Seroprevalence of Epstein-Barr Virus Infection in U.S. Children Ages 6-19, 2003-2010

Background:Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is a common herpesvirus linked to infectious mononucleosis and multiple cancers. There are no national estimates of EBV seroprevalence in the United States. Our objective was to estimate the overall prevalence and sociodemographic predictors of EBV among U.S. children and adolescents aged 6-19.Methods:We calculated prevalence estimates and prevalence ratios for EBV seroprevalence using data from the 2003-2010 U.S. National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) for children aged 6-19 (n = 8417). Poisson regression was used to calculate multivariable-adjusted prevalence ratios across subgroup categories (sex, race/ethnicity, parental education, household income, household size, foreign-born, BMI, and household smoking).Findings:Overall EBV seroprevalence was 66.5% (95% CI 64.3%-68.7%.). Seroprevalence increased with age, ranging from 54.1% (95% CI 50.2%-57.9%) for 6-8 year olds to 82.9% (95% CI 80.0%-85.9%) for 18-19 year olds. Females had slightly higher seroprevalence (68.9%, 95% CI 66.3%-71.6%) compared to males (64.2%, 95% CI 61.7%-66.8%). Seroprevalence was substantially higher for Mexican-Americans (85.4%, 95% CI 83.1%-87.8%) and Non-Hispanic Blacks (83.1%, 95% CI 81.1%-85.1%) than Non-Hispanic Whites (56.9%, 95% CI 54.1%-59.8%). Large differences were also seen by family income, with children in the lowest income quartile having 81.0% (95% CI 77.6%-84.5%) seroprevalence compared to 53.9% (95% CI 50.5%-57.3%) in the highest income quartile, with similar results for parental education level. These results were not explained by household size, BMI, or parental smoking. Among those who were seropositive, EBV antibody titers were significantly higher for females, Non-Hispanic Blacks and Mexican-Americans, with no association found for socioeconomic factors.Conclusions:In the first nationally representative U.S. estimates, we found substantial socioeconomic and race/ethnic differences in the seroprevalence of EBV across all ages for U.S. children and adolescents. These estimates can help researchers and clinicians identify groups most at risk, inform research on EBV-cancer etiology, and motivate potential vaccine development

Technical Support for Improving the Licensing Regulatory Base for Selected Facilities Associated with the Front End of the Fuel Cycle

Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) was asked by the NRC Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards (NMSS) to determine the adequacy of its health, safety and environmental regulatory base as a guide to applicants for licenses to operate UF{sub 6} conversion facilities and fuel fabrication plants. The regulatory base was defined as the body of documented requirements and guidance to licensees, including laws passed by Congress, Federal Regulations developed by the NRC to implement the laws, license conditions added to each license to deal with special requirements for that specific license, and Regulatory Guides. The study concentrated on the renewal licensing accomplished in the last few years at five typical facilities, and included analyses of licensing documents and interviews with individuals involved with different aspects of the licensing process. Those interviewed included NMSS staff, Inspection and Enforcement (IE) officials, and selected licensees. From the results of the analyses and interviews, the PNL study team concludes that the regulatory base is adequate but should be codified for greater visibility. PNL recommends that NMSS clarify distinctions among legal requirements of the licensee, acceptance criteria employed by NMSS, and guidance used by all. In particular, a prelicensing conference among NMSS, IE and each licensee would be a practical means of setting license conditions acceptable to all parties

The calibration system for the photomultiplier array of the SNO+ experiment

A light injection system using LEDs and optical fibres was designed for the calibration and monitoring of the photomultiplier array of the SNO+ experiment at SNOLAB. Large volume, non-segmented, low-background detectors for rare event physics, such as the multi-purpose SNO+ experiment, need a calibration system that allow an accurate and regular measurement of the performance parameters of their photomultiplier arrays, while minimising the risk of radioactivity ingress. The design implemented for SNO+ uses a set of optical fibres to inject light pulses from external LEDs into the detector. The design, fabrication and installation of this light injection system, as well as the first commissioning tests, are described in this paper. Monte Carlo simulations were compared with the commissioning test results, confirming that the system meets the performance requirements

Opening up the Pandora's box of sustainability league tables of universities: a Kafkaesque perspective

The aim of this paper is to explore the institutional impact of sustainability league tables on current university agendas. It focuses on a narrative critique of one such league table, the UK's ‘Green League Table', compiled and reported by the student campaigning NGO, ‘People & Planet’ annually between 2007 and 2013. Through a Kafkaesque perspective, this paper offers the proposition that such league tables could be acting as an institutional hegemonic mechanism for social legitimacy, through the desire by universities to show that environmental issues are effectively under control. Espoused eco-narratives of the ‘carbon targets imperative’ and ‘engagement' can serve as a form of deception, by merely embracing the narrative as a rhetorical device. Moreover, they can serve the exclusive, particularistic self-interests of a growing legion of ‘carbon managers’, ‘sustainability managers’ and ‘environmental managers' in satisfying the neo-liberal institutional drive from their vice chancellors

