The Intermolecular Force Field of Acetylene-HCl: The Normal Coordinate and Centrifugal Distortion Analysis of Two Weakly Bound Rigid Rods

In order to determine the intermolecular force field of C2H2⋅⋅HCl, a normal coordinate analysis appropriate for two weakly bound rigid rods is developed. An exact centrifugal distortion analysis is then carried out on the microwave spectrum of this T\u27\u27-shaped hydrogen-bonded π complex. The distortion constants and published matrix-isolated vibrational frequencies are employed in the normal coordinate analysis to obtain the intermolecular force field and refinements in the structural parameters. The following van der Waals force field is found to reproduce the existing spectroscopic constants of C2H2⋅⋅H35Cl … . This study permits the first opportunity to ascertain the effect of complexation on monomer properties in C2H2⋅⋅HX/DX where X = F,Cl. A more accurate description of the quadrupole coupling constant acknowledging the effects of vibrational averaging of the projection operator and changes in (∂2V/∂z2) indicate that hydrogen bonding decreases (∂2V/∂z2) by 7.8% for Cl in C2H2⋅⋅HCl and 10% for deuterium in C2H2⋅⋅DF. In the course of this study, DHF and rHF, the spin-spin coupling constant and the H-F bond length, were obtained for the complex. Comparison with rHF in free HF indicates that complexation causes an increase in bond length by 1%

Tack Coat Installation Performance Guidelines

A tack coat is a thin application of asphalt (typically emulsified) used to bond pavement layers together so that they act monolithically. Lack of bonding can lead to fatigue cracking, delamination, slippage and other distresses. This study was undertaken to explore the impacts of various tack coat materials, application rates, and other variables on tack coat performance. The ultimate original goal was to develop a tack coat quality acceptance system. As the study progressed, some of the original objectives and tasks were modified or dropped. Laboratory testing of lab- and field-fabricated specimens using a monotonic direct shear test was used to evaluate the factors of interest. The findings showed that the most commonly used tack materials in Indiana, AE-NT and SS-1h, can perform, with the AE-NT exhibiting somewhat better performance overall. INDOT’s tack specifications could be clarified. The current applications rates are reasonable but could be refined to provide more guidance for use on different types of surfaces, as widely recommended nationally. The use of spray pavers and alternate tack materials should be further explored. Planned spray paver trial projects could provide the opportunity to expand on the results of this project, to explore other test methods, gain more experience with shear testing, and assess typical tack applications on non-experimental projects to assess the state of the practice. Additional implementation studies may help to refine a performance test and criteria for use to assess tack coat quality. The importance of tack coats should be emphasized to contractors and field personnel

Development of a composite model derived from cardiopulmonary exercise tests to predict mortality risk in patients with mild-to-moderate heart failure

Objective: Cardiopulmonary exercise testing (CPET) is used to predict outcome in patients with mild-to-moderate heart failure (HF). Single CPET-derived variables are often used, but we wanted to see if a composite score achieved better predictive power. Methods: Retrospective analysis of patient records at the Department of Cardiology, Castle Hill Hospital, Kingston-upon-Hull. 387 patients [median (25th-75th percentile)] [age 65 (56-72) years; 79% males; LVEF 34 (31-37) %] were included. Patients underwent a symptomlimited, maximal CPET on a treadmill. During a median follow up of 8.6 ± 2.1 years in survivors, 107 patients died. Survival models were built and validated using a hybrid approach between the bootstrap and Cox regression. Nine CPET-derived variables were included. Z-score defined each variable's predictive strength. Model coefficients were converted to a risk score. Results: Four CPET-related variables were independent predictors of all-cause mortality in the survival model: the presence of exertional oscillatory ventilation (EOV), increasing slope of the relation between ventilation and carbon dioxide production (VE/VCO2 slope), decreasing oxygen uptake efficiency slope (OUES), and an increase in the lowest ventilatory equivalent for carbon dioxide (VEqCO2 nadir). Individual predictors of mortality ranged from 0.60 to 0.71 using Harrell’s C-statistic, but the optimal combination of EOV + VE/VCO2 slope + OUES + VEqCO2 nadir reached 0.75. The Hull CPET risk score had a significantly higher area under the curve (0.78) when compared to the Heart Failure Survival Score (AUC=0.70;

