Evaluating Physical Activity Resources to Support Health Equity in Arizona

We evaluated physical activity (PA) resources in lower-income Arizona communities to support the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – Education (SNAP-Ed) in pursuing equitable policy, systems, and environment (PSE) interventions. In 2017, 71 PA resources across 10 counties (65% parks) were rated using the Physical Activity Resource Assessment (PARA) tool. Accessibility was high, but condition scores and attractiveness varied across resources, with no rural/urban differences. Results suggest that Extension SNAP-Ed staff can be agents of change by assessing resource condition where physical activity health inequities may exist and then convening partners to begin to address needed changes

Pressure study on the interplay between magnetic order and valence-change crossover in EuPd2_2(Si1−x_{1-x}Gex_x)2_2

We present results of the magnetic susceptibility on high-quality single crystals of EuPd$_2$(Si$_{1-x}$Ge$_x$)$_2$ for Ge concentrations 0 $\leq x \leq$ 0.105 performed under varying hydrostatic (He-gas) pressure 0 $\leq p \leq$ 0.5 GPa. The work extends on recent studies at ambient pressure demonstrating the drastic change in the magnetic response from valence-change-crossover behavior for $x$ = 0 and 0.058, to long-range antiferromagnetic (afm) order below $T_{\text{N}}$ = 47 K for $x$ = 0.105. The valence-change-crossover temperature $T'_{\text{V}}$ shows an extraordinarily strong pressure dependence of d$T'_{\text{V}}$/d$p$ = +(80 $\pm$ 10) K/GPa. In contrast, a very small pressure dependence of d$T_{\text{N}}$/d$p \leq$ +(1 $\pm$ 0.5) K/GPa is found for the afm order upon pressurizing the $x$ = 0.105 crystal from $p$ = 0 to 0.05 GPa. Remarkably, by further increasing the pressure to 0.1 GPa, a drastic change in the ground state from afm order to valence-change-crossover behavior is observed. Estimates of the electronic entropy, derived from analyzing susceptibility data at varying pressures, indicate that the boundary between afm order and valence-change crossover represents a first-order phase transition. Our results suggest a particular type of second-order critical endpoint of the first-order transition for $x$ = 0.105 at $p_{\text{cr}} \approx$ 0.06 GPa and $T_{\text{cr}} \approx$ 45 K where intriguing strong-coupling effects between fluctuating charge-, spin- and lattice degrees of freedom can be expected

Photocatalytic Aminodecarboxylation of Carboxylic Acids

Aminodecarboxylation of unactivated alkyl carboxylic acids has been accomplished utilizing an organic photocatalyst. This operationally simple reaction utilizes readily available carboxylic acids to chemoselectively generate reactive alkyl intermediates that are not accessible via conventional two-electron pathways. The organic radical intermediates are efficiently trapped with electrophilic diazo compounds to provide aminated alkanes.Division of Chemistry. Grant Number: 146517

Mincle-mediated anti-inflammatory IL-10 response counter-regulates IL-12 in vitro

The role of macrophage-inducible C-type lectin (Mincle) in anti-inflammatory responses has not yet been fully characterized. Herein, we show that engagement of Mincle by trehalose-dimycolate or mycobacteria promotes IL-10 production in macrophages, which causes down-regulation of IL-12p40 secretion. Thus, Mincle mediates both pro- as well as anti-inflammatory responses

Electromagnetic Tracking in High Dose Rate Brachytherapy - A Composite Analysis Model

Electromagnetic tracking (EMT) in high dose rate Brachytherapy has to face a number of signal processing challenges which we summarize in this study. We propose a coherent signal processing chain which encompasses a particle filter tracking of the state space trajectory of the sensors inside catheters implanted surgically into the breast of female patients. Singular spectrum analysis is employed to remove high amplitude artifact signals from the recordings as well as to decompose simultaneously recorded signals from additional fiducial sensors used to monitor breathing motions. Ensemble empirical mode decomposition is applied to both, the fiducial and solenoid sensor signals to decompose them into their intrinsic modes. Information-theoretic similarity measures serve to identify those intrinsic modes which carry information about the breathing mode contamination of the observed solenoid sensor signals. Finally, a multi-dimensional scaling achieves a common principal coordinate system where both, the various EMT signals and related data deduced from an initial X-ray CT imaging can be compared quantitatively to identify any deviations from the treatment plan established with the CT data. We also consider the distributions of such deviations and demonstrate their heavy-tailed character. A Hartigan dip test is employed to establish a uni- or bi-modal character of these distributions which we approximate by alpha-stable distributions

