Differing Moisture Content in Concrete and Mitigation Methods: Research of Sacramento

The city of Sacramento and its concrete foundations face one of the most challenging conditions in the flooring industry, high RH Moisture. RH Moisture or Relative Humidity Moisture is one of the main causes for flooring systems to fail. The source of High RH Moisture consists of surrounding geographic features like rivers, flood plains, and elevation, as well as improper or nonexistent use of a vapor barrier beneath the concrete foundation. Mapping and other data is used to support these claims. If a flooring system is not properly prepared for high RH Moisture levels, issues such as bubbling, delamination, and glue becoming unadhered can all lead to mass amounts of damage. The data used consists of hundreds of RH Moisture tests by Wagner Meters and will be used to prove the issue of high RH Moisture persists in the Sacramento area. The RH Moisture testing method has become an industry favorite compared to other methods due to the capability to read the middle of the concrete slab, where others only give surface readings. Once an RH reading is established it is up to the contractor to find the best solution to the Moisture problem using a topical moisture barrie

Hybrid injectable platforms for the in situ delivery of therapeutic ions from mesoporous glasses

Copper-containing bioactive glasses (Cu-MBGs) are attracting increasing interest as multifunctional agents for hard and soft tissue healing due to the ability of released copper ions to stimulate osteogenesis as well as angiogenesis and to impart anti-bacterial properties. The conjugation of these nanomaterials with a vehicle phase based on thermosensitive hydrogels represents an effective strategy to design non-invasive injectable devices for the in situ delivery of therapeutic ions from MBGs. In this contribution, Cu-containing MBGs were prepared by an aerosol-assisted spray-drying method (MBG_Cu 2%_SD) in the form of microspheres (surface area of ca 220m2 g−1) and through a sol-gel synthesis (MBG_Cu 2% _SG) in the form of spheroidal nanoparticles (surface area above 700m2 g−1). Both Cu-containing samples were able to release copper ions, although with different rates and percentage release. MBG_Cu 2%_SG released the total incorporated amount of Cu ions with a faster kinetics compared to MBG_Cu 2%_SD, that released approximately the 60% of copper. Cu-MBGs were incorporated with a final concentration of 20 mg/mL into a thermosensitive sol-gel system consisting of a novel amphiphilic poly(ether urethane) based on a commercialy available Poloxamer 407 (P407), with improved gelation ability, mechanical strength and stability in aqueous solution with respect to native P407. Cu-MBG-loaded hydrogels were characterised in terms of sol-to-gel transition temperature and time, injectability and stability in aqueous environment at 37 °C. The hybrid formulations showed fast gelation in physiological conditions (1 mL underwent complete sol-to-gel transition within 3–5 min at 37 °C) and injectability in a wide range of temperatures (5–37 °C) through different needles (inner diameter in the range 0.6–1.6 mm)

Increasing pattern recognition accuracy for chemical sensing by evolutionary based drift compensation

Artificial olfaction systems, which mimic human olfaction by using arrays of gas chemical sensors combined with pattern recognition methods, represent a potentially low-cost tool in many areas of industry such as perfumery, food and drink production, clinical diagnosis, health and safety, environmental monitoring and process control. However, successful applications of these systems are still largely limited to specialized laboratories. Sensor drift, i.e., the lack of a sensor's stability over time, still limits real in dustrial setups. This paper presents and discusses an evolutionary based adaptive drift-correction method designed to work with state-of-the-art classification systems. The proposed approach exploits a cutting-edge evolutionary strategy to iteratively tweak the coefficients of a linear transformation which can transparently correct raw sensors' measures thus mitigating the negative effects of the drift. The method learns the optimal correction strategy without the use of models or other hypotheses on the behavior of the physical chemical sensors

Perceived psychosocial impacts of legalized same-sex marriage: A scoping review of sexual minority adults’ experiences

