Delineation of the boundaries of a buried pre-glacial valley with LANDSAT-1 data

The continuity of a narrow meandering strip of Udoll (prairie) soils running east and west for approximately 40 miles across north central Indiana in an area predominantly of Udalfs (timber soils) was detected from LANDSAT-1 data taken on June 9, 1973. This data was processed through a clustering procedure and classified with resulting increased definition of the boundaries among soils grouped according to nine categories and vegetation to two categories of reflectance. This dark stretch of prairie soil is believed to have formed in the heavy textured, poorly drained glacial debris which filled a major pre-glacial tributary of the Teays River System. Ready identification and location of the valley has significance to soil survey and land classification people as a guide to soil classification and land use and to geologists as a guide to location of a potentially economically significant aquifer

Not Just Women’s Work: Recruiting Men to Occupational Therapy

Compared to women, men are less likely to become occupational therapists (OT). To have a more diverse workforce, and to relate to various patient groups, reasons men do not enter the field of OT must be better understood. Our study compares men and women in their familiarity with OT and desire to work in the field. Data were gathered using an online, self-report survey administered to students at a public university in the southeast. The sample included 334 undergraduate students who were in majors that often serve as feeder programs to OT graduate programs. The average age was 19.8 years (SD = 3.84). A majority of the students were women (80.1%). Ratings of familiarity with OT or interest in OT were generally low, with no significant differences between men and women. Women were more likely to endorse a calling orientation (i.e., work brings fulfillment to life) to their work, while men were more likely to endorse a career (i.e., advancement indicates achievement) or job orientation (i.e., the job is a means to an end). Career orientation predicted a greater interest in entering healthcare for men, but not women. More broadly, men and women may be interested in healthcare for different reasons, and this information needs to be utilized in marketing the profession

Susceptibility or resilience? Prenatal stress predisposes male rats to social subordination, but facilitates adaptation to subordinate status

Mood disorders such as major depressive disorder (MDD) affect a significant proportion of the population. Although progress has been made in the development of therapeutics, a large number of individuals do not attain full remission of symptoms and adverse side effects affect treatment compliance for some. In order to develop new therapies, there is a push for new models that better reflect the multiple risk factors that likely contribute to the development of depressive illness. We hypothesized that early life stress would exacerbate the depressive-like phenotype that we have previously observed in socially subordinate (SUB) adult male rats in the visible burrow system (VBS), a semi-natural, ethologically relevant environment in which males in a colony form a dominance hierarchy. Dams were exposed to chronic variable stress (CVS) during the last week of gestation, resulting in a robust and non-habituating glucocorticoid response that did not alter maternal food intake, body weight or litter size and weight. As adults, one prenatal CVS (PCVS) and one non-stressed (NS) male were housed in the VBS with adult females. Although there were no overt differences between PCVS and NS male offspring prior to VBS housing, a greater percentage of PCVS males became SUB. However, the depressive-like phenotype of SUB males was not exacerbated in PCVS males; rather, they appeared to better cope with SUB status than NS SUB males. They had lower basal plasma corticosterone than NS SUB males at the end of VBS housing. In situ hybridization for CRH in the PVN and CeA did not reveal any prenatal treatment or status effects, while NPY expression was higher within the MeA of dominant and subordinate males exposed to the VBS in comparison with controls, but with no effect of prenatal treatment. These data suggest that prenatal chronic variable stress may confer resilience to offspring when exposed to social stress in adulthood

Regional brain response to visual food cues is a marker of satiety that predicts food choice

ABSTRACT Background: Neuronal processes that underlie the subjective experience of satiety after a meal are not well defined. Objective: We investigated how satiety alters the perception of and neural response to visual food cues. Design: Normal-weight participants (10 men, 13 women) underwent 2 fMRI scans while viewing images of high-calorie food that was previously rated as incompatible with weight loss and "fattening" and low-calorie, "nonfattening" food. After a fasting fMRI scan, participants ate a standardized breakfast and underwent reimaging at a randomly assigned time 15-300 min after breakfast to vary the degree of satiety. Measures of subjective appetite, food appeal, and ad libitum food intake (measured after the second fMRI scan) were correlated with activation by "fattening" (compared with "nonfattening") food cues in a priori regions of interest. Results: Greater hunger correlated with higher appeal ratings of "fattening" (r = 0.46, P = 0.03) but not "nonfattening" (r = 20.20, P = 0.37) foods. Fasting amygdalar activation was negatively associated with fullness (left: r = 20.52; right: r = 20.58; both P # 0.01), whereas postbreakfast fullness was positively correlated with activation in the dorsal striatum (right: r = 0.44; left: r = 0.45; both P , 0.05). After breakfast, participants with greater activation in 4 regions-medial orbital frontal cortex (r = 0.49, P , 0.05), left amygdala (r = 0.49, P , 0.05), left insula (r = 0.47, P , 0.05), and nucleus accumbens (right: r = 0.57, P , 0.01; left: r = 0.43, P , 0.05)-chose buffet foods with higher fat content. Conclusions: Postmeal satiety is shown in regional brain activation by images of high-calorie foods. Regions including the amygdala, nucleus accumbens, and dorsal striatum may alter perception of, and reduce motivation to consume, energy-rich foods, ultimately driving food choice. This trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT01631045. Am J Clin Nutr 2012;96:989-99

