Adaptive planning for resilient urban water systems under an uncertain future

Water planners are familiar with some form of variability in climate and demand. However, the uncertainty associated with the frequency and magnitude of the variations, coupled with broader performance expectations, means that long term deterministic planning needs to give way to a new approach. The structured adaptive planning process proposed in this paper aims to meet those objectives and accommodate the uncertainty in the future by developing a portfolio of measures that are both flexible to gradual changes in trends and robust to sudden shocks. A step-by-step process of the planning framework is presented. This is followed by a case study of the inputs and results based on its implementation by the Melbourne water businesses

PENGARUH TEKNOLOGI INFORMASI DAN SALING KETERGANTUNGAN TERHADAP KINERJA MANAJERIAL DENGAN KARAKTERISTIK SISTEM AKUNTANSI MANAJEMEN SEBAGAI VARIABEL INTERVENING (Survey pada BUMN Sektor Industri Pengolahan di Kota Bandung )

ABSTRAK Penelitian ini tentang faktor-faktor yang mempengaruhi rancangan sistem akuntansi manajemen (SAM) yang masih sangat terbatas. Akhir-akhir ini perhatian peneliti telah dicurahkan untuk memahami bagaimana variabel kontinjensi yang berbeda mempengaruhi SAM. Banyak penelitian yang telah dilakukan menunjukkan hasil yang tidak konsisten, karenanya diperlukan penelitian-penelitian lanjutan. Penelitian ini mengkaji peran karakteristik sistem akuntansi manajemen terhadap hubungan teknologi informasi dan saling ketergantungan terhadap kinerja manajerial. Karakteristik sistem akuntansi manajemen didefinisikan sebagai tingkat dimana manajer menggunakan SAM untuk mengambil keputusan manajerial. Respon yang diperoleh dari 42 manajer yang bekerja di Departemen Anggaran, Divisi Renkinrus dan Teknologi Informasi pada BUMN Sektor Industri Pengolahan di Kota Bandung dalam pengambilan sampel dengan menggunakan rumus slovin. Hasil penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa SAM memiliki peran sebagai mediasi pengaruh antara teknologi informasi dan saling ketergantungan terhadap variabel kinerja manajerial. Kata kunci : Teknologi Informasi, Saling Ketergantungan, Kinerja Manajerial

Experimental magic state distillation for fault-tolerant quantum computing

Any physical quantum device for quantum information processing is subject to errors in implementation. In order to be reliable and efficient, quantum computers will need error correcting or error avoiding methods. Fault-tolerance achieved through quantum error correction will be an integral part of quantum computers. Of the many methods that have been discovered to implement it, a highly successful approach has been to use transversal gates and specific initial states. A critical element for its implementation is the availability of high-fidelity initial states such as |0> and the Magic State. Here we report an experiment, performed in a nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) quantum processor, showing sufficient quantum control to improve the fidelity of imperfect initial magic states by distilling five of them into one with higher fidelity

The Circumcision Issue

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68100/2/10.1177_000992289903800407.pd

Cluster randomized test-negative design (CR-TND) trials: a novel and efficient method to assess the efficacy of community level dengue interventions

Cluster randomized trials are the gold standard for assessing efficacy of community-level interventions, such as vector control strategies against dengue. We describe a novel cluster randomized trial methodology with a test-negative design, which offers advantages over traditional approaches. It utilizes outcome-based sampling of patients presenting with a syndrome consistent with the disease of interest, who are subsequently classified as test-positive cases or test-negative controls on the basis of diagnostic testing. We use simulations of a cluster trial to demonstrate validity of efficacy estimates under the test-negative approach. This demonstrates that, provided study arms are balanced for both test-negative and test-positive illness at baseline and that other test-negative design assumptions are met, the efficacy estimates closely match true efficacy. We also briefly discuss analytical considerations for an odds ratio-based effect estimate arising from clustered data, and outline potential approaches to analysis. We conclude that application of the test-negative design to certain cluster randomized trials could increase their efficiency and ease of implementation

Do female association preferences predict the likelihood of reproduction?

Sexual selection acting on male traits through female mate choice is commonly inferred from female association preferences in dichotomous mate choice experiments. However, there are surprisingly few empirical demonstrations that such association preferences predict the likelihood of females reproducing with a particular male. This information is essential to confirm association preferences as good predictors of mate choice. We used green swordtails (<i>Xiphophorus helleri</i>) to test whether association preferences predict the likelihood of a female reproducing with a male. Females were tested for a preference for long- or short-sworded males in a standard dichotomous choice experiment and then allowed free access to either their preferred or non-preferred male. If females subsequently failed to produce fry, they were provided a second unfamiliar male with similar sword length to the first male. Females were more likely to reproduce with preferred than non-preferred males, but for those that reproduced, neither the status (preferred/non-preferred) nor the sword length (long/short) of the male had an effect on brood size or relative investment in growth by the female. There was no overall preference based on sword length in this study, but male sword length did affect likelihood of reproduction, with females more likely to reproduce with long- than short-sworded males (independent of preference for such males in earlier choice tests). These results suggest that female association preferences are good indicators of female mate choice but that ornament characteristics of the male are also important

