460 research outputs found

    Resolved Depletion Zones and Spatial Differentiation of N2H+ and N2D+

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    We present a study on the spatial distribution of N2D+ and N2H+ in thirteen protostellar systems. Eight of thirteen objects observed with the IRAM 30m telescope show relative offsets between the peak N2D+ (J=2-1) and N2H+ (J=1-0) emission. We highlight the case of L1157 using interferometric observations from the Submillimeter Array and Plateau de Bure Interferometer of the N2D+ (J=3-2) and N2H+ (J=1-0) transitions respectively. Depletion of N2D+ in L1157 is clearly observed inside a radius of ~2000 AU (7") and the N2H+ emission is resolved into two peaks at radii of ~1000 AU (3.5"), inside the depletion region of N2D+. Chemical models predict a depletion zone in N2H+ and N2D+ due to destruction of H2D+ at T ~ 20 K and the evaporation of CO off dust grains at the same temperature. However, the abundance offsets of 1000 AU between the two species are not reproduced by chemical models, including a model that follows the infall of the protostellar envelope. The average abundance ratios of N2D+ to N2H+ have been shown to decrease as protostars evolve by Emprechtinger et al., but this is the first time depletion zones of N2D+ have been spatially resolved. We suggest that the difference in depletion zone radii for N2H+ and N2D+ is caused by either the CO evaporation temperature being above 20 K or an H2 ortho-to-para ratio gradient in the inner envelope.Comment: Accepted to ApJ. 44 pages 13 Figure

    GOLEM: an interactive graph-based gene-ontology navigation and analysis tool

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    BACKGROUND: The Gene Ontology has become an extremely useful tool for the analysis of genomic data and structuring of biological knowledge. Several excellent software tools for navigating the gene ontology have been developed. However, no existing system provides an interactively expandable graph-based view of the gene ontology hierarchy. Furthermore, most existing tools are web-based or require an Internet connection, will not load local annotations files, and provide either analysis or visualization functionality, but not both. RESULTS: To address the above limitations, we have developed GOLEM (Gene Ontology Local Exploration Map), a visualization and analysis tool for focused exploration of the gene ontology graph. GOLEM allows the user to dynamically expand and focus the local graph structure of the gene ontology hierarchy in the neighborhood of any chosen term. It also supports rapid analysis of an input list of genes to find enriched gene ontology terms. The GOLEM application permits the user either to utilize local gene ontology and annotations files in the absence of an Internet connection, or to access the most recent ontology and annotation information from the gene ontology webpage. GOLEM supports global and organism-specific searches by gene ontology term name, gene ontology id and gene name. CONCLUSION: GOLEM is a useful software tool for biologists interested in visualizing the local directed acyclic graph structure of the gene ontology hierarchy and searching for gene ontology terms enriched in genes of interest. It is freely available both as an application and as an applet at

    Emotional Correlates of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Individuals With and Without Diabetes

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    OBJECTIVE To compare the mental health experiences associated with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in adults with and without diabetes. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Between 29 May 2020 and 30 June 2020, 2,176 U.S. adults completed an online survey including demographics, COVID-19 experiences, depression (eight-item Patient Health Questionnaire) and anxiety (seven-item Generalized Anxiety Disorder) symptoms, perceived stress (10-item Perceived Stress Scale), resilience (Brief Resilience Scale), and diabetes-related distress (in participants with diabetes) (17-item Diabetes Distress Scale). RESULTS Mean age was 49.6 years (SD 16.9); participants were primarily women (80.0%) and White (88.3%), with an annual household income of ≥$60,000 (57.6%). One hundred reported a diagnosis of type 1 diabetes (4.6%), 304 type 2 diabetes (13.9%), and 145 prediabetes (6.6%). Nearly one-third (29.7%) indicated decreases in income attributable to the pandemic. Participants with type 1 diabetes had higher levels of diabetes distress than participants with type 2 diabetes (P < 0.05), with moderate severity in both groups. Participants with type 2 diabetes had significantly more comorbidities and COVID-19 risk factors than all other groups (all P < 0.01). After controlling for covariates, participants with type 2 diabetes reported significantly more depressive symptoms than those without diabetes (P < 0.05) and lower levels of resilience (P < 0.05). Subgroup analyses by sex and age indicated that women and younger adults, particularly those age 18–34 years, reported significantly more depression and anxiety symptoms, stress, and diabetes-related distress and lower levels of resilience than men and adults age ≥51 years. CONCLUSIONS In this naturalistic observational study, participants with type 2 diabetes reported more depression, lower resilience, and significantly more COVID-19 risk factors and medical comorbidities than participants without diabetes. Overall, our participants demonstrated worse depression and anxiety symptoms during compared with before the pandemic

