Modeling Space in the Air Force Command Exercise System (ACES)

In response to the increased influence of space forces on today\u27s battlefield, several theater level models were analyzed for the presentation of space forces. These models were the Extended Air Defense Simulation (EADSIM), the Joint Theater Level Simulation (JTLS), the Integrated Theater Engagement Model (ITEM), the Tactical Warfare Model (TACWAR), Thunder, Janus, and the Aggregate Level Simulation Protocol (ALSP). While ALSP is not a model but a simulation protocol connecting various models, it was studied because it appears to be the future of modeling. The consensus of the analysis was that space forces are virtually ignored by most of the models and when space was considered, the dynamic nature of the systems involved were not captured. The Air Force Cornmand Exercise System (ACES) was chosen to determine how the effects of space forces can be implemented into theater level models. ACES is a discrete event combat simulation designed to support intermediate and senior service schools in teaching Air Force doctrine within the context of a theater warfare exercise. Its primary focus is to allow specific educational goals to be taught. This research focused on both the present modeling of space forces within widely used theater level models and a methodology to incorporate space forces into models that lack the influence of space. The Gulf War exposed how important functions performed from space can be to the success of a combat forces. Because of the practicality of space\u27s influence, a picture of today\u27s battlefield that does not include space forces is incomplete

A PROPOSED RAPID METHOD FOR MEASURING AREA METHANE EMISSIONS: AN EXPLORATORY APPLICATION IN MANHATTAN, NEW YORK, USA

Methane is an important greenhouse gas, but methane emissions are poorly understood, in large part due to limited atmospheric methane data on local scales. Local and regional scale methane emissions data are urgently needed to improve modeling of future climate change, and support energy plans and policies to minimize future climate impacts of socio-economically needed energy utilization. There have been numerous recent reports on local ground-level ambient air methane surveys that have provided more thorough data on methane sources in some urban areas. Such surveys generate substantial amounts of high quality ground-level methane concentration data, usually with reliable time and geo-referenced location data. We examined the potential usefulness of such data sets for generation of estimates of methane emissions for surveyed areas. Our efforts focused on development of a generally applicable, relatively simple mass-balance approach to estimate area methane emissions from mobile, ground level ambient air methane concentration and local weather data. The data examined were collected in Manhattan, New York, USA over 5 days in late 2012. Using the ratio of methane emissions (μg m-2s-1) to natural gas usage (μg m-2s-1), the resulting methane emissions estimates for Manhattan were compared to 5 other cities (emissions reported by other investigators using other methods). The emissions estimates for Manhattan derived from ground-level mobile methane surveys were within the range of the estimates for the other cities. In addition, the emissions rates reported for the cities indicate natural gas should not be considered more climate-beneficial than other fossil fuels

Key Topics on End-of-Life Care for African Americans

Racial classifications of human populations are politically and socially determined. There is no biological or genetic basis for these racial classifications. Health behaviors may be influenced by culture and poverty. Disparities in health outcomes, sometimes resulting in higher mortality rates for African-Americans appear to influence end of life decision-making attitudes and behaviors. To improve the quality of end of life care in African-American communities, health care professionals must better understand and work to eliminate disparities in health care, increase their own skills, knowledge and confidence in palliative and hospice care, and improve awareness of the benefits and values of hospice and palliative care in their patients and families

Policy Recommendations for Meeting the Grand Challenge to Achieve Equal Opportunity and Justice

This brief was created forSocial Innovation for America’s Renewal, a policy conference organized by the Center for Social Development in collaboration with the American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare, which is leading theGrand Challenges for Social Work initiative to champion social progress. The conference site includes links to speeches, presentations, and a full list of the policy briefs

General practitioners' attitudes and preparedness towards Clinical Decision Support in e-Prescribing (CDS-eP) adoption in the West of Ireland: a cross sectional study

