A Survey to Determine the Extent of Retraining in the Printing Industry

No longer is the printing industry tied to the traditional concept of placing ink on paper; it is expanding to include electronic means for transmitting graphic information Sophisticated electronic systems and tape operations are ginning to replace older systems Computers are becoming increasingly significant in the areas of typesetting, presswork and estimating. The introduction of electronics in the graphic arts has brought about new systems such as facsimile transmission of finish pages of copy from city to city. Devices such as electronic etching and color separating equipment and electronic controls for highly mechanized bindery equipment are now being used. Electronic scanners now produce full-sized newspaper pages in 4½ minutes. Density scanners are now being used for quality control in presswork Electronic photocomposing machines, such as the Lexical-Graphic Composer Printing System which produces high-quality line and halftone printouts at speeds up to 1,000 characters per second are now commercially available. (See more in text.

Understanding the Autism Spectrum Disorder Population: An Opportunity to Improve Patient Care

There is a documented need for caring education regarding patients with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) for nursing students and nursing staff. The autism spectrum population is increasing, one in 59 children in the United States as reported by the CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network (as cited in Baio et al., 2018). Nurses are expected to provide appropriate care, showing respect and understanding at all times to both the client and family. Through lack of knowledge and misunderstanding the ASD population has not been given this care. Based on Watson’s Theory of Caring, an educational ASD caring program was created for a summer session Family Nurse Practitioner assessment class. This educational program provided basic knowledge of ASD and appropriate communication skills for caregivers, guided by caring science concepts. Using the Caring Factor Survey-Care Provider Version, Short Version (CFS-CPV) by Nelson, Thiel, Hozak, and Thomas (2016), and the Autism Knowledge Survey-Revised (AKS-R) by Swiezy, Stuart, and Ashby (2005), student perceived ability to care and student knowledge of ASD were measured. There was a 4.8% and 16% improvement, respectively, from pre- to posttest, but the results are inconclusive due to the small response rate. Nursing curriculums and continuing education offerings should include knowledge related to working with special populations, such as those with communication disorders. Nursing practice guided by caring science principles help nurses to build authentic relationships with patients and families resulting in better health outcomes

Radiation resistance of Ge, Ge0.93Si0.07, GaAs and Al0.08Ga0.92 as solar cells

Solar cells made of Ge, Ge(0.93)Si(0.07) alloys, GaAs and Al(0.08)Ga(0.92)As were irradiated in two experiments with 1-meV electrons at fluences as great as 1 x 10(exp 16) cm(exp-2). Several general trends have emerged. Low-band-gap Ge and Ge(0.93)Si(0.07) cells show substantial resistance to radiation-induced damage. The two experiments showed that degradation is less for Al(0.08)Ga(0.92)As cells than for similarly irradiated GaAs cells. Compared to homojunctions, cells with graded-band-gap emitters did not show the additional resistance to damage in the second experiment that had been seen in the first. The thickness of the emitter is a key parameter to limit the degradation in GaAs devices

Biomarkers of browning of white adipose tissue and their regulation during exercise- and diet-induced weight loss

Background: A hypothesis exists whereby an exercise- or dietary-induced negative energy balance reduces human subcutaneous white adipose tissue (scWAT) mass through the formation of brown-like adipocyte (brite) cells. However, the validity of biomarkers of brite formation has not been robustly evaluated in humans, and clinical data that link brite formation and weight loss are sparse. Objectives: We used rosiglitazone and primary adipocytes to stringently evaluate a set of biomarkers for brite formation and determined whether the expression of biomarker genes in scWAT could explain the change in body composition in response to exercise training combined with calorie restriction in obese and overweight women (n = 79). Design: Gene expression was derived from exon DNA microarrays and preadipocytes from obesity-resistant and -sensitive mice treated with rosiglitazone to generate candidate brite biomarkers from a microarray. These biomarkers were evaluated against data derived from scWAT RNA from obese and overweight women before and after supervised exercise 5 d/wk for 16 wk combined with modest calorie restriction (∼0.84 MJ/d). Results: Forty percent of commonly used brite gene biomarkers exhibited an exon or strain-specific regulation. No biomarkers were positively related to weight loss in human scWAT. Greater weight loss was significantly associated with less uncoupling protein 1 expression (P = 0.006, R(2) = 0.09). In a follow-up global analysis, there were 161 genes that covaried with weight loss that were linked to greater CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α activity (z = 2.0, P = 6.6 × 10(−7)), liver X receptor α/β agonism (z = 2.1, P = 2.8 × 10(−7)), and inhibition of leptin-like signaling (z = −2.6, P = 3.9 × 10(−5)). Conclusion: We identify a subset of robust RNA biomarkers for brite formation and show that calorie-restriction–mediated weight loss in women dynamically remodels scWAT to take on a more-white rather than a more-brown adipocyte phenotype

Motivating social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic: An online experiment. ESRI Working Paper No. 658 April 2020