    5-OR: Health Disparities in People with and without Diabetes during the COVID-19 Pandemic

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    Purpose: To characterize the psychosocial experiences of adults with (PWD) and without diabetes (ND) during the COVID-19 pandemic. US adults (2176) completed a web-based survey in May-June, 2020 and November-December, 2020, including demographics, COVID-19 exposure, diabetes-related distress (DDS-17), depressive symptoms (PHQ-8) and anxiety (GAD-7). At baseline, mean age was 49.6 years (S.D. = 16.9), 80% female, 88.3% White, with an annual household income of ≥ $60,000 (57.6%), type 2 diabetes (T2D; 301,13.9%), 145 prediabetes (145, 6.6%) and type 1 (T1D, 100, 4.6%). One-third (29.7%) reported decreased income due to the pandemic. T2Ds had more medical comorbidities and COVID risk factors than T1Ds and NDs (all p < 0.01). Mean PHQ-8 scores were 7.1 (S.D. = 5.8; mild), with the T2Ds (M = 7.7; S.D. = 5.9) exceeding NDs (M = 6.9; S.D. = 5.7; p<.001). Mean DDS-17 and GAD-7 scores were comparable for T1Ds and T2Ds (moderate level; p=NS). At 6 months (6MFU), 1,345 (62.6%) completed follow up surveys. Completers were more likely to be older, male, White, married, with higher education levels, and homeowners, with a greater proportion of medical comorbidities and lower A1cs at baseline than non-completers (all p<.05). 6MFU completers had lower baseline depressive symptoms and diabetes distress, lower household COVID-19 rates and less difficulty paying bills than non-completers (all p<.05). At 6MFU for all groups, depressive symptoms decreased (p<.0001) and financial strain improved (p<.001), while COVID exposure increased (personal and household, p<.001). Diabetes distress remained at a moderate level for T1Ds and T2Ds. T1Ds and T2Ds showed comparable levels of depressive symptoms to NDs but were more likely to report financial hardship (p<.05) and difficulty paying bills than NDs (p<.001). Health outcomes were worse for PWDs compared to NDs during the COVID-19 pandemic despite high SES protective factors. Persistent financial strain and diabetes distress increase the risk for future poor health outcomes

    Evaluating the Impact of an Interprofessional Practice Experience Involving Pharmacy and Dental Students on Medication Histories within an Urban Academic Dental Admissions Clinic

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    Primary Objective: To compare interprofessional (IP) care versus standard care on medication history clarifications in dental patients. Secondary Objectives: To assess the clinical significance of these clarifications with regards to the potential impact on dental treatment plans. To describe the interventions provided by IP care to clarify discrepancies and/or resolve medication-related problems

