\u3ci\u3eGrowingChange\u3c/i\u3e: Media Products as Therapy for Adjudicated Youth

GrowingChange is a grassroots organization dedicated to improving the futures of teenage males in the juvenile justice system. The group is working to reclaim an abandoned prison in Wagram, North Carolina in order to convert it into a sustainable farm and agricultural center for the local community. If successful, GrowingChange hopes to institute a national model for converting closed prison sites into community centers across the country. Youth involved in the program undergo unique forms of therapy to reset their paths toward more promising futures. A core therapeutic component of GrowingChange is teaching youth in the program about ways to provide food and food-related products to impoverished populations in surrounding communities. As the fledgling organization grows, its founder, Noran Sanford, has discovered that promotional media endeavors provide additional therapeutic benefits for the adjudicated youth of GrowingChange

The ecological boundaries of six Carolina bays: Community composition and ecotone distribution

Community and environmental gradients within the ecological boundaries of Carolina bay wetlands may provide important information on the interaction between Carolina bays and associated uplands, and may also provide guidance for improved management. We established twelve 30-m transects on the sloping rims of each of six Carolina bays in northeastern South Carolina to characterize the community gradient, as well as important environmental factors producing this gradient. Mid-points of the transects were placed on jurisdictional wetland boundaries. Hydrology, soil properties, and plant species composition were measured within these transects. On average, transects included an elevation change of 0.6 m that corresponded with gradients of hydrology, soil properties, and community characteristics. Decreasing surface soil moisture (i.e., fewer flood events) and decreasing soil nutrients were associated with a shift from shrub-bog vegetation with relatively low alpha diversity and prominence of evergreens to a relatively diverse and heterogeneous community characterized by grasses, herbs, low shrubs, and vines. Ecotones, identified by abrupt changes in community composition, were more frequently found outside jurisdictional wetland boundaries. Likewise, five near-endemic and endemic plant species were found outside the wetland boundaries. Our data reinforce the need for better understanding of how Carolina bays interact with adjacent landscape elements, and specifically how ecological boundaries are influenced by this interaction

The Impact of a Pilot Community Intervention on Health-Related Fitness Measures in Overweight Children

The purpose of this study was to pilot a 5-week community-based intervention on improving measures of health-related fitness in overweight children. Data were obtained from 8 overweight and obese 8- to 14-year-old children. Measurements included muscular fitness (curl-ups and modified pull-ups), aerobic capacity (20 meter progressive aerobic cardiovascular endurance run [PACER] test), body composition (tricep and calf skinfolds), body mass index (BMI), and flexibility (back saver sit-and-reach). A significant reduction in BMI was observed at post-test compared to baseline (p = .03). There was a significant decrease in body fat at post-test for boys (p = .013)

Low-Temperature Polymorphic Phase Transition in a Crystalline Tripeptide L-Ala-L-Pro-Gly·H2O Revealed by Adiabatic Calorimetry

We demonstrate application of precise adiabatic vacuum calorimetry to observation of phase transition in the tripeptide l-alanyl-l-prolyl-glycine monohydrate (APG) from 6 to 320 K and report the standard thermodynamic properties of the tripeptide in the entire range. Thus, the heat capacity of APG was measured by adiabatic vacuum calorimetry in the above temperature range. The tripeptide exhibits a reversible first-order solid-to-solid phase transition characterized by strong thermal hysteresis. We report the standard thermodynamic characteristics of this transition and show that differential scanning calorimetry can reliably characterize the observed phase transition with <5 mg of the sample. Additionally, the standard entropy of formation from the elemental substances and the standard entropy of hypothetical reaction of synthesis from the amino acids at 298.15 K were calculated for the studied tripeptide.National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (U.S.) (EB-003151)National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (U.S.) (EB-001960)National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (U.S.) (EB-002026

The effect of cosmic web filaments on galaxy properties in the RESOLVE and ECO surveys

