Toxicokinetic Modeling of Persistent Organic Pollutant Levels in Blood from Birth to 45 Months of Age in Longitudinal Birth Cohort Studies

Background: Despite experimental evidence that lactational exposure to persistent organic pollutants (POPs) can impact health, results from epidemiologic studies are inconclusive. Inconsistency across studies may reflect the inability of current methods to estimate children’s blood levels during specific periods of susceptibility. Objectives: We developed a toxicokinetic model to simulate blood POP levels in children from two longitudinal birth cohorts and aimed to validate it against blood levels measured at 6, 16, and 45 months of age. Methods: The model consisted of a maternal and a child lipid compartment connected through placental diffusion and breastfeeding. Simulations were carried out based on individual physiologic parameters; duration of breastfeeding; and levels of POPs measured in maternal blood at delivery, cord blood, or breast milk. Model validity was assessed through regression analyses of simulated against measured blood levels. Results: Simulated levels explained between 10% and 83% of measured blood levels depending on the cohort, the compound, the sample used to simulate children’s blood levels, and child’s age when blood levels were measured. Model accuracy was highest for estimated blood POP levels at 6 months based on maternal or cord blood levels. However, loss in model precision between the 6th and the 45th month was small for most compounds. Conclusions: Our validated toxicokinetic model can be used to estimate children’s blood POP levels in early to mid-childhood. Estimates can be used in epidemiologic studies to evaluate the impact of exposure during hypothesized postnatal periods of susceptibility on health

Self-Governing Policies: A Critique of Bratman

Michael Bratman in his essay “Reflection, Planning and Temporally Extended Agency” espouses a reductive view of agency based largely upon what he calls “self-governing policies.” Combining self-governing policies with a Lockean approach to personal identity over time, Bratman’s view stays within the bounds of event causation and attempts to reduce agency to mere attitudes. First I will give the problem Bratman’s approach to agency intends to solve, then move through his view beginning with the planning theory of intention, then on to his Lockean approach to personal identity and finally self-governing policies. I will then pose some problems for his theory

Laboratory and tentative interstellar detection of trans-methyl formate using the publicly available Green Bank Telescope PRIMOS survey

The rotational spectrum of the higher-energy trans conformational isomer of methyl formate has been assigned for the first time using several pulsed-jet Fourier transform microwave spectrometers in the 6-60 GHz frequency range. This species has also been sought toward the Sagittarius B2(N) molecular cloud using the publicly available PRIMOS survey from the Green Bank Telescope. We detect seven absorption features in the survey that coincide with laboratory transitions of trans-methyl formate, from which we derive a column density of 3.1 (+2.6, -1.2) \times 10^13 cm-2 and a rotational temperature of 7.6 \pm 1.5 K. This excitation temperature is significantly lower than that of the more stable cis conformer in the same source but is consistent with that of other complex molecular species recently detected in Sgr B2(N). The difference in the rotational temperatures of the two conformers suggests that they have different spatial distributions in this source. As the abundance of trans-methyl formate is far higher than would be expected if the cis and trans conformers are in thermodynamic equilibrium, processes that could preferentially form trans-methyl formate in this region are discussed. We also discuss measurements that could be performed to make this detection more certain. This manuscript demonstrates how publicly available broadband radio astronomical surveys of chemically rich molecular clouds can be used in conjunction with laboratory rotational spectroscopy to search for new molecules in the interstellar medium.Comment: 40 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables; accepted for publication in Ap

Visual Archives of the AIDS Epidemic: Examining the Cultivation of Anticipatory Mourning in the Works of Nan Goldin, Cookie Mueller, and Vittorio Scarpati

In examining Putti’s Puddingand The Cookie Portfolioas independent yet intertwined projects of anticipatory mourning, this thesis identifies Witnesses: Against Our Vanishing as the artistic fulfillment of Vittorio Scarpati, Cookie Mueller, and Nan Goldin’s combined efforts to proleptically manifest collective memory within the visual archive of their shared experience with AIDS. Assisted by an exploration of both the AIDS epidemic and the three artist’s linked life histories, this study also recognizes the importance of creating an art history inclusive of social and personal history whilst considering materials so inextricably linked to their creator’s biographical contexts

Exploratory analysis of methods for automated classification of laboratory test orders into syndromic groups in veterinary medicine

