Does the professional know their supracondylar from their gluteus maximus?

An international multiple centre investigation into nature versus nurture

Surface ozone in the Colorado northern Front Range and the influence of oil and gas development during FRAPPE/DISCOVER-AQ in summer 2014

High mixing ratios of ozone (O3) in the northern Front Range (NFR) of Colorado are not limited to the urban Denver area but were also observed in rural areas where oil and gas activity is the primary source of O3 precursors. On individual days, oil and gas O3 precursors can contribute in excess of 30 ppb to O3 growth and can lead to exceedances of the EPA O3 National Ambient Air Quality Standard. Data used in this study were gathered from continuous surface O3 monitors for June–August 2013–2015 as well as additional flask measurements and mobile laboratories that were part of the FRAPPE/DISCOVER-AQ field campaign of July–August 2014. Overall observed O3 levels during the summer of 2014 were lower than in 2013, likely due to cooler and damper weather than an average summer. This study determined the median hourly surface O3 mixing ratio in the NFR on summer days with limited photochemical production to be approximately 45–55 ppb. Mobile laboratory and flask data collected on three days provide representative case studies of different O3 formation environments in and around Greeley, Colorado. Observations of several gases (including methane, ethane, CO, nitrous oxide) along with O3 are used to identify sources of O3 precursor emissions. A July 23 survey demonstrated low O3 (45–60 ppb) while August 3 and August 13 surveys recorded O3 levels of 75–80 ppb or more. August 3 exemplifies influence of moderate urban and high oil and gas O3 precursor emissions. August 13 demonstrates high oil and gas emissions, low agricultural emissions, and CO measurements that were well correlated with ethane from oil and gas, suggesting an oil and gas related activity as a NOx and O3 precursor source. Low isoprene levels indicated that they were not a significant contributor to O3 precursors measured during the case studies

Demand for Mental Health Services: An Episode of Treatment Approach

This paper analyzes the demand for mental health services using data aggregated to the level of episode of treatment or the bundle of mental health services received during a period of continuous contact with the health care system. We estimate a multinomial logit model and provide estimates of the price elasticity of demand for episodes of mental health care by treatment category (inpatient, outpatient, outpatient with prescription drugs) and the price elasticity of demand for outpatient visits within an episode of care.Demand for health care services; price elasticity of demand; episodes of treatment

The feasibility and utility of grocery receipt analyses for dietary assessment

OBJECTIVE: To establish the feasibility and utility of a simple data collection methodology for dietary assessment. DESIGN: Using a cross-sectional design, trained data collectors approached adults (~20 – 40 years of age) at local grocery stores and asked whether they would volunteer their grocery receipts and answer a few questions for a small stipend ($1). METHODS: The grocery data were divided into 3 categories: "fats, oils, and sweets," "processed foods," and "low-fat/low-calorie substitutions" as a percentage of the total food purchase price. The questions assessed the shopper's general eating habits (eg, fast-food consumption) and a few demographic characteristics and health aspects (eg, perception of body size). Statistical Analyses Performed. Descriptive and analytic analyses using non-parametric tests were conducted in SAS. RESULTS: Forty-eight receipts and questionnaires were collected. Nearly every respondent reported eating fast food at least once per month; 27% ate out once or twice a day. Frequency of fast-food consumption was positively related to perceived body size of the respondent (p = 0.02). Overall, 30% of the food purchase price was for fats, oils, sweets, 10% was for processed foods, and almost 6% was for low-fat/low-calorie substitutions. Households where no one was perceived to be overweight spent a smaller proportion of their food budget on fats, oils, and sweets than did households where at least one person was perceived to be overweight (p = 0.10); household where the spouse was not perceived to be overweight spent less on fats, oils, and sweets (p = 0.02) and more on low-fat/low-calorie substitutions (p = 0.09) than did households where the spouse was perceived to be overweight; and, respondents who perceived themselves to be overweight spent more on processed foods than did respondents who did not perceive themselves to be overweight (p = 0.06). CONCLUSION: This simple dietary assessment method, although global in nature, may be a useful indicator of dietary practices as evidenced by its association with perceived weight status

