An evaluation of potential locations for AROD ground stations

Airborne Range and Orbit Determination tracking stations potential locations evaluation and accuracy during early minutes of fligh

Influence of Strong Acid Hydrolysis Processing on the Thermal Stability and Crystallinity of Cellulose Isolated from Wheat Straw

Cellulose extractions from wheat straw via hydrochloric, nitric, and sulfuric acid hydrolysis methods were carried out. X-ray diffraction spectral analyses reveal that depending on the acid conditions used the structure of the cellulose exhibited a mixture of polymorphs (i.e., CI and CIII cellulose phases). In addition, the percent crystallinity, diameter, and length of the cellulose fibers varied tremendously as determined by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Thermal gravimetric analysis measurements revealed that the thermal stability of the extracted cellulose varied as a function of the acid strength and conditions used. Scanning electron microscopy analysis revealed that the aggregation of cellulose fibers during the drying process is strongly dependent upon the drying process and strength of the acids used

A two-stage genome-wide association study of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

The cause of sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is largely unknown, but genetic factors are thought to play a significant role in determining susceptibility to motor neuron degeneration. To identify genetic variants altering risk of ALS, we undertook a two-stage genome-wide association study (GWAS): we followed our initial GWAS of 545 066 SNPs in 553 individuals with ALS and 2338 controls by testing the 7600 most associated SNPs from the first stage in three independent cohorts consisting of 2160 cases and 3008 controls. None of the SNPs selected for replication exceeded the Bonferroni threshold for significance. The two most significantly associated SNPs, rs2708909 and rs2708851 [odds ratio (OR) = 1.17 and 1.18, and P-values = 6.98 x 10–7 and 1.16 x 10–6], were located on chromosome 7p13.3 within a 175 kb linkage disequilibrium block containing the SUNC1, HUS1 and C7orf57 genes. These associations did not achieve genome-wide significance in the original cohort and failed to replicate in an additional independent cohort of 989 US cases and 327 controls (OR = 1.18 and 1.19, P-values = 0.08 and 0.06, respectively). Thus, we chose to cautiously interpret our data as hypothesis-generating requiring additional confirmation, especially as all previously reported loci for ALS have failed to replicate successfully. Indeed, the three loci (FGGY, ITPR2 and DPP6) identified in previous GWAS of sporadic ALS were not significantly associated with disease in our study. Our findings suggest that ALS is more genetically and clinically heterogeneous than previously recognized. Genotype data from our study have been made available online to facilitate such future endeavors

The effect of pre-shot routines on golf wedge shot performance

The objective of this study was to examine the effect of pre-performance routines among golfers of low skill and non-golfers on wedge golf shot performance. The intervention strategies involved a physical skill and cognitive-behavioral routine program, as well as a physical skills-only program. Performance was measured on a pre-intervention test, postintervention test, and following a period of time without treatment, and involved wedge shots being played from distances of 40, 50, and 60 m from a target. Participants in this study (N = 68) were assigned to either a golfer or non-golfer group. Participants in the treatment groups attended 2 practice sessions per week during the acquisition phase. A variable practice design was incorporated during the intervention phase. Non-golfers in both intervention groups improved performance following the acquisition phase and maintained these levels of performance in the retention test. Greater improvements in performance were found in the non-golfer physical skills and cognitive-behavioral routine group. The non-golfer physical skills and cognitive-behavioral routine group was the only group to realize significant improvements in performance when comparing initial test performance measures to post-intervention and retention test performance measures across all test distances. Although the golfer treatment groups had consistent improvement in performance measures following the intervention phase, these improvements did not reach statistical significance in the majority of cases

Vision Care Utilization and Insurance Coverage Prior to and Following Medicaid Expansion in Ohio