Social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic will save lives. We tested communication strategies to promote social distancing via an online experiment (N = 500) commissioned by Ireland’s Department of Health. A control group saw a current informational poster. Two treatment groups saw similar posters with messages that highlighted: (i) the risk of transmission to identifiable persons vulnerable to COVID-19; (ii) the exponential nature of transmission. We then measured judgements of behaviours previously identified by focus groups as “marginal” (meaning that people were not sure whether they were advisable, such meeting others outdoors, or visiting parents). We recorded intention to undertake behaviours and stated acceptability of behaviours. Our hypotheses, that both treatments would increase participants’ caution about marginal behaviours, were preregistered (i.e. lodged with an international organisation for open science before data collection). Results confirmed the hypotheses. The findings suggest that the thought of infecting vulnerable people or large numbers of people can motivate social distancing. This has implications for communications strategies. The stud

Metabolic adaptations to repeated periods of contraction with reduced blood flow in canine skeletal muscle

BACKGROUND: Patients suffering from Intermittent Claudication (IC) experience repeated periods of muscle contraction with low blood flow, throughout the day and this may contribute to the hypothesised skeletal muscle abnormalities. However, no study has evaluated the consequences of intermittent contraction with low blood flow on skeletal muscle tissue. Our aim was to generate this basic physiological data, determining the 'normal' response of healthy skeletal muscle tissue. We specifically proposed that the metabolic responses to contraction would be modified under such circumstances, revealing endogenous strategies engaged to protect the muscle adenine nucleotide pool. Utilizing a canine gracilis model (n = 9), the muscle was stimulated to contract (5 Hz) for three 10 min periods (separated by 10 min rest) under low blood flow conditions (80% reduced), followed by 1 hr recovery and then a fourth period of 10 min stimulation. Muscle biopsies were obtained prior to and following the first and fourth contraction periods. Direct arterio-venous sampling allowed for the calculation of muscle metabolite efflux and oxygen consumption. RESULTS: During the first period of contraction, [ATP] was reduced by ~30%. During this period there was also a 10 fold increase in muscle lactate concentration and a substantial increase in muscle lactate and ammonia efflux. Subsequently, lactate efflux was similar during the first three periods, while ammonia efflux was reduced by the third period. Following 1 hr recovery, muscle lactate and phosphocreatine concentrations had returned to resting values, while muscle [ATP] remained 20% lower. During the fourth contraction period no ammonia efflux or change in muscle ATP content occured. Despite such contrasting metabolic responses, muscle tension and oxygen consumption were identical during all contraction periods from 3 to 10 min. CONCLUSION: repeated periods of muscle contraction, with low blood flow, results in cessation of muscle ammonia production which is suggestive of a dramatic reduction in flux through AMP deaminase

Attachment Style, Early Sexual Intercourse, and Dating Aggression Victimization

The present study examined relations between attachment style, age at first sexual intercourse, and dating aggression (DA) victimization. In all, 137 heterosexual female undergraduate students 18 to 25 years of age (M = 20.76, SD = 1.87) completed an online questionnaire that included questions regarding sexual history, attachment style (Experiences in Close Relationships Scale), and DA (Conflict in Adolescent Dating Relationships Inventory). Initial bivariate correlations revealed that women reported higher rates of DA victimization if they were more anxiously attached (r = .30, p = .000), had an earlier age at vaginal sexual debut (r = −.19, p = .015), and had an earlier age at oral sexual debut (r = −.15, p = .046); however, when entered into a predictive multivariate model, neither the addition of anxious attachment nor an early age at sexual debut accounted for a significant amount of variance above and beyond control variables. Although we were unable to affirm anxious attachment and an early age at first intercourse as risk factors for DA victimization, posthoc analyses emphasized the need to control for social desirability when gathering information on sensitive topics in clinical and research settings

Molecular studies of exercise, skeletal muscle, and ageing [version 1; referees: 2 approved]

The purpose of an F1000 review is to reflect on the bigger picture, exploring controversies and new concepts as well as providing opinion as to what is limiting progress in a particular field. We reviewed about 200 titles published in 2015 that included reference to ‘skeletal muscle, exercise, and ageing’ with the aim of identifying key articles that help progress our understanding or research capacity while identifying methodological issues which represent, in our opinion, major barriers to progress. Loss of neuromuscular function with chronological age impacts on both health and quality of life. We prioritised articles that studied human skeletal muscle within the context of age or exercise and identified new molecular observations that may explain how muscle responds to exercise or age. An important aspect of this short review is perspective: providing a view on the likely ‘size effect’ of a potential mechanism on physiological capacity or ageing

Polymer based nanocomposites: synthetic strategies for hybrid materials

Associating the well known advantages of hybrid materials to the wide potential of nanomaterials, the new and featuring class of polymer nanocomposites turned into one of the most intensively researched areas. This review highlights recent developments in the field of the synthesis of polymer based nanocomposites. Important issues related to the surface modification of fillers, in order to promote the compatibility between the inorganic/organic components, are also reported. The enhancement of the physical properties and the potential applications of polymer nanocomposites are considered in typical examples, given for each synthetic method describe