Elastic electron scattering from CF3I

Experimental results are reported for elastic differential and integral cross sections for electrons scattering from CF3I. These measurements were made at ten incident electron energies in the range 10–50 eV, with a scattered electron angular range of 20◦–135◦. Where possible, comparison is made to the only other comprehensive experimental set of results available in the literature and to calculated cross sections from the Schwinger multichannel with pseudopotentials method. In general, quite good agreement is found between the present results and those of the earlier studies

Incorporating Science into the Environmental Policy Process: a Case Study from Washington State

The incorporation of science into environmental policy is a key concern at many levels of decision making. Various institutions have sought to standardize the protection of natural resources by requiring that decisions be made based on the best available science. Here we present empirical data describing the incorporation of best available science in the land-use policy process on a local scale. Results are based on interviews with planners and others who conducted scientific reviews associated with a Washington State Growth Management Act amendment that requires the inclusion of best available science in protecting critical areas. Our results show that jurisdictions varied with respect to how they included science in their land-use policies. Specifically, we found that smaller jurisdictions were very reliant on scientific information provided by state agencies, communicated frequently with other jurisdictions and agencies, and most often let scientific information guide the policy development process. Medium-sized jurisdictions, in contrast, were more inwardly focused, relied predominantly on local information, communicated little with outsiders, and more often looked to political influences to guide the policy process. Large jurisdictions, including most counties, often generated their own best science, communicated with and often informed state agencies and other jurisdictions, and more often considered science first during the policy development process. Jurisdictions also differed in terms of how best available science was defined, and how jurisdictions dealt with conflicting scientific information. Our results provide empirical evidence of the variation with which best available science is used in environmental policies

Osteogenic Activity of Locally Applied Small Molecule Drugs in a Rat Femur Defect Model

The long-term success of arthroplastic joints is dependent on the stabilization of the implant within the skeletal site. Movement of the arthroplastic implant within the bone can stimulate osteolysis, and therefore methods which promote rigid fixation or bone growth are expected to enhance implant stability and the long-term success of joint arthroplasty. In the present study, we used a simple bilateral bone defect model to analyze the osteogenic activity of three small-molecule drug implants via microcomputerized tomography (micro-CT) and histomorphometry. In this study, we show that local delivery of alendronate, but not lovastatin or omeprazole, led to significant new bone formation at the defect site. Since alendronate impedes osteoclast-development, it is theorized that alendronate treatment results in a net increase in bone formation by preventing osteoclast mediated remodeling of the newly formed bone and upregulating osteoblasts

Preclinical development of G1T38: A novel, potent and selective inhibitor of cyclin dependent kinases 4/6 for use as an oral antineoplastic in patients with CDK4/6 sensitive tumors

Inhibition of the p16INK4a/cyclin D/CDK4/6/RB pathway is an effective therapeutic strategy for the treatment of estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer. Although efficacious, current treatment regimens require a dosing holiday due to severe neutropenia potentially leading to an increased risk of infections, as well as tumor regrowth and emergence of drug resistance. Therefore, a next generation CDK4/6 inhibitor that can inhibit proliferation of CDK4/6-dependent tumors while minimizing neutropenia could reduce both the need for treatment holidays and the risk of inducing drug resistance

Menstrual health and school absenteeism among adolescent girls in Uganda (MENISCUS): a feasibility study.