Background: Recent focus on earlier detection of pathogen introduction in human and animal populations has led to the development of surveillance systems based on automated monitoring of health data. Real- or near real-time monitoring of pre-diagnostic data requires automated classification of records into syndromes-syndromic surveillance-using algorithms that incorporate medical knowledge in a reliable and efficient way, while remaining comprehensible to end users. Methods: This paper describes the application of two of machine learning (Naïve Bayes and Decision Trees) and rule-based methods to extract syndromic information from laboratory test requests submitted to a veterinary diagnostic laboratory. Results: High performance (F1-macro = 0.9995) was achieved through the use of a rule-based syndrome classifier, based on rule induction followed by manual modification during the construction phase, which also resulted in clear interpretability of the resulting classification process. An unmodified rule induction algorithm achieved an F1-micro score of 0.979 though this fell to 0.677 when performance for individual classes was averaged in an unweighted manner (F1-macro), due to the fact that the algorithm failed to learn 3 of the 16 classes from the training set. Decision Trees showed equal interpretability to the rule-based approaches, but achieved an F1-micro score of 0.923 (falling to 0.311 when classes are given equal weight). A Naïve Bayes classifier learned all classes and achieved high performance (F1-micro = 0.994 and F1-macro =. 955), however the classification process is not transparent to the domain experts. Conclusion: The use of a manually customised rule set allowed for the development of a system for classification of laboratory tests into syndromic groups with very high performance, and high interpretability by the domain experts. Further research is required to develop internal validation rules in order to establish automated methods to update model rules without user input

Intersection between metabolic dysfunction, high fat diet consumption, and brain aging

Deleterious neurochemical, structural, and behavioral alterations are a seemingly unavoidable aspect of brain aging. However, the basis for these alterations, as well as the basis for the tremendous variability in regards to the degree to which these aspects are altered in aging individuals, remains to be elucidated. An increasing number of individuals regularly consume a diet high in fat, with high‐fat diet consumption known to be sufficient to promote metabolic dysfunction, although the links between high‐fat diet consumption and aging are only now beginning to be elucidated. In this review we discuss the potential role for age‐related metabolic disturbances serving as an important basis for deleterious perturbations in the aging brain. These data not only have important implications for understanding the basis of brain aging, but also may be important to the development of therapeutic interventions which promote successful brain aging.Fil: Uranga, Romina Maria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Instituto de Investigaciones Bioquímicas de Bahía Blanca; ArgentinaFil: Bruce Keller, Annadora J.. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Morrison, Christopher D.. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Fernandez Kim, Sun Ok. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Ebenezer, Philip J.. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Zhang, Le. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Dasuri, Kalavathi. State University of Louisiana; Estados UnidosFil: Keller, Jeffrey N.. State University of Louisiana; Estados Unido

Intentional Learning Theory: Validating Its Measurement

The purpose of this article is to describe and analyze the psychometric properties of the Learning Orientation Questionnaire (LOQ), which have not been previously published. Psychometric validation involves the accumulation of proper empirical evidence to confirm measurement of the intended construct, and to justify the intended uses of the scales. LOQ is based upon the intentional learning theory, which is a comprehensive, holistic learning theory. Through the expertise of the LOQ’s developer, educational researcher, and psychometrician, this article presents evidence of LOQ’s reliability and validity according to published best practices for scale development and validation. LOQ is a reliable and valid instrument determining where learners fall along the learning orientation continuum. Education researchers can use this information to support learners to move upward on the learning orientation continuum, improving their inclination to learn, high-order thinking, and life-long learning

SPECTROSCOPIC TREASURE IN FORGOTTEN DATA: ROTATIONAL SPECTRUM ANALYSIS THROUGH AGGREGATED DATABASES

We present the automated analysis of rotational spectra using archived experimental and ab initio data. Modern rotational spectroscopy techniques have made acquiring experimental data extremely fast, yielding many GHz of information in seconds. This is in contrast to the analysis, which still takes many hours if not weeks of an expert’s time to fit. In order to bring rotational spectroscopy to a wider audience, new applications, and enable new science, the effort and time required to analyze a spectrum needs to be reduced. To reduce the analysis time, we aggregated more than 200 experimental spectra (from local instruments and literature) and more than 16,000 ab initio calculations into a library that is leveraged by automated algorithms to screen for identifications in rotational spectra. Screening with experimental data has been shown to give both highly accurate identification and quantification of a sample within a mixture in under 10 seconds per analysis. Unmatched residual lines are presented to the user for further analysis. Work is in progress to expand the number of matchable spectra inside the database and identify unknown constants using ab initio databases