Background: Electronic clinical decision support (CDS) is increasingly establishing its role in evidence-based clinical practice. Considerable evidence supports its enhancement of efficiency in e-Prescribing, but some controversy remains. This study evaluated the practicality and identified the perceived benefits of, and barriers to, its future adoption in the West of Ireland. Methods: This cross sectional study was carried out by means of a 27-part questionnaire sent to 262 registered general practitioners in Counties Galway, Mayo and Roscommon. The survey domains encompassed general information of individual's practice, current use of CDS and the practitioner's attitudes towards adoption of CDS-eP. Descriptive and inferential analyses were performed to analyse the data collected. Results: The overall response rate was 37%. Nearly 92% of respondents employed electronic medical records in their practice. The majority acknowledged the value of electronic CDS in improving prescribing quality (71%) and reducing prescribing errors (84%). Despite a high degree of unfamiliarity (73%), the practitioners were open to the use of CDS-eP (94%) and willing to invest greater resources for its implementation (62%). Lack of a strategic implementation plan (78%) is the main perceived barrier to the incorporation of CDS-eP into clinical practice, followed by i) lack of financial incentives (70%), ii) lack of standardized product software (61%), iii) high sensitivity of drug-drug interaction or medication allergy markers (46%), iv) concern about overriding physicians' prescribing decisions(44%) and v) lack of convincing evidence on the systems' effectiveness (22%). Conclusions: Despite favourable attitudes towards the adoption of CDS-eP, multiple perceived barriers impede its incorporation into clinical practice. These merit further exploration, taking into consideration the structure of the Irish primary health care system, before CDS-eP can be recommended for routine clinical use in the West of Ireland.Healthcare Informatics Society of Ireland (HISI) research bursary 2007-2009Deposited by bulk impor

HIV-Neutralizing Activity of Cationic Polypeptides in Cervicovaginal Secretions of Women in HIV-Serodiscordant Relationships

HIV exposed seronegative (HESN) women represent the population most in need of a prophylactic antiviral strategy. Mucosal cationic polypeptides can potentially be regulated for this purpose and we here aimed to determine their endogenous expression and HIV neutralizing activity in genital secretions of women at risk of HIV infection.Cervicovaginal secretions (CVS) of Kenyan women in HIV-serodiscordant relationships (HESN, n = 164; HIV seropositive, n = 60) and low-risk controls (n = 72) were assessed for the cationic polypeptides HNP1–3, LL-37 and SLPI by ELISA and for HIV neutralizing activity by a PBMC-based assay using an HIV primary isolate. Median levels of HNP1–3 and LL-37 in CVS were similar across study groups. Neither HSV-2 serostatus, nor presence of bacterial vaginosis, correlated with levels of HNP1–3 or LL-37 in the HESN women. However, an association with their partner's viral load was observed. High viral load (>10,000 HIV RNA copies/ml plasma) correlated with higher levels of HNP1–3 and LL-37 (p = 0.04 and 0.03, respectively). SLPI was most abundant in the low-risk group and did not correlate with male partner's viral load in the HESN women. HIV neutralizing activity was found in CVS of all study groups. In experimental studies, selective depletion of cationic polypeptides from CVS rendered the remaining CVS fraction non-neutralizing, whereas the cationic polypeptide fraction retained the activity. Furthermore, recombinant HNP1–3 and LL-37 could induce neutralizing activity when added to CVS lacking intrinsic activity.These findings show that CVS from HESN, low-risk, and HIV seropositive women contain HIV neutralizing activity. Although several innate immune proteins, including HNP1–3 and LL-37, contribute to this activity these molecules can also have inflammatory properties. This balance is influenced by hormonal and environmental factors and in the present HIV serodiscordant couple cohort study we show that a partner's viral load is associated with levels of such molecules

Allometry of the Duration of Flight Feather Molt in Birds

Replacement of flight feathers takes disproportionately more time for large birds than it does for small birds, because feather length increases with body size almost twice as fast as feather growth rate increases

Use of 1H and 31P HRMAS to evaluate the relationship between quantitative alterations in metabolite concentrations and tissue features in human brain tumour biopsies

