A Tribute to Bill Kruskal

Discussion of ``The William Kruskal Legacy: 1919--2005'' by Stephen E. Fienberg, Stephen M. Stigler and Judith M. Tanur [arXiv:0710.5063]Comment: Published in at http://dx.doi.org/10.1214/088342306000000358 the Statistical Science (http://www.imstat.org/sts/) by the Institute of Mathematical Statistics (http://www.imstat.org

Time-sequential Pipelined Imaging with Wavefront Coding and Super Resolution

Wavefront coding has long offered the prospect of mitigating optical aberrations and extended depth of field, but image quality and noise performance are inevitably reduced. We report on progress in the use of agile encoding and pipelined fusion of image sequences to recover image quality

The Cultural Lives of Californians: Insights from the California Survey of Arts and Cultural Participation

Over the past two decades, numerous reports indicate that national rates of arts attendance have been declining. This downward trend is reflected in both survey data and in the day-to-day experiences of many nonprofit arts organizations. In California, attendance rates -- as defined by traditional measures -- have also declined. And yet, there is a sense that the arts and culture are flourishing as never before, with a renewed vigor and excitement. How do we understand this apparent contradiction?The trend in attendance figures, however, does not reflect Californians' participation in a wide array of arts and cultural activities. People's participation in arts and cultural activities, especially in ways that allow them to develop or release their own artistic impulse, is extensive -- and perhaps nowhere more so than in California.At the same time, California's cultural landscape is undergoing massive changes, affecting the ways people encounter, experience and engage with art. These changes include California's demographic shift to being a so-called "majority-minority" state and rapid technological advances that offer new opportunities for artistic expression and access. These changes pose challenges and exciting new opportunities for how artists and organizations create and share their expertise and work. But to understand these changes and their implications for the nonprofit arts field, a broader, more nuanced, more complete understanding of how Californians participate in arts and culture is required.The California Survey of Arts & Cultural Participation is a tool we developed to ask a wide range of questions about what Californians do to engage with arts and culture

A study of the abundance, diversity, and recruitment status of freshwater mussels in the Marais des Cygnes River, Kansas

The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on October 20, 2009).Thesis advisor: Dr. Charles Rabeni.M.S. University of Missouri--Columbia 2009.This study examines the status of a freshwater mussel assemblage located on the Marais des Cygnes River at the Marais des Cygnes National Wildlife Refuge in Kansas. Four mussel beds were selected and parameters including density, diversity, area, recruitment status, and habitat selection by mussels were examined at each site. Density within the mussel beds at the four sites ranged from 3.0 mussels/ m2 to 8.9 mussels/ m2. Amblema plicata was the most abundant species at all four sites with densities ranging from 1.3 mussels/ m2 to 4.5 mussels/ m2. The mussel bed at Site 1 had the highest value of species evenness and higher numbers of recent recruits in four aged species. In addition, there was evidence of regular annual recruitment in three tachytictic species at Site 1 in recent years (Amblema plicata, Obliquaria reflexa, and Quadrula pustulosa). In contrast, Ellipsaria lineolata, a bradytictic species experienced higher recruitment success in years where mean monthly discharge in June through August was low. Discriminant models developed at each site based on depth and several substrate variables were accurate (76%-87%) at predicting mussel absence in "unfavorable" habitats (deeper areas with lower ratios of medium and coarse gravel to other particle sizes) but limited in their ability to predict mussel presence in "favorable habitats" (57%-77%). Other factors including stability of the gravel substrate during high flow events, food availability, and temperature may be influencing the micro-scale distribution pattern of mussels at the sites on the Marias des Cygnes River.Includes bibliographical references

Set in Stone: Building America's New Generation of Arts Facilities, 1994-2008

In 2007, just before the domestic economy experienced a major trauma, the Cultural Policy Center at the Harris School and NORC at the University of Chicago launched a national study of cultural building in the United States. It was motivated by multiple requests from leading consultants in the cultural sector who found themselves involved in a steadily growing number of major building projects -- museums, performing arts centers (PACs), and theaters -- and from foundation officers who were frequently asked to help fund these infrastructure projects. With the generous support of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, and the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, we were able to conduct systematic scientific research on cultural building in the United States between 1994 and 2008 and come to a number of conclusions that have important implications for the cultural sector