BACKGROUND: Management of menstruation can present substantial challenges to girls in low-income settings. In preparation for a menstrual hygiene intervention to reduce school absenteeism in Uganda, this study aimed to investigate menstruation management practices, barriers and facilitators, and the influence of menstruation on school absenteeism among secondary school students in a peri-urban district of Uganda. METHODS: Qualitative and quantitative studies were conducted among consenting girls and boys aged 14-17 years in four secondary schools in Entebbe sub-District, Uganda. Methods included group and in-depth interviews with students, a quantitative cross-sectional questionnaire, a prospectively self-completed menstrual diary, key informant interviews with policy makers, and observations of school water, sanitation and hygiene facilities. Multiple logistic regression was used to assess factors associated with school absenteeism during the most recent menstrual period. RESULTS: Girls reported substantial embarrassment and fear of teasing related to menstruation in the qualitative interviews, and said that this, together with menstrual pain and lack of effective materials for menstrual hygiene management, led to school absenteeism. All policy makers interviewed reported poverty and menstruation as the key factors associated with school attendance. The 352 girls with questionnaire data had a median age of 16 (inter-quartile range (IQR) = 15,16) years, with median age at menarche of 13 (IQR = 13,14) years. Of these, 64 girls (18.7%) reported having stained their clothes and 69 (19.7%) reported missing at least 1 day of school, during their most recent period. Missing school during the most recent period was associated with physical symptoms (headache (odds ratio (OR) = 2.15, 95%CI:1.20, 3.86), stomach pain (OR = 1.89, 95%CI:0.89, 4.04), back pain (OR = 1.75, 95%CI:0.97, 3.14), and with changing protection 4 or more times per 24 h period (OR = 2.08, 95%CI:1.06, 4.10). In the diary sub-study among 40 girls, school absence was reported on 28% of period-days, compared with 7% of non-period days (adjusted odds ratio = 5.99, 95%CI:4.4, 8.2; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: In this peri-urban Ugandan population, menstruation was strongly associated with school attendance. Evaluation of a menstrual management intervention that address both psychosocial (e.g. self-confidence, attitudes) and physical (e.g. management of pain, use of adequate menstrual hygiene materials, improved water and sanitation facilities) aspects of menstruation are needed

Energy depletion and opportunistic microbial colonisation in white syndrome lesions from corals across the Indo-Pacific

Corals are dependent upon lipids as energy reserves to mount a metabolic response to biotic and abiotic challenges. This study profiled lipids, fatty acids, and microbial communities of healthy and white syndrome (WS) diseased colonies of Acropora hyacinthus sampled from reefs in Western Australia, the Great Barrier Reef, and Palmyra Atoll. Total lipid levels varied significantly among locations, though a consistent stepwise decrease from healthy tissues from healthy colonies (HH) to healthy tissue on WS-diseased colonies (HD; i.e. preceding the lesion boundary) to diseased tissue on diseased colonies (DD; i.e. lesion front) was observed, demonstrating a reduction in energy reserves. Lipids in HH tissues were comprised of high energy lipid classes, while HD and DD tissues contained greater proportions of structural lipids. Bacterial profiling through 16S rRNA gene sequencing and histology showed no bacterial taxa linked to WS causation. However, the relative abundance of Rhodobacteraceae-affiliated sequences increased in DD tissues, suggesting opportunistic proliferation of these taxa. While the cause of WS remains inconclusive, this study demonstrates that the lipid profiles of HD tissues was more similar to DD tissues than to HH tissues, reflecting a colony-wide systemic effect and provides insight into the metabolic immune response of WS-infected Indo-Pacific corals

Soccer-based promotion of voluntary medical male circumcision: A mixed-methods feasibility study with secondary students in Uganda.

The Ugandan government is committed to scaling-up proven HIV prevention strategies including safe male circumcision, and innovative strategies are needed to increase circumcision uptake. The aim of this study was to assess the acceptability and feasibility of implementing a soccer-based intervention ("Make The Cut") among schoolboys in a peri-urban district of Uganda. The intervention was led by trained, recently circumcised "coaches" who facilitated a 60-minute session delivered in schools, including an interactive penalty shoot-out game using metaphors for HIV prevention, sharing of the coaches' circumcision story, group discussion and ongoing engagement from the coach to facilitate linkage to male circumcision. The study took place in four secondary schools in Entebbe sub-district, Uganda. Acceptability of safe male circumcision was assessed through a cross-sectional quantitative survey. The feasibility of implementing the intervention was assessed by piloting the intervention in one school, modifying it, and implementing the modified version in a second school. Perceptions of the intervention were assessed with in-depth interviews with participants. Of the 210 boys in the cross-sectional survey, 59% reported being circumcised. Findings showed high levels of knowledge and generally favourable perceptions of circumcision. The initial implementation of Make The Cut resulted in 6/58 uncircumcised boys (10.3%) becoming circumcised. Changes made included increasing engagement with parents and improved liaison with schools regarding the timing of the intervention. Following this, uptake improved to 18/69 (26.1%) in the second school. In-depth interviews highlighted the important role of family and peer support and the coach in facilitating the decision to circumcise. This study showed that the modified Make The Cut intervention may be effective to increase uptake of safe male circumcision in this population. However, the intervention is time-intensive, and further work is needed to assess the cost-effectiveness of the intervention conducted at scale