Steel fibre reinforced concrete for elements failing in bending and in shear

Discrete steel fibres can increase significantly the bending and the shear resistance of concrete structural elements when Steel Fibre Reinforced Concrete (SFRC) is designed in such a way that fibre reinforcing mechanisms are optimized. To assess the fibre reinforcement effectiveness in shallow structural elements failing in bending and in shear, experimental and numerical research were performed. Uniaxial compression and bending tests were executed to derive the constitutive laws of the developed SFRC. Using a cross-section layered model and the material constitutive laws, the deformational behaviour of structural elements failing in bending was predicted from the moment-curvature relationship of the representative cross sections. To evaluate the influence of the percentage of fibres on the shear resistance of shallow structures, three point bending tests with shallow beams were performed. The applicability of the formulation proposed by RILEM TC 162-TDF for the prediction of the shear resistance of SFRC elements was evaluated. Inverse analysis was adopted to determine indirectly the values of the fracture mode I parameters of the developed SFRC. With these values, and using a softening diagram for modelling the crack shear softening behaviour, the response of the SFRC beams failing in shear was predicted.Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT

Colour in Context: Status Indicators and Elite Dress in Pre-Islamic Central Asia

Colour in the archaeological record is a critical yet often understudied category of inquiry. In this paper, we explore how the use of colour in monumental art can be used to analyse cultural markers of status. The primary focus of this analysis is the colour on the costume of a group of bust figures in a late first millennium painted gallery at the site of Akchakhan-kala, in ancient Khorezm, Uzbekistan. Analysis reveals that the selection of colours at Akchakhan-kala was influenced both by the availability of raw materials and by broader trends of colour usage throughout the Iranian and steppe worlds. A systematic examination of colour facilitates a more informed perspective on the differentiated status of these elites in pre-Islamic Central Asia. This paper provides an initial step to building a database of contextualized colours found throughout the region, as well as a foundation for colour studies in elite costume worn in ceremonial contexts in the pre-Islamic Iranian world.Dans l’enregistrement des données archéologiques, la couleur est une catégorie d’investigation à valeur critique, mais souvent sous-étudiée. Dans cet article nous examinons comment l’usage de la couleur dans l’art monumental peut être utilisé pour analyser les marqueurs culturels du statut social. L’objet principal de cette analyse est la couleur des costumes dans un groupe de figures en buste, composant une galerie peinte à la fin du premier millénaire avant notre ère sur le site d’Akchakhan-kala dans l’ancien Khorezm (Ouzbékistan). L’analyse révèle que la sélection des couleurs à Akchakhan-kala a été influencée à la fois par la disponibilité des matières premières et par les tendances plus larges de l’usage de la couleur dans le monde iranien et celui de la steppe. Un examen systématique de la couleur facilite une perspective mieux informée sur les statuts différenciés de ces élites de l’Asie centrale préislamique. Cet article fournit une première étape pour construire une base de données sur les couleurs mises en contexte trouvées dans l’ensemble de la région, et aussi un point de départ pour l’étude des couleurs dans le costume porté par les élites dans les contextes cérémoniels du monde iranien préislamique.Kidd Fiona, Baker Brite Elizabeth. Colour in Context: Status Indicators and Elite Dress in Pre-Islamic Central Asia. In: Arts asiatiques, tome 70, 2015. pp. 33-48

Are Texas\u27 English language arts and reading standards college ready?

This study compares alignment of the ACT and the American Diploma Project (ADP) national college readiness standards sets with the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for English language arts and reading (TEKS ELAR) standards for grades 9-12 and analyzes their cognitive complexity. It finds that a majority of the content in the ACT and ADP standards sets is addressed to some extent by the TEKS ELAR standards and that the TEKS ELAR standards demand higher levels of cognitive complexity than do the other two standards sets. The study has two key limitations. First, the definition of partial alignment was very broad, covering cases of just one element of an ACT or ADP statement that was addressed by a TEKS ELAR statement or statements as well as cases when all but one of multiple elements of an ACT or ADP statement were addressed. Second, the determination of content alignment and the evaluation of standards included just two dimensions for evaluating alignment (content and cognitive complexity). Other dimensions, such as breadth and specificity, might provide additional content detail that state standards writing teams or assessment writing teams could find useful