Alternating Signed Bipartite Graphs and Difference-1 Colourings

We investigate a class of 2-edge coloured bipartite graphs known as alternating signed bipartite graphs (ASBGs) that encode the information in alternating sign matrices. The central question is when a given bipartite graph admits an ASBG-colouring; a 2-edge colouring such that the resulting graph is an ASBG. We introduce the concept of a difference-1 colouring, a relaxation of the concept of an ASBG-colouring, and present a set of necessary and sufficient conditions for when a graph admits a difference-1 colouring. The relationship between distinct difference-1 colourings of a particular graph is characterised, and some classes of graphs for which all difference-1 colourings are ASBG-colourings are identified. One key step is Theorem 3.4.6, which generalises Hall's Matching Theorem by describing a necessary and sufficient condition for the existence of a subgraph $H$ of a bipartite graph in which each vertex $v$ of $H$ has some prescribed degree $r(v)$

Helping Hands: A Guidebook for Volunteer Meal Providers

The poster was presented at the American Dietetics Association meeting in San Diego, September 2011. Also attached to this is the actual 32 page Handbook and a flyer.Helping Hands: A Guidebook for Volunteer Meal Providers Author(s): J. Jennings,1 R. Ward,2 K. Kolasa3; 1Nutrition Science, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 2East Carolina University, Greenville, NC, 3Family Medicine and Pediatrics, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC Learning Outcome: Participants will be able to explain how to apply strategies to help food donors promote food safety practices and to prepare nutritional and cost-conscious meals. “Helping Hands� is a 32-page practical resource for volunteer meal donors. The objective of this project was to develop a useful tool for volunteers providing prepared meals to soup kitchens, homeless shelters, Ronald McDonald House, and a cancer lodge. It was created in response to requests from local agencies that expressed concerns regarding the food safety practices and nutritional quality of meals being donated. They desired a document that would include basic nutrition and food safety principles for populations at risk for malnutrition and/or infection. Additionally, they desired recipes for budget-friendly meals that could be prepared by busy volunteers. A literature and internet search and a query to dietitians on several Listserves found no existing documents to fulfill these needs. The content was outlined, and food safety information and recipes were gathered from sources including the USDA and CDC websites. The guide includes over thirty recipes with nutrition information, basic food safety guidelines, time and cost-saving tips, components of healthy meals, and testimonials from volunteers and agency personnel. Nine food, nutrition, and food safety specialists on the FNSPEC Listserve responded to a request for reviewers and provided comments on accuracy, format, and readability. A two-page brochure was developed to promote the guide. The success of “Helping Hands� will be evaluated by the comparative number of nutritionally balanced meals served, the implementation of proper food safety practices, and the overall cost of meals to volunteers. The guidebook is found at: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-dhs/fammed/index.cfm Funding Disclosure: None Sept 2011 Suppl Abstracts Vol III No 9 Journal of the AMERICAN DIETETIC ASSOCIATION / A-87We were encouraged by staff at the Pitt Memorial Hospital Foundation

Using EEG to investigate premature aging and cognitive decline in adults with Down's Syndrome

Down’s Syndrome (DS) is a genetic disorder associated with intellectual disability, accelerated aging and a propensity for early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Beta-amyloid plaques are one of the pathological hallmarks of AD, and also a common characteristic of the older DS brain. AD treatment trials are now moving towards administration of the intervention at preclinical stages, with the goal of preventing cognitive decline in the first place, rather than trying to halt or reverse existing pathology. Consequently, it has become essential to develop biomarkers of AD, which can: 1. Predict clinical changes and 2. Track the effectiveness of putative preventative treatments. The strong association between DS and AD means that this research is particularly important for people with DS and it presents a high-risk group for exploring predictive biomarkers. Electroencephalography (EEG) is a non-invasive and inexpensive measure of cortical activity, which is being evaluated with the typically developing (TD) population as a potential biomarker of AD. This thesis aims to evaluate EEG as a potential predictor of cognitive decline associated with DS-AD. There are several potential EEG measures that could be explored. Following a review of the literature, the predictive potential of the following event-related potentials (ERPs): mismatch negativity (MMN) and P300 (P3a and P3b), were chosen for exploration with cross-sectional and longitudinal investigations. The thesis begins by exploring how the ERPs differ for a cross-section of 36 adults with DS and 39 age- and gender-matched TD controls. As expected, the MMN waveform was smaller for adults with DS than TD controls. However, the P3b waveform was predominantly absent for adults with DS, whilst the P3a response was significantly enlarged. The P3a response was also enlarged for the adults with DS who scored lower on a neuropsychological measure. The neuropsychological measure indexes frontal functions, which are compromised early in DS-AD. This experiment also provided evidence that MMN was related to age in DS, with increasing latencies and decreasing amplitudes for older participants. The differences in MMN amplitude between the groups (DS, TD) were isolated to the older adults. These findings lend support to the premature aging hypothesis of DS. The thesis also included a longitudinal follow-up in which 34 adults with DS underwent a repeated cognitive examination one year after their EEG and initial cognitive assessment. The analyses found that adults with DS who had lower MMN amplitudes at the initial assessment were more likely to decline at the cognitive follow-up. This finding suggests that MMN may be a potentially useful clinical tool for predicting the cognitive decline associated with DS-AD.Medical Research Council Studentship (3.5 years support: £57078) The Health Foundation (University fees: £18944) Alzheimer’s Research UK Scholarship (pilot phase funding: £4570) Addenbrooke’s Charitable Trust (cross-sectional phase funding: £10000) Marmaduke Shield Fund (equipment fund: £1786) Fearnsides Fund (conference support: £670

