Fluorescence of thermal control coatings on S0069 and A0114

Many of the thermal control surfaces exposed to the space environment during the 5.8 year LDEF mission experienced changes in fluorescence. All of the thermal control coatings flown on LDEF experiments S0069 and A0114 were characterized for fluorescence under ambient conditions. Some of the black coatings, having protective overcoats, appear bright yellow under ultraviolet exposure. Urethane based coatings exhibited emission spectra shifts toward longer wavelengths in the visible range. Zinc oxide pigment based coatings experienced a quenching of fluorescence, while zinc orthotitanate pigment based and other ceramic type coatings had no measurable fluorescence

Fluorescence measurements of the thermal control experiments coatings on LDEF S0069 and A0114

Fluorescence measurements were made on the thermal control coatings from the Long Duration Experiment Facility (LDEF) S0069, Thermal Control Surfaces Experiment (TCSE); and the A0114, Interaction of Atomic Oxygen with Material Surfaces in Low Earth orbit. Fluorescence was observed in two types of thermal control coatings and is attributed to pigments or binders. In addition, fluorescence measurement on the silver Teflon from the front cover of TCSE led to confirmation of damage (cracking) to the metal layers during application

Chlorido(η4-1,5-cyclo­octa­diene)[(penta­fluoro­eth­yl)diphenyl­phosphane]iridium(I)

The title structure,[IrCl(C8H12)(C14H10F5P)], reveals that (C2F5)PPh2 (penta­fluoro­ethyl­diphenyl­phosphane or pfepp) disrupts the iridium dimer [(cod)IrCl]2 (cod = cyclo­octa-1,5-diene) by rupturing the bridging chloride ligands and binding in the open coordination site to form (cod)Ir(pfepp)Cl with the IrI atom in a distorted square-planar coordination environment. The structure deviates very little from the IrI–triphenyl­phosphine analog, although a significantly (∼20σ) shorter Ir—P bond is noted for the title compound

Asymmetric copper-catalyzed C-N cross-couplings induced by visible light

Despite a well-developed and growing body of work in copper catalysis, the potential of copper to serve as a photocatalyst remains underexplored. Here we describe a photoinduced copper-catalyzed method for coupling readily available racemic tertiary alkyl chloride electrophiles with amines to generate fully substituted stereocenters with high enantioselectivity. The reaction proceeds at –40°C under excitation by a blue light-emitting diode and benefits from the use of a single, Earth-abundant transition metal acting as both the photocatalyst and the source of asymmetric induction. An enantioconvergent mechanism transforms the racemic starting material into a single product enantiomer

The Polarizing Impact of Science Literacy and Numeracy on Perceived Climate Change Risks

Seeming public apathy over climate change is often attributed to a deficit in comprehension. The public knows too little science, it is claimed, to understand the evidence or avoid being misled. Widespread limits on technical reasoning aggravate the problem by forcing citizens to use unreliable cognitive heuristics to assess risk. An empirical study found no support for this position. Members of the public with the highest degrees of science literacy and technical reasoning capacity were not the most concerned about climate change. Rather, they were the ones among whom cultural polarization was greatest. This result suggests that public divisions over climate change stem not from the public’s incomprehension of science but from a distinctive conflict of interest: between the personal interest individuals have in forming beliefs in line with those held by others with whom they share close ties and the collective one they all share in making use of the best available science to promote common welfare

Changes in chemical and optical properties of thin film metal mirrors on LDEF

Thin films of the metals Cu, Ni, Pt, Au, Sn, Mo, and W deposited on fused silica flats were exposed at ambient temperature on the leading and trailing faces of the LDEF. Reflectances of these films were measured from 250 to 2500 nm and compared with controls. The exposed films were subjected to the LDEF external environment including atomic oxygen, molecular contamination, and solar ultraviolet. Major changes in optical and infrared reflectance were seen for Cu, Mo, Ni, and W films on the leading face of LDEF and are attributed to partial conversion of metal to metal oxide. Smaller changes in optical properties are seen on all films and are probably caused by thin contaminant films deposited on top of the metal. The optical measurements are correlated with film thickness measurements, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, optical calculations, and, in the case of Cu, with x-ray diffraction measurements. In a few cases, comparisons with results from a similar UAH experiment on STS-8 have been drawn

Superovulation with human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) trigger and gonadotropin releasing hormone agonist (GnRHa) trigger differentially alter essential angiogenic factors in the endometrium in a mouse ART model†.

