Multiparental mapping of plant height and flowering time QTL in partially isogenic sorghum families.

Sorghum varieties suitable for grain production at temperate latitudes show dwarfism and photoperiod insensitivity, both of which are controlled by a small number of loci with large effects. We studied the genetic control of plant height and flowering time in five sorghum families (A-E), each derived from a cross between a tropical line and a partially isogenic line carrying introgressions derived from a common, temperate-adapted donor. A total of 724 F2:3 lines were phenotyped in temperate and tropical environments for plant height and flowering time and scored at 9139 SNPs using genotyping-by-sequencing. Biparental mapping was compared with multiparental mapping in different subsets of families (AB, ABC, ABCD, and ABCDE) using both a GWAS approach, which fit each QTL as a single effect across all families, and using a joint linkage approach, which fit QTL effects as nested within families. GWAS using all families (ABCDE) performed best at the cloned Dw3 locus, whereas joint linkage using all families performed best at the cloned Ma1 locus. Both multiparental approaches yielded apparently synthetic associations due to genetic heterogeneity and were highly dependent on the subset of families used. Comparison of all mapping approaches suggests that a GA2-oxidase underlies Dw1, and that a mir172a gene underlies a Dw1-linked flowering time QTL

Subgroup effects despite homogeneous heterogeneity test results

Background. Statistical tests of heterogeneity are very popular in meta-analyses, as heterogeneity might indicate subgroup effects. Lack of demonstrable statistical heterogeneity, however, might obscure clinical heterogeneity, meaning clinically relevant subgroup effects. Methods. A qualitative, visual method to explore the potential for subgroup effects was provided by a modification of the forest plot, i.e., adding a vertical axis indicating the proportion of a subgroup variable in the individual trials. Such a plot was used to assess the potential for clinically relevant subgroup effects and was illustrated by a clinical example on the effects of antibiotics in children with acute otitis media. Results. Statistical tests did not indicate heterogeneity in the meta-analysis on the effects of amoxicillin on acute otitis media (Q = 3.29, p = 0.51; I2 = 0%; T2 = 0). Nevertheless, in a modified forest plot, in which the individual trials were ordered by the proportion of children with bilateral otitis, a clear relation between bilaterality and treatment effects was observed (which was also found in an individual patient data meta-analysis of the included trials: p-value for interaction 0.021). Conclusions. A modification of the forest plot, by including an additional (vertical) axis indicating the proportion of a certain subgroup variable, is a qualitative, visual, and easy-to-interpret method to explore potential subgroup effects in studies included in meta-analyse

Underwater Acoustic Signatures of Recreational Swimmers, Divers, Surfers and Kayakers

© 2016 Australian Acoustical Society. Non-motorised, recreational water activities were recorded underwater in the controlled setting of a public swimming pool during the off-season. Individuals, one at a time, swam freestyle and breaststroke, snorkelled, scuba-dived, kicked a boogie board and a surfboard, kayaked, and simply jumped into the water. Underwater video and still images were recorded at the same time to interpret the sounds recorded. Most of the sound was due to bubbles generated underwater. Activities involving fins (flippers) were the loudest (boogie boarding and snorkelling), followed by freestyle swimming, surfboard paddling, and kayaking. Breaststroke generated the fewest bubbles and was the quietest. All activities produced bubbles, hence noise, at a characteristic temporal pattern. Scuba-diving exhibited two distinct noise spectra related to inhalation and exhalation. Received levels ranged from 110 to 131 dB re 1 µ Pa (10–16,000 Hz) for all of the activities at the closest point of approach (1 m). The results might have applicability to the monitoring of pools for security reasons, to performance assessments of swimmers, and to studies of the distances at which humans may be detectible by marine animals in the sea