A growing body of literature provides important insights into the meaning and impact of the right to marry a same-sex partner among sexual minority people. We conducted a scoping review to 1) identify and describe the psychosocial impacts of equal marriage rights among sexual minority adults, and 2) explore sexual minority women (SMW) perceptions of equal marriage rights and whether psychosocial impacts differ by sex. Using Arksey and O’Malley’s framework we reviewed peer-reviewed English-language publications from 2000 through 2019. We searched six databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, CINAHL, Web of Science, JSTOR, and Sociological Abstracts) to identify English language, peer-reviewed journal articles reporting findings from empirical studies with an explicit focus on the experiences and perceived impact of equal marriage rights among sexual minority adults. We found 59 studies that met our inclusion criteria. Studies identified positive psychosocial impacts of same-sex marriage (e.g., increased social acceptance, reduced stigma) across individual, interpersonal (dyad, family), community (sexual minority), and broader societal levels. Studies also found that, despite equal marriage rights, sexual minority stigma persists across these levels. Only a few studies examined differences by sex, and findings were mixed. Research to date has several limitations; for example, it disproportionately represents samples from the U.S. and White populations, and rarely examines differences by sexual or gender identity or other demographic characteristics. There is a need for additional research on the impact of equal marriage rights and same-sex marriage on the health and well-being of diverse sexual minorities across the globe

Solving patients with rare diseases through programmatic reanalysis of genome-phenome data

Reanalysis of inconclusive exome/genome sequencing data increases the diagnosis yield of patients with rare diseases. However, the cost and efforts required for reanalysis prevent its routine implementation in research and clinical environments. The Solve-RD project aims to reveal the molecular causes underlying undiagnosed rare diseases. One of the goals is to implement innovative approaches to reanalyse the exomes and genomes from thousands of well-studied undiagnosed cases. The raw genomic data is submitted to Solve-RD through the RD-Connect Genome-Phenome Analysis Platform (GPAP) together with standardised phenotypic and pedigree data. We have developed a programmatic workflow to reanalyse genome-phenome data. It uses the RD-Connect GPAP’s Application Programming Interface (API) and relies on the big-data technologies upon which the system is built. We have applied the workflow to prioritise rare known pathogenic variants from 4411 undiagnosed cases. The queries returned an average of 1.45 variants per case, which first were evaluated in bulk by a panel of disease experts and afterwards specifically by the submitter of each case. A total of 120 index cases (21.2% of prioritised cases, 2.7% of all exome/genome-negative samples) have already been solved, with others being under investigation. The implementation of solutions as the one described here provide the technical framework to enable periodic case-level data re-evaluation in clinical settings, as recommended by the American College of Medical Genetics

Solving patients with rare diseases through programmatic reanalysis of genome-phenome data

Reanalysis of inconclusive exome/genome sequencing data increases the diagnosis yield of patients with rare diseases. However, the cost and efforts required for reanalysis prevent its routine implementation in research and clinical environments. The Solve-RD project aims to reveal the molecular causes underlying undiagnosed rare diseases. One of the goals is to implement innovative approaches to reanalyse the exomes and genomes from thousands of well-studied undiagnosed cases. The raw genomic data is submitted to Solve-RD through the RD-Connect Genome-Phenome Analysis Platform (GPAP) together with standardised phenotypic and pedigree data. We have developed a programmatic workflow to reanalyse genome-phenome data. It uses the RD-Connect GPAP’s Application Programming Interface (API) and relies on the big-data technologies upon which the system is built. We have applied the workflow to prioritise rare known pathogenic variants from 4411 undiagnosed cases. The queries returned an average of 1.45 variants per case, which first were evaluated in bulk by a panel of disease experts and afterwards specifically by the submitter of each case. A total of 120 index cases (21.2% of prioritised cases, 2.7% of all exome/genome-negative samples) have already been solved, with others being under investigation. The implementation of solutions as the one described here provide the technical framework to enable periodic case-level data re-evaluation in clinical settings, as recommended by the American College of Medical Genetics

Genome-wide profiling of non-smoking-related lung cancer cells reveals common RB1 rearrangements associated with histopathologic transformation in EGFR-mutant tumors.

