REFERENCE POINT INDENTATION OF HUMAN TRABECULAR BONE TREATED WITH BISPHOSPHONATES FOR VARYING DURATIONS

Reference point indentation (RPI), a novel form of micro-indentation, quantifies RPI material parameters which correlate with modulus, yield stress, strength, or toughness. Information linking bisphosphonate treatment length with the material properties of osteoporotic trabecular bone is needed to improve patient treatment. The objectives of this study were to: 1) determine if RPI can be used to successfully evaluate human trabecular bone and if so, determine an optimized test method for using RPI on trabecular bone, and 2) use this method to determine if any RPI parameters are related to the duration of bisphosphonate treatment. Indentation using a 4 N applied force for 5 cycles was determined to be optimal and used to indent trabecular bone samples from 44 post-menopausal, osteoporotic female patients treated with bisphosphonates for varying (0.8 to 14 years) durations. Considering patient age and calcium supplementation use as covariates, six RPI parameters were significantly (p\u3c0.05) related to BP treatment duration. These results show that the duration of BP treatment is associated with declining RPI-parameters in human trabecular bone. Given prior findings linking these RPI parameters with established material parameters, the present findings suggest that increasing duration of BP treatment is associated with declining trabecular bone material properties

Developing Destruction: the Arms Industry, Catholic Scientists, and Morality

This poem grasps at the serious problem of conscience which confronts a simple laborer who is building something, a weapon. Any weapon, whether sword or atomic warhead, cannot be thought of as a morally neutral object, as most weapons are created with the intent to be used in war. People working in the arms industry, like the subject of the poem, expose themselves to the possibility that the creative energy of their mind and the work of their hands may make the world a more dangerous and less peaceful place. In the worst of circumstances, it is a distinct possibility that the weapons which they have assisted in creating and constructing will take the life of another person or, in the gravest of imaginable situations, vaporize a whole city and ignite a fuse which would end civilization. As the poem indicates, the worker is not in a position of great power, and neither formulates policy nor makes the decision to go to war, nor will the subject even necessarily pull a trigger or enter a launch command. The puzzling question, How can I know whether I\u27m for or against? is complicated. For or against what exactly? It could indicate an uncertainty about how the weapon being manufactured will be used, and who it could be used against. There is another implication as well; the morality of the act is hazy, not absolutely wrong but not necessarily right either. The next line makes a sort of pronouncement of the definite morality, that the worker\u27s actions are not inherently sinful. Yet a problem remains in the mind of the speaker, to turn screws, or weld together parts of destruction may be allowing, helping, or resulting in another\u27s destructive rampage or far more problematically injure others or endanger their safety. Small actions such as working in this arms factory do not directly harm others, but to continue one\u27s job without thinking of the consequences is morally and ethically unacceptable

Results and conjectures on simultaneous core partitions

An n-core partition is an integer partition whose Young diagram contains no hook lengths equal to n. We consider partitions that are simultaneously a-core and b-core for two relatively prime integers a and b. These are related to abacus diagrams and the combinatorics of the affine symmetric group (type A). We observe that self-conjugate simultaneous core partitions correspond to the combinatorics of type C, and use abacus diagrams to unite the discussion of these two sets of objects. In particular, we prove that (2n)- and (2mn+1)-core partitions correspond naturally to dominant alcoves in the m-Shi arrangement of type C_n, generalizing a result of Fishel--Vazirani for type A. We also introduce a major statistic on simultaneous n- and (n+1)-core partitions and on self-conjugate simultaneous (2n)- and (2n+1)-core partitions that yield q-analogues of the Coxeter-Catalan numbers of type A and type C. We present related conjectures and open questions on the average size of a simultaneous core partition, q-analogs of generalized Catalan numbers, and generalizations to other Coxeter groups. We also discuss connections with the cyclic sieving phenomenon and q,t-Catalan numbers.Comment: 17 pages; to appear in the European Journal of Combinatoric

Metabolomics Defines Human Immune Response to Influenza Vaccination

Influenza represents a major and ongoing public health hazard. Current collaborative efforts are aimed at creating a “universal flu vaccine” with the goal of both improving responses to vaccination and increasing the breadth of protection across multiple strains and clades from a single vaccine. As an intermediate step to these goals, current work is focused on evaluating the systemic host response to vaccination in both normal and high-risk populations, such as in obesity which has been linked to poor responses to vaccination. We therefore employed a metabolomics approach using a time-course (n=5 time points) of response to human vaccination to influenza from before vaccination (pre) to 90 days following vaccination. We analyzed both urine and plasma from a cohort of subjects (n=158) designed to evenly sample across age, sex, BMI, and other demographic factors, stratifying their response to vaccination as “High”, “Low”, or “None” based on their measured seroconversion by hemagglutination assay (HAI) from plasma samples at day 28 post vaccination. Overall, we putatively identified 20,692 distinct named small molecules structures across the 790 samples analyzed with the aim of finding metabolite correlates of vaccine response, as well as prognostic and diagnostic markers from before and after vaccination respectively. Notably, subjects classified as obese (BMI \u3e 30) “None” responders were unbiasedly differentiated from obese “High” responders in a hierarchical clustering analysis with 321 statistically significantly significant diagnostic markers in urine 3 days post vaccination (n=45). Considering the comparison of predictive, pre-vaccination samples, a metabolic pathway analysis of the differential markers between “High” and “None” subjects indicates a link to Histidine metabolism and Coenzyme Q10 metabolism. Ongoing efforts are aimed at validating these putative markers in a Ferret model of influenza infection as well as in independent cohorts of human seasonal vaccination and human challenge studies with authentic virus

