Tracking environmental trends in the Great Bay Estuarine System through comparisons of historical and present-day green and red algal community structure and nutrient content

Monitoring macroalgae populations is an effective means of detecting long term water quality changes in estuarine systems. To investigate the environmental status of New Hampshire’s Great Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve, this study assessed the abundance/distribution of macrophytes, particularly Gracilaria and Ulva species, relative to eutrophication patterns; compared historical (1970s-1990s) and current algal biomass/cover at several sites; and compared Ulva and Gracilaria tissue N/P content to ambient and historical levels. Ulva and Gracilaria biomass/cover have increased significantly at several sites. Cover by Ulva species, at seasonal maxima, was over 90 times the value recorded in the 1970s at Lubberland Creek, and exceeded 50% at all sites in the upper estuary. Gracilaria cover was greater than 25% at Depot Road in the upper estuary, whereas the historical measure was 1%. Sequencing of ITS2, rbcL and CO1 revealed the presence of previously undetected Ulva and Gracilaria species, including Gracilaria vermiculophylla (Ohmi) Papenfuss, an invasive species of Asian origin. Gracilaria vermiculophylla has exceeded G. tikvahiae as the dominant Gracilaria species in Great Bay. Historical voucher specimen screening suggests G. vermiculophylla was introduced as recently as 2003. Nitrogen and phosphorus levels are elevated in the estuary. We should expect continued seasonal nuisance algal blooms

The impact of poor asthma control among asthma patients treated with inhaled corticosteroids plus long-acting β2-agonists in the United Kingdom : a cross-sectional analysis

This study was sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd UK, which was involved in all stages of the study conduct and analysis and also funded all costs associated with the development of the manuscript. The authors acknowledge Kantar Health and Errol J Philip for providing medical writing support. Editorial assistance and medical writing support was also provided by Michelle Rebello, PhD, and Suchita Nath-Sain, PhD, of Cactus Communications. This study was sponsored by Boehringer Ingelheim Ltd., UK, which also funded all costs associated with the development of the manuscript. Author Correction, npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine 27, Article number: 65 (2017) doi:10.1038/s41533-017-0063-5, 05 December 2017 Correction to:npj Primary Care Respiratory Medicine (2017); doi:10.1038/s41533-017-0014-1; Published 09 March 2017Peer reviewedPublisher PD

High Rate Performance of Drift Tubes

This article describes calculations and measurements of space charge effects due to high rate irradiation in high resolution drift tubes. Two main items are studied: the reduction of the gas gain and changes of the drift time. Whereas the gain reduction is similar for all gases and unavoidable, the drift time changes depend on the kind of gas that is used. The loss in resolution due to high particle rate can be minimized with a suitable gas. This behaviour is calculable, allowing predictions for new gas mixtures.Comment: 20 pages, submitted to Nuclear Instruments and Methods

Separating sets of strings by finding matching patterns is almost always hard

© 2017 Elsevier B.V. We study the complexity of the problem of searching for a set of patterns that separate two given sets of strings. This problem has applications in a wide variety of areas, most notably in data mining, computational biology, and in understanding the complexity of genetic algorithms. We show that the basic problem of finding a small set of patterns that match one set of strings but do not match any string in a second set is difficult (NP-complete, W[2]-hard when parameterized by the size of the pattern set, and APX-hard). We then perform a detailed parameterized analysis of the problem, separating tractable and intractable variants. In particular we show that parameterizing by the size of pattern set and the number of strings, and the size of the alphabet and the number of strings give FPT results, amongst others

Effect of two behavioural 'nudging' interventions on management decisions for low back pain: A randomised vignette-based study in general practitioners

Objective €Nudges' are subtle cognitive cues thought to influence behaviour. We investigated whether embedding nudges in a general practitioner (GP) clinical decision support display can reduce low-value management decisions. Methods Australian GPs completed four clinical vignettes of patients with low back pain. Participants chose from three guideline-concordant and three guideline-discordant (low-value) management options for each vignette, on a computer screen. A 2×2 factorial design randomised participants to two possible nudge interventions: €partition display' nudge (low-value options presented horizontally, high-value options listed vertically) or €default option' nudge (high-value options presented as the default, low-value options presented only after clicking for more). The primary outcome was the proportion of scenarios where practitioners chose at least one of the low-value care options. Results 120 GPs (72% male, 28% female) completed the trial (n=480 vignettes). Participants using a conventional menu display without nudges chose at least one low-value care option in 42% of scenarios. Participants exposed to the default option nudge were 44% less likely to choose at least one low-value care option (OR 0.56, 95%CI 0.37 to 0.85; p=0.006) compared with those not exposed. The partition display nudge had no effect on choice of low-value care (OR 1.08, 95%CI 0.72 to 1.64; p=0.7). There was no interaction between the nudges (OR 0.94, 95% CI 0.41 to 2.15; p=0.89). Interpretation A default option nudge reduced the odds of choosing low-value options for low back pain in clinical vignettes. Embedding high value options as defaults in clinical decision support tools could improve quality of care. More research is needed into how nudges impact clinical decision-making in different contexts

Development of a Novel Pinned Connection for Cold-Formed Steel Trusses

Cold-formed steel trusses are a popular form of construction for light-weight buildings, particularly portal frame structures, for which spans up to 25m are increasingly common. In these long span trusses, providing high strength connections with sufficient elastic stiffness is a current limitation to developing cost-effective solutions. A novel pin-jointed truss connection named the Howick Rivet Connector (HRC) has been tested, firstly in a T-joint arrangement, then in a truss assemblage to determine its reliable strength and stiffness. Results showed that the HRC performs similarly to a bolted connection in terms of failure modes observed and loads reached. Additionally, the process of installing the HRC creates a bearing fit, eliminating slip due to tolerances. The elastic stiffness and proportionality limit of trusses with HRCs installed was shown to be appreciably greater than similarly dimensioned conventional screwed systems. Finite element (FE) models of both T-joints and trusses tested showed good agreement with experimental results, particularly in the transition from elastic to inelastic behaviour. The peak loads predicted from the FE models were however not accurately determined. To better predict this, it is recommended that the HRC forming and installation process be modelled to capture geometric irregularities and inelastic distributions which were idealised