A cryptic cycle in haematopoietic niches promotes initiation of malaria transmission and evasion of chemotherapy

Blood stage human malaria parasites may exploit erythropoietic tissue niches and colonise erythroid progenitors; however, the precise influence of the erythropoietic environment on fundamental parasite biology remains unknown. Here we use quantitative approaches to enumerate Plasmodium infected erythropoietic precursor cells using an in vivo rodent model of Plasmodium berghei. We show that parasitised early reticulocytes (ER) in the major sites of haematopoiesis establish a cryptic asexual cycle. Moreover, this cycle is characterised by early preferential commitment to gametocytogenesis, which occurs in sufficient numbers to generate almost all of the initial population of circulating, mature gametocytes. In addition, we show that P. berghei is less sensitive to artemisinin in splenic ER than in blood, which suggests that haematopoietic tissues may enable origins of recrudescent infection and emerging resistance to antimalarials. Continuous propagation in these sites may also provide a mechanism for continuous transmission and infection in malaria endemic regions

Health screenings administered during the domestic medical examination of refugees and other eligible immigrants in nine US states, 2014-2016: A cross-sectional analysis.

BACKGROUND: Refugees and other select visa holders are recommended to receive a domestic medical examination within 90 days after arrival to the United States. Limited data have been published on the coverage of screenings offered during this examination across multiple resettlement states, preventing evaluation of this voluntary program\u27s potential impact on postarrival refugee health. This analysis sought to calculate and compare screening proportions among refugees and other eligible populations to assess the domestic medical examination\u27s impact on screening coverage resulting from this examination. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis to summarize and compare domestic medical examination data from January 2014 to December 2016 from persons receiving a domestic medical examination in seven states (California, Colorado, Minnesota, New York, Kentucky, Illinois, and Texas); one county (Marion County, Indiana); and one academic medical center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We analyzed screening coverage by sex, age, nationality, and country of last residence of persons and compared the proportions of persons receiving recommended screenings by those characteristics. We received data on disease screenings for 105,541 individuals who received a domestic medical examination; 47% were female and 51.5% were between the ages of 18 and 44. The proportions of people undergoing screening tests for infectious diseases were high, including for tuberculosis (91.6% screened), hepatitis B (95.8% screened), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV; 80.3% screened). Screening rates for other health conditions were lower, including mental health (36.8% screened). The main limitation of our analysis was reliance on data that were collected primarily for programmatic rather than surveillance purposes. CONCLUSIONS: In this analysis, we observed high rates of screening coverage for tuberculosis, hepatitis B, and HIV during the domestic medical examination and lower screening coverage for mental health. This analysis provided evidence that the domestic medical examination is an opportunity to ensure newly arrived refugees and other eligible populations receive recommended health screenings and are connected to the US healthcare system. We also identified knowledge gaps on how screenings are conducted for some conditions, notably mental health, identifying directions for future research

Local probe investigation of the spin dynamics in the kagome and inter-layers of orthorhombic barlowite Cu4_4(OD)6_6FBr: 79^{79}Br and 63^{63}Cu NQR study

We report $^{79}$Br and $^{63}$Cu nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) in the paramagnetic state above $T_\text{N} = 15$ K of the antiferromagnetic orthorhombic phase of barlowite Cu$_4$(OD)$_6$FBr consisting of a layered kagome structure. The divergent behavior of the longitudinal $^{79}(1/T_{1})$ and transverse $^{79}(1/T_{2})$ relaxation rates observed at $^{79}$Br sites evidences that critical slowing down of Cu spin fluctuations sets in below $\sim20$ K. This means that one or more Cu sites, most likely at the interlayer Cu(3,4,5) sites between the kagome planes, undergo the antiferromagnetic phase transition in a fairly conventional way. On the other hand, the $^{63}$Cu NQR signal intensity is gradually wiped out below $\sim30$ K, pointing toward gradual spin freezing of the kagome layers instead. These contrasting findings suggest significant roles played by magnetic frustration effects within the kagome layers.Comment: 5 figure