Concert recording 2018-02-21

[Track 1]. Don\u27t bother [Track 2]. Cozy [Track 3]. Cardinal\u27s flight [Track 4]. Planet of the tardigrades [Track 5]. Gently darling and Free improv [Track 6]. Honest man [Track 7]. Devil and a daydream / Jake Hertzog

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Using Peer-Dialogue Assessment (PDA) for Improving Pre-Service Teachers\u27 Perceived Confidence and Competence to Teach Physical Education

Developing effective methods for improving student learning in higher education is a priority. Recent findings have shown that feedback on student work can effectively facilitate learning if students are engaged as active participants in the feedback cycle; where they seek, generate and use feedback in the form of dialogue. This novel study investigates the use of peer dialogue assessment as an assessment for learning tool used in an existing undergraduate physical education course. Our findings demonstrate that when thirty six undergraduate physical education students were provided with instruction and practice using peer dialogue assessment after consecutive teaching performances, they exhibit significant improvements in perceived teaching confidence and competence, and teaching self-efficacy. Process evaluation results implying thatembedding peer dialogue assessment in higher education courses may be a feasible approach for facilitating learning, and that students were satisfied with using peer dialogue as a feedback method for improving teaching practices

3D geophysical electromagnetic forward modeling of complex graphitic fault zones

Uranium exploration in the Athabasca Basin, Canada, has been compared to finding a needle in a haystack as the typical targets are thin, near-vertical graphitic faults buried under thick sedimentary cover. Time domain electromagnetic (EM) exploration methods are commonly used in the detection of these conductive graphitic fault zones. A method of using many three-dimensional (3D) frequency-domain EM forward responses, computed over a wide range of frequencies, to construct an accurate 3D time-domain forward response is presented. The application of 3D forward modeling using unstructured tetrahedral meshes provides a more precise means of replicating EM responses of targets like those in the Athabasca Basin with complicated, challenging geometries. Results for synthetic and real-world scenarios demonstrate the ability of the approach in accurately modeling simple or complex conductors and sets of conductors in 3D. Results also demonstrate the application of the method to model realistic geologic situations with many individual model regions based on actual geologic data

Mindful violence? Responses to the Rambo series' shifting aesthetic of aggression

Rambo (2008) marked the return of Sylvester Stallone's iconic action hero. What is most striking about the fourth film (as the response from reviewers testifies), is its graphic violence. My intention here is to critically engage with Rambo (2008) as rewriting the series' established aesthetic of violence. My overarching aim is to highlight how the popular press has sought to read the 2008 version of Rambo according to the discursive narratives surrounding Stallone's 1980s action films. The negative response to Rambo, I argue, stems from relying on critical patterns that do not fit the film itself

Towards diagnostic conversational profiles of patients presenting with dementia or functional memory disorders to memory clinics

Objective: This study explores whether the profile of patients' interactional behaviour in memory clinic conversations with a doctor can contribute to the clinical differentiation between functional memory disorders (FMD) and memory problems related to neurodegenerative diseases. Methods: Conversation Analysis of video recordings of neurologists' interactions with patients attending a specialist memory clinic. "Gold standard" diagnoses were made independently of CA findings by a multi-disciplinary team based on clinical assessment, neuropsychological testing and brain imaging. Results: Two discrete conversational profiles for patients with memory complaints emerged, including (i) who attends the clinic (i.e., whether or not patients are accompanied), and (ii) patients' responses to neurologists' questions about memory problems, such as difficulties with compound questions and providing specific and elaborated examples and frequent "I don't know" responses. Conclusion: Specific communicative difficulties are characteristic of the interaction patterns of patients with a neurodegenerative pathology. Those difficulties are manifest in memory clinic interactions with neurologists, thereby helping to differentiate patients with dementia from those with FMD. Practical implications: Our findings demonstrate that conversational profiles based on patients' contributions to memory clinic encounters have diagnostic potential to assist the screening and referral process from primary care, and the diagnostic service in secondary care

Complexation of lanthanides, actinides and transition metal cations with a 6-(1,2,4-triazin-3-yl)-2,2’:6’,2’’-terpyridine ligand: implications for actinide(III) /lanthanide(III) partitioning

The quadridentate N-heterocyclic ligand 6-(5,5,8,8-tetramethyl-5,6,7,8-tetrahydro-1,2,4-benzotriazin-3-yl)-2,2’:6’,2’’-terpyridine (CyMe4-hemi-BTBP) has been synthesized and its interactions with Am(III), U(VI), Ln(III) and some transition metal cations have been evaluated by X-ray crystallographic analysis, Am(III)/Eu(III) solvent extraction experiments, UV absorption spectrophotometry, NMR studies and ESI-MS. Structures of the 1:1 complexes with Eu(III), Ce(III) and the linear uranyl (UO22+) ion were obtained by X-ray crystallographic analysis, and showed similar coordination behavior to related BTBP complexes. In methanol, the stability constants of the Ln(III) complexes are slightly lower than those of the analogous quadridentate bis-triazine BTBP ligands, while the stability constant for the Yb(III) complex is higher. 1H NMR titrations and ESI-MS with lanthanide nitrates showed that the ligand forms only 1:1 complexes with Eu(III), Ce(III) and Yb(III), while both 1:1 and 1:2 complexes were formed with La(III) and Y(III) in acetonitrile. A mixture of isomeric chiral 2:2 helical complexes was formed with Cu(I), with a slight preference (1.4:1) for a single directional isomer. In contrast, a 1:1 complex was observed with the larger Ag(I) ion. The ligand was unable to extract Am(III) or Eu(III) from nitric acid solutions into 1-octanol, except in the presence of a synergist at low acidity. The results show that the presence of two outer 1,2,4-triazine rings is required for the efficient extraction and separation of An(III) from Ln(III) by quadridentate N-donor ligand