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D. Jablonski [Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 99, 8139-8144 (2002)] coined the term "dead clades walking" (DCWs) to describe marine fossil orders that experience significant drops in genus richness during mass extinction events and never rediversify to previous levels. This phenomenon is generally interpreted as further evidence that the macroevolutionary consequences of mass extinctions can continue well past the formal boundary. It is unclear, however, exactly how long DCWs are expected to persist after extinction events and to what degree they impact broader trends in Phanerozoic biodiversity. Here we analyze the fossil occurrences of 134 skeletonized marine invertebrate orders in the Paleobiology Database (paleobiodb.org) using a Bayesian method to identify significant change points in genus richness. Our analysis identifies 70 orders that experience major diversity losses without recovery. Most of these taxa, however, do not fit the popular conception of DCWs as clades that narrowly survive a mass extinction event and linger for only a few stages before succumbing to extinction. The median postdrop duration of these DCW orders is long (>30 Myr), suggesting that previous studies may have underestimated the long-term taxonomic impact of mass extinction events. More importantly, many drops in diversity without recovery are not associated with mass extinction events and occur during background extinction stages. The prevalence of DCW orders throughout both mass and background extinction intervals and across phyla (>50% of all marine invertebrate orders) suggests that the DCW pattern is a major component of macroevolutionary turnover.

Background: Multiple major health organisations recommend the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) support for COVID-19-related acute hypoxaemic respiratory failure. However, initial reports of ECMO use in patients with COVID-19 described very high mortality and there have been no large, international cohort studies of ECMO for COVID-19 reported to date. Methods: We used data from the Extracorporeal Life Support Organization (ELSO) Registry to characterise the epidemiology, hospital course, and outcomes of patients aged 16 years or older with confirmed COVID-19 who had ECMO support initiated between Jan 16 and May 1, 2020, at 213 hospitals in 36 countries. The primary outcome was in-hospital death in a time-to-event analysis assessed at 90 days after ECMO initiation. We applied a multivariable Cox model to examine whether patient and hospital factors were associated with in-hospital mortality. Findings: Data for 1035 patients with COVID-19 who received ECMO support were included in this study. Of these, 67 (6%) remained hospitalised, 311 (30%) were discharged home or to an acute rehabilitation centre, 101 (10%) were discharged to a long-term acute care centre or unspecified location, 176 (17%) were discharged to another hospital, and 380 (37%) died. The estimated cumulative incidence of in-hospital mortality 90 days after the initiation of ECMO was 37·4% (95% CI 34·4–40·4). Mortality was 39% (380 of 968) in patients with a final disposition of death or hospital discharge. The use of ECMO for circulatory support was independently associated with higher in-hospital mortality (hazard ratio 1·89, 95% CI 1·20–2·97). In the subset of patients with COVID-19 receiving respiratory (venovenous) ECMO and characterised as having acute respiratory distress syndrome, the estimated cumulative incidence of in-hospital mortality 90 days after the initiation of ECMO was 38·0% (95% CI 34·6–41·5). Interpretation: In patients with COVID-19 who received ECMO, both estimated

We study collisions of kinks in the one-space and one-time dimensional noncanonical nonintegrable scalar $\phi^{6}$ model. We examine the energy density of the kink, and we find that, as a function of the parameters that control the curvature of the potential, a localized inner structure of the energy density emerges. We also examine the kink excitation spectrum and the dynamics of the kink collisions for a wide range of initial velocities. We find that apart from the resonance windows, the production of two to three oscillons occurs for some values of the principal parameters of the model., Comment: 9pages, 19figures

Why do teams settle for bad ideas or kill good ones? Popular consultant B. Kim Barnes's unique process of constructive debate shows how teams can create better ideas and outcomes by eliminating obstacles to honest discussion, creativity, and collaboration. In too many organizations, great ideas and unusual solutions can be suppressed, ignored, or attacked. Departments defend their turf, and people choose what is safe over what is better. Bad ideas move forward and good ideas die, which can lead to disastrous results—financial or otherwise. Luckily, there is a workable path out of this dysfunction. Kim Barnes's process of constructive debate shows how to establish conditions that encourage the free exchange, discussion, and development of ideas and eliminate conditions that prevent potentially useful ideas from getting heard. By using this tested model, any company or team can improve outcomes and bring out everyone's best ideas. A constructive debate is one in which a diverse group of individuals can express their ideas, engage others in building on and improving them, explore ideas deeply, and challenge one another's positions in a fair and productive way. In this book, you'll learn a set of behaviors you can model and encourage and a process you can facilitate, lead, or support your client in leading. In this time, where opinions can be tribal and differences can lead to unconstructive conflict, it's important to find ways to build robust ideas through a thoughtful, fair, and inclusive approach.

