E-cigarette use among women of reproductive age: Impulsivity, cigarette smoking status, and other risk factors.

INTRODUCTION: The study aim was to examine impulsivity and other risk factors for e-cigarette use among women of reproductive age comparing current daily cigarette smokers to never cigarette smokers. Women of reproductive age are of special interest because of the additional risk that tobacco and nicotine use represents should they become pregnant. METHOD: Survey data were collected anonymously online using Amazon Mechanical Turk in 2014. Participants were 800 women ages 24-44years from the US. Half (n=400) reported current, daily smoking and half (n=400) reported smokingsociodemographics, tobacco/nicotine use, and impulsivity (i.e., delay discounting & Barratt Impulsiveness Scale). Predictors of smoking and e-cigarette use were examined using logistic regression. RESULTS: Daily cigarette smoking was associated with greater impulsivity, lower education, past illegal drug use, and White race/ethnicity. E-cigarette use in the overall sample was associated with being a cigarette smoker and greater education. E-cigarette use among current smokers was associated with increased nicotine dependence and quitting smoking; among never smokers it was associated with greater impulsivity and illegal drug use. E-cigarette use was associated with hookah use, and for never smokers only with use of cigars and other nicotine products. CONCLUSIONS: E-cigarette use among women of reproductive age varies by smoking status, with use among current smokers reflecting attempts to quit smoking whereas among non-smokers use may be a marker of a more impulsive repertoire that includes greater use of alternative tobacco products and illegal drugs

NikR Repressor High-Affinity Nickel Binding to the C-Terminal Domain Regulates Binding to Operator DNA

AbstractE. coli NikR repressor binds operator DNA in a nickel-dependent fashion. The pM affinity of NikR for nickel is mediated by its C-terminal 86 residues. Nickel binding induced additional secondary structure, decreased the compactness, and increased the stability of NikR. Tetramer formation by the C-terminal domain and intact NikR did not require nickel. High-affinity nickel binding decreased the NikR concentration needed to half maximally protect operator DNA from undetectable levels to 30 nM. The intracellular concentration of NikR in E. coli is high enough that saturation of the high-affinity nickel sites should lead to substantial occupancy of the nik operator. Nickel binding to a set of low-affinity NikR sites resulted in an additional large increase in operator affinity and substantially increased the size of the NikR footprint on the operator

Innovative librarians: Harnessing passion and involvement for library metamorphosis

During 2010 the RMIT University Library formed the 'Innovative Librarians Group' (ILG). The idea for the ILG was conceived from a debrief meeting with the University Librarian and acting Staff Development Librarian for the group's leader on her return from the Aurora leadership course. The ILG combined her interests in shifting the library staff mindset toward innovation and forward thinking, and integrating a technology focus into the library environment

Impact of prospective measurement of outflow tracts in the prediction of coarctation of the aorta

Background: Prenatal diagnosis of coarctation of the aorta (COA) is associated with reduced mortality and morbidity, however, accurate prenatal prediction remains challenging. To date, studies have measured the outflow tracts retrospectively to gauge the potential to predict COA. Our primary objective was to evaluate prospectively acquired measurements of the outflow tracts in prenatally suspected COA. A secondary aim was to report the postnatal prevalence of bicuspid aortic valve in this cohort. Methods: Measurement of the aortic valve, pulmonary valve, distal transverse aortic arch (DTAA) and arterial duct (AD) diameters were undertaken routinely in fetuses with suspected COA between 2002–2017. Using published reference ranges based on >7000 fetuses from our own unit, z scores were computed. Results: COA was confirmed after birth in 77/149 (52%) cases. DTAA z score and the z score of DTAA:AD were smaller in cases with confirmed COA compared to false positive (FP) (-2.8 vs -1.9, p=0.039; -3.13 vs -2.61, p=0.005, respectively). Multiple regression analysis demonstrated that z scores of DTAA and AD were the only significant predictors (p=0.001). Bicuspid aortic valve was identified in 30% of the FP group. Conclusion: Measurement of the DTAA and AD z scores can be used to attribute risk for postnatal COA in a selected cohort. The significance of the high incidence of bicuspid aortic valve in FP cases merits further study both with respect to aetiology and longer- term significance

The diversity of the stable and persistent phosphorus-containing radicals

Permission to archive accepted author manuscript.Stable and persistent phosphorus-containing radicals can be divided into five general categories: phosphinyl, diphosphanyl, 1,3-diphosphaallyl, lithiated tetrakisimidophosphates, and phosphaverdazyl systems. The syntheses, structures, EPR spectroscopic characterization, and sources of stability of these neutral radicals are presented and compared.Ye

