Pavement Evaluation of the Concrete Tie-bars and Dowel Baskets on Irvin Cobb Drive, US 60, McCracken County, KY

A 1500 Mhz. ground coupled, ground penetrating radar antenna was used to identify both the horizontal alignment and the vertical displacement of the concrete tie-bars and the transverse joint dowel bar assembles on a Portland-Cement-Concrete-Pavement (PCCP) on US 60 in McCracken County, KY. Approximately 5 lanes miles of PCCP were evaluated using the 1500 Mhz. ground coupled antenna. Results indicate that only one transverse dowel basket out of an approximate total of 1,760 were within 4.17 inches of the pavement surface. Seven transverse dowel baskets were misaligned four inches or greater from the location of the sawed joint. These areas represent 0.45 percent of the total transverse joints on the project. The ground penetrating radar results also indicated there were no areas along the longitudinal joint where the tie-bars were either too close to the pavement surface or missing

Selection of DNA Aptamers for Ovarian Cancer Biomarker CA125 Using One-Pot SELEX and High-Throughput Sequencing

CA125 is a mucin glycoprotein whose concentration in serum correlates with a woman’s risk of developing ovarian cancer and also indicates response to therapy in diagnosed patients. Accurate detection of this large, complex protein in patient samples is of great clinical relevance. We suggest that powerful new diagnostic tools may be enabled by the development of nucleic acid aptamers with affinity for CA125. Here, we report on our use of One-Pot SELEX to isolate single-stranded DNA aptamers with affinity for CA125, followed by high-throughput sequencing of the selected oligonucleotides. This data-rich approach, combined with bioinformatics tools, enabled the entire selection process to be characterized. Using fluorescence anisotropy and affinity probe capillary electrophoresis, the binding affinities of four aptamer candidates were evaluated. Two aptamers, CA125_1 and CA125_12, both without primers, were found to bind to clinically relevant concentrations of the protein target. Binding was differently influenced by the presence of Mg2+ ions, being required for binding of CA125_1 and abrogating binding of CA125_12. In conclusion, One-Pot SELEX was found to be a promising selection method that yielded DNA aptamers to a clinically important protein target

Stellar multiplicity: an interdisciplinary nexus

Our uncertainties about binary star systems (and triples and so on) limit our capabilities in literally every single one of the Thematic Areas identified for Astro2020. We need to understand the population statistics of stellar multiplicity and their variations with stellar type, chemistry, and dynamical environment: Correct interpretation of any exoplanet experiment depends on proper treatment of resolved and unresolved binaries; stellar multiplicity is a direct outcome of star and companion formation; the most precise constraints on stellar structure come from well-characterized binary systems; stellar populations heavily rely on stellar and binary evolution modeling; high-redshift galaxy radiation and reionization is controlled by binary-dependent stellar physics; compact objects are the outcomes of binary evolution; the interpretation of multi-messenger astronomy from gravitational waves, light, and neutrinos relies on understanding the products of binary star evolution; near-Universe constraints on the Hubble constant with Type Ia supernovae and gravitational-wave mergers are subject to systematics related to their binary star progenitors; local measures of dark-matter substructure masses are distorted by binary populations. In order to realize the scientific goals in each of these themes over the next decade, we therefore need to understand how binary stars and stellar multiplets are formed and distributed in the space of masses, composition, age, and orbital properties, and how the distribution evolves with time. This white paper emphasizes the interdisciplinary importance of binary-star science and advocates that coordinated investment from all astrophysical communities will benefit almost all branches of astrophysics.Comment: Submitted to the Astro2020 Decadal Survey White Paper cal

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected

Final Targeting Strategy for the SDSS-IV APOGEE-2N Survey

APOGEE-2 is a dual-hemisphere, near-infrared (NIR), spectroscopic survey with the goal of producing a chemo-dynamical mapping of the Milky Way Galaxy. The targeting for APOGEE-2 is complex and has evolved with time. In this paper, we present the updates and additions to the initial targeting strategy for APOGEE-2N presented in Zasowski et al. (2017). These modifications come in two implementation modes: (i) "Ancillary Science Programs" competitively awarded to SDSS-IV PIs through proposal calls in 2015 and 2017 for the pursuit of new scientific avenues outside the main survey, and (ii) an effective 1.5-year expansion of the survey, known as the Bright Time Extension, made possible through accrued efficiency gains over the first years of the APOGEE-2N project. For the 23 distinct ancillary programs, we provide descriptions of the scientific aims, target selection, and how to identify these targets within the APOGEE-2 sample. The Bright Time Extension permitted changes to the main survey strategy, the inclusion of new programs in response to scientific discoveries or to exploit major new datasets not available at the outset of the survey design, and expansions of existing programs to enhance their scientific success and reach. After describing the motivations, implementation, and assessment of these programs, we also leave a summary of lessons learned from nearly a decade of APOGEE-1 and APOGEE-2 survey operations. A companion paper, Santana et al. (submitted), provides a complementary presentation of targeting modifications relevant to APOGEE-2 operations in the Southern Hemisphere.Comment: 59 pages; 11 Figures; 7 Tables; 2 Appendices; Submitted to Journal and Under Review; Posting to accompany papers using the SDSS-IV/APOGEE-2 Data Release 17 scheduled for December 202

xclim: xarray-based climate data analytics

xclim is a Python library that enables computation of climate indicators over large, hetero- geneous data sets. It is built using xarray objects and operations, can seamlessly benefit from the parallelization handling provided by dask, and relies on community conventions for data formatting and metadata attributes. xclim is meant as a tool to facilitate both climate science research and the delivery of operational climate services and products. In addition to climate indicator calculations, xclim also includes utilities for bias correction and statistical adjustment, ensemble analytics, model diagnostics, data quality assurance, and metadata standards compliance