Preventing and lessening exacerbations of asthma in school-age children associated with a new term (PLEASANT) : Study protocol for a cluster randomised control trial

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly citedBackground: Within the UK, during September, there is a pronounced increase in the number of unscheduled medical contacts by school-aged children (4-16 years) with asthma. It is thought that that this might be caused by the return back to school after the summer holidays, suddenly mixing with other children again and picking up viruses which could affect their asthma. There is also a drop in the number of prescriptions administered in August. It is possible therefore that children might not be taking their medication as they should during the summer contributing to them becoming ill when they return to school. It is hoped that a simple intervention from the GP to parents of children with asthma at the start of the summer holiday period, highlighting the importance of maintaining asthma medication can help prevent increased asthma exacerbation, and unscheduled NHS appointments, following return to school in September.Methods/design: PLEASANT is a cluster randomised trial. A total of 140 General Practices (GPs) will be recruited into the trial; 70 GPs randomised to the intervention and 70 control practices of "usual care" An average practice is expected to have approximately 100 children (aged 4-16 with a diagnosis of asthma) hence observational data will be collected on around 14000 children over a 24-month period. The Clinical Practice Research Datalink will collect all data required for the study which includes diagnostic, prescription and referral data.Discussion: The trial will assess whether the intervention can reduce exacerbation of asthma and unscheduled medical contacts in school-aged children associated with the return to school after the summer holidays. It has the potential to benefit the health and quality of life of children with asthma while also improving the effectiveness of NHS services by reducing NHS use in one of the busiest months of the year. An exploratory health economic analysis will gauge any cost saving associated with the intervention and subsequent impacts on quality of life. If results for the intervention are positive it is hoped that this could be adopted as part of routine care management of childhood asthma in general practice. Trial registration: Current controlled trials: ISRCTN03000938 (assigned 19/10/12) http://www.controlled-trials.com/ISRCTN03000938/.UKCRN ID: 13572.Peer reviewe

Smart clothing for falls protection and detection: User-centred co-design and feasibility study

The prevalence and impact of hip fractures on the health and wealth of nations is a global problem and source of health inequalities. This paper reports on the co-design and feasibility testing of a new range of protective, smart clothing. The feasibility of research in a population of older adults in supported living is explored, as are the conceptualisation and measurement of adherence

DNA methylation of ESR-1 and N-33 in colorectal mucosa of patients with Ulcerative Colitis (UC)

Introduction: Epigenetic marking such as DNA methylation influence gene transcription and chromosomal stability and may also be affected by environmental exposures. Few studies exist on alteration in DNA methylation profiles (genomic and gene specific methylation) in patients with Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and none assessing its relationship with lifestyle exposures. Aims & Methods: To assess genomic methylation and promoter methylation of the ESR-1 (oestrogen receptor - 1) and N-33 (tumour suppressor candidate-3) genes in the macroscopically normal mucosa of UC patients as well as to investigate effects of anthropometric and lifestyle exposures on DNA methylation. Sixty eight subjects were recruited (24 UC and 44 age and sex matched controls). Colorectal mucosal biopsies were obtained and DNA was extracted. Genomic DNA methylation was quantified using the tritium-labelled cytosine extension assay (3[H] dCTP) whilst gene specific methylation was quantified using the COBRA method. Results: The methylation level of both ESR-1 and N-33 genes were significantly higher in UC subjects compared with controls (7.9% vs 5.9%; p = 0.015 and 66% vs 9.3%; p < 0.001 respectively). There was no detectable difference in global DNA methylation between patients with UC and age and sex matched controls. No associations between indices of DNA methylation and anthropometric measures or smoking patterns were detected. Conclusions: For the first time, we have shown increased methylation in the promoter regions of the putative tumour suppressor gene N-33 in macroscopically normal mucosa of patients with UC. In addition, we have confirmed that methylation of ESR-1 promoter is higher in UC patients compared with age and sex matched controls. These findings suggests that, inactivation through methylation of the putative tumour suppressor genes N-33 and ESR-1, may not be associated with colorectal carcinogenesis in UC