In this paper, we numerically study the scattering of kinks in the noncanonical sine-Gordon model using Fourier spectral methods. The model depends on two free parameters, which control the localized inner structure in the energy density and the characteristics of the scattering potential. It has been conjectured that the kink solutions in the noncanonical model possess inner structures in their energy density, and the presence of these yields bound states and resonance structures for some relative velocities between the kink and the antikink. In the numerical study, we observed that the classical kink mass decreases monotonically as the free parameters vary, and yields bion-formations and long-lived oscillations in the scattering of the kink-antikink system., Comment: 11 pages, 22 figures

We compute the one-loop quantum corrections to the kink energies of the sinh-deformed $\phi^{4}$ and $\varphi^{6}$ models in one space and one time dimensions. These models are constructed from the well-known polynomial $\phi^{4}$ and $\varphi^{6}$ models by a deformation procedure. We also compute the vacuum polarization energy to the non-polynomial function $U(\phi)=\frac{1}{4}(1-\sinh^{2}\phi)^{2}$. This potential approaches the $\phi^{4}$ model in the limit of small values of the scalar function. These energies are extracted from scattering data for fluctuations about the kink solutions. We show that for certain topological sectors with non-equivalent vacua the kink solutions of the sinh-deformed models are destabilized., Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, 4 tables

The need for larger-scale and increasingly complex protein-protein interaction (PPI) prediction tasks demands that state-of-the-art predictors be highly efficient and adapted to inter- and cross-species predictions. Furthermore, the ability to generate comprehensive interactomes has enabled the appraisal of each PPI in the context of all predictions leading to further improvements in classification performance in the face of extreme class imbalance using the Reciprocal Perspective (RP) framework. We here describe the PIPE4 algorithm. Adaptation of the PIPE3/MP-PIPE sequence preprocessing step led to upwards of 50x speedup and the new Similarity Weighted Score appropriately normalizes for window frequency when applied to any inter- and cross-species prediction schemas. Comprehensive interactomes for three prediction schemas are generated: (1) cross-species predictions, where Arabidopsis thaliana is used as a proxy to predict the comprehensive Glycine max interactome, (2) inter-species predictions between Homo sapiens-HIV1, and (3) a combined schema involving both cross- and inter-species predictions, where both Arabidopsis thaliana and Caenorhabditis elegans are used as proxy species to predict the interactome between Glycine max (the soybean legume) and Heterodera glycines (the soybean cyst nematode). Comparing PIPE4 with the state-of-the-art resulted in improved performance, indicative that it should be the method of choice for complex PPI prediction schemas.

OBJECTIVE:To implement a standardized tracheostomy pathway that reduces length of stay through tracheostomy education, coordinated care protocols, and tracking patient outcomes. METHODS:The project design involved retrospective analysis of a baseline state, followed by a multimodal intervention (Trach Trail) and prospective comparison against synchronous controls. Patients undergoing tracheostomy from 2015 to 2016 (n = 60) were analyzed for demographics and outcomes. Trach Trail, a standardized care pathway, was developed with the Iowa Model of Evidence-Based Practice. Trach Trail implementation entailed monthly tracheostomy champion training at 8-hour duration and staff nurse didactics, written materials, and experiential learning. Trach Trail enrollment occurred from 2018 to 2019. Data on demographics, length of stay, and care outcomes were collected from patients in the Trach Trail group (n = 21) and a synchronous tracheostomy control group (n = 117). RESULTS:Fifty-five nurses completed Trach Trail training, providing care for 21 patients placed on the Trach Trail and for synchronous control patients with tracheostomy who received routine tracheostomy care. Patients on the Trach Trail and controls had similar demographic characteristics, diagnoses, and indications for tracheostomy. In the Trach Trail group, intensive care unit length of stay was significantly reduced as compared with the control group, decreasing from a mean 21 days to 10 (P < .05). The incidence of adverse events was unchanged. DISCUSSION:Introduction of the Trach Trail was associated with a reduction in length of stay in the intensive care unit. Realizing broader patient-centered improvement likely requires engaging respiratory therapists, speech language pathologists, and social workers to maximize patient/caregiver engagement. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE:Standardized tracheostomy care with interdisciplinary collaboration may reduce length of stay and improve patient outcomes.