A Novel Automated System Yields Reproducible Temporal Feeding Patterns in Laboratory Rodents

Background The impact of temporal feeding patterns remains a major unanswered question in nutritional science. Progress has been hampered by the absence of a reliable method to impose temporal feeding in laboratory rodents, without the confounding influence of food-hoarding behavior. Objective The aim of this study was to develop and validate a reliable method for supplying crushed diets to laboratory rodents in consistent, relevant feeding patterns for prolonged periods. Methods We programmed our experimental feeding station to deliver a standard diet [StD; Atwater Fuel Energy (AFE) 13.9% fat] or high-fat diet (HFD; AFE 45% fat) during nocturnal grazing [providing 1/24th of the total daily food intake (tdF/I) of ad libitum–fed controls every 30 min] and meal-fed (3 × 1-h periods of ad libitum feeding) patterns in male rats (Sprague-Dawley: 4 wk old, 72–119 g) and mice [C57/Bl6J wild-type (WT): 6 mo old, 29–37 g], and ghrelin-null littermates (Ghr−/−; 27–34 g). Results Grazing yielded accurate, consistent feeding events in rats, with an approximately linear rise in nocturnal cumulative food intake [tdF/I (StD): 97.4 ± 1.5% accurate compared with manual measurement; R2 = 0.86; tdF/I (HFD): 99.0 ± 1.4% accurate; R2 = 0.86]. Meal-feeding produced 3 nocturnal meals of equal size and duration in StD-fed rats (tdF/I: 97.4 ± 0.9% accurate; R2 = 0.90), whereas the second meal size increased progressively in HFD-fed rats (44% higher on day 35 than on day 14; P < 0.01). Importantly, cumulative food intake in grazing and meal-fed rats was identical. Similar results were obtained in WT mice except that less restricted grazing induced hyperphagia (compared with meal-fed WT mice; P < 0.05 from day 1). This difference was abolished in Ghr−/− mice, with meal initiation delayed and meal duration enhanced. Neither pattern elevated corticosterone secretion in rats, but meal-feeding aligned ultradian pulses. Conclusions We have established a consistent, measurable, researcher-defined, stress-free method for imposing temporal feeding patterns in rats and mice. This approach will facilitate progress in understanding the physiologic impact of feeding patterns

Trajectories of cortical structures associated with stress across adolescence: a bivariate latent change score approach

Background: Stress exposure in childhood and adolescence has been linked to reductions in cortical structures and cognitive functioning. However, to date, most of these studies have been cross-sectional, limiting the ability to make long-term inferences, given that most cortical structures continue to develop through adolescence. Methods: Here, we used a subset of the IMAGEN population cohort sample (N = 502; assessment ages: 14, 19, and 22 years; mean age: 21.945 years; SD = 0.610) to understand longitudinally the long-term interrelations between stress, cortical development, and cognitive functioning. To these ends, we first used a latent change score model to examine four bivariate relations – assessing individual differences in change in the relations between adolescent stress exposure and volume, surface area, and cortical thickness of cortical structures, as well as cognitive outcomes. Second, we probed for indirect neurocognitive effects linking stress to cortical brain structures and cognitive functions using rich longitudinal mediation modeling. Results: Latent change score modeling showed that greater baseline adolescence stress at age 14 predicted a small reduction in the right anterior cingulate volume (Std. β = −.327, p =.042, 95% CI [−0.643, −0.012]) and right anterior cingulate surface area (Std. β = −.274, p =.038, 95% CI [−0.533, −0.015]) across ages 14–22. These effects were very modest in nature and became nonsignificant after correcting for multiple comparisons. Our longitudinal analyses found no evidence of indirect effects in the two neurocognitive pathways linking adolescent stress to brain and cognitive outcomes. Conclusion: Findings shed light on the impact of stress on brain reductions, particularly in the prefrontal cortex that have consistently been implicated in the previous cross-sectional studies. However, the magnitude of effects observed in our study is smaller than that has been reported in past cross-sectional work. This suggests that the potential impact of stress during adolescence on brain structures may likely be more modest than previously noted

The role of wingbeat frequency and amplitude in flight power

Body-mounted accelerometers provide a new prospect for estimating power use in flying birds, as the signal varies with the two major kinematic determinants of aerodynamic power: wingbeat frequency and amplitude. Yet wingbeat frequency is sometimes used as a proxy for power output in isolation. There is, therefore, a need to understand which kinematic parameter birds vary and whether this is predicted by flight mode (e.g. accelerating, ascending/descending flight), speed or morphology. We investigate this using high-frequency acceleration data from (i) 14 species flying in the wild, (ii) two species flying in controlled conditions in a wind tunnel and (iii) a review of experimental and field studies. While wingbeat frequency and amplitude were positively correlated, R2 values were generally low, supporting the idea that parameters can vary independently. Indeed, birds were more likely to modulate wingbeat amplitude for more energy-demanding flight modes, including climbing and take-off. Nonetheless, the striking variability, even within species and flight types, highlights the complexity of describing the kinematic relationships, which appear sensitive to both the biological and physical context. Notwithstanding this, acceleration metrics that incorporate both kinematic parameters should be more robust proxies for power than wingbeat frequency alone