The Nebraska Mathematics Readiness Project: Year 1 Evaluation Report

The Nebraska Math Readiness Project (NMRP) is a targeted curriculum designed for seniors who have plans of attending college, yet lack the foundational math skills needed for college-level courses. They are given a fourth-year mathematics class to help them improve their mathematical skills and prepare for required college math courses. The project is a collaboration between community colleges across the state and high schools within the Nebraska school districts

Movement of Xylosandrus germanus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) in Ornamental Nurseries and Surrounding Habitats

Some exotic ambrosia beetles are damaging pests in ornamental nurseries. Xylosandrus germanus (Blandford) is the most problematic ambrosia beetle in Ohio nurseries. Movement of X. germanus in nurseries has not been characterized, and knowledge is lacking on whether infestations originate from within nurseries or surrounding habitats. Flight activity of X. germanus was monitored in nurseries and adjacent wooded areas to determine the source of beetles infesting nurseries, and characterize their movement within nurseries. Ethanol-baited bottle traps were positioned within wooded areas adjacent to commercial nurseries and within nurseries at various distances from the nursery woodlot interface. Flight activity of overwintered X. germanus occurred in wooded areas adjacent to nurseries before occurrence within nurseries. There was a direct relationship between degree-days and the distance from woodlots when X. germanus were first found in traps in spring, with earlier captures closest to wooded areas and latest ones furthest away into the nursery. X. germanus appeared to move into nurseries from adjacent wooded areas, with numbers trapped within nurseries decreasing with distance away from wooded areas. Trees in the interior of nurseries would appear to be subjected to less attack pressure than trees near the nursery border. Intercepting beetles as they move into nurseries might be an effective strategy to reduce attack pressure on valuable trees

Partly burnt runaway stellar remnants from peculiar thermonuclear supernovae

We report the discovery of three stars that, along with the prototype LP40-365, form a distinct class of chemically peculiar runaway stars that are the survivors of thermonuclear explosions. Spectroscopy of the four confirmed LP 40-365 stars finds ONe-dominated atmospheres enriched with remarkably similar amounts of nuclear ashes of partial O- and Si-burning. Kinematic evidence is consistent with ejection from a binary supernova progenitor; at least two stars have rest-frame velocities indicating they are unbound to the Galaxy. With masses and radii ranging between 0.20-0.28 Msun and 0.16-0.60 Rsun, respectively, we speculate these inflated white dwarfs are the partly burnt remnants of either peculiar Type Iax or electron-capture supernovae. Adopting supernova rates from the literature, we estimate that ~20 LP40-365 stars brighter than 19 mag should be detectable within 2 kpc from the Sun at the end of the Gaia mission. We suggest that as they cool, these stars will evolve in their spectroscopic appearance, and eventually become peculiar O-rich white dwarfs. Finally, we stress that the discovery of new LP40-365 stars will be useful to further constrain their evolution, supplying key boundary conditions to the modelling of explosion mechanisms, supernova rates, and nucleosynthetic yields of peculiar thermonuclear explosions.Comment: 22 pages, 14 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication on MNRA

The pancreas responds to remote damage and systemic stress by secretion of the pancreatic secretory proteins PSP/regI and PAP/regIII.

In patients with infection and sepsis serum levels of Pancreatic Stone protein/regenerating protein I (PSP) are highly elevated. The origin of PSP during these conditions is presumably the pancreas, however, an intestinal origin cannot be excluded. Similarly, pancreatitis-associated protein (PAP) was identified in the pancreas. These proteins were also localized in intestinal organs. Here we aim to elucidate the bio-distribution of PSP and PAP in animal models of sepsis and in healthy humans. PSP and PAP responded to remote lesions in rats although the pancreatic response was much more pronounced than the intestinal. Tissue distribution of PSP demonstrated a 100-fold higher content in the pancreas compared to any other organ while PAP was most abundant in the small intestine. Both proteins responded to CLP or sham operation in the pancreas. PSP also increased in the intestine during CLP. The distribution of PSP and PAP in human tissue mirrored the distribution in the murine models. Distribution of PSP and PAP was visualized by immunohistochemistry. Rats and mice underwent midline laparotomies followed by mobilization of tissue and incision of the pancreatic duct or duodenum. Standard cecum-ligation-puncture (CLP) procedures or sham laparotomies were performed. Human tissue extracts were analyzed for PSP and PAP. The pancreas reacts to remote lesions and septic insults in mice and rats with increased PSP synthesis, while PAP is selectively responsive to septic events. Furthermore, our results suggest that serum PSP in septic patients is predominantly derived through an acute phase response of the pancreas

