Planning and establishment of a high throughput screening site

In 1996 and 1997, Glaxo Wellcome's US Research division planned and established their second generation research strategy. An important aspect of the strategy entailed development of two automated screening sites in Biochemistry in Research Triangle Park, NC. Development of the new operations required many decisions to be made very quickly, including automated process design, system selection and site preparation. Descriptions of the decision made in the development of one of the screening sites are presented in this paper

Interchange II: Transitions, a Collaborative Recital

The KSU School of Music along with Zuckerman Museum of Art and Department of Dance present a special collaboration featuring musical works that explore crossing global boundaries and cultural exchange selected to correspond with themes presented in two ZMA exhibitions: “Sleight of Hand” and “Transitions.”https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/1656/thumbnail.jp

Collage 2018

The KSU School of Music is proud to present the 12th Annual Collage Concert. An exciting highlight each season, Collage is the signature production of the School of Music and a major fundraising event for supporting scholarships for music students. This special performance features over 200 student and faculty performers and includes jazz, orchestra, choir, band, percussion, and opera selections for soloists, chamber groups, and ensembles. Special lighting effects and stage design combine with the diverse and exciting program presented as rapid-fire, flowing vignettes to create a truly unique performance.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/musicprograms/2021/thumbnail.jp

Spontaneous and deliberate future thinking: A dual process account

© 2019 Springer Nature.This is the final published version of an article published in Psychological Research, licensed under a Creative Commons Attri-bution 4.0 International License. Available online at: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-019-01262-7.In this article, we address an apparent paradox in the literature on mental time travel and mind-wandering: How is it possible that future thinking is both constructive, yet often experienced as occurring spontaneously? We identify and describe two ‘routes’ whereby episodic future thoughts are brought to consciousness, with each of the ‘routes’ being associated with separable cognitive processes and functions. Voluntary future thinking relies on controlled, deliberate and slow cognitive processing. The other, termed involuntary or spontaneous future thinking, relies on automatic processes that allows ‘fully-fledged’ episodic future thoughts to freely come to mind, often triggered by internal or external cues. To unravel the paradox, we propose that the majority of spontaneous future thoughts are ‘pre-made’ (i.e., each spontaneous future thought is a re-iteration of a previously constructed future event), and therefore based on simple, well-understood, memory processes. We also propose that the pre-made hypothesis explains why spontaneous future thoughts occur rapidly, are similar to involuntary memories, and predominantly about upcoming tasks and goals. We also raise the possibility that spontaneous future thinking is the default mode of imagining the future. This dual process approach complements and extends standard theoretical approaches that emphasise constructive simulation, and outlines novel opportunities for researchers examining voluntary and spontaneous forms of future thinking.Peer reviewe

3D kinematics through the X-shaped Milky Way bulge

Context. It has recently been discovered that the Galactic bulge is X-shaped, with the two southern arms of the X both crossing the lines of sight at l = 0 and | b| > 4, hence producing a double red clump in the bulge color magnitude diagram. Dynamical models predict the formation of X-shaped bulges as extreme cases of boxy-peanut bulges. However, since X-shaped bulges were known to be present only in external galaxies, models have never been compared to 3D kinematical data for individual stars. Aims. We study the orbital motion of Galactic bulge stars in the two arms (overdensities) of the X in the southern hemisphere. The goal is to provide observational constraints to bulge formation models that predict the formation of X-shapes through bar dynamical instabilities. Methods. Radial velocities have been obtained for a sample of 454 bulge giants, roughly equally distributed between the bright and the faint red clump, in a field at (l,b) = (0, −6). Proper motions were derived for all red clump stars in the same field by combining images from two epochs, which were obtained 11 years apart, with WFI at the 2.2 m at La Silla. The observed field contains the globular cluster NGC 6558, whose member stars were used to assess the accuracy of the proper motion measurement. At the same time, as a by-product, we provide the first proper motion measurement of NGC 6558. The proper motions for the spectroscopic subsample are analyzed for a subsample of 352 stars, taking into account the radial velocities and metallicities measured from near-infrared calcium triplet lines. Results. The radial velocity distribution of stars in the bright red clump, which traces the closer overdensity of bulge stars, shows an excess of stars moving towards the Sun. Similarly, an excess of stars receding from the Sun is seen in the far overdensity, which is traced by faint red clump stars. This is explained by the presence of stars on elongated orbits, which are most likely streaming along the arms of the X-shaped bulge. Proper motions for these stars are consistent with qualitative predictions of dynamical models of peanut-shaped bulges. Surprisingly, stars on elongated orbits have preferentially metal-poor (subsolar) metallicities, while the metal rich ones, in both overdensities, are preferentially found in more axisymmetric orbits. The observed proper motion of NGC 6558 has been measured as (μlcos   (b),μb) = (0.30   ±   0.14, −0.43 ± 0.13), with a velocity dispersion of (σlcos(b),σb) = (1.8,1.7) mas/yr. This is the first proper motion measurement for this cluster