In Some Professions Women Have Become Well-Represented, Yet Gender Bias Persists – Perpetuated by Those Who Think It Is Not Happening

This is the final version. Available from American Association for the Advancement of Science via the DOI in this record.Data and materials availability: Anonymous data corresponding to study 1 and study 2 analyses are available from the Open Science Framework repository (https://osf.io/wgme6/). Code used for primary analyses is available upon request from the first author.In efforts to promote equality and combat potential gender bias, traditionally male-occupied professions are investing resources into hiring more women. Looking forward, if women do become well-represented in a profession, does this mean equality has been achieved? Are issues of bias resolved? Two studies including a randomized double-blind experiment demonstrate that biases can persist even when women become well-represented (evinced in veterinary medicine). Evidence included managers evaluating an employee randomly assigned a male (vs. female) name as more competent, and advising a $3,475.00 higher salary, equating to an 8% pay gap. Importantly, those who thought bias was not happening in their field were the key drivers of it – a ‘high risk’ group (including men and women) that, as shown, can be readily identified/assessed. Thus, as other professions make gains in women’s representation it will be vital to recognize that discrimination can persist – perpetuated by those who think it not happening.European Research Counci

Controlling the quantum dynamics of a mesoscopic spin bath in diamond

Understanding and mitigating decoherence is a key challenge for quantum science and technology. The main source of decoherence for solid-state spin systems is the uncontrolled spin bath environment. Here, we demonstrate quantum control of a mesoscopic spin bath in diamond at room temperature that is composed of electron spins of substitutional nitrogen impurities. The resulting spin bath dynamics are probed using a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) centre electron spin as a magnetic field sensor. We exploit the spin bath control to dynamically suppress dephasing of the NV spin by the spin bath. Furthermore, by combining spin bath control with dynamical decoupling, we directly measure the coherence and temporal correlations of different groups of bath spins. These results uncover a new arena for fundamental studies on decoherence and enable novel avenues for spin-based magnetometry and quantum information processing

Specific immune priming in the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi

Specific immune priming enables an induced immune response upon repeated pathogen encounter. As a functional analogue to vertebrate immune memory, such adaptive plasticity has been described, for instance, in insects and crustaceans. However, towards the base of the metazoan tree our knowledge about the existence of specific immune priming becomes scattered. Here, we exposed the invasive ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi repeatedly to two different bacterial epitopes (Gram-positive or -negative) and measured gene expression. Ctenophores experienced either the same bacterial epitope twice (homologous treatments) or different bacterial epitopes (heterologous treatments). Our results demonstrate that immune gene expression depends on earlier bacterial exposure. We detected significantly different expression upon heterologous compared with homologous bacterial treatment at three immune activator and effector genes. This is the first experimental evidence for specific immune priming in Ctenophora and generally in non-bilaterian animals, hereby adding to our growing notion of plasticity in innate immune systems across all animal phyla

A novel targeted/untargeted GC-Orbitrap metabolomics methodology applied to Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus biofilms

Introduction: Combined infections from Candida albicans and Staphylococcus aureus are a leading cause of death in the developed world. Evidence suggests that Candida enhances the virulence of Staphylococcus—hyphae penetrate through tissue barriers, while S. aureus tightly associates with the hyphae to obtain entry to the host organism. Indeed, in a biofilm state, C. albicans enhances the antimicrobial resistance characteristics of S. aureus. The association of these microorganisms is also associated with significantly increased morbidity and mortality. Due to this tight association we hypothesised that metabolic effects were also in evidence. Objectives: To explore the interaction, we used a novel GC-Orbitrap-based mass spectrometer, the Q Exactive GC, which combines the high peak capacity and chromatographic resolution of gas chromatography with the sub-ppm mass accuracy of an Orbitrap system. This allows the capability to leverage the widely available electron ionisation libraries for untargeted applications, along with expanding accurate mass libraries and targeted matches based around authentic standards. Methods: Optimised C. albicans and S. aureus mono- and co-cultured biofilms were analysed using the new instrument in addition to the fresh and spent bacterial growth media. Results: The targeted analysis experiment was based around 36 sugars and sugar phosphates, 22 amino acids and five organic acids. Untargeted analysis resulted in the detection of 465 features from fresh and spent medium and 405 from biofilm samples. Three significantly changing compounds that matched to high scoring library fragment patterns were chosen for validation. Conclusion: Evaluation of the results demonstrates that the Q Exactive GC is suitable for metabolomics analysis using a targeted/untargeted methodology. Many of the results were as expected: e.g. rapid consumption of glucose and fructose from the medium regardless of the cell type. Modulation of sugar-phosphate levels also suggest that the pentose phosphate pathway could be enhanced in the cells from co-cultured biofilms. Untargeted metabolomics results suggested significant production of cell-wall biosynthesis components and the consumption of non-proteinaceous amino-acids