133 research outputs found

    Correlates of life satisfaction and acculturation among university students

    Get PDF
    The present study compared correlations between life satisfaction, acculturation, socioeconomic status, and social support for students born in the United States and for students not born in the United States. Acculturation scores differed significantly between American-born and foreign born participants, while life satisfaction scores did not, indicating that living in a new country is not necessarily a negative experience for college-age students. Furthermore, acculturation to the host culture, that is, American culture, was found to correlate with life satisfaction among American-born students, and socioeconomic status correlated with acculturation for both groups. We recommend that future acculturation research control for socioeconomic status and include non-immigrant populations as comparison groups

    Feedback control of intensified fed-batch mammalian cell culture using inline raman spectroscopy

    Get PDF
    Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

    To preserve or not to preserve the orbit in paranasal sinus neoplasms : A meta-analysis

    Get PDF
    Context The effect on survival of orbital evisceration on patients with paranasal sinus neoplasms has not been well established. Objective To review systematically the available literature concerning survival in patients who undergo surgery for paranasal sinus neoplasm with and without preservation of the eye. Data Source A retrospective meta-analysis of English and non-English articles using Medline and the Cochrane database. Eligibility Criteria Studies analyzing 5-year survival rates in patients who had orbital evisceration compared with orbital preservation for the treatment of paranasal sinus neoplasms were included in the final analysis. Data Extraction Independent review by two authors using predefined data fields. Data Synthesis A meta-analysis of four articles involving 443 patients was performed using the DerSimonian-Laird random-effects method. Results Our analysis revealed a total effect size of 0.964 in favor of preservation of the eye; however, these results are not robust, having a true effect size anywhere from 0.785 to 1.142 with a 95% confidence interval. Limitations Only retrospective observational studies were included because a prospective randomized study cannot be performed in this population. Conclusion Our study supports the notion that in select patients preservation of the eye may yield a different outcome when compared with orbital evisceration

    A cryogenic rotation stage with a large clear aperture for the half-wave plates in the Spider instrument

    Get PDF
    We describe the cryogenic half-wave plate rotation mechanisms built for and used in Spider, a polarization-sensitive balloon-borne telescope array that observed the Cosmic Microwave Background at 95 GHz and 150 GHz during a stratospheric balloon flight from Antarctica in January 2015. The mechanisms operate at liquid helium temperature in flight. A three-point contact design keeps the mechanical bearings relatively small but allows for a large (305 mm) diameter clear aperture. A worm gear driven by a cryogenic stepper motor allows for precise positioning and prevents undesired rotation when the motors are depowered. A custom-built optical encoder system monitors the bearing angle to an absolute accuracy of +/- 0.1 degrees. The system performed well in Spider during its successful 16 day flight.Comment: 11 pages, 7 figures, Published in Review of Scientific Instruments. v2 includes reviewer changes and longer literature revie

    The Tudor-domain protein TDRD7, mutated in congenital cataract, controls the heat shock protein HSPB1 (HSP27) and lens fiber cell morphology

    Get PDF
    Mutations of the RNA granule component TDRD7 (OMIM: 611258) cause pediatric cataract. We applied an integrated approach to uncover the molecular pathology of cataract in Tdrd7−/− mice. Early postnatal Tdrd7−/− animals precipitously develop cataract suggesting a global-level breakdown/misregulation of key cellular processes. High-throughput RNA sequencing integrated with iSyTE-bioinformatics analysis identified the molecular chaperone and cytoskeletal modulator, HSPB1, among high-priority downregulated candidates in Tdrd7−/− lens. A protein fluorescence two-dimensional difference in-gel electrophoresis (2D-DIGE)-coupled mass spectrometry screen also identified HSPB1 downregulation, offering independent support for its importance to Tdrd7−/− cataractogenesis. Lens fiber cells normally undergo nuclear degradation for transparency, posing a challenge: how is their cell morphology, also critical for transparency, controlled post-nuclear degradation? HSPB1 functions in cytoskeletal maintenance, and its reduction in Tdrd7−/− lens precedes cataract, suggesting cytoskeletal defects may contribute to Tdrd7−/− cataract. In agreement, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) revealed abnormal fiber cell morphology in Tdrd7−/− lenses. Further, abnormal phalloidin and wheat germ agglutinin (WGA) staining of Tdrd7−/− fiber cells, particularly those exhibiting nuclear degradation, reveals distinct regulatory mechanisms control F-actin cytoskeletal and/or membrane maintenance in post-organelle degradation maturation stage fiber cells. Indeed, RNA immunoprecipitation identified Hspb1 mRNA in wild-type lens lysate TDRD7-pulldowns, and single-molecule RNA imaging showed co-localization of TDRD7 protein with cytoplasmic Hspb1 mRNA in differentiating fiber cells, suggesting that TDRD7–ribonucleoprotein complexes may be involved in optimal buildup of key factors. Finally, Hspb1 knockdown in Xenopus causes eye/lens defects. Together, these data uncover TDRD7’s novel upstream role in elevation of stress-responsive chaperones for cytoskeletal maintenance in post-nuclear degradation lens fiber cells, perturbation of which causes early-onset cataracts

    Modeling and characterization of the SPIDER half-wave plate

    Get PDF
    Spider is a balloon-borne array of six telescopes that will observe the Cosmic Microwave Background. The 2624 antenna-coupled bolometers in the instrument will make a polarization map of the CMB with approximately one-half degree resolution at 145 GHz. Polarization modulation is achieved via a cryogenic sapphire half-wave plate (HWP) skyward of the primary optic. We have measured millimeter-wave transmission spectra of the sapphire at room and cryogenic temperatures. The spectra are consistent with our physical optics model, and the data gives excellent measurements of the indices of A-cut sapphire. We have also taken preliminary spectra of the integrated HWP, optical system, and detectors in the prototype Spider receiver. We calculate the variation in response of the HWP between observing the CMB and foreground spectra, and estimate that it should not limit the Spider constraints on inflation

    Improving the design process for factories:modelling human performance variation

    Get PDF
    Theprocess of manufacturing system design frequently includes modeling, and usually, this means applying a technique such as discrete event simulation (DES). However, the computer tools currently available to apply this technique enable only a superficial representation of the people that operate within the systems. This is a serious limitation because the performance of people remains central to the competitiveness of many manufacturing enterprises. Therefore, this paper explores the use of probability density functions to represent the variation of worker activity times within DES models
    corecore