ISM In-Space Manufacturing

Develop and enable the technologies, materials, and processes required to provide affordable, sustainable on-demand manufacturing, recycling, and repair during Exploration Missions

Cross-Talk between Metabolism and Reproduction: The Role of POMC and SF1 Neurons

Energy homeostasis and reproduction require tight coordination, but the mechanisms underlying their interaction are not fully understood. Two sets of hypothalamic neurons, namely pro-opiomelanocortin (POMC) neurons in the arcuate nucleus and steroidogenic factor-1 (SF1) neurons in the ventromedial hypothalamic nucleus, are emerging as critical nodes where metabolic and reproductive signals communicate. This view is supported by recent genetic studies showing that disruption of metabolic signals (e.g., leptin and insulin) or reproductive signals (e.g., estradiol) in these neurons leads to impaired regulation of both energy homeostasis and fertility. In this review, we will examine the potential mechanisms of neuronal communication between POMC, SF1, and gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons in the regulation of metabolism and reproduction

LatCrit at Twenty-Five and beyond - Organized Academic Activism and the Long Haul: Designing Hybridized Advocacy Projects for an Age of Global Disruption, Systemic Injustice, and Bottom-up Progress

On the monumental occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary celebration of LatCrit (Latina and Latino Critical Legal Theory, Inc.) as a still thriving and persevering community of critical scholars and activists, this Article offers some reflections on where we have been, where we are now, and where we might go next together as academics and organizers of long-term collective action. Against the current disruptions of a global pandemic, aggravated by planetary climate collapse, disinformation campaigns, and the organized top-down sabotage of U.S. democracy itself, our community responses going forward must be both more democratic and decentralized than ever, as well as more coordinated and coalitional, utilizing the innovations of critical hybridized praxis and of systemic advocacy projects of social and academic activism. If we act in the ways and values this Afterword outlines, now and for the long haul, we can achieve tactical, operational, and structural gains long imagined and sought by our community and allies

Comparing CEO Employment Contract Provisions: Differences Between Australia and the United States

This study compares CEO employment contracts across two common law countries: the United States and Australia. Although the regulatory regimes of these jurisdictions enjoy many comparable features, there are also some important institutional differences in terms of capital market, tax, and regulatory structures, which are discussed here. Debate has raged in the United States on the issue of whether executive compensation is efficient and determined at arm\u27s length, or skewed by a power imbalance between managers and shareholders. A comparative analysis of the kind undertaken in our study provides an additional perspective on the optimal contracting and managerial power models of executive pay in U.S. academic literature. Even if one model has greater explanatory power in the U.S. context, this will not necessarily be the case in other jurisdictions, such as Australia. In order to do our comparison, we create pairs of U.S. and Australian firms that are matched on a number of dimensions including firm size and industry. We find that Australian CEOs have significantly greater base salaries than their U.S. counterparts, while U.S. CEOs are more likely to be compensated with restricted stock and stock options than the Australian CEOs. More striking is the fact that U.S. CEO employment contracts tend to last longer than Australian contracts, and they are more likely to have arbitration provisions, change-in-control provisions, tax gross ups, do-not-compete clauses, and supplemental executive retirement plans. We also find that Australian contracts are much more apt to include performance hurdle requirements before CEOs can receive restricted stock and options, and restrictions on CEO hedging of restricted stock and options. A number of the contractual differences we document appear to be consistent with key institutional differences between the two countries

Do Differing Enrichment Methodologies Affect the Belowground Productivity of Spartina Alterniflora?

Mariana E. Penny and Stephanie W. Plaisance are students in Environmental Science at Louisiana Tech University. Nathan Hammond is a student in Biological Sciences at Louisiana Tech University. Jennifer M. Hill is an Assistant Professor in Biological Sciences at Louisiana Tech University

A GIS-based assessment of the suitability of SCIAMACHY satellite sensor measurements for estimating reliable CO concentrations in a low-latitude climate

An assessment of the reliability of the Scanning Imaging Absorption Spectrometer for Atmospheric Cartography (SCIAMACHY) satellite sensor measurements to interpolate tropospheric concentrations of carbon monoxide considering the lowlatitude climate of the Niger Delta region in Nigeria was conducted. Monthly SCIAMACHY carbon monoxide (CO) column measurements from January 2,003 to December 2005 were interpolated using ordinary kriging technique. The spatio-temporal variations observed in the reliability were based on proximity to the Atlantic Ocean, seasonal variations in the intensities of rainfall and relative humidity, the presence of dust particles from the Sahara desert, industrialization in Southwest Nigeria and biomass burning during the dry season in Northern Nigeria. Spatial reliabilities of 74 and 42 % are observed for the inland and coastal areas, respectively. Temporally, average reliability of 61 and 55%occur during the dry and wet seasons, respectively. Reliability in the inland and coastal areas was 72 and 38% during the wet season, and 75 and 46% during the dry season, respectively. Based on the results, the WFM-DOAS SCIAMACHY CO data product used for this study is therefore relevant in the assessment of CO concentrations in developing countries within the low latitudes that could not afford monitoring infrastructure due to the required high costs. Although the SCIAMACHY sensor is no longer available, it provided cost-effective, reliable and accessible data that could support air quality assessment in developing countries

Exploring content and psychometric validity of newly developed assessment tools for itch and skin pain in atopic dermatitis.