Design of the HEM-POWR study:A prospective, observational study of real-world treatment with damoctocog alfa pegol in patients with haemophilia A

INTRODUCTION: Haemophilia A is a rare bleeding disorder caused by defects in coagulation factor VIII (FVIII). Damoctocog alfa pegol (BAY 94–9027, Jivi, Bayer, Germany) is a site-specifically PEGylated, extended-half-life, recombinant FVIII, approved for use in previously treated patients (PTPs) aged ≥12 years with haemophilia A. However, a real-world evidence regarding routine clinical use of damoctocog alfa pegol is limited. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: HEM-POWR is a multinational, multicentre, non-interventional, prospective, postmarketing cohort study evaluating the effectiveness and safety of real-world treatment with damoctocog alfa pegol. Estimated enrolment is ≥200 PTPs with haemophilia A, receiving damoctocog alfa pegol (on-demand, prophylaxis or intermittent prophylaxis (as per local label)), observed for 36 months. Primary outcomes are total bleeding events and annualised bleeding rate; secondary outcomes include long-term safety, joint health, pharmacokinetics, patient-reported outcomes (PROs) from validated questionnaires and perioperative haemostasis. Where applicable, reasons for switching to damoctocog alfa pegol, choice of treatment regimen and dose will also be captured. Exploratory and descriptive statistical analyses will be performed, and will be stratified by parameters including, but not limited to, prophylaxis regimen and haemophilia severity. Patients can record bleeds and consumption in electronic (e) Diaries, ePROs, and can access non-promotional study information (videos explaining study procedures) via an online patient portal. Optionally, patients can enrol in the LIFE-ACTIVE substudy designed to investigate the relationship between activity (measured by the ActiGraph CP Insight watch) and effectiveness parameters collected from HEM-POWR. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Study approval was obtained by local independent ethics committees and authorities in participating study centres across Europe, the Americas and Asia. Informed consent from patients or their legal representative is a requirement for participation. The study results will be submitted for publication in a peer-reviewed scientific journal and presented at scientific conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBERS: NCT03932201, EUPAS26416. PROTOCOL VERSION AND DATE: V.1.2, 27 September 2019

Safety and efficacy of BAY 94–9027, an extended-half-life factor VIII, during minor surgical procedures in patients with severe haemophilia A

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Trap Tree and Interception Trap Techniques for Management of Ambrosia Beetles (Coleoptera: Curculionidae: Scolytinae) in Nursery Production Get access Arrow

The majority of wood-boring ambrosia beetles are strongly attracted to ethanol, a behavior which could be exploited for management within ornamental nurseries. A series of experiments was conducted to determine if ethanol-based interception techniques could reduce ambrosia beetle pest pressure. In two experiments, trap trees injected with a high dose of ethanol were positioned either adjacent or 10–15 m from trees injected with a low dose of ethanol (simulating a mildly stressed tree) to determine if the high-dose trap trees could draw beetle attacks away from immediately adjacent stressed nursery trees. The high-ethanol-dose trees sustained considerably higher attacks than the low-dose trees; however, distance between the low- and high-dose trees did not significantly alter attack rates on the low-dose trees. In a third experiment, 60-m length trap lines with varying densities of ethanol-baited traps were deployed along a forest edge to determine if immigrating beetles could be intercepted before reaching sentinel traps or artificially stressed sentinel trees located 10 m further in-field. Intercept trap densities of 2 or 4 traps per trap line were associated with fewer attacks on sentinel trees compared to no traps, but 7 or 13 traps had no impact. None of the tested intercept trap densities resulted in significantly fewer beetles reaching the sentinel traps. The evaluated ethanol-based interception techniques showed limited promise for reducing ambrosia beetle pressure on nursery trees. An interception effect might be enhanced by applying a repellent compound to nursery trees in a push–pull strategy