[EN] Quantitative multinuclear high-resolution magic angle spinning (HRMAS) was performed in order to determine the tissue pH values of and the absolute metabolite concentrations in 33 samples of human brain tumour tissue. Metabolite concentrations were quantified by 1D 1 H and 31P HRMAS using the electronic reference to in vivo concentrations (ERETIC) synthetic signal. 1 H–1 H homonuclear and 1 H–31P heteronuclear correlation experiments enabled the direct assessment of the 1 H–31P spin systems for signals that suffered from overlapping in the 1D 1 H spectra, and linked the information present in the 1D 1 H and 31P spectra. Afterwards, the main histological features were determined, and high heterogeneity in the tumour content, necrotic content and nonaffected tissue content was observed. The metabolite profiles obtained by HRMAS showed characteristics typical of tumour tissues: rather low levels of energetic molecules and increased concentrations of protective metabolites. Nevertheless, these characteristics were more strongly correlated with the total amount of living tissue than with the tumour cell contents of the samples alone, which could indicate that the sampling conditions make a significant contribution aside from the effect of tumour development in vivo. The use of methylene diphosphonic acid as a chemical shift and concentration reference for the 31P HRMAS spectra of tissues presented important drawbacks due to its interaction with the tissue. Moreover, the pH data obtained from 31P HRMAS enabled us to establish a correlation between the pH and the distance between the N(CH3)3 signals of phosphocholine and choline in 1 H spectra of the tissue in these tumour samples.The authors acknowledge the SCSIE-University of Valencia Microscopy Service for the histological preparations. They also acknowledge Martial Piotto (Bruker BioSpin, France) for providing the ERETIC synthetic signal. Furthermore, they acknowledge financial support from the Spanish Government project SAF2007-6547, the Generalitat Valenciana project GVACOMP2009-303, and the E.U.'s VI Framework Programme via the project "Web accessible MR decision support system for brain tumor diagnosis and prognosis, incorporating in vivo and ex vivo genomic and metabolomic data" (FP6-2002-LSH 503094). CIBER-BBN is an initiative funded by the VI National R&D&D&i Plan 2008-2011, Iniciativa Ingenio 2010, Consolider Program, CIBER Actions, and financed by the Instituto de Salud Carlos III with assistance from the European Regional Development Fund.Esteve Moya, V.; Celda, B.; Martínez Bisbal, MC. (2012). Use of 1H and 31P HRMAS to evaluate the relationship between quantitative alterations in metabolite concentrations and tissue features in human brain tumour biopsies. Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry. 403:2611-2625. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00216-012-6001-zS26112625403Cheng LL, Chang IW, Louis DN, Gonzalez RG (1998) Cancer Res 58:1825–1832Opstad KS, Bell BA, Griffiths JR, Howe FA (2008) Magn Reson Med 60:1237–1242Sjobakk TE, Johansen R, Bathen TF, Sonnewald U, Juul R, Torp SH, Lundgren S, Gribbestad IS (2008) NMR Biomed 21:175–185Martinez-Bisbal MC, Marti-Bonmati L, Piquer J, Revert A, Ferrer P, Llacer JL, Piotto M, Assemat O, Celda B (2004) NMR Biomed 17:191–205Erb G, Elbayed K, Piotto M, Raya J, Neuville A, Mohr M, Maitrot D, Kehrli P, Namer IJ (2008) Magn Reson Med 59:959–965Wilson M, Davies NP, Brundler MA, McConville C, Grundy RG, Peet AC (2009) Mol Cancer 8:6Martinez-Bisbal MC, Monleon D, Assemat O, Piotto M, Piquer J, Llacer JL, Celda B (2009) NMR Biomed 22:199–206Martínez-Granados B, Monleón D, Martínez-Bisbal MC, Rodrigo JM, del Olmo J, Lluch P, Ferrández A, Martí-Bonmatí L, Celda B (2006) NMR Biomed 19:90–100Hubesch B, Sappey-Marinier D, Roth K, Meyerhoff DJ, Matson