As Low Birth Weight Babies Grow, Can 'Good' Parents Buffer this Adverse Factor? A Research Note.

This research note combines two national Taiwanese datasets to investigate the relationship between low birth weight (LBW) babies, their family background and their future academic outcomes. We find that LBW is negatively correlated with the probability of such children attending university at the age of 18; however, when both parents are college or senior high school graduates, such negative effects may be partially offset. We also show that discrimination against daughters does occur, but only in those cases where the daughters were LBW babies. Moreover, high parental education (HPE) can only buffer the LBW shock among moderately-LBW children (as compared to very-LBW children) and full term-LBW children (as compared to preterm-LBW children).

Evaluation of roughness, hardness, and strength of AA 6061 molds for manufacturing polymeric microdevices

In the manufacturing of polymeric microfluidic devices, micro-molds play a key role because they determine not only the manufacturing cost but also the quality of the molded parts. Recently, a high-quality aluminum alloy 6061 (AA6061) mold with fine features less than its grain size has been fabricated economically by a hot embossing technique. However, temperature cycling during hot embossing process in mold manufacturing reduces significantly the original tensile strength and hardness of the AA6061-T6 alloy substrate, which is not desirable. In this study, a tempering process is carried out to recover the tensile strength and hardness of the embossed mold. To evaluate the changes of these properties, surface roughness, tensile strength, and hardness values were measured in each stage: (1) before hot embossing, (2) after hot embossing, and (3) tempering to T4 and tempering to T6. The results obtained demonstrate that the original strengths and hardness can be fully recovered by a post-tempering process after hot embossing, but with an increase in surface roughness. Moreover, accelerated testing was carried out to evaluate the changes in hardness and roughness of AA6061-T4 and T6 molds under the typical hot embossing temperature cycles of manufacturing polymeric devices. The results obtained indicate that these temperature cycles have only a minor effect on the roughness of both T4 and T6 molds and will increase the hardness of T4 molds to T6 temper, and have negligible effect on the hardness of a T6 temper mold

Sialylation of vasorin by ST3Gal1 facilitates TGF-β1-mediated tumor angiogenesis and progression.

ST3Gal1 is a key sialyltransferase which adds α2,3-linked sialic acid to substrates and generates core 1 O-glycan structure. Upregulation of ST3Gal1 has been associated with worse prognosis of breast cancer patients. However, the protein substrates of ST3Gal1 implicated in tumor progression remain elusive. In our study, we demonstrated that ST3GAL1-silencing significantly reduced tumor growth along with a notable decrease in vascularity of MCF7 xenograft tumors. We identified vasorin (VASN) which was shown to bind TGF-β1, as a potential candidate that links ST3Gal1 to angiogenesis. LC-MS/MS analysis of VASN secreted from MCF7, revealed that more than 80% of its O-glycans are sialyl-3T and disialyl-T. ST3GAL1-silencing or desialylation of VASN by neuraminidase enhanced its binding to TGF-β1 by 2- to 3-fold and thereby dampening TGF-β1 signaling and angiogenesis, as indicated by impaired tube formation of HUVECs, suppressed angiogenesis gene expression and reduced activation of Smad2 and Smad3 in HUVEC cells. Examination of 114 fresh primary breast cancer and their adjacent normal tissues showed that the expression levels of ST3Gal1 and TGFB1 were high in tumor part and the expression of two genes was positively correlated. Kaplan Meier survival analysis showed a significantly shorter relapse-free survival for those with lower expression VASN, notably, the combination of low VASN with high ST3GAL1 yielded even higher risk of recurrence (p = 0.025, HR = 2.967, 95% CI = 1.14-7.67). Since TGF-β1 is known to transcriptionally activate ST3Gal1, our findings illustrated a feedback regulatory loop in which TGF-β1 upregulates ST3Gal1 to circumvent the negative impact of VASN

Calculation of Weighted Geometric Dilution of Precision

To achieve high accuracy in wireless positioning systems, both accurate measurements and good geometric relationship between the mobile device and the measurement units are required. Geometric dilution of precision (GDOP) is widely used as a criterion for selecting measurement units, since it represents the geometric effect on the relationship between measurement error and positioning determination error. In the calculation of GDOP value, the maximum volume method does not necessarily guarantee the selection of the optimal four measurement units with minimum GDOP. The conventional matrix inversion method for GDOP calculation demands a large amount of operation and causes high power consumption. To select the subset of the most appropriate location measurement units which give the minimum positioning error, we need to consider not only the GDOP effect but also the error statistics property. In this paper, we employ the weighted GDOP (WGDOP), instead of GDOP, to select measurement units so as to improve the accuracy of location. The handheld global positioning system (GPS) devices and mobile phones with GPS chips can merely provide limited calculation ability and power capacity. Therefore, it is very imperative to obtain WGDOP accurately and efficiently. This paper proposed two formations of WGDOP with less computation when four measurements are available for location purposes. The proposed formulae can reduce the computational complexity required for computing the matrix inversion. The simpler WGDOP formulae for both the 2D and the 3D location estimation, without inverting a matrix, can be applied not only to GPS but also to wireless sensor networks (WSN) and cellular communication systems. Furthermore, the proposed formulae are able to provide precise solution of WGDOP calculation without incurring any approximation error

Investigation of the properties of alkali-activated slag mixes involving the use of nanoclay and nucleation seeds for 3D printing