Hybrid powder metallurgy processing for high temperature strength Ni-base superalloy Inconel 718

Additive layer manufacturing (ALM) processes such as powder bed fusion (PBF) provide an opportunity for the manufacture of new more complex designs of Ni-base superalloy components, which have the potential to extend the operating temperatures and efficiencies of gas turbine engines. There are however challenges to the industrial implementation of ALM, in particular the slow production times associated with these processes and required post processing. In recent years hybrid additive manufacturing has been proposed as a way of increasing ALM production efficiency. The most popular hybrid concept to date combines additive and subtractive manufacturing in the direct laser deposition process. In this work an alternative approach to hybrid manufacturing- the in-situ shelling process- is proposed for the production of Ni-base superalloy Inconel 718. This method combines PBF with Powder Metallurgy Hot Isostatic Pressing (PM HIPping). The HIPping canister is manufactured and filled in-situ during PBF, followed by consolidation of the powders inside the canister by HIPping. Powder characteristics and their interaction with PBF and HIPping processes are examined extensively and the importance of control of powder packing densities and powder chemistry for the success of each processing route is highlighted. Parametric studies are presented for laser and electron PBF, with the aim to optimise conditions to meet the property requirements of HIPping canisters. In-situ shelling components are manufactured and the strength of bonding across the laser PBF-PM HIPped interface is examined by tensile testing. Two mechanisms for improving bond strength are proposed and tested. Throughout this work scanning electron microscopy (SEM), electron backscattered diffraction (EBSD) and energy dispersive and wave dispersive spectroscopy (EDS & WDS) have been implemented to evaluate microstructures, grain morphologies and chemistries. The in-situ shelling process shows promise as a production route for the manufacture of Inconel 718 when electron PBF is implemented at the shelling stage. The use of laser PBF for shelling resulted in significant oxide formation at the PBF- PM HIPped interface leading to poor bonding and a substantial diminishment in tensile properties. Yet, initial results suggest that through manipulation of the LPBF surface, improved bonding may be achievable. It is suggested that chromia oxide forming Ni-base superalloys may be better candidates for in-situ shelling owing to chromia being less stable than alumina. The overall novelty of this work lies in the examination of Inconel 718 for the in-situ shelling process, however throughout investigations into different aspects of the in-situ shelling process, several additional novel research outcomes emerged. The diffusion zone in state-of-the-art PM HIPped material was found to result in a diminishment of tensile properties as it created a Nb concentration gradient, reducing Nb available for strengthening phases. Surface optimisation studies in in-situ shelling work showed minimising continuous oxides and increasing point contacts between power particles and the LPBF surface to result in an increase in grain growth across LPBF-PM HIPped interfaces owing to an increase in recrystallisation. Oxide chemistry was suggested to influence whether PPB formation was dictated by the oxygen content of the powder or by powder particle size in state-of-the-art PM HIPping

Redox-dependent gating of VDAC by mitoNEET.

MitoNEET is an outer mitochondrial membrane protein essential for sensing and regulation of iron and reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis. It is a key player in multiple human maladies including diabetes, cancer, neurodegeneration, and Parkinson's diseases. In healthy cells, mitoNEET receives its clusters from the mitochondrion and transfers them to acceptor proteins in a process that could be altered by drugs or during illness. Here, we report that mitoNEET regulates the outer-mitochondrial membrane (OMM) protein voltage-dependent anion channel 1 (VDAC1). VDAC1 is a crucial player in the cross talk between the mitochondria and the cytosol. VDAC proteins function to regulate metabolites, ions, ROS, and fatty acid transport, as well as function as a "governator" sentry for the transport of metabolites and ions between the cytosol and the mitochondria. We find that the redox-sensitive [2Fe-2S] cluster protein mitoNEET gates VDAC1 when mitoNEET is oxidized. Addition of the VDAC inhibitor 4,4'-diisothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonate (DIDS) prevents both mitoNEET binding in vitro and mitoNEET-dependent mitochondrial iron accumulation in situ. We find that the DIDS inhibitor does not alter the redox state of MitoNEET. Taken together, our data indicate that mitoNEET regulates VDAC in a redox-dependent manner in cells, closing the pore and likely disrupting VDAC's flow of metabolites

Blacks in Massachusetts: Comparative Demographic, Social and Economic Experiences with Whites, Latinos, and Asians

This report describes the social and economic, and education status of Blacks in Massachusetts, within a comparative framework with Whites, Asians, and Latino/as. A range of population, household, and economic variables are highlighted under the following categories: Population Characteristics; Families and Households; Education and Schooling; Housing; Health Characteristics; Labor Force, Occupations and Employment; and Income and Poverty. The information presented in this report is based on data from the 2010 Decennial Census; the American Community Survey 2009 – 2013 5 Year Estimates; the American Community Survey 2009-2013 5-Year Estimates Public Use Microdata Sample (PUMS) as well as PUMS for the single year 2013; and the Current Population Survey’s Annual Social and Economic Supplement (2015), and other CPS reports