GB, Weiner MW (1990) Radiology 174:401–409Albers MJ, Krieger MD, Gonzalez-Gomez I, Gilles FH, McComb JG, Nelson MD Jr, Bluml S (2005) Magn Reson Med 53:22–29Wijnen JP, Scheenen TW, Klomp DW, Heerschap A (2010) NMR Biomed 23:968–976Podo F (1999) NMR Biomed 12:413–439Griffiths JR, Cady E, Edwards RH, McCready VR, Wilkie DR, Wiltshaw E (1983) Lancet 1:1435–1436Robitaille PL, Robitaille PA, Gordon Brown G, Brown GG (1991) J Magn Reson 92:73–84, 1969Griffiths JR (1991) Br J Cancer 64:425–427Payne GS, Troy H, Vaidya SJ, Griffiths JR, Leach MO, Chung YL (2006) NMR Biomed 19:593–598De Silva SS, Payne GS, Thomas V, Carter PG, Ind TE, deSouza NM (2009) NMR Biomed 22:191–198Wang Y, Cloarec O, Tang H, Lindon JC, Holmes E, Kochhar S, Nicholson JK (2008) Anal Chem 80:1058–1066Lehnhardt FG, Rohn G, Ernestus RI, Grune M, Hoehn M (2001) NMR Biomed 14:307–317Srivastava NK, Pradhan S, Gowda GA, Kumar R (2010) NMR Biomed 23:113–122Akoka S, Barantin L, Trierweiler M (1999) Anal Chem 71:2554–2557Albers MJ, Butler TN, Rahwa I, Bao N, Keshari KR, Swanson MG, Kurhanewicz J (2009) Magn Reson Med 61:525–532Ben Sellem D, Elbayed K, Neuville A, Moussallieh FM, Lang-Averous G, Piotto M, Bellocq JP, Namer IJ (2011) J Oncol 2011:174019Bourne R, Dzendrowskyj T, Mountford C (2003) NMR Biomed 16:96–101Martinez-Bisbal MC, Esteve V, Martinez-Granados B, Celda B (2011) J Biomed Biotechnol 2011:763684, Epub 2010 Sep 5Celda B, Montelione GT (1993) J Magn Reson B 101:189–193Esteve V, Celda B (2008) Magn Reson Mater Phys MAGMA 21:484–484Collins TJ (2007) Biotechniques 43:25–30Govindaraju V, Young K, Maudsley AA (2000) NMR Biomed 13:129–153Fan TW-M (1996) Prog Nucl Magn Reson Spectrosc 28:161–219Ulrich EL, Akutsu H, Doreleijers JF, Harano Y, Ioannidis YE, Lin J, Livny M, Mading S, Maziuk D, Miller Z, Nakatani E, Schulte CF, Tolmie DE, Kent Wenger R, Yao H, Markley JL (2008) Nucleic Acids Res 36:D402–D408Kriat M, Vion-Dury J, Confort-Gouny S, Favre R, Viout P, Sciaky M, Sari H, Cozzone PJ (1993) J Lipid Res 34:1009–1019Subramanian A, Shankar Joshi B, Roy AD, Roy R, Gupta V, Dang RS (2008) NMR Biomed 21:272–288Daykin CA, Corcoran O, Hansen SH, Bjornsdottir I, Cornett C, Connor SC, Lindon JC, Nicholson JK (2001) Anal Chem 73:1084–1090Griffin JL, Lehtimaki KK, Valonen PK, Grohn OH, Kettunen MI, Yla-Herttuala S, Pitkanen A, Nicholson JK, Kauppinen RA (2003) Cancer Res 63:3195–3201Petroff OAC, Prichard JW (1995) In: Kraicer J, Dixon SJ (eds) Methods in neurosciences. Academic, San DiegoBarton S, Howe F, Tomlins A, Cudlip S, Nicholson J, Anthony Bell B, Griffiths J (1999) Magn Reson Mater Phys Biol Med 8:121–128Sitter B, Sonnewald U, Spraul M, Fjosne HE, Gribbestad IS (2002) NMR Biomed 15:327–337Coen M, Hong YS, Cloarec O, Rhode CM, Reily MD, Robertson DG, Holmes E, Lindon JC, Nicholson JK (2007) Anal Chem 79:8956–8966Russell D, Rubinstein LJ (1998) Russel and Rubinstein's pathology of tumors of the nervous system. Arnold, LondonTynkkynen T, Tiainen M, Soininen P, Laatikainen R (2009) Anal Chim Acta 648:105–112Kjaergaard M, Brander S, Poulsen F (2011) J Biomol NMR 49:139–149Robert O, Sabatier J, Desoubzdanne D, Lalande J, Balayssac S, Gilard V, Martino R, Malet-Martino M (2011) Anal Bioanal Chem 399:987–999Chadzynski GL, Bender B, Groeger A, Erb M, Klose U (2011) J Magn Reson 212:55–63Weljie AM, Jirik FR (2011) Int J Biochem Cell Biol 43:981–989Barba I, Cabanas ME, Arus C (1999) Cancer Res 59:1861–1868Liimatainen T, Hakumaki JM, Kauppinen RA, Ala-Korpela M (2009) NMR Biomed 22:272–279Opstad KS, Bell BA, Griffiths JR, Howe FA (2008) NMR Biomed 21:677–685Schmitz JE, Kettunen MI, Hu D, Brindle KM (2005) Magn Reson Med 54:43–50Glunde K, Artemov D, Penet MF, Jacobs MA, Bhujwalla ZM (2010) Chem Rev 110:3043–3059Hertz L (2008) Neuropharmacology 55:289–309Takahashi T, Otsuguro K, Ohta T, Ito S (2010) Br J Pharmacol 161:1806–181

