Beyond heat baths: Generalized resource theories for small-scale thermodynamics

Thermodynamics has recently been extended to small scales with resource theories that model heat exchanges. Real physical systems exchange diverse quantities: heat, particles, angular momentum, etc. We generalize thermodynamic resource theories to exchanges of observables other than heat, to baths other than heat baths, and to free energies other than the Helmholtz free energy. These generalizations are illustrated with “grand-potential” theories that model movements of heat and particles. Free operations include unitaries that conserve energy and particle number. From this conservation law and from resource-theory principles, the grand-canonical form of the free states is derived. States are shown to form a quasiorder characterized by free operations, d majorization, the hypothesis-testing entropy, and rescaled Lorenz curves. We calculate the work distillable from—and we bound the work cost of creating—a state. These work quantities can differ but converge to the grand potential in the thermodynamic limit. Extending thermodynamic resource theories beyond heat baths, we open diverse realistic systems to modeling with one-shot statistical mechanics. Prospective applications such as electrochemical batteries are hoped to bridge one-shot theory to experiments

Bevacizumab Demonstrates Prolonged Disease Stabilization in Patients with Heavily Pretreated Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma: A Case Series and Review of the Literature

There are now a variety of therapies approved for the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). These include the immunotherapeutics, alfa-interferon, and interleukin-2, and agents that target the vascular endothelial growth factor receptor (VEGFR) via its tyrosine kinase, such as sorafenib, sunitinib, and pazopanib, or the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), such as temsirolimus and everolimus. Bevacizumab, a monoclonal antibody directed against the ligand, VEGF, has shown activity against RCC as a single agent in patients who had failed prior cytokine therapy and as first line therapy in combination with interferon. The activity of bevacizumab in patients who had received and failed prior therapy has not been described. We report our experience in 4 patients with metastatic RCC who had failed prior cytokine, TKI, and mTOR inhibitors who were treated with bevacizumab as single agent therapy. These heavily pretreated patients sustained very prolonged periods of stable disease (median of 12 months) with very little toxicity and excellent quality of life. The activity of this agent in patients who had failed prior therapies directed against the VEGFR and mTOR suggests that therapy targeting the ligand, VEGF, is still a viable approach in these patients and deserves further study

Shear thickening in densely packed suspensions of spheres and rods confined to few layers

We investigate confined shear thickening suspensions for which the sample thickness is comparable to the particle dimensions. Rheometry measurements are presented for densely packed suspensions of spheres and rods with aspect ratios 6 and 9. By varying the suspension thickness in the direction of the shear gradient at constant shear rate, we find pronounced oscillations in the stress. These oscillations become stronger as the gap size is decreased, and the stress is minimized when the sample thickness becomes commensurate with an integer number of particle layers. Despite this confinement-induced effect, viscosity curves show shear thickening that retains bulk behavior down to samples as thin as two particle diameters for spheres, below which the suspension is jammed. Rods exhibit similar behavior commensurate with the particle width, but they show additional effects when the thickness is reduced below about a particle length as they are forced to align; the stress increases for decreasing gap size at fixed shear rate while the shear thickening regime gradually transitions to a Newtonian scaling regime. This weakening of shear thickening as an ordered configuration is approached contrasts with the strengthening of shear thickening when the packing fraction is increased in the disordered bulk limit, despite the fact that both types of confinement eventually lead to jamming.Comment: 21 pages, 14 figures. submitted to the Journal of Rheolog

Mathematics Teachers’ Perspectives on Online Professional Development Modules

This study examines mathematics teachers’ perspectives regarding newly developed online professional learning for elementary mathematics teachers of multilingual learners. We examined the responses of 12 teachers on surveys that included both Likert scale and open response items to explore the learning, strengths and weaknesses of the modules. Overall, this study demonstrates the potential for online professional learning at the intersection of language and mathematics and suggests important ways for teacher learning across time to be supported

The von Economo neurons in frontoinsular and anterior cingulate cortex in great apes and humans