This study investigated the properties of alkali activated slag (AAS) binders formulated for extrusion‐based 3D printing. The fresh properties of AAS mixes were tailored through the use of nanoclay (NC) and nucleation seeds. The printability criteria employed were the ease of extrusion (extrudability) and the stability of the layered structure (buildability). Introduction of 0.4% NC in AAS mixes led to improved thixotropic properties due to the flocculation effect, which accounted for the extrudability and shape fidelity of the binder. Inclusion of 2% hydromagnesite seeds in this mix design provided additional nucleation sites for the increased precipitation of hydrate phases, resulting in denser microstructures. This enhanced the hydration reaction and improved the structural build-up rate necessary for large-scale 3D printing. The developed AAS mix containing 0.4% NC and 2% hydromagnesite seeds was used in the printing of an actual 3D structure to demonstrate its feasibility to be used in 3D printing applications

Secondary Metabolites from the Leaves of Aquilaria agallocha

Twelve compounds, including three flavonoids, 5-hydroxy-4¢,7- dimethoxyflavone (1) [22], luteolin-7,3¢,4¢-trimethyl ether (2) and 5,3¢- dihydroxy-7,4¢-dimethoxyflavone (3), five benzenoids, methylparaben (4), vanillic acid (5), p-hydroxybenzoic acid (6), syringic acid (7), and isovanillic acid (8) and four steroids, b-sitosterol (9), stigmasterol (10), b-sitostenone (11) and stigmasta-4,22-dien-3- one (12) were isolated from the leaves of Aquilaria agallocha (Thymelaeaceae). All of these compounds (1-12) were obtained for the first time from the leaves of this plant

Observation of associated near-side and away-side long-range correlations in √sNN=5.02 TeV proton-lead collisions with the ATLAS detector

Two-particle correlations in relative azimuthal angle (Δϕ) and pseudorapidity (Δη) are measured in √sNN=5.02  TeV p+Pb collisions using the ATLAS detector at the LHC. The measurements are performed using approximately 1  μb-1 of data as a function of transverse momentum (pT) and the transverse energy (ΣETPb) summed over 3.1<η<4.9 in the direction of the Pb beam. The correlation function, constructed from charged particles, exhibits a long-range (2<|Δη|<5) “near-side” (Δϕ∼0) correlation that grows rapidly with increasing ΣETPb. A long-range “away-side” (Δϕ∼π) correlation, obtained by subtracting the expected contributions from recoiling dijets and other sources estimated using events with small ΣETPb, is found to match the near-side correlation in magnitude, shape (in Δη and Δϕ) and ΣETPb dependence. The resultant Δϕ correlation is approximately symmetric about π/2, and is consistent with a dominant cos⁡2Δϕ modulation for all ΣETPb ranges and particle pT

Search for dark matter in events with heavy quarks and missing transverse momentum in pp collisions with the ATLAS detector

This article reports on a search for dark matterpair production in association with bottom or top quarks in20.3fb−1ofppcollisions collected at√s=8TeVbytheATLAS detector at the LHC. Events with large missing trans-verse momentum are selected when produced in associationwith high-momentum jets of which one or more are identifiedas jets containingb-quarks. Final states with top quarks areselected by requiring a high jet multiplicity and in some casesa single lepton. The data are found to be consistent with theStandard Model expectations and limits are set on the massscale of effective field theories that describe scalar and tensorinteractions between dark matter and Standard Model par-ticles. Limits on the dark-matter–nucleon cross-section forspin-independent and spin-dependent interactions are alsoprovided. These limits are particularly strong for low-massdark matter. Using a simplified model, constraints are set onthe mass of dark matter and of a coloured mediator suitableto explain a possible signal of annihilating dark matter

Lasting DNA Damage and Aberrant DNA Repair Gene Expression Profile Are Associated with Post-Chronic Cadmium Exposure in Human Bronchial Epithelial Cells

Cadmium (Cd) is a widespread environmental pollutant and carcinogen. Although the exact mechanisms of Cd-induced carcinogenesis remain unclear, previous acute/chronic Cd exposure studies have shown that Cd exerts its cytotoxic and carcinogenic effects through multiple mechanisms, including interference with the DNA repair system. However, the effects of post-chronic Cd exposure remain unknown. Here, we establish a unique post-chronic Cd-exposed human lung cell model (the CR0 cells) and investigate the effects of post-chronic Cd exposure on the DNA repair system. We found that the CR0 cells retained Cd-resistant property even though it was grown in Cd-free culture medium for over a year. The CR0 cells had lasting DNA damage due to reduced DNA repair capacity and an aberrant DNA repair gene expression profile. A total of 12 DNA repair genes associated with post-chronic Cd exposure were identified, and they could be potential biomarkers for identifying post-chronic Cd exposure. Clinical database analysis suggests that some of the DNA repair genes play a role in lung cancer patients with different smoking histories. Generally, CR0 cells were more sensitive to chemotherapeutic (cisplatin, gemcitabine, and vinorelbine tartrate) and DNA damaging (H2O2) agents, which may represent a double-edged sword for cancer prevention and treatment. Overall, we demonstrated for the first time that the effects of post-chronic Cd exposure on human lung cells are long-lasting and different from that of acute and chronic exposures. Findings from our study unveiled a new perspective on Cd-induced carcinogenesis-the post-chronic exposure of Cd. This study encourages the field of post-exposure research which is crucial but has long been ignored