Tangier Island is a small, incorporated town, just over one square mile, of fewer than 430 inhabitants in the Chesapeake Bay, belonging to Accomack County in the Commonwealth of Virginia, USA. Its residents, called Tangiermen regardless of gender, are descendants of Bay watermen—mostly white; lower- and middle-income; politically conservative; fundamentalist, Protestant, and Zionist Christian; and skeptical of science and climate change. Settled in the 1770s, endogamous marriage has been preferred for inhabitants during the island's 250-year history, resulting in residents who are kin in multiple ways to each other, while also holding individuated roles defined by occupation, gender, and other modes of differentiation. Their island, three ridges connected by roads and bridges, is subsiding into the Bay. Physical scientists predict Tangier will be uninhabitable as early as 2040, due in part to anthropogenic sea-level rise. This investigation pursues an answer to the question: What are the effects of the long-term threat of imminent displacement, specifically severe risks posed by environmental climate change, on the socio-cultural processes of reproduction in this population? I understand socio-cultural reproduction as the continuous production of social order, both cause and effect of differentiating and cohesive forces among a group of people. The differentiating and cohesive forces under investigation in this case are: kinship relations and memory, roles and role succession, residence inheritance, practices of elder deference, and the profession of belief. The project draws upon ethnographic data collected during scoping trips in 2016 and 2017, during residential fieldwork on Tangier Island, 2017-2018, and from information collected at archives on Tangier and at libraries and collections in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The dissertation engages three subtopics in Environmental Socio-Cultural Anthropology: environmental threats to reproduction, risk perception, and

Synthetic proteins with high affinity and selectivity for a protein target can be used as research tools, biomarkers, and pharmacological agents, but few methods exist to design such proteins de novo. To this end, the In-Silico Protein Synthesizer (InSiPS) was developed to design synthetic binding proteins (SBPs) that bind pre-determined targets while minimizing off-target interactions. InSiPS is a genetic algorithm that refines a pool of random sequences over hundreds of generations of mutation and selection to produce SBPs with pre-specified binding characteristics. As a proof of concept, we design SBPs against three yeast proteins and demonstrate binding and functional inhibition of two of three targets in vivo. Peptide SPOT arrays confirm

© 2016 IEEE. The main contribution of this paper is a high frequency, low-complexity, on-board visual-inertial odometry system for quadrotor micro air vehicles. The system consists of an extended Kalman filter (EKF) based state estimation algorithm that fuses information from a low cost MEMS inertial measurement unit acquired at 200Hz and VGA resolution images from a monocular camera at 50Hz. The dynamic model describing the quadrotor motion is employed in the estimation algorithm as a third source of information. Visual information is incorporated into the EKF by enforcing the epipolar constraint on features tracked between image pairs, avoiding the need to explicitly estimate the location of the tracked environmental features. Combined use of the dynamic model and epipolar constraints makes it possible to obtain drift free velocity and attitude estimates in the presence of both accelerometer and gyroscope biases. A strategy to deal with the unobservability that arises when the quadrotor is in hover is also provided. Experimental data from a real-time implementation of the system on a 50 gram embedded computer are presented in addition to the simulations to demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed system.

One of the most effective measures to reduce crashes amongst young drivers is the implementation of a comprehensive Graduated Licensing Scheme (GLS). Yet while all Australian jurisdictions have some form of GLS in place, young drivers remain over-represented in crashes on Australian roads. This indicates that improvements to GLS models in each jurisdiction would be beneficial. The Centre for Road Safety in Transport for New South Wales, on behalf of the Austroads Road Safety Taskforce, commissioned road safety consultants Eric Howard and Anne Harris to develop an evidence-informed GLS policy framework that can be applied across all Australian jurisdictions. The project involved a review of current Australian GLS arrangements, a discussion paper outlining key research findings and extensive consultation with road safety and licensing representatives from all jurisdictions. The framework identifies fundamental GLS components to guide, rather than prescribe, the implementation of increasingly effective GLS models across Australia. The GLS components relate to key areas of focus that contribute to young driver crashes including age, experience, risk taking and licensing access and support. The framework outlines the features of progressively more comprehensive GLS models that address these issues (i.e. standard, enhanced and exemplar models) to account for the varied starting points across Australia and enable jurisdictions to make improvements gradually. The Australian GLS Policy Framework was approved by the Transport Ministers of every jurisdiction. The success of this project demonstrates how policy agencies can take action together to reduce Australian road trauma, even when jurisdictions’ current policies differ considerably.