The etiology and the molecular basis of lung adenocarcinomas (LuADs) in nonsmokers are currently unknown. Furthermore, the scarcity of available primary cultures continues to hamper our biological understanding of non-smoking-related lung adenocarcinomas (NSK-LuADs). We established patient-derived cancer cell (PDC) cultures from metastatic NSK-LuADs, including two pairs of matched EGFR-mutant PDCs before and after resistance to tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs), and then performed whole-exome and RNA sequencing to delineate their genomic architecture. For validation, we analyzed independent cohorts of primary LuADs. In addition to known non-smoker-associated alterations (e.g. RET, ALK, EGFR, and ERBB2), we discovered novel fusions and recurrently mutated genes, including ATF7IP, a regulator of gene expression, that was inactivated in 5% of primary LuAD cases. We also found germline mutations at dominant familiar-cancer genes, highlighting the importance of genetic predisposition in the origin of a subset of NSK-LuADs. Furthermore, there was an over-representation of inactivating alterations at RB1, mostly through complex intragenic rearrangements, in treatment-naive EGFR-mutant LuADs. Three EGFR-mutant and one EGFR-wild-type tumors acquired resistance to EGFR-TKIs and chemotherapy, respectively, and histology on re-biopsies revealed the development of small-cell lung cancer/squamous cell carcinoma (SCLC/LuSCC) transformation. These features were consistent with RB1 inactivation and acquired EGFR-T790M mutation or FGFR3-TACC3 fusion in EGFR-mutant tumors. We found recurrent alterations in LuADs that deserve further exploration. Our work also demonstrates that a subset of NSK-LuADs arises within cancer-predisposition syndromes. The preferential occurrence of RB1 inactivation, via complex rearrangements, found in EGFR-mutant tumors appears to favor SCLC/LuSCC transformation under growth-inhibition pressures. Thus RB1 inactivation may predict the risk of LuAD transformation to a more aggressive type of lung cancer, and may need to be considered as a part of the clinical management of NSK-LuADs patients.This work was supported by the Fundacion Cientifica Asociacion Española Contra el Cancer-AECC (grant number GCB14142170MONT) to LMM, MS-C, and EF; the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity-MINECO (grant number SAF-2017-82186R to MS-C; Rio Hortega-CM17/00180 to MS; PROYBAR17005NADA to EN); the Health Institute Carlos III-ISCIII, Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional-FEDER (grant Number PT13/0001/0044, PT17/0009/0019, PI16 01821); the Government of Navarra (grant number DIANA project); and the Ramon Areces Foundation (no grant number is applicable) to LMM and RP.S

Liver cirrhosis, other liver diseases, and risk of hospitalisation for intracerebral haemorrhage: A Danish population-based case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Liver diseases are suspected risk factors for intracerebral haemorrhage (ICH). We conducted a population-based case-control study to examine risk of ICH among hospitalised patients with liver cirrhosis and other liver diseases.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We used data from the hospital discharge registries (1991–2003) and the Civil Registration System in Denmark, to identify 3,522 cases of first-time hospitalisation for ICH and 35,173 sex- and age-matched population controls. Among cases and controls we identified patients with a discharge diagnosis of liver cirrhosis or other liver diseases before the date of ICH. We computed odds ratios for ICH by conditional logistic regressions, adjusting for a number of confounding factors.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There was an increased risk of ICH for patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis (adjusted OR = 4.8, 95% CI: 2.7–8.3), non-alcoholic liver cirrhosis (adjusted OR = 7.7, 95% CI: 2.0–28.9) and non-cirrhotic alcoholic liver disease (adjusted OR = 5.4, 95%CI:3.1–9.5) but not for patients with non-cirrhotic non-alcoholic liver diseases (adjusted OR = 0.9, 95%CI:0.5–1.6). The highest risk was found among women with liver cirrhosis (OR = 8.9, 95%CI:2.9–26.7) and for patients younger than 70 years (OR = 6.1, 95%CI:3.4–10.9). There were no sex- or age-related differences in the association between other liver diseases (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) and hospitalisation with ICH.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Patients with liver cirrhosis and non-cirrhotic alcoholic liver disease have a clearly increased risk for ICH.</p

Variable carrier reduction in radio-over-fiber systems for increased modulation efficiencyusing a Si3N4 tunable extinction ratio ring resonator

