Archeological Survey of the FM 723 Expansion Project from Avenue D to FM 1093, Fort Bend County, Texas

In June 2015, AmaTerra Environmental, Inc. began an intensive archeological survey for the Farm-toMarket (FM) 723 expansion project, north of the City of Rosenberg, Fort Bend County, Texas (CSJ# 0188-09-040). Work was delayed due to a lack of right-of-entry (ROE) into portions of the project area. After ROE was granted, archaeological survey was completed in late August of 2017. The total project length is approximately 9.3 miles, or about 228.11 acres, of which 97.9 acres are proposed new Rightof-Way (ROW). AmaTerra conducted the archeological survey under Texas Antiquities Permit No. 7293. Archeological investigations consisted of a pedestrian survey, the manual excavation of 199 shovel tests, and the mechanical excavation of eight backhoe trenches throughout the Area of Potential Effect (APE). Field archeologists observed numerous landscape modifications, including, but not limited to, transportation, agricultural, and residential activities. A prehistoric archeological site, 41FB352, and a historic period archeological sites, 41FB353, were recorded during field investigations; neither is recommended as eligible to the National Register. However, Site 41FB352 within the APE is situated in close proximity to a historic family cemetery, the Briscoe Family Cemetery and it is possible that unmarked graves may be present within the APE at this location. As backhoe scraping was not permitted on this property during the survey, it remains unknown whether graves are present in the APE. Based on the results of field investigations, no additional archeological investigations are warranted for any portion of the APE accessed during this survey. However, a number of properties within the APE were not surveyed due to a lack of right-of-entry. AmaTerra recommends that survey be conducted in these parcels, as well as further investigations for unmarked graves in the portion of the Briscoe Family Cemetery parcel that overlaps the APE.No artifacts were collected during this survey and project records will be curated at the Texas Archaeological Research Laboratory in Austin

SIMULASI COMPUTATIONAL FLUID DYNAMIC (CFD) PADA RUANGAN DRIVER MOBIL TIM HORAS UNTUK MEMPREDIKSI KENYAMANAN TERMAL PENGEMUDI

Kenyamanan termal (thermal comfort) merupakan salah satu aspek yang harus dipertimbangkan ketika akan mendesign suatu ruangan driver pada sebuah mobil. Penelitian ini berfokus pada simulasi Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) ruangan driver mobil Tim Horas Universitas Sumatera Utara generasi keempat untuk memprediksi kenyamanan termal pengemudi. Simulasi dilakukan selama 30 menit dan hasil yang diperoleh adalah temperatur pada 16 titik tubuh pengemudi. Selanjutnya hasil simulasi dibandingkan dengan standar zona kenyamanan yang telah ditetapkan untuk tubuh manusia. Dari hasil simulasi, persentase kenyamanan tertinggi didapatkan pada menit ke-12 dengan nilai 31,25 % (5 titik nyaman). Nilai dari kelima titik tersebut adalah tangan kiri (29, 367 °C), betis kiri (27,3639°C) , betis kanan (28 °C), kaki kiri (27°C), dan kaki kanan (27°C). Persentase kenyamanan terendah didapatkan pada menit ke-15 dengan nilai 0 % (tidak ada titik nyaman). Persentase rata-rata kenyamanan termal pengemudi pada ruangan driver mobil Tim Horas generasi keempat selama 30 menit adalah 13,75 %

PUM1 Mediates the Posttranscriptional Regulation of Human Fetal Hemoglobin

The fetal-to-adult hemoglobin switching at about the time of birth involves a shift in expression from γ-globin to β-globin in erythroid cells. Effective re-expression of fetal γ-globin can ameliorate sickle cell anemia and β-thalassemia. Despite the physiological and clinical relevance of this switch, its posttranscriptional regulation is poorly understood. Here, we identify Pumilo 1 (PUM1), an RNA-binding protein with no previously reported functions in erythropoiesis, as a direct posttranscriptional regulator of β-globin switching. PUM1, whose expression is regulated by the erythroid master transcription factor erythroid Krüppel-like factor (EKLF/KLF1), peaks during erythroid differentiation, binds γ-globin messenger RNA (mRNA), and reduces γ-globin (HBG1) mRNA stability and translational efficiency, which culminates in reduced γ-globin protein levels. Knockdown of PUM1 leads to a robust increase in fetal hemoglobin (∼22% HbF) without affecting β-globin levels in human erythroid cells. Importantly, targeting PUM1 does not limit the progression of erythropoiesis, which provides a potentially safe and effective treatment strategy for sickle cell anemia and β-thalassemia. In support of this idea, we report elevated levels of HbF in the absence of anemia in an individual with a novel heterozygous PUM1 mutation in the RNA-binding domain (p.(His1090Profs∗16); c.3267_3270delTCAC), which suggests that PUM1-mediated posttranscriptional regulation is a critical player during human hemoglobin switching

