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EVANSTON--(Medill News Service)-- Lashing out at government control of the economy, U. S. Treasury Secretary William Simon, Wednesday, renewed his battle against increased Federal spending and the inflation it causes.

To THE EDITOR OF THE POST : The President was visited last week by some statesman from New York city, who desired to assist him in regulating the affairs of the nation. At the hotels and among office seekers and politicians they assumed entire control over matters at the Executive Mansion.

The recent use of hyperspectral remote sensing imagery has introduced new opportunities for soil organic carbon (SOC) assessment and monitoring. These data enable monitoring of a wide variety of soil properties but pose important methodological challenges. Highly correlated hyperspectral spectral bands can affect the prediction and accuracy as well as the interpretability of the retrieval model. Therefore, the spectral dimension needs to be reduced through a selection of specific spectral bands or regions that are most helpful to describing SOC. This study evaluates the efficiency of visible near-infrared (VNIR) and shortwave near-infrared (SWIR) hyperspectral data to identify the most informative hyperspectral bands responding to SOC content in agricultural soils. Soil samples (111) were collected over an agricultural field in southern Ontario, Canada and analyzed against two hyperspectral datasets: An airborne Nano-Hyperspec imaging sensor with 270 bands (400–1000 nm) and a laboratory hyperspectral dataset (ASD FieldSpec 3) along the 1000–2500 nm range (NIR-SWIR). In parallel, a multimethod modeling approach consisting of random forest, support vector machine, and partial least squares regression models was used to conduct band selections and to assess the validity of the selected bands. The multimethod model resulted in a selection of optimal band or regions over the VNIR and SWIR sensitive to SOC and potentially for mapping. The bands that achieved the highest respective importance values were 711–715, 727, 986–998, and 433–435 nm regions (VNIR); and 2365–2373, 2481–2500, and 2198–2206 nm (NIR-SWIR). Some of these bands are in agreement with the absorption features of SOC reported in the literature, whereas others have not been reported before. Ultimately, the selection of optimal band and regions is of importance for quantification of agricultural SOC and would provide a new framework for creating optimized SOC-specific sensors.

Data on the occurrence of whale sharks, Rhincodon typus, in the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman were collected by dedicated boat surveys and via a public-sightings scheme during the period from 2011 to 2014. A total of 422 individual whale sharks were photo-identified from the Arabian Gulf and the northern Gulf of Oman during that period. The majority of sharks (81%, n = 341) were encountered at the Al Shaheen area of Qatar, 90 km off the coast, with the Musandam region of Oman a secondary area of interest. At Al Shaheen, there were significantly more male sharks (n = 171) than females (n = 78; X2 = 17.52, P < 0.05). Mean estimated total length (TL) for sharks was 6.90 m ± 1.24 (median = 7 m; n = 296). Males (7.25 m ± 1.34; median = 8 m, n = 171) were larger than females (6.44 m ±1.09; median = 7 m, n = 78; Mann-Whitney U test, p < 0.01). Of the male sharks assessed for maturity 63% were mature (n = 81), with 50% attaining maturity by 7.29 m and 100% by 9.00 m. Two female sharks of >9 m individuals were visually assessed as pregnant. Connectivity among sharks sighted in Qatari, Omani and UAE waters was confirmed by individual spot pattern matches. A total of 13 identified sharks were re-sighted at locations other than that at which they were first sighted, including movements into and out of the Arabian Gulf through the Strait of Hormuz. Maximum likelihood techniques were used to model an estimated combined population for the Arabian Gulf and Gulf of Oman of 2837 sharks ± 1243.91 S.E. (95% C.I. 1720-6295). The Al Shaheen aggregation is thus the first site described as being dominated by mature males while the free-swimming pregnant females are the first reported from the Indian Ocean.

School-partnered interventions may improve health outcomes for children with type 1 diabetes, though there is limited evidence to support their effectiveness and sustainability. Family, school, or health system factors may interfere with intervention usability and implementation. To identify and address potential implementation barriers during intervention development, we combined methods in user-centered design and implementation science to adapt an evidence-based psychosocial intervention, the collaborative care model, to a virtual school-partnered collaborative care (SPACE) model for type 1 diabetes between schools and diabetes medical teams. We recruited patient, family, school, and health system partners (n=20) to cocreate SPACE through iterative, web-based design sessions using a digital whiteboard (phase 1). User-centered design methods included independent and group activities for idea generation, visual voting, and structured critique of the evolving SPACE prototype. In phase 2, the prototype was evaluated with the usability evaluation for evidence-based psychosocial interventions methods. School nurses reviewed the prototype and tasks in cognitive walkthroughs and completed the Intervention Usability Scale (IUS). Two members of the research team independently identified and prioritized (1-3 rating) discrete usability concerns. We evaluated the relationship between prioritization and the percentage of nurses reporting each usability issue with Spearman correlation. Differences in IUS scores by school nurse characteristics were assessed with ANOVA. In the design phase, the partners generated over 90 unique ideas for SPACE, prioritizing elements pertaining to intervention adaptability, team-based communication, and multidimensional outcome tracking. Following three iterations of prototype development, cognitive walkthroughs were completed with 10 school nurses (n=10, 100% female; mean age 48.5, SD 9.5 years) representing different districts and years of experience. Nurses identified 16 discrete usability issues (each reported by 10%-60% of participants). Two issues receiving the highest priority (3.0): ability to access a virtual platform (n=3, 30% of participants) and data-sharing mechanisms between nurses and providers (n=6, 60% of participants). There was a moderate correlation between priority rating and the percentage of nurses reporting each issue (ρ=0.63; P=.01). Average IUS ratings (77.8, SD 11.1; 100-point scale) indicated appropriate usability. There was no difference in IUS ratings by school nurse experience (P=.54), student caseload (P=.12), number of schools covered (P=.90), or prior experience with type 1 diabetes (P=.83), suggesting that other factors may influence usability. The design team recommended strategies for SPACE implementation to overcome high-priority issues, including training users on videoconferencing applications, establishing secure forms for school data reporting, and sharing glucose data in real-time during SPACE meetings. Cross-sector interventions are complex, and perceived usability is a potential barrier to implementation. Using web-based cocreation methods with community partners promoted high-quality intervention design that is aligned with end-user priorities. Quantitative and qualitative assessments indicated appropriate degree of usability to move forward with pilot-testing.