Task Control Signals in Pediatric Tourette Syndrome Show Evidence of Immature and Anomalous Functional Activity

Tourette Syndrome (TS) is a pediatric movement disorder that may affect control signaling in the brain. Previous work has proposed a dual-networks architecture of control processing involving a task-maintenance network and an adaptive control network (Dosenbach et al., 2008). A prior resting-state functional connectivity MRI (rs-fcMRI) analysis in TS has revealed functional immaturity in both putative control networks, with “anomalous” correlations (i.e., correlations outside the typical developmental range) limited to the adaptive control network (Church et al., 2009). The present study used functional MRI (fMRI) to study brain activity related to adaptive control (by studying start-cues signals), and to task-maintenance (by studying signals sustained across a task set). Two hypotheses from the previous rs-fcMRI results were tested. First, adaptive control (i.e., start-cue) activity will be altered in TS, including activity inconsistent with typical development (“anomalous”). Second, group differences found in task-maintenance (i.e., sustained) activity will be consistent with functional immaturity in TS. We examined regions found through a direct comparison of adolescents with and without TS, as well as regions derived from a previous investigation that showed differences between unaffected children and adults. The TS group showed decreased start-cue signal magnitude in regions where start-cue activity is unchanged over typical development, consistent with anomalous adaptive control. The TS group also had higher magnitude sustained signals in frontal cortex regions that overlapped with regions showing differences over typical development, consistent with immature task-maintenance in TS. The results demonstrate task-related fMRI signal differences anticipated by the atypical functional connectivity found previously in adolescents with TS, strengthening the evidence for functional immaturity and anomalous signaling in control networks in adolescents with TS

Ubiquitous neurocognitive dysfunction in familial adenomatous polyposis: proof-of-concept of the role of APC protein in neurocognitive function

Background: Familial adenomatous polyposis (FAP) is an autosomal dominant disorder caused by germline mutations in the APC gene. Patients with FAP have multiple extraintestinal manifestations that follow a genotype-phenotype pattern; however, few data exist characterizing their cognitive abilities. Given the role of the APC protein in development of the central nervous system, we hypothesized that patients with FAP would show differences in cognitive functioning compared to controls. Methods: Matched case-control study designed to evaluate cognitive function using the Test of Nonverbal Intelligence-4, the Bateria III Woodcock-Munoz, and the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Functions-Adult. Twenty-six individuals with FAP (mean age = 34.2 +/- 15.0 years) and 25 age-gender and educational level matched controls (mean age = 32.7 +/- 13.8 years) were evaluated. Results: FAP-cases had significantly lower IQ (p = 0.005). Across all tasks of the Bateria III Woodcock-Munoz, FAP-cases performed significantly lower than controls, with all of the summary scores falling in the bottom quartile compared to controls (p \u3c 0.0001). Patients with FAP scored within the deficient range for Long-Term Retrieval and Cognitive Fluency. Conclusion: APC protein has an important role in neurocognitive function. The pervasive nature of the observed cognitive dysfunction suggests that loss or dysfunction of the APC protein impacts processes in cortical and subcortical brain regions. Additional studies examining larger ethnically diverse cohorts with FAP are warranted

Revisiting the SAR of the antischistosomal aryl hydantoin (Ro 13-3978)

The aryl hydantoin 1 (Ro 13-3978) was identified in the early 1980s as a promising antischistosomal lead compound. However, this series of aryl hydantoins produced antiandrogenic side effects in the host, a not unexpected outcome given their close structural similarity to the antiandrogenic drug nilutamide. Building on the known SAR of this compound series, we now describe a number of analogs of 1 designed to maximize structural diversity guided by incorporation of substructures and functional groups known to diminish ligand-androgen receptor interactions. These analogs had calculated polar surface area (PSA), measured LogD7.4, aqueous kinetic solubility, and estimated plasma protein binding values in ranges predictive of good ADME profiles. The principal SAR insight was that the hydantoin core of 1 is required for high antischistosomal activity. We identified several compounds with high antischistosomal efficacy that were less antiandrogenic than 1. These data provide direction for the ongoing optimization of antischistosomal hydantoins