This paper was published in OPTICS EXPRESS and is made available as an electronic reprint with the permission of OSA. The paper can be found at the following URL on the OSA website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1364/OE.20.025478 e. Systematic or multiple reproduction or distribution to multiple locations via electronic or other means is prohibited and is subject to penalties under law[EN] Variable optical carrier reduction via the use of a Si3N4 ring resonator notch filter with tunable extinction ratio is demonstrated in a 10 GHz radio-over-fiber system for improving the modulation efficiency. The extinction of the filter notch is tuned with micro-heaters, by setting the Mach-Zehnder coupler of the ring. Experimental results showing a modulation depth improvement of up to 20 dB are providedThis work was supported by the NANOCAP project A-1084-RT-GC that is coordinated by the European Defence Agency (EDA) and funded by 11 contributing Members (Cyprus, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain) in the framework of the Joint Investment Programme on Innovative Concepts and Emerging Technologies (JIP-ICET).Perentos, A.; Cuesta, F.; Rodrigo, M.; Canciamilla, A.; Vidal Rodriguez, B.; Pierno, L.; Griol Barres, A.... (2012). Variable carrier reduction in radio-over-fiber systems for increased modulation efficiencyusing a Si3N4 tunable extinction ratio ring resonator. Optics Express. 20(23):25478-25488. doi:10.1364/OE.20.025478S25478254882023Lim, C., Nirmalathas, A., Bakaul, M., Gamage, P., Ka-Lun Lee, Yizhuo Yang, … Waterhouse, R. (2010). Fiber-Wireless Networks and Subsystem Technologies. 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Optical Single-Sideband Modulation With Tunable Optical Carrier to Sideband Ratio in Radio Over Fiber Systems. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 29(5), 775-781. doi:10.1109/jlt.2011.2108261LaGasse, M. J., Hamilton, M. C., Charczenko, W., & Thaniyavarn, S. (1994). Optical carrier filtering for high dynamic range fibre optic links. Electronics Letters, 30(25), 2157-2158. doi:10.1049/el:19941422Esman, R. D., & Williams, K. J. (1995). Wideband efficiency improvement of fiber optic systems by carrier subtraction. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 7(2), 218-220. doi:10.1109/68.345928Attygalle, M., Lim, C., Pendock, G. J., Nirmalathas, A., & Edvell, G. (2005). Transmission improvement in fiber wireless links using fiber Bragg gratings. IEEE Photonics Technology Letters, 17(1), 190-192. doi:10.1109/lpt.2004.836901Lim, C., Attygalle, M., Nirmalathas, A., Novak, D., & Waterhouse, R. (2006). Analysis of optical carrier-to-sideband ratio for improving transmission performance in fiber-radio links. IEEE Transactions on Microwave Theory and Techniques, 54(5), 2181-2187. doi:10.1109/tmtt.2006.872809Barwicz, T., Popovic, M. A., Watts, M. R., Rakich, P. T., Ippen, E. P., & Smith, H. I. (2006). Fabrication of add-drop filters based on frequency-matched microring resonators. Journal of Lightwave Technology, 24(5), 2207-2218. doi:10.1109/jlt.2006.872298Ferrari, C., Canciamilla, A., Morichetti, F., Sorel, M., & Melloni, A. (2011). Penalty-free transmission in a silicon coupled resonator optical waveguide over the full C-band. Optics Letters, 36(19), 3948. doi:10.1364/ol.36.003948Gasulla, I., Lloret, J., Sancho, J., Sales, S., & Capmany, J. (2011). Recent Breakthroughs in Microwave Photonics. IEEE Photonics Journal, 3(2), 311-315. doi:10.1109/jphot.2011.2130517Capmany, J., Gasulla, I., & Sales, S. (2011). Harnessing slow light. 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Suicide and Suicide Risk in Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Populations: Review and Recommendations

Despite strong indications of elevated risk of suicidal behavior in lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, limited attention has been given to research, interventions or suicide prevention programs targeting these populations. This article is a culmination of a three-year effort by an expert panel to address the need for better understanding of suicidal behavior and suicide risk in sexual minority populations, and stimulate the development of needed prevention strategies, interventions and policy changes. This article summarizes existing research findings, and makes recommendations for addressing knowledge gaps and applying current knowledge to relevant areas of suicide prevention practice