Multispectral Imaging for Microchip Electrophoresis Enables Point-of-Care Newborn Hemoglobin Variant Screening

Hemoglobin (Hb) disorders affect nearly 7% of the world\u27s population. Globally, around 400,000 babies are born annually with sickle cell disease (SCD), primarily in sub-Saharan Africa where morbidity and mortality rates are high. Screening, early diagnosis, and monitoring are not widely accessible due to technical challenges and cost. We hypothesized that multispectral imaging will allow sensitive hemoglobin variant identification in existing affordable paper-based Hb electrophoresis. To test this hypothesis, we developed the first integrated point-of-care multispectral Hb variant test: Gazelle-Multispectral. Here, we evaluated the accuracy of Gazelle-Multispectral for Hb variant newborn screening in 265 newborns with known hemoglobin variants including hemoglobin A (Hb A), hemoglobin F (Hb F), hemoglobin S (Hb S) and hemoglobin C (Hb C). Gazelle-Multispectral detected levels of Hb A, Hb F, Hb S, and Hb C/E/A2, demonstrated high correlations with the results reported by laboratory gold standard high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) at Pearson Correlation Coefficient = 0.97, 0.97, 0.93, and 0.95. Gazelle-Multispectral demonstrated accuracy of 96.8% in subjects of 0–3 days, and 96.9% in newborns. The ability to obtain accurate results on newborn samples suggest that Gazelle-Multispectral can be suitable for large-scale newborn screening and for diagnosis of SCD in low resource settings

Antithrombin-III Mitigates Thrombin-Mediated Endothelial Cell Contraction and Sickle Red Blood Cell Adhesion in Microscale Flow

Individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) have persistently elevated thrombin generation that results in a state of systemic hypercoagulability. Antithrombin-III (ATIII), an endogenous serine protease inhibitor, inhibits several enzymes in the coagulation cascade, including thrombin. Here, we utilize a biomimetic microfluidic device to model the morphology and adhesive properties of endothelial cells (ECs) activated by thrombin and examine the efficacy of ATIII in mitigating the adhesion of SCD patient-derived red blood cells (RBCs) and EC retraction. Microfluidic devices were fabricated, seeded with ECs, and incubated under physiological shear stress. Cells were then activated with thrombin with or without an ATIII pretreatment. Blood samples from subjects with normal haemoglobin (HbAA) and subjects with homozygous SCD (HbSS) were used to examine RBC adhesion to ECs. Endothelial cell surface adhesion molecule expression and confluency in response to thrombin and ATIII treatments were also evaluated. We found that ATIII pretreatment of ECs reduced HbSS RBC adhesion to thrombin-activated endothelium. Furthermore, ATIII mitigated cellular contraction and reduced surface expression of von Willebrand factor and vascular cell adhesion molecule-1 (VCAM-1) mediated by thrombin. Our findings suggest that, by attenuating thrombin-mediated EC damage and RBC adhesion to endothelium, ATIII may alleviate the thromboinflammatory manifestations of SCD

32-core inline multicore fiber amplifier for dense space division multiplexed transmission system

We present a high-core-count SDM amplifier, i.e. 32-core multicore-fiber amplifier, in a cladding-pumped configuration. An average gain of 17dB and NF of 7dB is obtained for -5dBm input signal power in the wavelength range 1544nm-1564nm

Fabrication of Uniform Au–Carbon Nanofiber by Two-Step Low Temperature Decomposition

This paper presents a facile and efficient way to prepare carbon nanofibers ornamented with Au nanoparticles (Au/CNFs). Gold nanoparticles were first deposited in the channels of an anodized aluminum oxide (AAO) membrane by thermal decomposition of HAuCl4and then carbon nanofibers were produced in the same channels loaded with the Au nanoparticles by decomposition of sucrose at 230 °C. An electron microscopy study revealed that the carbon nanofibers, ~10 nm thick and 6 μm long, were decorated with Au nanoparticles with a diameter of 10 nm. This synthetic route can produce uniform Au nanoparticles on CNF surfaces without using any additional chemicals to modify the AAO channels or the CNF surfaces