Feature tracking is an integral part of most vision-based state estimation frameworks. However, tracking features at a sufficient frame rate is a challenging task for mobile robots such as Micro Aerial Vehicles (MAVs) due to their fast dynamics and limited on-board computing resources. Recent developments in smartphone processors have led to embedded computing platforms that are ideal on-board computers for MAV state estimation. This paper analyses the performance of a Kanade-Lucas-Thomasi (KLT) based feature tracker on a state-of-theart embedded computing platform suitable for on-board MAV state estimation. It compares the performance of different implementations of the feature tracker using four different lowcomplexity feature detectors. The experimental results presented herein may serve as guidelines for the selection of a feature detector, image resolution, framerate and feature quantity when developing on-board feature tracking systems based on ARM Cortex-A9 embedded computers.

Polymorphisms in the interferon regulatory factor 5 (IRF5) gene have been consistently replicated and shown to confer risk for or protection from the development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). IRF5 expression is significantly upregulated in SLE patients and upregulation associates with IRF5-SLE risk haplotypes. IRF5 alternative splicing has also been shown to be elevated in SLE patients. Given that human IRF5 exists as multiple alternatively spliced transcripts with distinct function(s), it is important to determine whether the IRF5 transcript profile expressed in healthy donor immune cells is different from that expressed in SLE patients. Moreover, it is not currently known whether an IRF5-SLE risk haplotype defines the profile of IRF5 transcripts expressed. Using standard molecular cloning techniques, we identified and isolated 14 new differentially spliced IRF5 transcript variants from purified monocytes of healthy donors and SLE patients to generate an IRF5 variant transcriptome. Next-generation sequencing was then used to perform in-depth and quantitative analysis of full-length IRF5 transcript expression in primary immune cells of SLE patients and healthy donors by next-generation sequencing. Evidence for additional alternatively spliced transcripts was obtained from de novo junction discovery. Data from these studies support the overall complexity of IRF5 alternative splicing in SLE. Results from next-generation sequencing correlated with cloning and gave similar abundance rankings in SLE patients thus supporting the use of this new technology for in-depth single gene transcript profiling. Results from this study provide the first proof that 1) SLE patients express an IRF5 transcript signature that is distinct from healthy donors, 2) an IRF5-SLE risk haplotype defines the top four most abundant IRF5 transcripts expressed in SLE patients, and 3) an IRF5 transcript signature enables clustering of SLE patients with the H2 risk haplotype.

This is an initial study and analysis of a method for testing the pressure/seismic response of a MILES transducer. The testing approach described is based on an experimentally verified mathematical model for the line transducer. A preliminary design for a test apparatus and a test procedure not only evaluates the pressure/seismic response, but also develops all additional data required for acceptance testing of a MILES transducer. (Author)

The Two-Class Seismic Classifier wad developed to improve the processing electronics portion of the ADSID 3. The electronics process the target signature received. If the signature shows the presence of a target, an output signal will be provided through the system transmitter. The low false-alarm rate of the Two-Class Seismic Classifier Module greatly reduces the need for large, sophisticated data-handling and processing centers for target discrimination. Because of the high reliability of the target information available from the ADSID 3 using the Two-Class module, the information can be treated in a real-time manner. The processing electronics and disable function are packaged in a hardened module and are, therefore, capable of withstanding high shock. Worldwide temperature capability is also designed into the module.

Relative cross sections have been measured for the D(d,p)3H and D(d,n)3He reactions from 300 keV to 700 keV in 50 keV steps. The ralative values have been normalized to existing cross sections in order to obtain absolute values. Angular distributions of all charged particles from the reactions were taken from 20 degrees to 160 degrees in 10 degree intervals in the laboratory system. Energy dependent asymmetry coefficients from the expansions of the center-of-mass angular distributions in terms of even powers of Cos theta are obtained as are the branching ratios between the two reaction modes. The different energy dependences of the moments of the two cross sections are discussed in relation to existing theories. (Author)

This paper will present the results of a laboratory testing program and field implementation of the lime column stabilization technique to waste phosphatic clays. Results show increases in clay shear strength by 2 to 3 orders of magnitude and reduce the time of primary consolidation by 1 to 2 orders of magnitude.