I\u27d Like To See The Kaiser With A Lily In His Hand

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/5030/thumbnail.jp

What Do You Want To Make Those Eyes At Me For?

https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mmb-vp/2650/thumbnail.jp

The Fecal Fermentation Profile of Infants with Different Feeding Modalities

Introduction/Background Research indicates nutrition and environment in the first year of a child\u27s life are crucial in their development and growth and can contribute to lower chances of developing obesity and other health concerns. Key factors that can determine these outcomes include the bacteria and resulting short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) present in the gut. This composition may be affected by feeding modality (formula feeding vs breastfeeding), exposure to the mother’s microbiota, weight status of the child, and type of delivery. This research aims to identify the impact of infant feeding modality on toddlers\u27 fecal fermentation profile, and if there are associations between weight status and microbiome, fecal fermentation profile. Methods/ Procedures Participants (n=40) were recruited during well-child pediatric appointments at ETSU’s Pediatric primary care clinic. Researchers explained the requirements of the study and participants were provided with a 90-question food frequency questionnaire (FFQ) for children ages 2-7, including 90 questions and asks about a child\u27s typical intake over the previous 6-month period. The food list was developed from NHANES III dietary recall data. The child’s history was obtained, including current age, birth length and weight, delivery type (C-section or vaginal), feeding method (breast, bottle fed, or both) and duration. The child’s weight and height were obtained, and body mass index (BMI) calculated. Participant-provided stool samples were freeze-dried and ground, and SCFAs were extracted using a procedure developed by Schwiertz et al. that was modified. One mL of the SCFA extraction solution, containing Oxalic acid (0.1 mol/L), Sodium Azide (40 mmol/L), and Caproic acid (0.1 mmol/L) (internal standard) was added to 80 mg of a freeze-dried stool sample in a 16 x 100 mm disposable culture tube, and analyzed using a Shimadzu GC2010 gas chromatograph with SigmaAldrich ZB-Wax Plus capillary column. Samples were run in duplicate, and values for each participant were averaged. Data analysis was generated using SAS software, Version 9.4 of the SAS System, Copyright © 2013 SAS Institute Inc. Results Initial findings showed no significant differences in the SCFA composition of obese vs non-obese toddlers in the sample. However, there were significant differences in the amount of specific SCFAs (isobutyrate, isovaleric acid, and octanoic acid) in toddlers who were formula fed as infants versus toddlers who were breastfed, and those fed a combination of breastmilk, and formula (p \u3c 0.05). Further analysis will determine if these initial results may be contributed to overall dietary intake, and more specifically fiber intake

Enrollment of adolescents and young adults onto SWOG cancer research network clinical trials: A comparative analysis by treatment site and era.

BackgroundFew adolescents and young adults (AYAs, 15-39 years old) enroll onto cancer clinical trials, which hinders research otherwise having the potential to improve outcomes in this unique population. Prior studies have reported that AYAs are more likely to receive cancer care in community settings. The National Cancer Institute (NCI) has led efforts to increase trial enrollment through its network of NCI-designated cancer centers (NCICC) combined with community outreach through its Community Clinical Oncology Program (CCOP; replaced by the NCI Community Oncology Research Program in 2014).MethodsUsing AYA proportional enrollment (the proportion of total enrollments who were AYAs) as the primary outcome, we examined enrollment of AYAs onto SWOG therapeutic trials at NCICC, CCOP, and non-NCICC/non-CCOP sites from 2004 to 2013 by type of site, study period (2004-08 vs 2009-13), and patient demographics.ResultsOverall, AYA proportional enrollment was 10.1%. AYA proportional enrollment decreased between 2004-2008 and 2009-2013 (13.1% vs 8.5%, P < .001), and was higher at NCICCs than at CCOPs and non-NCICC/non-CCOPs (14.1% vs 8.3% and 9.2%, respectively; P < .001). AYA proportional enrollment declined significantly at all three site types. Proportional enrollment of AYAs who were Black or Hispanic was significantly higher at NCICCs compared with CCOPs or non-NCICC/non-CCOPs (11.5% vs 8.8, P = .048 and 11.5% vs 8.6%, P = .03, respectively).ConclusionNot only did community sites enroll a lower proportion of AYAs onto cancer clinical trials, but AYA enrollment decreased in all study settings. Initiatives aimed at increasing AYA enrollment, particularly in the community setting with attention to minority status, are needed