Early infant feeding and adiposity risk: from infancy to adulthood

Introduction: Systematic reviews suggest that a longer duration of breast-feeding is associated with a reduction in the risk of later overweight and obesity. Most studies examining breast-feeding in relation to adiposity have not used longitudinal analysis. In our study, we aimed to examine early infant feeding and adiposity risk in a longitudinal cohort from birth to young adulthood using new as well as published data. Methods: Data from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study in Perth, W.A., Australia, were used to examine associations between breast-feeding and measures of adiposity at 1, 2, 3, 6, 8, 10, 14, 17, and 20 years. Results: Breast-feeding was measured in a number of ways. Longer breast-feeding (in months) was associated with reductions in weight z-scores between birth and 1 year (β = -0.027; p \u3c 0.001) in the adjusted analysis. At 3 years, breast-feeding for \u3c4 months increased the odds of infants experiencing early rapid growth (OR 2.05; 95% CI 1.43-2.94; p \u3c 0.001). From 1 to 8 years, children breast-fed for ≤4 months compared to ≥12 months had a significantly greater probability of exceeding the 95th percentile of weight. The age at which breast-feeding was stopped and a milk other than breast milk was introduced (introduction of formula milk) played a significant role in the trajectory of the BMI from birth to 14 years; the 4-month cutoff point was consistently associated with a higher BMI trajectory. Introduction of a milk other than breast milk before 6 months compared to at 6 months or later was a risk factor for being overweight or obese at 20 years of age (OR 1.47; 95% CI 1.12-1.93; p = 0.005). Discussion: Breast-feeding until 6 months of age and beyond should be encouraged and is recommended for protection against increased adiposity in childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood. Adverse long-term effects of early growth acceleration are fundamental in later overweight and obesity. Formula feeding stimulates a higher postnatal growth velocity, whereas breast-feeding promotes slower growth and a reduced likelihood of overweight and obesity. Biological mechanisms underlying the protective effect of breast-feeding against obesity are based on the unique composition and metabolic and physiological responses to human milk

Incorporating Animal Movement Into Distance Sampling

Distance sampling is a popular statistical method to estimate the density of wild animal populations. Conventional distance sampling represents animals as fixed points in space that are detected with an unknown probability that depends on the distance between the observer and the animal. Animal movement can cause substantial bias in density estimation. Methods to correct for responsive animal movement exist, but none account for nonresponsive movement independent of the observer. Here, an explicit animal movement model is incorporated into distance sampling, combining distance sampling survey data with animal telemetry data. Detection probability depends on the entire unobserved path the animal travels. The intractable integration over all possible animal paths is approximated by a hidden Markov model. A simulation study shows themethod to be negligibly biased (\u3c5%) in scenarioswhere conventional distance sampling overestimates abundance by up to 100%. The method is applied to line transect surveys (1999– 2006) of spotted dolphins (Stenella attenuata) in the eastern tropical Pacific where abundance is shown to be positively biased by 21% on average, which can have substantial impact on the population dynamics estimated from these abundance estimates and on the choice of statistical methodology applied to future surveys. Supplementary materials for this article, including a standardized description of the materials available for reproducing the work, are available as an online supplement

Main group tellurium heterocycles anchored by a P2VN2 scaffold and their sulfur/selenium analogues

The authors are grateful to the EPSRC, the EPSRC National Mass Spectrometry Service Centre (NMSSC) Swansea, the School of Chemistry St. Andrews, EaStCHEM, and NSERC Canada for financial support.A comprehensive investigation of reactions of alkali-metal derivatives of the ditelluro dianion [TePV(NtBu)(μ-NtBu)]22– (L2–, E = Te) with p-block element halides produced a series of novel heterocycles incorporating P2VN2 rings, tellurium, and group 13–16 elements. The dianion engages in Te,Te′-chelation to the metal center in Ph2Ge and R2Sn (R = tBu, nBu, Ph) derivatives; similar behavior was noted for group 14 derivatives of L2– (E = S, Se). In the case of group 13 trihalides MCl3 (M = Ga, In), neutral spirocyclic complexes (L)M[NtBu(Te)PV(μ-NtBu)2PIIIN(H)tBu)] (M = Ga, In) comprised of a Te,Te′-chelated ligand L2– and a N,Te-bonded ligand resulting from loss of Te and monoprotonation were obtained. In reactions with RPCl2 (R = tBu, Ad, iPr2N) a significant difference was observed between Se- and S-containing systems. In the former case, Se,Se′-chelated derivatives were formed in high yields, whereas the N,S-chelated isomers predominated for sulfur. All complexes were characterized by multinuclear (1H, 31P, 77Se, 119Sn, and 125Te) NMR spectroscopy; this technique was especially useful in the analysis of the mixture of (L)(Se) and (L)(SeSe) obtained from the reaction of Se2Cl2 with L2– (E = Te). Single-crystal X-ray structures were obtained for the spirocyclic In complex (9), (L)GePh2 (E = Te, 10), (L)SntBu2 (E = Te, 12a); E = Se, 12aSe, E = S, 12aS) and (L)(μ-SeSe) (E = Te, 16).PostprintPostprintPeer reviewe