Background: Increased access and utilization of vision care services has the potential to reduce preventable vision loss. The state of Ohio has been uniquely proactive when collecting vision-oriented data through population health surveys, including the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). These data can be used to better understand vision care utilization patterns and access to insurance. Methods: Responses to 3 items administered in the Ohio BRFSS that assess vision care utilization and insurance coverage were compared between 2 different administration periods, 2005-2011 and 2018-2019, using chi-square tests. Comparable data from 2 items assessing eye care utilization were available in 2005-2011 and 2019. Comparable data for insurance coverage were available in 2005-2011 and in 2018-2019. Responses were further stratified by population characteristics, including age, gender, household income, and education level. Results: The percentages of those reporting eye exams in the previous year were not significantly different between 2005-2011 and 2019 (chi-square, p = 0.06). In Ohio, the primary reason for not seeing a vision care provider in the past 12 months was “No reason to go” in 2005-2011 and in 2019. The second most common reason for not seeing a vision care provider in the past 12 months was “Cost/insurance,” which decreased between 2005-2011 and 2019 (chi-square, p <0.001). Insurance coverage for eye care increased between 2005-2011 and 2018-2019 (chi-square, p <0.001). Important differences were found within the demographic stratification. Conclusion: Population health surveillance data provide useful insight into vision care utilization and insurance coverage. Despite the increase in insurance coverage, eye care provider utilization remains relatively stable

Power Versus Affiliation in Political Ideology

Posited motivational differences between liberals and conservatives have historically been controversial. This motivational interface has recently been bridged, but the vast majority of studies have used self-reports of values or motivation. Instead, the present four studies investigated whether two classic social motive themes—power and affiliation—vary by political ideology in objective linguistic analysis terms. Study 1 found that posts to liberal chat rooms scored higher in standardized affiliation than power, whereas the reverse was true of posts to conservative chat rooms. Study 2 replicated this pattern in the context of materials posted to liberal versus conservative political news websites. Studies 3 and 4, finally, replicated a similar interactive (ideology by motive type) pattern in State of the State and State of the Union addresses. Differences in political ideology, these results suggest, are marked by, and likely reflective of, mind-sets favoring affiliation (liberal) or power (conservative). </jats:p

Identifying mechanism-of-action targets for drugs and probes

Notwithstanding their key roles in therapy and as biological probes, 7% of approved drugs are purported to have no known primary target, and up to 18% lack a well-defined mechanism of action. Using a chemoinformatics approach, we sought to “de-orphanize” drugs that lack primary targets. Surprisingly, targets could be easily predicted for many: Whereas these targets were not known to us nor to the common databases, most could be confirmed by literature search, leaving only 13 Food and Drug Administration—approved drugs with unknown targets; the number of drugs without molecular targets likely is far fewer than reported. The number of worldwide drugs without reasonable molecular targets similarly dropped, from 352 (25%) to 44 (4%). Nevertheless, there remained at least seven drugs for which reasonable mechanism-of-action targets were unknown but could be predicted, including the antitussives clemastine, cloperastine, and nepinalone; the antiemetic benzquinamide; the muscle relaxant cyclobenzaprine; the analgesic nefopam; and the immunomodulator lobenzarit. For each, predicted targets were confirmed experimentally, with affinities within their physiological concentration ranges. Turning this question on its head, we next asked which drugs were specific enough to act as chemical probes. Over 100 drugs met the standard criteria for probes, and 40 did so by more stringent criteria. A chemical information approach to drug-target association can guide therapeutic development and reveal applications to probe biology, a focus of much current interest

Reinventing grounded theory: some questions about theory, ground and discovery

Grounded theory’s popularity persists after three decades of broad-ranging critique. In this article three problematic notions are discussed—‘theory,’ ‘ground’ and ‘discovery’—which linger in the continuing use and development of grounded theory procedures. It is argued that far from providing the epistemic security promised by grounded theory, these notions—embodied in continuing reinventions of grounded theory—constrain and distort qualitative inquiry, and that what is contrived is not in fact theory in any meaningful sense, that ‘ground’ is a misnomer when talking about interpretation and that what ultimately materializes following grounded theory procedures is less like discovery and more akin to invention. The procedures admittedly provide signposts for qualitative inquirers, but educational researchers should be wary, for the significance of interpretation, narrative and reflection can be undermined in the procedures of grounded theory