PubMatrix: a tool for multiplex literature mining

BACKGROUND: Molecular experiments using multiplex strategies such as cDNA microarrays or proteomic approaches generate large datasets requiring biological interpretation. Text based data mining tools have recently been developed to query large biological datasets of this type of data. PubMatrix is a web-based tool that allows simple text based mining of the NCBI literature search service PubMed using any two lists of keywords terms, resulting in a frequency matrix of term co-occurrence. RESULTS: For example, a simple term selection procedure allows automatic pair-wise comparisons of approximately 1–100 search terms versus approximately 1–10 modifier terms, resulting in up to 1,000 pair wise comparisons. The matrix table of pair-wise comparisons can then be surveyed, queried individually, and archived. Lists of keywords can include any terms currently capable of being searched in PubMed. In the context of cDNA microarray studies, this may be used for the annotation of gene lists from clusters of genes that are expressed coordinately. An associated PubMatrix public archive provides previous searches using common useful lists of keyword terms. CONCLUSIONS: In this way, lists of terms, such as gene names, or functional assignments can be assigned genetic, biological, or clinical relevance in a rapid flexible systematic fashion

Demand for Mental Health Services: An Episode of Treatment Approach

This paper analyzes the demand for mental health services using data aggregated to the level of episode of treatment or the bundle of mental health services received during a period of continuous contact with the health care system. We estimate a multinomial logit model and provide estimates of the price elasticity of demand for episodes of mental health care by treatment category (inpatient, outpatient, outpatient with prescription drugs) and the price elasticity of demand for outpatient visits within an episode of care

Functional characterization of two human MutY homolog (hMYH) missense mutations (R227W and V232F) that lie within the putative hMSH6 binding domain and are associated with hMYH polyposis

The base excision repair DNA glycosylase MutY homolog (MYH) is responsible for removing adenines misincorporated into DNA opposite guanine or 7,8-dihydro-8-oxo-guanine (8-oxoG), thereby preventing G:C to T:A mutations. Biallelic germline mutations in the human MYH gene predispose individuals to multiple colorectal adenomas and carcinoma. We have recently demonstrated that hMYH interacts with the mismatch repair protein hMSH6, and that the hMSH2/hMSH6 (hMutSα) heterodimer stimulates hMYH activity. Here, we characterize the functional effect of two missense mutations (R227W and V232F) associated with hMYH polyposis that lie within, or adjacent to, the putative hMSH6 binding domain. Neither missense mutation affects the physical interaction between hMYH and hMSH6. However, hMYH(R227W) has a severe defect in A/8-oxoG binding and glycosylase activities, while hMYH(V232F) has reduced A/8-oxoG binding and glycosylase activities. The glycosylase activity of the V232F mutant can be partially stimulated by hMutSα but cannot be restored to the wild-type level. Both mutants also fail to complement mutY-deficiency in Escherichia coli. These data define the pathogenic mechanisms underlying two further hMYH polyposis-associated mutations

Certainty Closure: Reliable Constraint Reasoning with Incomplete or Erroneous Data

Constraint Programming (CP) has proved an effective paradigm to model and solve difficult combinatorial satisfaction and optimisation problems from disparate domains. Many such problems arising from the commercial world are permeated by data uncertainty. Existing CP approaches that accommodate uncertainty are less suited to uncertainty arising due to incomplete and erroneous data, because they do not build reliable models and solutions guaranteed to address the user's genuine problem as she perceives it. Other fields such as reliable computation offer combinations of models and associated methods to handle these types of uncertain data, but lack an expressive framework characterising the resolution methodology independently of the model. We present a unifying framework that extends the CP formalism in both model and solutions, to tackle ill-defined combinatorial problems with incomplete or erroneous data. The certainty closure framework brings together modelling and solving methodologies from different fields into the CP paradigm to provide reliable and efficient approches for uncertain constraint problems. We demonstrate the applicability of the framework on a case study in network diagnosis. We define resolution forms that give generic templates, and their associated operational semantics, to derive practical solution methods for reliable solutions.Comment: Revised versio