Hyperparameter optimization: Foundations, algorithms, best practices, and open challenges

Most machine learning algorithms are configured by a set of hyperparameters whose values must be carefully chosen and which often considerably impact performance. To avoid a time-consuming and irreproducible manual process of trial-and-error to find well-performing hyperparameter configurations, various automatic hyperparameter optimization (HPO) methods—for example, based on resampling error estimation for supervised machine learning—can be employed. After introducing HPO from a general perspective, this paper reviews important HPO methods, from simple techniques such as grid or random search to more advanced methods like evolution strategies, Bayesian optimization, Hyperband, and racing. This work gives practical recommendations regarding important choices to be made when conducting HPO, including the HPO algorithms themselves, performance evaluation, how to combine HPO with machine learning pipelines, runtime improvements, and parallelization. This article is categorized under: Algorithmic Development > Statistics Technologies > Machine Learning Technologies > Prediction

Prevalence and Relevance of Vitamin D Deficiency in Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients : A Pilot Study

(1) Background: Vitamin D plays an important role in many types of cancer. It was the aim of this study to analyze serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25(OH)D) levels in newly diagnosed breast cancer patients, and the association with prognostic and lifestyle factors. (2) Methods: 110 nonmetastatic breast cancer patients were included in the prospective observational “BEGYN” study at Saarland University Medical Center between September 2019 and January 2021. At the initiation visit, serum 25(OH)D levels were measured. Clinicopathological data on prognosis, nutrition, and lifestyle were extracted from data files and obtained using a questionnaire. (3) Results: Median serum 25(OH)D in breast cancer patients was 24 ng/mL (range 5–65 ng/mL), with 64.8% of patients being vitamin D deficient. 25(OH)D was higher among patients that reported the use of vitamin D supplements (43 ng/mL versus 22 ng/mL; p < 0.001), and in summer compared to other seasons (p = 0.03). Patients with moderate vitamin D deficiency were less likely to have triple negative breast cancer (p = 0.047). (4) Conclusions: Routinely measured vitamin D deficiency is common in breast cancer patients and needs to be detected and treated. However, our results do not support the hypothesis that vitamin D deficiency may be a main prognostic factor for breast cancer

The health and well-being of transgender high school students: results from the New Zealand adolescent health survey (Youth’12).

Purpose To report the prevalence of students according to four gender groups (i.e., those who reported being non-transgender, transgender, or not sure about their gender, and those who did not understand the transgender question), and to describe their health and well-being. Methods Logistic regressions were used to examine the associations between gender groups and selected outcomes in a nationally representative high school health and well-being survey, undertaken in 2012. Results Of the students (n = 8,166), 94.7% reported being non-transgender, 1.2% reported being transgender, 2.5% reported being not sure about their gender, and 1.7% did not understand the question. Students who reported being transgender or not sure about their gender or did not understand the question had compromised health and well-being relative to their nontransgender peers; in particular, for transgender students perceiving that a parent cared about them (odds ratio [OR], .3; 95% confidence interval[CI], .2 -.4), depressive symptoms (OR, 5.7; 95% CI, 3.6-9.2), suicide attempts (OR, 5.0; 95% CI, 2.9-8.8), and school bullying (OR, 4.5; 95% CI, 2.4-8.2). Conclusions This is the first nationally representative survey to report the health and well-being of students who report being transgender. We found that transgender students and those reporting not being sure are a numerically small but important group. Transgender students are diverse and are represented across demographic variables, including their sexual attractions. Transgender youth face considerable health and well-being disparities. It is important to address the challenging environments these students face and to increase access to responsive services for transgender youth