A statistical model with a standard Gamma distribution

We study a statistical model consisting of $N$ basic units which interact with each other by exchanging a physical entity, according to a given microscopic random law, depending on a parameter $\lambda$. We focus on the equilibrium or stationary distribution of the entity exchanged and verify through numerical fitting of the simulation data that the final form of the equilibrium distribution is that of a standard Gamma distribution. The model can be interpreted as a simple closed economy in which economic agents trade money and a saving criterion is fixed by the saving propensity $\lambda$. Alternatively, from the nature of the equilibrium distribution, we show that the model can also be interpreted as a perfect gas at an effective temperature $T(\lambda)$, where particles exchange energy in a space with an effective dimension $D(\lambda)$.Comment: 5 pages, including 4 figures. Uses REVTeX styl

The long-term impact of the MEMA kwa Vijana adolescent sexual and reproductive health intervention: effect of dose and time since intervention exposure.

BACKGROUND: Despite recent decreases in HIV incidence in many sub-Saharan African countries, there is little evidence that specific behavioural interventions have led to a reduction in HIV among young people. Further and wider-scale decreases in HIV require better understanding of when behaviour change occurs and why. The MEMA kwa Vijana adolescent sexual and reproductive health intervention has been implemented in rural Mwanza, Tanzania since 1999. A long-term evaluation in 2007/8 found that the intervention improved knowledge, attitudes to sex and some reported risk behaviours, but not HIV or HSV2 prevalence. The aim of this paper was to assess the differential impact of the intervention according to gender, age, marital status, number of years of exposure and time since last exposure to the intervention. METHODS: In 2007, a cross-sectional survey was conducted in the 20 trial communities among 13,814 young people (15-30 yrs) who had attended intervention or comparison schools between 1999 and 2002. Outcomes for which the intervention had an impact in 2001 or 2007 were included in this subgroup analysis. Data were analysed using cluster-level methods for stratified cluster-randomised trials, using interaction tests to determine if intervention impact differed by subgroup. RESULTS: Taking into account multiplicity of testing, concurrence with a priori hypotheses and consistency within the results no strong effect-modifiers emerged. Impact on pregnancy knowledge and reported attitudes to sex increased with years of exposure to high-quality intervention. CONCLUSIONS: The desirable long-term impact of the MEMA kwa Vijana intervention did not vary greatly according to the subgroups examined. This suggests that the intervention can have an impact on a broad cross-section of young people in rural Mwanza. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT00248469

REAPERTURA DE PLANTA TEPEYAC

Resumen de Memorias de Trabajo Se tomó el proyecto de la reapertura de planta Gamesa Tepeyac del cual fui parte como líder del área de Ingeniería Industrial y Almacén, este consistió en la reapertura en 2 fases de las Unidades de Negocio de Gamesa Tepeyac, siendo la primera fase la reapertura de la línea de IQO’s y la segunda la apertura de las 4 líneas de Galleta, Equipo 1, Equipo 2, Equipo 3 y Merengue. Considerándose como reapertura todo el proceso de preparación y planeación, la reapertura en sí y el seguimiento a la operación e Indicadores Clave de Desempeño. Esto se llevó a cabo con un apoyo por parte de todas las áreas soporte, Gerencia, Seguridad, Calidad, Inocuidad, Producción, Mejora Continua, Mantenimiento, Recursos Humanos, Contraloría, Lean Six Sigma, Abastecimientos, Capacitación e Ingeniería Industrial y Almacén, creando una serie de pasos críticos a seguir para garantizar que no hubiera problemas antes, durante y después de la reapertura, así mismo el apoyo y disposición de todo el personal. Esta reapertura se requirió por 2 temas, el primero fue la alta demanda de sobres de avena instantánea y que los maquiladores de este producto no alcanzaron a cumplir con los objetivos de producción necesarios para cumplir con la demanda, el segundo tema, y más crítico, fue que debido al sismo del 19 de septiembre de 2017 la planta de Gamesa Vallejo, la cual es la principal productora de galleta en México para grupo PepsiCo, sufrió graves daños estructurales en su edificio, situación que obligó a la compañía a cerrar la planta hasta que se repararán estos daños y se pudiera afianzar la seguridad de todo el personal que ahí labora. Debido a este cierre de Vallejo Gamesa se decidió reabrir la planta de Gamesa Tepeyac, junto con otras medidas que incluían aumentar el volumen de las demás plantas de galleta de grupo PepsiCo, y así poder disminuir la falta de producto en puntos de venta, sin embargo para Gamesa Tepeyac también se planteó el objetivo de hacer una reapertura limpia y operar con los estándares de desempeño que se manejaron antes del cierre. Desafortunadamente muchas plantas no pudieron alcanzar los nuevos objetivos de volumen que se les plantearon, sin embargo planta Gamesa Tepeyac no solo tuvo una reapertura limpia y sin incidentes mayores, si no que también alcanzó y superó los estándares de operación que manejaba anteriormente volviéndose una planta mucho más eficiente en la administración de la misma debido a la reducción de personal así como el aumento de volumen en galleta como en IQO’s; pasando de un máximo de producción de 2,649 toneladas mensuales a 2,925 toneladas mensuales y de 6.5 toneladas por turno a 7 toneladas por turno en galleta e IQO’s respectivamente

Magnetoresistance Scaling Reveals Symmetries of the Strongly Correlated Dynamics in BaFe_{2}(As_{1-x}P_{x})_{2}.