Thermoregulation is not impaired in breast cancer survivors during moderate-intensity exercise performed in warm and hot environments

This study aimed to assess how female breast cancer survivors (BCS) respond physiologically, hematologically, and perceptually to exercise under heat stress compared to females with no history of breast cancer (CON). Twenty‐one females (9 BCS and 12 CON [age; 54 ± 7 years, stature; 167 ± 6 cm, body mass; 68.1 ± 7.62 kg, and body fat; 30.9 ± 3.8%]) completed a warm (25℃, 50% relative humidity, RH) and hot (35℃, 50%RH) trial in a repeated‐measures crossover design. Trials consisted of 30 min of rest, 30 min of walking at 4 metabolic equivalents, and a 6‐minute walk test (6MWT). Physiological measurements (core temperature (T (re)), skin temperature (T (skin)), heart rate (HR), and sweat analysis) and perceptual rating scales (ratings of perceived exertion, thermal sensation [whole body and localized], and thermal comfort) were taken at 5‐ and 10‐min intervals throughout, respectively. Venous blood samples were taken before and after to assess; IL‐6, IL‐10, CRP, IFN‐γ, and TGF‐β(1). All physiological markers were higher during the 35 versus 25℃ trial; T (re) (~0.25℃, p = 0.002), T (skin) (~3.8℃, p  0.05). Both groups covered a greater 6MWT distance in 25 versus 35℃ (by ~200 m; p = 0.003). Nevertheless, the control group covered more distance than BCS, regardless of environmental temperature (by ~400 m, p = 0.03). Thermoregulation was not disadvantaged in BCS compared to controls during moderate‐intensity exercise under heat stress. However, self‐paced exercise performance was reduced for BCS regardless of environmental temperature

The Burrell-Optical-Kepler-Survey (BOKS). I. Survey Description and Initial Results

We present the initial results of a 40 night contiguous ground-based campaign of time series photometric observations of a 1.39 deg^2 field located within the NASA Kepler Mission field of view. The goal of this pre-launch survey was to search for transiting extrasolar planets and to provide independent variability information of stellar sources. We have gathered a data set containing light curves of 54,687 stars from which we have created a statistical sub-sample of 13,786 stars between 14 < r < 18.5 and have statistically examined each light curve to test for variability. We present a summary of our preliminary photometric findings including the overall level and content of stellar variability in this portion of the Kepler field and give some examples of unusual variable stars found within. We present a preliminary catalog of 2,457 candidate variable stars, of which 776 show signs of periodicity. We also present three potential exoplanet candidates, all of which should be observable by the Kepler mission

Chemical mass transport between fluid fine tailings and the overlying water cover of an oil sands end pit lake

NSERC Grant No. CRDPJ 476388; NSERC Grant No. IRCPJ 428588–11Peer ReviewedFluid fine tailings (FFT) are a principal by-product of the bitumen extraction process at oil sands mines. Base Mine Lake (BML)—the first full-scale demonstration oil sands end pit lake (EPL)—contains approximately 1.9 3 108 m^3 of FFT stored under a water cover within a decommissioned mine pit. Chemical mass transfer from the FFT to the water cover can occur via two key processes: (1) advection-dispersion driven by tailings settlement; and (2) FFT disturbance due to fluid movement in the water cover. Dissolved chloride (Cl) was used to evaluate the water cover mass balance and to track mass transport within the underlying FFT based on field sampling and numerical modeling. Results indicated that FFT was the dominant Cl source to the water cover and that the FFT is exhibiting a transient advection-dispersion mass transport regime with intermittent disturbance near the FFT-water interface. The advective pore water flux was estimated by the mass balance to be 0.002 m^3 m^-2 d^-1, which represents 0.73 m of FFT settlement per year. However, the FFT pore water Cl concentrations and corresponding mass transport simulations indicated that advection rates and disturbance depths vary between sample locations. The disturbance depth was estimated to vary with location between 0.75 and 0.95 m. This investigation provides valuable insight for assessing the geochemical evolution of the water cover and performance of EPLs as an oil sands reclamation strategy