BackgroundAtopic dermatitis (AD) is a common skin disorder characterized by chronic inflammation, altered skin barrier function, and inflammatory cell skin infiltration that decreases health-related quality of life (HRQoL). The study objective was to understand the patient perspective of AD burden and determine suitable patient-reported outcome (PRO) measures.MethodsThis mixed methods study involved the collection of qualitative and quantitative information from adults (≥ 18 years old) and adolescents (12 - 17 years old) with clinician-confirmed AD regarding their experiences of AD symptoms and its impact on HRQoL. The first part of the study included three stages: in-person concept elicitation (CE) interviews, a 2-week daily electronic diary (eDiary) study, and in-person cognitive debriefing (CD) interviews. An Itch numeric rating scale (NRS) (v1.0) and a Skin Pain NRS (v1.0) evaluation during CD interviews required participants to think about their 'worst' itch and 'worst' skin pain in the past 24 h. Other PRO measures allowed for psychometric testing. The second part of the study involved telephone-depth interviews (TDIs) and qualitative feedback from participants who had not participated in the CD interviews. Qualitative data were thematically analyzed. Psychometric evaluation of NRS measures was performed using eDiary data.ResultsIn the CE interviews, itch and/or itching and skin pain were the most prevalent symptoms consistently discussed by participants. Both NRS measures demonstrated strong psychometric reliability and were applicable across ages with suitable concurrent validity. During the CD interviews, some participants focused their answers on their 'average' itch/itching in the past 24 h, rather than their 'worst' itch. Some participants answered the Skin Pain NRS thinking about general pain or other types of pain, rather than skin pain specifically. Consequently, modifications to both measures addressed these issues and re-tested as paper-and-pen versions in subsequent TDIs. Itch NRS (v2.0) modifications helped participants focus on their worst itching. Most participants preferred Skin Pain NRS v2.0b, which included skin pain descriptors.ConclusionsItching and skin pain are the most important and relevant AD symptoms. The Itch NRS (v2.0) and Skin Pain NRS (v2.0b) appear to be appropriate endpoints for the assessment of itching and skin pain severity for clinical trials with adults and adolescents with AD

A Search for Nitrogen-Enhanced Metal-Poor Stars

Theoretical models of very metal-poor intermediate-mass Asymptotic Giant Branch (AGB) stars predict a large overabundance of primary nitrogen. The very metal-poor, carbon-enhanced, s-process-rich stars, which are thought to be the polluted companions of now-extinct AGB stars, provide direct tests of the predictions of these models. Recent studies of the carbon and nitrogen abundances in metal-poor stars have focused on the most carbon-rich stars, leading to a potential selection bias against stars that have been polluted by AGB stars that produced large amounts of nitrogen, and hence have small [C/N] ratios. We call these stars Nitrogen-Enhanced Metal-Poor (NEMP) stars, and define them as having [N/Fe] > +0.5 and [C/N] < -0.5. In this paper, we report on the [C/N] abundances of a sample of 21 carbon-enhanced stars, all but three of which have [C/Fe] < +2.0. If NEMP stars were made as easily as Carbon-Enhanced Metal-Poor (CEMP) stars, then we expected to find between two and seven NEMP stars. Instead, we found no NEMP stars in our sample. Therefore, this observational bias is not an important contributor to the apparent dearth of N-rich stars. Our [C/N] values are in the same range as values reported previously in the literature (-0.5 to +2.0), and all stars are in disagreement with the predicted [C/N] ratios for both low-mass and high-mass AGB stars. We suggest that the decrease in [C/N] from the low-mass AGB models is due to enhanced extra-mixing, while the lack of NEMP stars may be caused by unfavorable mass ratios in binaries or the difficulty of mass transfer in binary systems with large mass ratios.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figures, to be published in Ap

The Effect of Work Rate on Oxygen Uptake Kinetics During Exhaustive Severe Intensity Cycling Exercise

The effect of work rate on oxygen uptake kinetics during exhaustive severe intensity cycling exercise Jennifer L. Sylvester, Samantha D. Burdette, Steven W. Cross, Nosa O. Idemudia, John, H. Curtis, Jakob L. Vingren, David W. Hill. Applied Physiology Laboratory, University of North Texas, Denton, TX During exhaustive severe intensity exercise, the oxygen uptake (VO2) increases exponentially, with a time constant of ~30 s. After ~1 to 2 min, a slow component emerges and drives the VO2 to its maximum. There are clear differences in the VO2 response profile across exercise intensity domains. These disparities might not be attributable to metabolic demand but, rather, to characteristics of the various intensity domains, such as the consequences of lactic acid production. PURPOSE: To investigate the role of exercise intensity on the VO2 response profile at intensities wholly within the severe domain. METHODS: Four women (mean ± SD: age 22 ± 2 years, height 167 ± 7 cm, mass 66 ± 5 kg) and eight men (age 23 ± 2 yr, height 179 ± 9 cm, mass 78 ± 10 kg) performed exhaustive constant-power cycle ergometer tests at two different severe intensity work rates (263 ± 78 W and 214 ± 64 W). Smoothed breath-by-breath VO2 data were fitted to a two-component (primary response and slow component) model using iterative regression. RESULTS: Times to exhaustion were 217 ± 27 s and 590 ± 82 s, respectively. The VO2max values were the same at the two different work rates (2973 ± 691 ml·min-1 and 3011 ± 728 ml·min-1). The amplitude of the primary response was greater (p \u3c 0.05) at the higher work rate (2095 ± 716 ml·min-1) than at the lower work rate (1857 ± 618 ml·min-1) and the amplitude of the slow component was smaller (367 ± 177 ml·min-1 vs 645 ± 347 ml·min-1). In addition, the time delay before the emergence of the slow component was shorter at the higher work rate (92 ± 22 s vs 116 ± 42 s). CONCLUSION: The results show that exercise intensity per se affects the VO2 response profile within the severe intensity domain and suggest that metabolic demand drives the primary response of VO2 kinetics within this domain. Category to be judged: Master\u27