Influenza Infectious Dose May Explain the High Mortality of the Second and Third Wave of 1918–1919 Influenza Pandemic

BACKGROUND: It is widely accepted that the shift in case-fatality rate between waves during the 1918 influenza pandemic was due to a genetic change in the virus. In animal models, the infectious dose of influenza A virus was associated to the severity of disease which lead us to propose a new hypothesis. We propose that the increase in the case-fatality rate can be explained by the dynamics of disease and by a dose-dependent response mediated by the number of simultaneous contacts a susceptible person has with infectious ones. METHODS: We used a compartment model with seasonality, waning of immunity and a Holling type II function, to model simultaneous contacts between a susceptible person and infectious ones. In the model, infected persons having mild or severe illness depend both on the proportion of infectious persons in the population and on the level of simultaneous contacts between a susceptible and infectious persons. We further allowed for a high or low rate of waning immunity and volunteer isolation at different times of the epidemic. RESULTS: In all scenarios, case-fatality rate was low during the first wave (Spring) due to a decrease in the effective reproduction number. The case-fatality rate in the second wave (Autumn) depended on the ratio between the number of severe cases to the number of mild cases since, for each 1000 mild infections only 4 deaths occurred whereas for 1000 severe infections there were 20 deaths. A third wave (late Winter) was dependent on the rate for waning immunity or on the introduction of new susceptible persons in the community. If a group of persons became voluntarily isolated and returned to the community some days latter, new waves occurred. For a fixed number of infected persons the overall case-fatality rate decreased as the number of waves increased. This is explained by the lower proportion of infectious individuals in each wave that prevented an increase in the number of severe infections and thus of the case-fatality rate. CONCLUSION: The increase on the proportion of infectious persons as a proxy for the increase of the infectious dose a susceptible person is exposed, as the epidemic develops, can explain the shift in case-fatality rate between waves during the 1918 influenza pandemic.TD acknowledges the support of the Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia through grant PPCDT/AMB/55701/2004. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript

Relapse to smoking during unaided cessation: Clinical, cognitive, and motivational predictors

Rationale: Neurobiological models of addiction suggest that abnormalities of brain reward circuitry distort salience attribution and inhibitory control processes, which in turn contribute to high relapse rates. Objectives: To determine whether impairments of salience attribution and inhibitory control predict relapse in a pharmacologically unaided attempt at smoking cessation. Methods: 141 smokers were assessed on indices of nicotine consumption / dependence (e.g. the FTND, cigarettes per day, salivary cotinine), and three trait impulsivity measures. After overnight abstinence they completed experimental tests of cue reactivity, attentional bias to smoking cues, response to financial reward, motor impulsiveness, and response inhibition (antisaccades). They then started a quit attempt with follow-up after 7 days, 1 month, and 3 months; abstinence was verified via salivary cotinine levels ≤ 20ng/ml. Results: Relapse rates at each point were 52.5%, 64% and 76.3%. The strongest predictor was pre-cessation salivary cotinine; other smoking / dependence indices did not explain additional outcome variance and neither did trait impulsivity. All experimental indices except responsivity to financial reward significantly predicted one week outcome. Salivary cotinine, attentional bias to smoking cues and antisaccade errors explained unique as well as shared variance. At one and three months, salivary cotinine, motor impulsiveness and cue reactivity were all individually predictive; the effects of salivary cotinine and motor impulsiveness were additive. Conclusions: These data provide some support for the involvement of abnormal cognitive and motivational processes in sustaining smoking dependence and suggest that they might be a focus of interventions, especially in the early stages of cessation. Dawkins L, Powell JH, Pickering AD, Powell JF, and West RJ (2009) Addiction 104, 850-