The phenomenon of T-linear resistivity commonly observed in a number of strange metals has been widely seen as evidence for the breakdown of the quasiparticle picture of metals. This study shows that a recently discovered H/T scaling relationship in the magnetoresistance of the strange metal BaFe_{2}(As_{1-x}P_{x})_{2} is independent of the relative orientations of current and magnetic field. Rather, its magnitude and form depend only on the orientation of the magnetic field with respect to a single crystallographic axis: the direction perpendicular to the magnetic iron layers. This finding suggests that the magnetotransport scaling does not originate from the conventional averaging or orbital velocity of quasiparticles as they traverse a Fermi surface, but rather from dissipation arising from two-dimensional correlations

Contextualized analysis of a needs assessment using the Theoretical Domains Framework: a case example in endocrinology

Background: The Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF) is a set of 14 domains of behavior change that provide a framework for the critical issues and factors influencing optimal knowledge translation. Considering that a previous study has identified optimal knowledge translation techniques for each TDF domain, it was hypothesized that the TDF could be used to contextualize and interpret findings from a behavioral and educational needs assessment. To illustrate this hypothesis, findings and recommendations drawn from a 2012 national behavioral and educational needs assessment conducted with healthcare providers who treat and manage Growth and Growth Hormone Disorders, will be discussed using the TDF. Methods: This needs assessment utilized a mixed-methods research approach that included a combination of: [a] data sources (Endocrinologists (n:120), Pediatric Endocrinologists (n:53), Pediatricians (n:52)), [b] data collection methods (focus groups, interviews, online survey), [c] analysis methodologies (qualitative - analyzed through thematic analysis, quantitative - analyzed using frequencies, cross-tabulations, and gap analysis). Triangulation was used to generate trustworthy findings on the clinical practice gaps of endocrinologists, pediatric endocrinologists, and general pediatricians in their provision of care to adult patients with adult growth hormone deficiency or acromegaly, or children/teenagers with pediatric growth disorders. The identified gaps were then broken into key underlying determinants, categorized according to the TDF domains, and linked to optimal behavioral change techniques. Results: The needs assessment identified 13 gaps, each with one or more underlying determinant(s). Overall, these determinants were mapped to 9 of the 14 TDF domains. The Beliefs about Consequences domain was identified as a contributing determinant to 7 of the 13 challenges. Five of the gaps could be related to the Skills domain, while three were linked to the Knowledge domain. Conclusions: The TDF categorization of the needs assessment findings allowed recommendation of appropriate behavior change techniques for each underlying determinant, and facilitated communication and understanding of the identified issues to a broader audience. This approach provides a means for health education researchers to categorize gaps and challenges identified through educational needs assessments, and facilitates the application of these findings by educators and knowledge translators, by linking the gaps to recommended behavioral change techniques

557. Identification of differentially expressed transcription factors in Brangus skin infested with Rhipicephalus australis

Tick resistance is a desirable trait in beef cattle to minimise the incidence of cattle tick outbreaks and production loss in tropical and subtropical regions. Identification of genetic determinants of this trait will be beneficial for improved breeding programs. Using RNA-Sequencing, this study investigated gene expression data from skin of tick-infested Brangus cattle with high (n=5) and low (n=6) resistance. There were 229 significant differentially expressed genes (DEGs; FDR<0.05), of which 212 were target genes for 1,866 transcription factors expressed in skin. Regulatory impact factor analysis showed 158 significant TFs (P<0.05) of which GRHL3, and DTX1 were also DEGs in the experiment. Biological pathway enrichment showed the significant TFs and DEGs feature in pathways such as response to infection, transcriptional regulation, and Notch signalling. These results highlight the application of bioinformatic approaches in the identification of key transcriptional factor that are potential drivers of differential expression of host resistance trait in cattle. Thus, these candidate genes could be further explored in gene selection programs to breed for tick resistance in crossbred cattle

Crash Tests of Single Post Sign Installations Using Subcompact Automobiles

DOT-FH-11-8821Three full-scale crash tests conducted to evaluate impact behavior of a subcompact vehicle following impact with widely used signpost designs. Each test vehicle weighed 1940 lb (863 kg) and impact speed was approximately 60 mph (96.5 km/h) in each test. Two tests involved impact with a 3 lb/ft (4.5 kg/m) steel U-post and the other test involved 3 lb/ft (4.5kg/m) steel U-posts bolted together to form a 6 lb/ft (8.9 kg/m) back-to-back section. Impact with the 3 lb/ft post in a dry soil resulted in a vehicle change in velocity above the limiting value. Impact with the same post in a wet soil resulted in an acceptable vehicle velocity change since the post was pulled out of the ground. Impact with the 6 lb/ft post resulted in a vehicle change in velocity that greatly exceeded the limiting value. After impact the vehicle rolled over and was a total loss

A functional-cognitive framework for attitude research

In attitude research, behaviours are often used as proxies for attitudes and attitudinal processes. This practice is problematic because it conflates the behaviours that need to be explained (explanandum) with the mental constructs that are used to explain these behaviours (explanans). In the current chapter we propose a meta-theoretical framework that resolves this problem by distinguishing between two levels of analysis. According to the proposed framework, attitude research can be conceptualised as the scientific study of evaluation. Evaluation is defined not in terms of mental constructs but in terms of elements in the environment, more specifically, as the effect of stimuli on evaluative responses. From this perspective, attitude research provides answers to two questions: (1) Which elements in the environment moderate evaluation? (2) What mental processes and representations mediate evaluation? Research on the first question provides explanations of evaluative responses in terms of elements in the environment (functional level of analysis); research on the second question offers explanations of evaluation in terms of mental processes and representations (cognitive level of analysis). These two levels of analysis are mutually supportive, in that better explanations at one level lead to better explanations at the other level. However, their mutually supportive relation requires a clear distinction between the concepts of their explanans and explanandum, which are conflated if behaviours are treated as proxies for mental constructs. The value of this functional-cognitive framework is illustrated by applying it to four central questions of attitude research