An association between anti-platelet drug use and reduced cancer prevalence in diabetic patients: results from the Vermont Diabetes Information System Study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Diabetes is associated with an increased risk of several malignancies. Both diabetic patients and patients with cancer have an increase in platelet reactivity and platelet activation has recently emerged as a potential mediator of cancer progression. Drug therapies, such as aspirin, that reduce platelet reactivity reduce both cardiovascular and cancer risk.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We performed a cross-sectional analysis to assess the association between history of cancer and current anti-platelet drug use in a primary care population of adults with diabetes enrolled in the Vermont Diabetes Information System.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Self-reported characteristics, medical history, and a complete medication list were recorded on 1007 diabetic adults. Fifty percent of diabetic patients used an anti-platelet drug. In unadjusted analysis, no association was seen between anti-platelet drug use and cancer history (OR = 0.93; <it>P </it>= .70). Platelet inhibitor use was associated with a decreased patient-reported history of malignancy in a multivariate logistic regression adjusted for age, sex, body mass index, comorbidity, and number of medications (OR = 0.66; CI 0.44-0.99; <it>P </it>= .045). Similar odds of association were seen in both males and females, and for aspirin and non-aspirin platelet inhibitor therapy.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our data suggest an association between anti-platelet drug use and reduced cancer prevalence in patients with diabetes. Given the potentially large implications of our observations in the diabetic population, further studies are required to determine if this association is causal.</p

D* Production in Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA

This paper presents measurements of D^{*\pm} production in deep inelastic scattering from collisions between 27.5 GeV positrons and 820 GeV protons. The data have been taken with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The decay channel $D^{*+}\to (D^0 \to K^- \pi^+) \pi^+$ (+ c.c.) has been used in the study. The $e^+p$ cross section for inclusive D^{*\pm} production with $5<Q^2<100 GeV^2$ and $y<0.7$ is 5.3 \pms 1.0 \pms 0.8 nb in the kinematic region {$1.3<p_T(D^{*\pm})<9.0$ GeV and $| \eta(D^{*\pm}) |<1.5$}. Differential cross sections as functions of p_T(D^{*\pm}), $\eta(D^{*\pm}), W$ and $Q^2$ are compared with next-to-leading order QCD calculations based on the photon-gluon fusion production mechanism. After an extrapolation of the cross section to the full kinematic region in p_T(D^{*\pm}) and $\eta$(D^{*\pm}), the charm contribution $F_2^{c\bar{c}}(x,Q^2)$ to the proton structure function is determined for Bjorken $x$ between 2 $\cdot$ 10$^{-4}$ and 5 $\cdot$ 10$^{-3}$.Comment: 17 pages including 4 figure

Measurement of beauty production in deep inelastic scattering at HERA

The beauty production cross section for deep inelastic scattering events with at least one hard jet in the Breit frame together with a muon has been measured, for photon virtualities Q^2 > 2 GeV^2, with the ZEUS detector at HERA using integrated luminosity of 72 pb^-1. The total visible cross section is sigma_b-bbar (ep -> e jet mu X) = 40.9 +- 5.7 (stat.) +6.0 -4.4 (syst.) pb. The next-to-leading order QCD prediction lies about 2.5 standard deviations below the data. The differential cross sections are in general consistent with the NLO QCD predictions; however at low values of Q^2, Bjorken x, and muon transverse momentum, and high values of jet transverse energy and muon pseudorapidity, the prediction is about two standard deviations below the data.Comment: 18 pages, 4 figure