Electronic structure of hydrothermally synthesized single crystal U0.22Th0.78O2

Single crystals of ThO2, UO2, and their solid solutions, UxTh1–xO2, have been obtained through various hydrothermal growth conditions. This technique offers the better of two other growth processes: (i) single crystal purity as by photochemical growth of nanocrystals; and (ii) large/bulk sizes as obtained by the arc melt method. The band gap of the UxTh1–xO2 single crystal solid solution, along with the luminescence transition, have been characterized. The occupied and unoccupied structures are determined using ultraviolet and inverse photoemission spectroscopy and the electronic band gap was measured to be 3–4 eV. The strain of incorporating U into the ThO2 is analyzed through Vegard’s law. In this crystal there are defect and impurity sites, likely arising from the kinetic growth process, giving rise to a similar yet slightly different optical gap evident with cathodoluminescence spectroscopy. There is a major luminescence feature spanning the range from 3.18 to 4.96 eV (250–390 nm) with a maximum at 4.09 eV (303 nm), corresponding with the measured electronic band gap. In this paper, the electronic properties of a solid solution U0.22Th0.78O2 are measured and interpreted compared to the pure actinide oxides, ThO2 and UO2

Identification of the occurrence and pattern of masseter muscle activities during sleep using EMG and accelerometer systems

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Sleep bruxism has been described as a combination of different orofacial motor activities that include grinding, clenching and tapping, although accurate distribution of the activities still remains to be clarified.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We developed a new system for analyzing sleep bruxism to examine the muscle activities and mandibular movement patterns during sleep bruxism. The system consisted of a 2-axis accelerometer, electroencephalography and electromyography. Nineteen healthy volunteers were recruited and screened to evaluate sleep bruxism in the sleep laboratory.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The new system could easily distinguish the different patterns of bruxism movement of the mandible and the body movement. Results showed that grinding (59.5%) was most common, followed by clenching (35.6%) based on relative activity to maximum voluntary contraction (%MVC), whereas tapping was only (4.9%).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>It was concluded that the tapping, clenching, and grinding movement of the mandible could be effectively differentiated by the new system and sleep bruxism was predominantly perceived as clenching and grinding, which varied between individuals.</p

Gliomas and Farm Pesticide Exposure in Women: The Upper Midwest Health Study

An excess incidence of brain cancer in male farmers has been noted in several studies, but few studies have focused on women. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Upper Midwest Health Study evaluated effects of rural exposures for 341 female glioma cases and 528 controls, all adult (18–80 years of age) nonmetropolitan residents of Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. On average, controls lived longer on farms than did cases. After adjusting for age, age group, education, and farm residence, no association with glioma was observed for exposure to arsenicals, benzoic acids, carbamates, chloroacetanilides, dinitroanilines, inorganics, organochlorines, organophosphates, phenoxys, triazines, or urea-based or estrogenic pesticides. An increased risk of glioma was observed for carbamate herbicides but was not statistically significant (odds ratio = 3.0; 95% confidence interval, 0.9–9.5). No association was observed between glioma and exposure to 12 widely used specific pesticides, after adjustment for age, age group, education, and any other pesticide exposure. These results were not affected after exclusion of proxy respondents (43% of cases, 2% of controls). Women were less likely than men to have applied pesticides, but more likely to have laundered pesticide-contaminated clothes. Storing pesticides in the house was associated with a statistically non-significant increased risk. Results show that exposure to pesticides was not associated with an increased risk of intracranial gliomas in women. Other farm-related factors could be etiologic factors and will be discussed in future reports