COVID-19 and Change

The purpose of this article is to identify and describe the changes that have taken place or are taking place throughout our societal structures as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. It draws from published articles that have reported on the changes in many different areas of research to assemble a picture of the overall impact. It starts with the origin of the pandemic and how the different countries responded. To continue with the changes in many areas. It might change our human species, the world order, globalization, the capitalistic system, governance, civil and human rights, climate and nature, the economy, the influence of science, the food production, the Future of Work, Pensions and Universal Basic Income, the spread of cryptocurrency, the changes in Health Care, family structures and living, the way we learn, travel, religion and mass gatherings. The article discusses the coming out of the lockdown and the scenarios after coming out of the lockdown and ends with the conclusions

Linoleic acid intake, plasma cholesterol and 10-year incidence of CHD in 20.000 middle-aged men and women in the Netherlands

We studied the associations of a difference in linoleic acid or carbohydrate intake with plasma cholesterol levels and risk of CHD in a prospective cohort study in the Netherlands. Data on diet (FFQ) and plasma total and HDL-cholesterol were available at baseline (1993–7) of 20 069 men and women, aged 20–65 years, who were initially free of CVD. Incidence of CHD was assessed through linkage with mortality and morbidity registers. During an average of 10 years of follow-up, 280 CHD events occurred. The intake of linoleic acid ranged from 3·6 to 8·0 % of energy (en%), whereas carbohydrate intake ranged from 47·6 to 42·5 en% across quintiles of linoleic acid intake. Linoleic acid intake was inversely associated with total cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol in women but not in men. Linoleic acid intake was not associated with the ratio of total to HDL-cholesterol. No association was observed between linoleic acid intake and CHD incidence, with hazard ratios varying between 0·83 and 1·00 (all P>0·05) compared to the bottom quintile. We conclude that a 4–5 en% difference in linoleic acid or carbohydrate intake did not translate into either a different ratio of total to HDL-cholesterol or a different CHD incidenc

High Frequency Plasma Generators for Ion Thrusters

The results of a one year program to experimentally adapt two new types of high frequency plasma generators to Argon ion thrusters and to analytically study a third high frequency source concept are presented. Conventional 30 cm two grid ion extraction was utilized or proposed for all three sources. The two plasma generating methods selected for experimental study were a radio frequency induction (RFI) source, operating at about 1 MHz, and an electron cyclotron heated (ECH) plasma source operating at about 5 GHz. Both sources utilize multi-linecusp permanent magnet configurations for plasma confinement. The plasma characteristics, plasma loading of the rf antenna, and the rf frequency dependence of source efficiency and antenna circuit efficiency are described for the RFI Multi-cusp source. In a series of tests of this source at Lewis Research Center, minimum discharge losses of 220+/-10 eV/ion were obtained with propellant utilization of .45 at a beam current of 3 amperes. Possible improvement modifications are discussed

Microscopic Mechanism of Specific Peptide Adhesion to Semiconductor Substrates

The design of hybrid peptide-solid interfaces for nanotechnological applications such as biomolecular nanoarrays requires a deep understanding of the basic mechanisms of peptide binding and assembly at solid substrates. Here we show by means of experimental and computational analyses that the adsorption properties of mutated synthetic peptides at semiconductors exhibit a clear sequence-dependent adhesion specificity. Our simulations of a novel hybrid peptide-substrate model reveal the correspondence between proline mutation and binding affinity to a clean silicon substrate. After synthesizing theoretically suggested amino-acid sequences with different binding behavior, we confirm the relevance of the selective mutations upon adhesion in our subsequent atomic force microscopy experiments.Comment: 14 pages, 4 figure

Modelling the Effects and Costs of Colorectal Cancer Screening

__Abstract__ The thesis focused on the potential effects and costs of population-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening by considering two overarching questions. In the first part of the thesis the potential impact of current screening policies on the CRC disease burden and costs in the population was investigated. In this part the situations in the US as a whole, the states of Louisiana and New Jersey in par