Gonadotropin-releasing hormone agonists (GnRHa) are used as an alternative to human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) to trigger ovulation and decrease the risk of ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. GnRHa is less potent at inducing ovarian vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), but may also affect endometrial angiogenesis and early placental development. In this study, we explore the effect of superovulation on endometrial angiogenesis during critical periods of gestation in a mouse model. We assigned female mice to three groups: natural mating or mating following injection with equine chorionic gonadotropin and trigger with GnRHa or hCG trigger. Females were killed prior to implantation (E3.5), post-implantation (E7.5), and at midgestation (E10.5), and maternal serum, uterus, and ovaries were collected. During peri-implantation, endometrial Vegfr1 and Vegfr2 mRNA were significantly increased in the GnRHa trigger group (P < 0.02) relative to the hCG group. Vegfr1 is highly expressed in the endometrial lining and secretory glands immediately prior to implantation. At E7.5, the ectoplacental cone expression of Vegfa and its receptor, Vegfr2, was significantly higher in the hCG trigger group compared to the GnRHa group (P < 0.05). Soluble VEGFR1 and free VEGFA were much higher in the serum of mice exposed to the hCG trigger compared to GnRHa group. At midgestation, there was significantly more local Vegfa expression in the placenta of mice triggered with hCG. GnRHa and hCG triggers differentially disrupt the endometrial expression of key angiogenic factors during critical periods of mouse gestation. These results may have significant implications for placental development and neonatal outcomes following human in vitro fertilization

New Five Dimensional Black Holes Classified by Horizon Geometry, and a Bianchi VI Braneworld

We introduce two new families of solutions to the vacuum Einstein equations with negative cosmological constant in 5 dimensions. These solutions are static black holes whose horizons are modelled on the 3-geometries nilgeometry and solvegeometry. Thus the horizons (and the exterior spacetimes) can be foliated by compact 3-manifolds that are neither spherical, toroidal, hyperbolic, nor product manifolds, and therefore are of a topological type not previously encountered in black hole solutions. As an application, we use the solvegeometry solutions to construct Bianchi VI$_{-1}$ braneworld cosmologies.Comment: LaTeX, 20 pages, 2 figures Typographical errors corrected, and references to printed matter added in favour of preprints where possibl

A novel patient engagement platform using accessible text messages and calls (Epharmix): Feasibility study

BACKGROUND: Patient noncompliance with therapy, treatments, and appointments represents a significant barrier to improving health care delivery and reducing the cost of care. One method to improve therapeutic adherence is to improve feedback loops in getting clinically acute events and issues to the relevant clinical providers as necessary (ranging from detecting hypoglycemic events for patients with diabetes to notifying the provider when patients are out of medications). Patients often don\u27t know which information should prompt a call to their physician and proactive checks by the clinics themselves can be very resource intensive. We hypothesized that a two-way SMS system combined with a platform web service for providers would enable both high patient engagement but also the ability to detect relevant clinical alerts. OBJECTIVE: The objectives of this study are to develop a feasible two-way automated SMS/phone call + web service platform for patient-provider communication, and then study the feasibility and acceptability of the Epharmix platform. First, we report utilization rates over the course of the first 18 months of operation including total identified clinically significant events, and second, review results of patient user-satisfaction surveys for interventions for patients with diabetes, COPD, congestive heart failure, hypertension, surgical site infections, and breastfeeding difficulties. METHODS: To test this question, we developed a web service + SMS/phone infrastructure ( Epharmix ). Utilization results were measured based on the total number of text messages or calls sent and received, with percentage engagement defined as a patient responding to a text message at least once in a given week, including the number of clinically significant alerts generated. User satisfaction surveys were sent once per month over the 18 months to measure satisfaction with the system, frequency and degree of communication. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the above information. RESULTS: In total, 28,386 text messages and 24,017 calls were sent to 929 patients over 9 months. Patients responded to 80% to 90% of messages allowing the system to detect 1164 clinically significant events. Patients reported increased satisfaction and communication with their provider. Epharmix increased the number of patient-provider interactions to over 10 on average in any given month for patients with diabetes, COPD, congestive heart failure, hypertension, surgical site infections, and breastfeeding difficulties. CONCLUSIONS: Engaging high-risk patients remains a difficult process that may be improved through novel, digital health interventions. The Epharmix platform enables increased patient engagement with very low risk to improve clinical outcomes. We demonstrated that engagement among high-risk populations is possible when health care comes conveniently to where they are