Semigroups with operation-compatible Green’s quasiorders

We call a semigroup on which the Green’s quasiorder ≤ J (≤ L, ≤ R) is operation-compatible, a ≤ J-compatible (≤ L-compatible, ≤ R-compatible) semigroup. We study the classes of ≤ J-compatible, ≤ L-compatible and ≤ R-compatible semigroups, using the smallest operation-compatible quasiorders containing Green’s quasiorders as a tool. We prove a number of results, including the following. The class of ≤ L-compatible (≤ R-compatible) semigroups is closed under taking homomorphic images. A regular periodic semigroup is ≤ J-compatible if and only if it is a semilattice of simple semigroups. Every negatively orderable semigroup can be embedded into a negatively orderable ≤ J-compatible semigroup

How does reviewing the evidence change veterinary surgeons' beliefs regarding the treatment of ovine footrot? A quantitative and qualitative study

Footrot is a widespread, infectious cause of lameness in sheep, with major economic and welfare costs. The aims of this research were: (i) to quantify how veterinary surgeons’ beliefs regarding the efficacy of two treatments for footrot changed following a review of the evidence (ii) to obtain a consensus opinion following group discussions (iii) to capture complementary qualitative data to place their beliefs within a broader clinical context. Grounded in a Bayesian statistical framework, probabilistic elicitation (roulette method) was used to quantify the beliefs of eleven veterinary surgeons during two one-day workshops. There was considerable heterogeneity in veterinary surgeons’ beliefs before they listened to a review of the evidence. After hearing the evidence, seven participants quantifiably changed their beliefs. In particular, two participants who initially believed that foot trimming with topical oxytetracycline was the better treatment, changed to entirely favour systemic and topical oxytetracycline instead. The results suggest that a substantial amount of the variation in beliefs related to differences in veterinary surgeons’ knowledge of the evidence. Although considerable differences in opinion still remained after the evidence review, with several participants having non-overlapping 95% credible intervals, both groups did achieve a consensus opinion. Two key findings from the qualitative data were: (i) veterinary surgeons believed that farmers are unlikely to actively seek advice on lameness, suggesting a proactive veterinary approach is required (ii) more attention could be given to improving the way in which veterinary advice is delivered to farmers. In summary this study has: (i) demonstrated a practical method for probabilistically quantifying how veterinary surgeons’ beliefs change (ii) revealed that the evidence that currently exists is capable of changing veterinary opinion (iii) suggested that improved transfer of research knowledge into veterinary practice is needed (iv) identified some potential obstacles to the implementation of veterinary advice by farmers

From Demonstrations to Task-Space Specifications:Using Causal Analysis to Extract Rule Parameterization from Demonstrations

Learning models of user behaviour is an important problem that is broadly applicable across many application domains requiring human-robot interaction. In this work, we show that it is possible to learn generative models for distinct user behavioural types, extracted from human demonstrations, by enforcing clustering of preferred task solutions within the latent space. We use these models to differentiate between user types and to find cases with overlapping solutions. Moreover, we can alter an initially guessed solution to satisfy the preferences that constitute a particular user type by backpropagating through the learned differentiable models. An advantage of structuring generative models in this way is that we can extract causal relationships between symbols that might form part of the user's specification of the task, as manifested in the demonstrations. We further parameterize these specifications through constraint optimization in order to find a safety envelope under which motion planning can be performed. We show that the proposed method is capable of correctly distinguishing between three user types, who differ in degrees of cautiousness in their motion, while performing the task of moving objects with a kinesthetically driven robot in a tabletop environment. Our method successfully identifies the correct type, within the specified time, in 99% [97.8 - 99.8] of the cases, which outperforms an IRL baseline. We also show that our proposed method correctly changes a default trajectory to one satisfying a particular user specification even with unseen objects. The resulting trajectory is shown to be directly implementable on a PR2 humanoid robot completing the same task.Comment: arXiv admin note: substantial text overlap with arXiv:1903.0126