Galaxy environment plays an important role in driving the transformation of galaxies from blue and star-forming to red and quenched. Recent works have focused on the role of cosmic web filaments in galaxy evolution and have suggested that stellar mass segregation, quenching of star formation and gas-stripping may occur within filaments. We study the relationship between distance to filament and the stellar mass, colour and HI gas content of galaxies using data from the REsolved Spectroscopy of a Local VolumE (RESOLVE) survey and Environmental COntext (ECO) catalogue, two overlapping census-style, volume-complete surveys. We use the Discrete Persistence Structures Extractor (DisPerSE) to identify cosmic web filaments over the full ECO area. We find that galaxies close to filaments have higher stellar masses, in agreement with previous results. Controlling for stellar mass, we find that galaxies also have redder colours and are more gas poor closer to filaments. When accounting for group membership and halo mass, we find that these trends in colour and gas content are dominated by the increasing prevalence of galaxy group environments close to filaments, particularly for high halo mass and low stellar mass galaxies. Filaments have an additional small effect on the gas content of galaxies in low-mass haloes, possibly due to cosmic web stripping

Evaluating the Effects of Pharmacological Levels of Zinc Oxide, Diet Acidification and Dietary Crude Protein on Growth Performance of Nursery Pigs

A total of 360 weaned pigs (DNA 200 × 400; initially 12.9 lb BW) were used in a 42-d growth study to evaluate the effects of pharmacological levels of zinc oxide (ZnO), diet acidification, and dietary crude protein (CP) on pig performance. Pigs were weaned at approximately 21-d of age and were randomly assigned to pens (5 pigs per pen) and allotted to 1 of 8 dietary treatments with 9 pens per treatment. Experimental diets were fed from d 0 to 21 with a common diet fed from d 21 to 42. The eight treatment diets were arranged as a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial with main effects of Zn from ZnO (110 ppm from d 0 to 21 or 3,000 ppm from d 0 to 7, and 2,000 ppm from d 7 to 21), diet acidification, (without or with 1.2% sodium diformate), and dietary CP (21 or 18%, [1.40 vs. 1.20% standardized ileal digestible Lys, respectively]). Fecal samples were collected weekly to determine dry matter content. No 2- or 3-way interactions (P \u3e 0.05) were observed throughout the 42-d growth study for growth performance; however, there was a ZnO × acidifier × CP interaction (P \u3c 0.05) for fecal dry matter on d 7 and overall, where reducing CP without acidification increased fecal DM when ZnO was not in the diet, but had little effect when ZnO was present in the diet. From d 0 to 21, pigs fed added ZnO had improved (P \u3c 0.05) average daily gain (ADG), average daily feed intake (ADFI), feed efficiency (F/G), and increased d 21 body weight (BW) compared to those fed 110 ppm Zn. Added sodium diformate improved (P \u3c 0.05), ADG, F/G, and BW. Pigs fed 21% CP had improved (P \u3c 0.05) ADG and F/G and tended (P \u3c 0.10) to have increased d 21 BW. In the subsequent period (d 21 to 42) after the experimental diets were fed, there was no evidence of difference in growth perfor­mance among treatments. Overall (d 0 to 42), adding ZnO or sodium diformate from d 0 to 21 tended to increase ADG (P ≤ 0.10) with no evidence of difference in ADFI and F/G. Increasing dietary CP from 18 to 21% from d 0 to 21 improved (P \u3c 0.05) overall F/G. In summary, dietary addition of ZnO or sodium diformate independently improved nursery pig performance

The RESOLVE and ECO Gas in Galaxy Groups Initiative: The Group Finder and the Group HI–Halo Mass Relation