E-cadherin mediates adherens junction organization through protein kinase C

Cultured human keratinocytes maintained in 30 μM Ca2+ do not form adherens junctions; however, when the extracellular Ca2+ concentration is raised to 1 mM, adherens junctions form very rapidly. The formation of a junction involves the coordinate organization of intracellular and extracellular components. Cadherins have been shown to mediate this coordinate organization. In this report we show that E-cadherin organizes the various junctional components by signalling through protein kinase C

Diffusion of hydrogen in crystalline silicon

The coefficient of diffusion of hydrogen in crystalline silicon is calculated using tight-binding molecular dynamics. Our results are in good quantitative agreement with an earlier study by Panzarini and Colombo [Phys. Rev. Lett. 73, 1636 (1994)]. However, while our calculations indicate that long jumps dominate over single hops at high temperatures, no abrupt change in the diffusion coefficient can be observed with decreasing temperature. The (classical) Arrhenius diffusion parameters, as a consequence, should extrapolate to low temperatures.Comment: 4 pages, including 5 postscript figures; submitted to Phys. Rev. B Brief Repor

Impact of modulation on CMB B-mode polarization experiments

We investigate the impact of both slow and fast polarization modulation strategies on the science return of upcoming ground-based experiments aimed at measuring the B-mode polarization of the CMB. Using simulations of the Clover experiment, we compare the ability of modulated and un-modulated observations to recover the signature of gravitational waves in the polarized CMB sky in the presence of a number of anticipated systematic effects. The general expectations that fast modulation is helpful in mitigating low-frequency detector noise, and that the additional redundancy in the projection of the instrument's polarization sensitivity directions onto the sky when modulating reduces the impact of instrumental polarization, are borne out by our simulations. Neither low-frequency polarized atmospheric fluctuations nor systematic errors in the polarization sensitivity directions are mitigated by modulation. Additionally, we find no significant reduction in the effect of pointing errors by modulation. For a Clover-like experiment, pointing jitter should be negligible but any systematic mis-calibration of the polarization coordinate reference system results in significant E-B mixing on all angular scales and will require careful control. We also stress the importance of combining data from multiple detectors in order to remove the effects of common-mode systematics (such as 1/f atmospheric noise) on the measured polarization signal. Finally we compare the performance of our simulated experiment with the predicted performance from a Fisher analysis. We find good agreement between the Fisher predictions and the simulations except for the very largest scales where the power spectrum estimator we have used introduces additional variance to the B-mode signal recovered from our simulations.Comment: Replaced with version accepted by MNRAS. Analysis of half-wave plate systematic (differential transmittance) adde

A study on wear evaluation of railway wheels based on multibody dynamics and wear computation

The wear evolution of railway wheels is a very important issue in railway engineering. In the past, the reprofiling intervals of railway vehicle steel wheels have been scheduled according to designers' experience. Today, more reliable and accurate tools in predicting wheel wear evolution and wheelset lifetime can be used in order to achieve economical and safety benefits. In this work, a computational tool that is able to predict the evolution of the wheel profiles for a given railway system, as a function of the distance run, is presented. The strategy adopted consists of using a commercial multibody software to study the railway dynamic problem and a purpose-built code for managing its pre- and post-processing data in order to compute the wear. The tool is applied here to realistic operation scenarios in order to assess the effect of some service conditions on the wheel wear progression

A 2-year randomised placebo-controlled trial of doxycycline for lymphangioleiomyomatosis

Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) is characterised by lung cysts and airflow obstruction. Matrix metalloproteinases have been implicated in lung destruction in LAM. We performed a randomised, double-blind trial, comparing the matrix metalloproteinases inhibitor doxycycline with placebo on the progression of LAM. 23 females with LAM were randomised to doxycycline 100 mg daily for 3 months followed by 200 mg daily for 21 months, or matched placebo. Lung function, exercise capacity, quality of life and matrix metalloproteinases levels were measured. 21 patients completed 6 months of treatment, 17 completed 1 year of treatment and 15 completed 2 years of treatment. Eight withdrew from the trial due, four due to a pneumothorax and four because of other reasons. The mean±sd decline in FEV1, the primary endpoint, did not differ between the groups being -90±154 mL·year−1 in the placebo group and -123±246 mL·year−1 in the doxycycline group (difference -32.5, 95% CI -213–148; p=0.35). Doxycycline had no effect upon vital capacity, gas transfer, shuttle walk distance or quality of life. Urine matrix metalloproteinases-9 measurements were lower with doxycycline treatment (p=0.03). Although with limited numbers we cannot completely exclude an effect of doxycycline, the lack of effect on any outcome makes it unlikely that doxycycline has a useful effect in LAM