Azithromycin versus standard care in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 (ATOMIC2): an open-label, randomised trial

BACKGROUND: The antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, and antiviral properties of azithromycin suggest therapeutic potential against COVID-19. Randomised data in mild-to-moderate disease are not available. We assessed whether azithromycin is effective in reducing hospital admission in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. METHODS: This prospective, open-label, randomised superiority trial was done at 19 hospitals in the UK. We enrolled adults aged at least 18 years presenting to hospitals with clinically diagnosed, highly probable or confirmed COVID-19 infection, with fewer than 14 days of symptoms, who were considered suitable for initial ambulatory management. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to azithromycin (500 mg once daily orally for 14 days) plus standard care or to standard care alone. The primary outcome was death or hospital admission from any cause over the 28 days from randomisation. The primary and safety outcomes were assessed according to the intention-to-treat principle. This trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04381962) and recruitment is closed. FINDINGS: 298 participants were enrolled from June 3, 2020, to Jan 29, 2021. Three participants withdrew consent and requested removal of all data, and three further participants withdrew consent after randomisation, thus, the primary outcome was assessed in 292 participants (145 in the azithromycin group and 147 in the standard care group). The mean age of the participants was 45·9 years (SD 14·9). 15 (10%) participants in the azithromycin group and 17 (12%) in the standard care group were admitted to hospital or died during the study (adjusted OR 0·91 [95% CI 0·43-1·92], p=0·80). No serious adverse events were reported. INTERPRETATION: In patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 managed without hospital admission, adding azithromycin to standard care treatment did not reduce the risk of subsequent hospital admission or death. Our findings do not support the use of azithromycin in patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19. FUNDING: National Institute for Health Research Oxford Biomedical Research Centre, University of Oxford and Pfizer

A randomized attitude slew planning algorithm for autonomous spacecraft

The ability to autonomously generate and execute large angle attitude maneuvers, while operating under a number of celestial and dynamical constraints, is a key factor in the development of several future space platforms. In this paper we propose a ran-domized attitude slew planning algorithm for autonomous spacecraft, which is able to address a variety of pointing constraints, including bright object avoidance and ground link maintenance, as well as constraints on the control inputs and spacecraft states, and integral constraints such as those deriving from thermal control requirements. Moreover, through the scheduling of feedback control policies, the algorithm provides a consistent decoupling between low-level control and attitude motion planning, and is robust with respect to uncertainties in the spacecraft dynamics and environmental disturbances. Sim-ulation examples are presented and discussed

True interindividual variability exists in postprandial appetite responses in healthy men but is not moderated by the FTO genotype

Background: After meal ingestion, a series of coordinated hormone responses occur concomitantly with changes in perceived appetite. It is not known whether interindividual variability in appetite exists in response to a meal. Objectives: This study aimed to 1) assess the reproducibility of appetite responses to a meal; 2) quantify individual differences in responses; and 3) explore any moderating influence of the fat mass and obesity associated (FTO) gene. Methods: Using a replicated crossover design, 18 healthy men (mean ± SD 28.5 ± 9.8 years, 27.0 ± 5.0 kg·m-2 ) recruited according to FTO genotype (9 AA, 9 TT) completed two identical control and two identical standardized meal conditions (5025 kJ) in randomized sequences. Perceived appetite and plasma acylated ghrelin, total peptide YY (PYY), insulin and glucose concentrations were measured before and after interventions as primary outcomes. Interindividual differences were explored using Pearson’s product-moment correlations between the first and second replicate of the control-adjusted meal response. Within-participant covariate-adjusted linear mixed models were used to quantify participant by-condition and genotype-by-condition interactions. Results: The meal suppressed acylated ghrelin and appetite perceptions (standardized effect sizes (ES): 0.18-4.26) and elevated total PYY, insulin and glucose (ES: 1.96-21.60). For all variables, SD of change scores was greater in the meal versus control conditions. Moderate-to-large positive correlations were observed between the two replicates of control-adjusted meal responses for all variables (r=0.44-0.86, P≤0.070). Participant-by-condition interactions were present for all variables (P≤0.056). FTO genotype-by-condition interactions were not significant (P≥0.19) and treatment effect differences between genotype groups were small (ES≤0.27) for all appetite parameters. Conclusions: Reproducibility of postprandial appetite responses is generally good. True interindividual variability is present beyond any random within-subject variation in healthy men but is not moderated by the FTO genotype. These findings highlight the 3 importance of exploring individual differences in appetite for the prevention and/or treatment of obesity. Clinical trial registry number: NCT03771690 (ClinicalTrials.gov)