Does Experienced Discrimination Explain Patterns of Menthol Use Among Young Adults? Evidence from the 2014 San Francisco Bay Area Young Adult Health Survey

BackgroundYoung adults are at high risk for using flavored tobacco, including menthol and underrepresented populations, such as Latino and African American young adults, are at particular risk.ObjectivesThe purpose of this study is to identify sociodemographic correlates of menthol use among young adult smokers and examine the potential role of experienced discrimination in explaining any associations.MethodsWe conducted a probabilistic multimode household survey of young adults (aged 18-26) residing in Alameda and San Francisco Counties in California in 2014 (n = 1,350). We used logistic regression to evaluate associations between menthol cigarette use and experienced discrimination among young adult smokers as well as with respect to sociodemographic, attitudinal, and behavioral predictors. Interactions between experienced discrimination and race/ethnicity, sex and LGB identity were also modeled.ResultsLatino and non-Hispanic Black young adult smokers were more likely to report current menthol use than non-Hispanic Whites, while those with college education were less likely to do so. Experienced discrimination mediated the relationship between race and menthol use for Asian/Pacific Islander and Multiracial young adult smokers with odds of use increasing by 32 and 42% respectively for each additional unit on the experienced discrimination scale. Conclusions/Importance: Latino and African American young adult smokers have disproportionately high menthol use rates; however, discrimination only predicted higher use for Asian/Pacific Islander and Multiracial young adult smokers. Limits on the sale of menthol cigarettes may benefit all nonwhite race/ethnic groups as well as those with less education

Making visible ‘hidden’ intentions and potential choices: international students in intercultural communication

The study reported in this paper examines the experiences of Chinese and Vietnamese international students in engaging in their institutional written discourse at an Australian university. The study highlights the significance of exploring the real accounts of the students as the ‘insiders’ and uncovering students’ individual potential choices and intentions as their ‘seemingly unrecognized’ values in producing their own texts in English as a second language. In particular, based on international students’ reflection on their intentions and potential choices in academic practices, the study signals how the taken-for-granted institutional conventions may contribute to silencing or marginalizing the possibilities for alternative approaches to knowledge and communication within the higher education institutional context

Membrane-association of mRNA decapping factors is independent of stress in budding yeast

Recent evidence has suggested that the degradation of mRNA occurs on translating ribosomes or alternatively within RNA granules called P bodies, which are aggregates whose core constituents are mRNA decay proteins and RNA. In this study, we examined the mRNA decapping proteins, Dcp1, Dcp2, and Dhh1, using subcellular fractionation. We found that decapping factors co-sediment in the polysome fraction of a sucrose gradient and do not alter their behaviour with stress, inhibition of translation or inhibition of the P body formation. Importantly, their localisation to the polysome fraction is independent of the RNA, suggesting that these factors may be constitutively localised to the polysome. Conversely, polysomal and post-polysomal sedimentation of the decapping proteins was abolished with the addition of a detergent, which shifts the factors to the non-translating RNP fraction and is consistent with membrane association. Using a membrane flotation assay, we observed the mRNA decapping factors in the lower density fractions at the buoyant density of membrane-associated proteins. These observations provide further evidence that mRNA decapping factors interact with subcellular membranes, and we suggest a model in which the mRNA decapping factors interact with membranes to facilitate regulation of mRNA degradation

Reconstruction of primary vertices at the ATLAS experiment in Run 1 proton–proton collisions at the LHC

This paper presents the method and performance of primary vertex reconstruction in proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment during Run 1 of the LHC. The studies presented focus on data taken during 2012 at a centre-of-mass energy of √s=8 TeV. The performance has been measured as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing over a wide range, from one to seventy. The measurement of the position and size of the luminous region and its use as a constraint to improve the primary vertex resolution are discussed. A longitudinal vertex position resolution of about 30μm is achieved for events with high multiplicity of reconstructed tracks. The transverse position resolution is better than 20μm and is dominated by the precision on the size of the luminous region. An analytical model is proposed to describe the primary vertex reconstruction efficiency as a function of the number of interactions per bunch crossing and of the longitudinal size of the luminous region. Agreement between the data and the predictions of this model is better than 3% up to seventy interactions per bunch crossing

Search for heavy resonances decaying to two Higgs bosons in final states containing four b quarks

A search is presented for narrow heavy resonances X decaying into pairs of Higgs bosons (H) in proton-proton collisions collected by the CMS experiment at the LHC at root s = 8 TeV. The data correspond to an integrated luminosity of 19.7 fb(-1). The search considers HH resonances with masses between 1 and 3 TeV, having final states of two b quark pairs. Each Higgs boson is produced with large momentum, and the hadronization products of the pair of b quarks can usually be reconstructed as single large jets. The background from multijet and t (t) over bar events is significantly reduced by applying requirements related to the flavor of the jet, its mass, and its substructure. The signal would be identified as a peak on top of the dijet invariant mass spectrum of the remaining background events. No evidence is observed for such a signal. Upper limits obtained at 95 confidence level for the product of the production cross section and branching fraction sigma(gg -> X) B(X -> HH -> b (b) over barb (b) over bar) range from 10 to 1.5 fb for the mass of X from 1.15 to 2.0 TeV, significantly extending previous searches. For a warped extra dimension theory with amass scale Lambda(R) = 1 TeV, the data exclude radion scalar masses between 1.15 and 1.55 TeV

Discovery of new colonies by Sentinel2 reveals good and bad news for emperor

The distribution of emperor penguins is circumpolar, with 54 colony locations currently reported of which 50 are currently extant as of 2019. Here we report on eight newly discovered colonies and confirm the rediscovery of three breeding sites, only previously reported in the era before Very High Resolution satellite imagery was available, making a total of 61 breeding locations. This represents an increase of ~20% in the number of breeding sites, but, as most of the colonies appear to be small, they may only increase the total population by around 5–10%. The discoveries have been facilitated by the use of Sentinel2 satellite imagery, which has a higher resolution and more efficient search mechanism than the Landsat data previously used to search for colonies. The small size of these new colonies indicates that considerations of reproductive output in relation to metabolic rate during huddling is likely to be of interest. Some of the colonies exist in offshore habitats, something not previously reported for emperor penguins. Comparison with recent modelling results show that the geographic locations of all the newly found colonies are in areas likely to be highly vulnerable under business‐as‐usual greenhouse gas emissions scenarios, suggesting that population decreases for the species will be greater than previously thought