A meta-analytic review of stand-alone interventions to improve body image

Objective Numerous stand-alone interventions to improve body image have been developed. The present review used meta-analysis to estimate the effectiveness of such interventions, and to identify the specific change techniques that lead to improvement in body image. Methods The inclusion criteria were that (a) the intervention was stand-alone (i.e., solely focused on improving body image), (b) a control group was used, (c) participants were randomly assigned to conditions, and (d) at least one pretest and one posttest measure of body image was taken. Effect sizes were meta-analysed and moderator analyses were conducted. A taxonomy of 48 change techniques used in interventions targeted at body image was developed; all interventions were coded using this taxonomy. Results The literature search identified 62 tests of interventions (N = 3,846). Interventions produced a small-to-medium improvement in body image (d+ = 0.38), a small-to-medium reduction in beauty ideal internalisation (d+ = -0.37), and a large reduction in social comparison tendencies (d+ = -0.72). However, the effect size for body image was inflated by bias both within and across studies, and was reliable but of small magnitude once corrections for bias were applied. Effect sizes for the other outcomes were no longer reliable once corrections for bias were applied. Several features of the sample, intervention, and methodology moderated intervention effects. Twelve change techniques were associated with improvements in body image, and three techniques were contra-indicated. Conclusions The findings show that interventions engender only small improvements in body image, and underline the need for large-scale, high-quality trials in this area. The review identifies effective techniques that could be deployed in future interventions

Prevalence of Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis in Mainland China: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Background: The spread of drug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is one of the major public health problems in the world. Surveillance of anti-TB drug resistance is important for monitoring TB control strategies. However, the status of drugresistant TB in China has been reported inconsistently. Methods: We systematically reviewed published studies on drug-resistant TB in China until March 31, 2011, and quantitatively summarized prevalence and patterns of anti-TB drug resistance among new cases and previously treated cases, respectively. Results: Ninety-five eligible articles, published during 1993–2011, were included in this review. The meta-analyses showed that the prevalence of drug-resistant TB in new cases was 27.9 % (95 % CI, 25.6%–30.2%) (n/N = 27360/104356) and in previously treated cases was 60.3 % (95 % CI, 56.2%–64.2%) (n/N = 30350/45858). Furthermore, in these two study populations, the prevalence of multiple drug resistance was found to be 5.3 % (95 % CI, 4.4%–6.4%) (n/N = 8810/101718) and 27.4 % (95 % CI, 24.1%–30.9%) (n/N = 10486/44530) respectively. However, the results were found to be frequently heterogeneous (p for Q tests,0.001). The most common resistance was observed for isoniazid among both study populations. Different patterns of drug resistance were observed in the subgroup analysis with respect to geographic areas, drug susceptibility testing methods and subject enrollment time

Why are family carers of people with dementia dissatisfied with general hospital care?: a qualitative study

Background Families and other carers report widespread dissatisfaction with general hospital care for confused older people. Methods We undertook a qualitative interviews study of 35 family carers of 34 confused older patients to ascertain their experiences of care on geriatric and general medical, and orthopaedic wards of a large English hospital. Transcripts were analysed using a grounded theory approach. Themes identified in interviews were categorised, and used to build a model explaining dissatisfaction with care. Results The experience of hospital care was often negative. Key themes were events (illness leading to admission, experiences in the hospital, adverse occurrences including deterioration in health, or perceived poor care); expectations (which were sometimes unrealistic, usually unexplored by staff, and largely unmet from the carers’ perspective); and relationships with staff (poor communication and conflict over care). Expectations were influenced by prior experience. A cycle of discontent is proposed. Events (or ‘crises’) are associated with expectations. When these are unmet, carers become uncertain or suspicious, which leads to a period of ‘hyper vigilant monitoring’ during which carers seek out evidence of poor care, culminating in challenge, conflict with staff, or withdrawal, itself a crisis. The cycle could be completed early during the admission pathway, and multiple cycles within a single admission were seen. Conclusion People with dementia who have family carers should be considered together as a unit. Family carers are often stressed and tired, and need engaging and reassuring. They need to give and receive information about the care of the person with dementia, and offered the opportunity to participate in care whilst in hospital. Understanding the perspective of the family carer, and recognising elements of the ‘cycle of discontent’, could help ward staff anticipate carer needs, enable relationship building, to pre-empt or avoid dissatisfaction or conflict