The impacts of tillage practices and crop rotations are fundamental factors influencing changes in the soil carbon, and thus the sustainability of agricultural systems. The objective of this study was to compare soil carbon status and temporal changes in topsoil from different 4 year rotations and tillage treatments (i.e., no-till and conventional tillage). Rotation systems were primarily corn and soy-based and included cereal and alfalfa phases along with red clover cover crops. In 2018, soil samples were collected from a silty-loam topsoil (0–15 cm) from the 36 year long-term experiment site in southern Ontario, Canada. Total carbon (TC) contents of each sample were determined in the laboratory using combustion methods and comparisons were made between treatments using current and archived samples (i.e., 20 year and 9 year change, respectively) for selected crop rotations. Overall, TC concentrations were significantly higher for no-till compared with conventional tillage practices, regardless of the crop rotations employed. With regard to crop rotation, the highest TC concentrations were recorded in corn–corn–oats–barley (CCOB) rotations with red clover cover crop in both cereal phases. TC contents were, in descending order, found in corn–corn–alfalfa–alfalfa (CCAA), corn–corn–soybean–winter wheat (CCSW) with 1 year of seeded red clover, and corn–corn–corn–corn (CCCC). The lowest TC concentrations were observed in the corn–corn–soybean–soybean (CCSS) and corn–corn–oats–barley (CCOB) rotations without use of cover crops, and corn–corn–soybean–winter wheat (CCSW). We found that (i) crop rotation varieties that include two consecutive years of soybean had consistently lower TC concentrations compared with the remaining rotations; (ii) TC for all the investigated plots (no-till and/or tilled) increased over the 9 year and 20 year period; (iii) the no-tilled CCOB rotation with 2 years of cover crop showed the highest increase of TC content over the 20 year change period time; and (iv) interestingly, the no-till continuous corn (CCCC) rotation had higher TC than the soybean–soybean–corn–corn (SSCC) and corn–corn–soybean–winter wheat (CCSW). We concluded that conservation tillage (i.e., no-till) and incorporation of a cover crop into crop rotations had a positive effect in the accumulation of TC topsoil concentrations and could be suitable management practices to promote soil fertility and sustainability in our agricultural soils.

Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) is a chronic and debilitating disease characterized by unexplained physical fatigue, cognitive and sensory dysfunction, sleeping disturbances, orthostatic intolerance, and gastrointestinal problems. People with ME/CFS often report a prodrome consistent with infections. Using regression, Bayesian and enrichment analyses, we conducted targeted and untargeted metabolomic analysis of plasma from 106 ME/CFS cases and 91 frequency-matched healthy controls. Subjects in the ME/CFS group had significantly decreased levels of plasmalogens and phospholipid ethers (p < 0.001), phosphatidylcholines (p < 0.001) and sphingomyelins (p < 0.001), and elevated levels of dicarboxylic acids (p = 0.013). Using machine learning algorithms, we were able to differentiate ME/CFS or subgroups of ME/CFS from controls with area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) values up to 0.873. Our findings provide the first metabolomic evidence of peroxisomal dysfunction, and are consistent with dysregulation of lipid remodeling and the tricarboxylic acid cycle. These findings, if validated in other cohorts, could provide new insights into the pathogenesis of ME/CFS and highlight the potential use of the plasma metabolome as a source of biomarkers for the disease.

The accuracy of global atmospheric models used to predict the middle/lower thermosphere characteristics is still an open topic. Uncertainties in the prediction of the gas properties in the thermosphere lead to inaccurate computations of the drag force on space objects (i.e. satellites or debris). Currently the lifetime of space objects and therefore the population of debris in low Earth orbit (LEO) cannot be quantified with a satisfactory degree of accuracy. In this paper, the Global Ionosphere Thermosphere Model (GITM) developed at the University of Michigan has been validated in order to provide detailed simulations of the thermosphere. First, a sensitivity analysis has been performed to investigate the effect of the boundary conditions on the final simulations results. Then, results of simulations have been compared with flight measurements from the CHallenging Minisatellite Payload (CHAMP) and Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) satellites and with existing semi-empirical atmospheric models (IRI and MSIS). The comparison shows a linear dependency of the neutral density values with respect to the solar activity. In particular, GITM shows an over-predicting or under-predicting behaviour under high or low solar activity respectively. The reasons for such behaviour can be attributed to a wrong implementation of the chemical processes or the gas transport properties in the model.