    Radio Astronomy in LSST Era

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    A community meeting on the topic of "Radio Astronomy in the LSST Era" was hosted by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory in Charlottesville, VA (2013 May 6--8). The focus of the workshop was on time domain radio astronomy and sky surveys. For the time domain, the extent to which radio and visible wavelength observations are required to understand several classes of transients was stressed, but there are also classes of radio transients for which no visible wavelength counterpart is yet known, providing an opportunity for discovery. From the LSST perspective, the LSST is expected to generate as many as 1 million alerts nightly, which will require even more selective specification and identification of the classes and characteristics of transients that can warrant follow up, at radio or any wavelength. The LSST will also conduct a deep survey of the sky, producing a catalog expected to contain over 38 billion objects in it. Deep radio wavelength sky surveys will also be conducted on a comparable time scale, and radio and visible wavelength observations are part of the multi-wavelength approach needed to classify and understand these objects. Radio wavelengths are valuable because they are unaffected by dust obscuration and, for galaxies, contain contributions both from star formation and from active galactic nuclei. The workshop touched on several other topics, on which there was consensus including the placement of other LSST "Deep Drilling Fields," inter-operability of software tools, and the challenge of filtering and exploiting the LSST data stream. There were also topics for which there was insufficient time for full discussion or for which no consensus was reached, which included the procedures for following up on LSST observations and the nature for future support of researchers desiring to use LSST data products.Comment: Conference summary, 29 pages, 1 figure; to be published in the Publ. Astron. Soc. Pacific; full science program and presentations available at http://science.nrao.edu/science/event/RALSST201

    The Practitioner\u27s Guide to Global Health: an interactive, online, open-access curriculum preparing medical learners for global health experiences

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    BACKGROUND: Short-term experiences in global health (STEGH) are increasingly common in medical education, as they can provide learners with opportunities for service, learning, and sharing perspectives. Academic institutions need high-quality preparatory curricula and mentorship to prepare learners for potential challenges in ethics, cultural sensitivity, and personal safety; however, availability and quality of these are variable. OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study is to create and evaluate an open-access, interactive massive open online course (MOOC) that prepares learners to safely and effectively participate in STEGH, permits flexible and asynchronous learning, is free of charge, and provides a certificate upon successful completion. METHODS: Global health experts from 8 countries, 42 institutions, and 7 specialties collaborated to create The Practitioner\u27s Guide to Global Health (PGGH): the first course of this kind on the edX platform. Demographic data, pre- and posttests, and course evaluations were collected and analyzed. RESULTS: Within its first year, PGGH enrolled 5935 learners from 163 countries. In a limited sample of 109 learners, mean posttest scores were significantly improved (p \u3c 0.01). In the course\u27s second year, 213 sampled learners had significant improvement (p \u3c 0.001). CONCLUSION: We created and evaluated the first interactive, asynchronous, free-of-charge global health preparation MOOC. The course has had significant interest from US-based and international learners, and posttest scores have shown significant improvement

    Pregnant and Nonpregnant Women in Cape Town, South Africa: Drug Use, Sexual Behavior, and the Need for Comprehensive Services

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    The multiple risks associated with methamphetamine use are of serious concern for women. These risks and consequences are magnified during pregnancy. This secondary analysis of a parent study compared 26 pregnant to 356 nonpregnant women in Cape Town, South Africa, on selected demographic, psychosocial, and HIV-risk domains to identify their treatment service needs. Proportionally, more pregnant than nonpregnant women are using methamphetamine, P = .01, although a very high rate of women used methamphetamine. Women reported similar monthly rates of sexual intercourse, but pregnant women were significantly less likely to report condom use, P < .0001, maintaining their risky behavior. Both groups reported elevated Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale CES-D means, suggesting a need for depression treatment. Results demonstrate a pervasive need for women's comprehensive treatment, regardless of pregnancy status. Moreover, findings support the urgent need for women-focused and pregnancy-specific treatment services for methamphetamine use. Finally, a job-skills training/employment component focus is suggested

    Increasing Invasive Plant Pest Early Detection Through Interagency First Detector Education

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    The Collaborative and Enhanced First Detector Training program has expanded invasive species detection efforts by teaching participants to scout for, identify, and submit suspect exotic species samples. Workshops were delivered to agriculture professionals, master gardeners, and other Extension audiences. Topics included introduction pathways, regulatory agency procedures, identification of invasive pests or pathogens, monitoring procedures, and sample submission. Survey data indicated the intent of participants to augment detection efforts and the efficacy of Extension workshops in improving participants\u27 perceptions of government agencies. Respondents perceived increases in knowledge related to particular invasive species, identification of potential future invaders, and sample submission. Other implications related to Extension programming on invasive species education are discussed
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