {[Bi(SHA)(H-SHA)(DMSO)2][Bi(SHA)(H-SHA)(DMSO)]·DMSO}∞ and [Bi(BPHA)3]2·2EtOH. All the complexes and their parent acids were assessed for the bactericidal activity against three strains of Helicobacter pylori (26695, B128 and 251). Of the acids, only acetohydroxamic acid showed any activity at low concentrations (MIC 6.25 μg mL−1; 83.26 µM) while the others were not toxic below 25 μg mL−1. In contrast, their bismuth(III) complexes all showed excellent activity across all three strains (e.g. 0.28 μM for [Bi(H-SHA)3] to 6.01 μM for K[Bi(BHA)2] against strain 251) with only minor variations in activity being both ligand and composition dependant

Deformation of the Pacific/North America plate boundary at Queen Charlotte Fault : the possible role of rheology

Published 2018. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. The definitive version was published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 123 (2018): 4223-4242, doi:10.1002/2017JB014770.The Pacific/North America (PA/NA) plate boundary between Vancouver Island and Alaska is similar to the PA/NA boundary in California in its kinematic history and the rate and azimuth of current relative motion, yet their deformation styles are distinct. The California plate boundary shows a broad zone of parallel strike slip and thrust faults and folds, whereas the 49‐mm/yr PA/NA relative plate motion in Canada and Alaska is centered on a single, narrow, continuous ~900‐km‐long fault, the Queen Charlotte Fault (QCF). Using gravity analysis, we propose that this plate boundary is centered on the continent/ocean boundary (COB), an unusual location for continental transform faults because plate boundaries typically localize within the continental lithosphere, which is weaker. Because the COB is a boundary between materials of contrasting elastic properties, once a fault is established there, it will probably remain stable. We propose that deformation progressively shifted to the COB in the wake of Yakutat terrane's northward motion along the margin. Minor convergence across the plate boundary is probably accommodated by fault reactivation on Pacific crust and by an eastward dipping QCF. Underthrusting of Pacific slab under Haida Gwaii occurs at convergence angles >14°–15° and may have been responsible for the emergence of the archipelago. The calculated slab entry dip (5°–8°) suggests that the slab probably does not extend into the asthenosphere. The PA/NA plate boundary at the QCF can serve as a structurally simple site to investigate the impact of rheology and composition on crustal deformation and the initiation of slab underthrusting

SN2013fs and SN2013fr: Exploring the circumstellar-material diversity in Type II supernovae

We present photometry and spectroscopy of SN2013fs and SN2013fr in the first 100 days post-explosion. Both objects showed transient, relatively narrow H$\alpha$ emission lines characteristic of SNeIIn, but later resembled normal SNeII-P or SNeII-L, indicative of fleeting interaction with circumstellar material (CSM). SN2013fs was discovered within 8hr of explosion. Its light curve exhibits a plateau, with spectra revealing strong CSM interaction at early times. It is a less luminous version of the transitional SNIIn PTF11iqb, further demonstrating a continuum of CSM interaction intensity between SNeII-P and IIn. It requires dense CSM within 6.5$\times$10$^{14}$~cm of the progenitor, from a phase of advanced pre-SN mass loss shortly before explosion. Spectropolarimetry of SN2013fs shows little continuum polarization, but noticeable line polarization during the plateau phase. SN2013fr morphed from a SNIIn at early times to a SNII-L. After the first epoch its narrow lines probably arose from host-galaxy emission, but the bright, narrow H$\alpha$ emission at early times may be intrinsic. As for SN2013fs, this would point to a short-lived phase of strong CSM interaction if proven to be intrinsic, suggesting a continuum between SNeIIn and II-L. It is a low-velocity SNII-L, like SN2009kr but more luminous. SN2013fr also developed an IR excess at later times, due to warm CSM dust that require a more sustained phase of strong pre-SN mass loss.Comment: MNRAS accepted. 28 pages, 23 figures, 8 table

PTF11iqb: Cool supergiant mass loss that bridges the gap between Type IIn and normal supernovae

PTF11iqb was initially classified as a TypeIIn event caught very early after explosion. It showed narrow Wolf-Rayet (WR) spectral features on day 2, but the narrow emission weakened quickly and the spectrum morphed to resemble those of Types II-L and II-P. At late times, Halpha emission exhibited a complex, multipeaked profile reminiscent of SN1998S. In terms of spectroscopic evolution, we find that PTF11iqb was a near twin of SN~1998S, although with weaker interaction with circumstellar material (CSM) at early times, and stronger CSM interaction at late times. We interpret the spectral changes as caused by early interaction with asymmetric CSM that is quickly (by day 20) enveloped by the expanding SN ejecta photosphere, but then revealed again after the end of the plateau when the photosphere recedes. The light curve can be matched with a simple model for weak CSM interaction added to the light curve of a normal SN~II-P. This plateau requires that the progenitor had an extended H envelope like a red supergiant, consistent with the slow progenitor wind speed indicated by narrow emission. The cool supergiant progenitor is significant because PTF11iqb showed WR features in its early spectrum --- meaning that the presence of such WR features in an early SN spectrum does not necessarily indicate a WR-like progenitor. [abridged] Overall, PTF11iqb bridges SNe~IIn with weaker pre-SN mass loss seen in SNe II-L and II-P, implying a continuum between these types.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figures, submitted to MNRA