We present a four-step group-finding algorithm for the Gas in Galaxy Groups (G3) initiative, a spin-off of the z ∼ 0 REsolved Spectroscopy Of a Local VolumE (RESOLVE) and Environmental COntext (ECO) surveys. In preparation for future comparisons to intermediate redshift (e.g., the LADUMA survey), we design the group finder to adapt to incomplete, shallow, or nonuniform data. We use mock catalogs to optimize the group finder’s performance. Compared to friends-of-friends (with false-pair splitting), the G3 algorithm offers improved completeness and halo-mass recovery with minimal loss of purity. Combining it with the volume-limited H I census data for RESOLVE and ECO, we examine the H I content of galaxy groups as a function of group halo mass. Group-integrated H I mass M rises monotonically over halo masses M ∼ 10–10 M, pivoting in slope at M ∼ 10M, the gas-richness threshold scale. We present the first measurement of the scatter in this relation, which has a median of ∼0.3 dex and is asymmetric toward lower M I,grp. We discuss interesting tensions with theoretical predictions and prior measurements of the M–M relation. In an appendix, we release RESOLVE DR4 and ECO DR3, including updates to survey redshifts, photometry, and group catalogs, as well as a major expansion of the ECO H I inventory with value-added data products. © 2023. The Author(s). Published by the American Astronomical SocietyWe are grateful to the anonymous referee, whose feedback has improved the quality of this work. We also thank Adrienne Erickcek, Andrew Mann, Mugdha Polimera, Matthew Bershady, Joshua Oppor, Jeremy Darling, Hayley Roberts, and Amir Kazemi-Moridani for valuable feedback at varying stages of the project. Z.L.H., S.J.K., and E.R.C. acknowledge support for this research from National Science Foundation (NSF) grant AST-1814486. Z.L.H. and D.S.C. are also supported through a North Carolina Space Grant Graduate Research Fellowship. S.J.K. and D.S.C. acknowledge support from NSF grant AST-2007351. A.J.B. acknowledges support from NSF grant AST-1814421. K.M.H. acknowledges financial support from the State Agency for Research of the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities through the "Center of Excellence Severo Ocho" awarded to the Instituto de Astrofisica de Andalucia (SEV-2017-0709), via participation in SKA-SPAIN, funded by the Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN), and financial support from grant RTI2018-096228-B-C31 (MCIU/AEI/FEDER,UE)

Environmental differences between sites control the diet and nutrition of the carnivorous plant Drosera rotundifolia

Background and aims: Carnivorous plants are sensitive to small changes in resource availability, but few previous studies have examined how differences in nutrient and prey availability affect investment in and the benefit of carnivory. We studied the impact of site-level differences in resource availability on ecophysiological traits of carnivory for Drosera rotundifolia L. Methods: We measured prey availability, investment in carnivory (leaf stickiness), prey capture and diet of plants growing in two bogs with differences in N deposition and plant available N: Cors Fochno (0.62 g m−2 yr.−1, 353 μg l−1), Whixall Moss (1.37 g m−2 yr.−1, 1505 μg l−1). The total N amount per plant and the contributions of prey/root N to the plants’ N budget were calculated using a single isotope natural abundance method. Results: Plants at Whixall Moss invested less in carnivory, were less likely to capture prey, and were less reliant on prey-derived N (25.5% compared with 49.4%). Actual prey capture did not differ between sites. Diet composition differed – Cors Fochno plants captured 62% greater proportions of Diptera. Conclusions: Our results show site-level differences in plant diet and nutrition consistent with differences in resource availability. Similarity in actual prey capture may be explained by differences in leaf stickiness and prey abundance

Studies in RF power communication, SAR, and temperature elevation in wireless implantable neural interfaces

Implantable neural interfaces are designed to provide a high spatial and temporal precision control signal implementing high degree of freedom real-time prosthetic systems. The development of a Radio Frequency (RF) wireless neural interface has the potential to expand the number of applications as well as extend the robustness and longevity compared to wired neural interfaces. However, it is well known that RF signal is absorbed by the body and can result in tissue heating. In this work, numerical studies with analytical validations are performed to provide an assessment of power, heating and specific absorption rate (SAR) associated with the wireless RF transmitting within the human head. The receiving antenna on the neural interface is designed with different geometries and modeled at a range of implanted depths within the brain in order to estimate the maximum receiving power without violating SAR and tissue temperature elevation safety regulations. Based on the size of the designed antenna, sets of frequencies between 1 GHz to 4 GHz have been investigated. As expected the simulations demonstrate that longer receiving antennas (dipole) and lower working frequencies result in greater power availability prior to violating SAR regulations. For a 15 mm dipole antenna operating at 1.24 GHz on the surface of the brain, 730 uW of power could be harvested at the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) SAR violation limit. At approximately 5 cm inside the head, this same antenna would receive 190 uW of power prior to violating SAR regulations. Finally, the 3-D bio-heat simulation results show that for all evaluated antennas and frequency combinations we reach FCC SAR limits well before 1 °C. It is clear that powering neural interfaces via RF is possible, but ultra-low power circuit designs combined with advanced simulation will be required to develop a functional antenna that meets all system requirements. © 2013 Zhao et al