The von Economo neurons (VENs) are large bipolar neurons located in frontoinsular (FI) and anterior cingulate cortex in great apes and humans, but not other primates. We performed stereological counts of the VENs in FI and LA (limbic anterior, a component of anterior cingulate cortex) in great apes and in humans. The VENs are more numerous in humans than in apes, although one gorilla approached the lower end of the human range. We also examined the ontological development of the VENs in FI and LA in humans. The VENs first appear in small numbers in the 36th week post-conception, are rare at birth, and increase in number during the first 8 months after birth. There are significantly more VENs in the right hemisphere than in the left in FI and LA in postnatal brains of apes and humans. This asymmetry in VEN numbers may be related to asymmetries in the autonomic nervous system. The activity of the inferior anterior insula, which contains FI, is related to physiological changes in the body, decision-making, error recognition, and awareness. The VENs appear to be projection neurons, although their targets are unknown. We made a preliminary study of the connections of FI cortex based on diffusion tensor imaging in the brain of a gorilla. The VEN-containing regions connect to the frontal pole as well as to other parts of frontal and insular cortex, the septum, and the amygdala. It is likely that the VENs in FI are projecting to some or all of these structures and relaying information related to autonomic control, decision-making, or awareness. The VENs selectively express the bombesin peptides neuromedin B (NMB) and gastrin releasing peptide (GRP) which are also expressed in another population of closely related neurons, the fork cells. NMB and GRP signal satiety. The genes for NMB and GRP are expressed selectively in small populations of neurons in the insular cortex in mice. These populations may be related to the VEN and fork cells and may be involved in the regulation of appetite. The loss of these cells may be related to the loss of satiety signaling in patients with frontotemporal dementia who have damage to FI. The VENs and fork cells may be morphological specializations of an ancient population of neurons involved in the control of appetite present in the insular cortex in all mammals. We found that the protein encoded by the gene DISC1 (disrupted in schizophrenia) is preferentially expressed by the VENs. DISC1 has undergone rapid evolutionary change in the line leading to humans, and since it suppresses dendritic branching it may be involved in the distinctive VEN morphology

Newly formulated, protein quality-enhanced, extruded sorghum-, cowpea-, corn-, soya-, sugar- and oil-containing fortified-blended foods lead to adequate vitamin A and iron outcomes and improved growth compared with non-extruded CSB+ in rats

Citation: Delimont, N. M., Fiorentino, N. M., Opoku-Acheampong, A. B., Joseph, M. V., Guo, Q., Alavi, S., & Lindshield, B. L. (2017). Newly formulated, protein quality-enhanced, extruded sorghum-, cowpea-, corn-, soya-, sugar- and oil-containing fortified-blended foods lead to adequate vitamin A and iron outcomes and improved growth compared with non-extruded CSB+ in rats. Journal of Nutritional Science. doi:10.1017/jns.2017.15Corn and soyabean micronutrient-fortified-blended foods (FBF) are commonly used for food aid. Sorghum and cowpeas have been suggested as alternative commodities because they are drought tolerant, can be grown in many localities, and are not genetically modified. Change in formulation of blends may improve protein quality, vitamin A and Fe availability of FBF. The primary objective of this study was to compare protein efficiency, Fe and vitamin A availability of newly formulated extruded sorghum-, cowpea-, soya- and corn-based FBF, along with a current, non-extruded United States Agency for International Development (USAID) corn and soya blend FBF (CSB+). A second objective was to compare protein efficiency of whey protein concentrate (WPC) and soya protein isolate (SPI) containing FBF to determine whether WPC inclusion improved outcomes. Eight groups of growing rats (n 10) consumed two white and one red sorghum–cowpea (WSC1 + WPC, WSC2 + WPC, RSC + WPC), white sorghum–soya (WSS + WPC) and corn–soya (CSB14 + WPC) extruded WPC-containing FBF, an extruded white sorghum–cowpea with SPI (WSC1 + SPI), non-extruded CSB+, and American Institute of Nutrition (AIN)-93G, a weanling rat diet, for 4 weeks. There were no significant differences in protein efficiency, Fe or vitamin A outcomes between WPC FBF groups. The CSB+ group consumed significantly less food, gained significantly less weight, and had significantly lower energy efficiency, protein efficiency and length, compared with all other groups. Compared with WSC1 + WPC, the WSC1 + SPI FBF group had significantly lower energy efficiency, protein efficiency and weight gain. These results suggest that a variety of commodities can be used in the formulation of FBF, and that newly formulated extruded FBF are of better nutritional quality than non-extruded CSB+. Copyright © The Author(s) 2017 This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited

Developing a Rapid Assessment Program for Student Success in Clinical Education

Successful management of the struggling student in the clinic relies heavily on the early identification of clinical performance deficits. CIs who directly observe student performance, actions and behaviors should aim for early and precise identification of difficulties, which should lead to initial discussions with the student. If the student\u27s struggles require involvement from the educational institution, the CI should promptly contact and collaborate with the DCE. Early communication with the DCE is beneficial, as they can provide support for CIs overwhelmed by the difficulties that accompany working with a challenging student. The DCE provides guidance on determining the depth of deficiencies, the student’s needs, and options for remediation. The Rapid Student Assessment and Review (R-STAR) Program was designed to facilitate a thorough and timely review of students’ Clinical Performance Instruments (CPIs)through partnership with expert clinical education faculty. With the increasing number of students in programs and the competing demands on Clinical Instructors (CIs), the successful management of the struggling student in the clinic relies heavily on the early identification of clinical performance deficits. Judicious review of CPI ratings and narratives is essential to identify discrepancies between the scores given and narrative comments. The R-STAR Program utilizes clinical partners who were carefully selected and specifically trained to review and provide feedback to students and CIs, while identifying those individuals with issues requiring the DCE to prioritize and address. This session describes how to develop an efficient and effective program that may be implemented to help facilitate the timely management of student assessments in clinical education to enhance success

Genome-wide association analysis of cardiovascular-related quantitative traits in the Framingham Heart Study

Multivariate linear growth curves were used to model high-density lipoprotein (HDL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), triglycerides (TG), and systolic blood pressure (SBP) measured during four exams from 1659 independent individuals from the Framingham Heart Study. The slopes and intercepts from each of two phenotype models were tested for association with 348,053 autosomal single-nucleotide polymorphisms from the Affymetrix Gene Chip 500 k set. Three regions were associated with LDL intercept, TG slope, and SBP intercept (p < 1.44 × 10-7). We observed results consistent with previously reported associations between rs599839, on chromosome 1p13, and LDL. We note that the association is significant with LDL intercept but not slope. Markers on chromosome 17q25 were associated with TG slope, and a single-nucleotide polymorphism on chromosome 7p11 was associated with SBP intercept. Growth curve models can be used to gain more insight on the relationships between SNPs and traits than traditional association analysis when longitudinal data has been collected. The power to detect association with changes over time may be limited if the subjects are not followed over a long enough time period

Immune Checkpoint Blockade: Subjugation of the Masses

Osteosarcoma remains the most common form of bone cancer in adolescents. Standard of care treatment for osteosarcoma includes chemotherapy combined with limb-salvage surgery or amputation. Survival rates for compliant patients are 60–80% for those with localized tumors and 15–30% if the tumor metastasizes or reoccurs. Given the successes of monoclonal antibody blockades in other cancers, clinical trials for applying immunotherapies to osteosarcoma are underway. Antibody blockades reinvigorate T cells to eliminate cancer cells thereby leading to decreased tumor burden and long-term regression. Single monoclonal antibody therapy has shown modest efficacy compared to standard of care. However, treating with only a single antibody can ultimately result in immune evasion by heterogeneous tumors via selection of cells expressing other inhibitory ligands. Hence, combination immunotherapies have yielded the most promising results for eliminating tumors or preventing reoccurrence in other cancer types and will likely be the most efficacious strategy for treating osteosarcoma. Here, we review current immunotherapies for other cancers and their potential application to osteosarcoma

Beliefs about Social Distancing During COVID-19 Stay-At-Home Orders: A Theory-Based Salient Belief Elicitation

Understanding the beliefs about social distancing behaviors is required to inform 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) interventions that are based on theory, research, and evidence. This study investigated the salient beliefs related to social distancing. United States adults (n = 106) recruited from Amazon’s Mechanical Turk completed an online reasoned action approach belief elicitation from April 19 to April 25, 2020. Behavioral beliefs (advantages and disadvantages), normative beliefs (approvers and disapprovers), and control beliefs (facilitators and barriers) related to social distancing were elicited via open-ended questions. A content analysis was performed, and kappa statistics revealed high levels of interrater reliability (α = 0.86-0.96). Results revealed that a perceived salient advantage to social distancing was individual COVID-19 prevention, more so than community prevention. The most cited disadvantage was that social distancing could prevent participants from socially interacting with others, which could negatively impact mental health. Family and friends were the most mentioned approvers, while people who hold conservative ideologies and negative attitudes about COVID-19 were the most frequent disapprovers. Supply accessibility and store policies were the most listed facilitators. Results suggest three implications. First, pandemic-related public health and social marketing campaigns should focus more on individual health benefits than community health benefits. Second, digital public health interventions that address social connectedness and mental health outcomes are critical during pandemics. Third, public health scientists and practitioners should work with local and national media outlets and political leaders to create community-tailored and evidence-based information to increase adherence of mitigation strategies