All Health Care Is Local: Exploring the Roles of Cities and States in Health Care Delivery and Reform Keynote #2

I\u27m going to talk a little bit about just the big changes in the way that we make healthcare policy at the state and local level. The daily barrage of political information, the shutdown scandals, the tweets and tantrums on Cable News, make it difficult to see what I think have been some pretty big shifts in the water that makes up the way that we actually make healthcare policy and maybe lots of other policy. And if we\u27re going to continue on this pathway, where not only do we have an expansion/non-expansion divergence, then we have a work requirement/non-work requirement divergence

Metabolic Flexibility in Classical Monocytes is not Affected by Age

Inflammaging is the chronic low-grade inflammation that occurs with age that contributes to the pathology of age-related diseases. Monocytes are innate immune cells that become dysregulated with age and which can contribute to inflammaging. Metabolism plays a key role in determining immune cell functions, with anti-inflammatory cells primarily relying on fatty acid oxidation and pro-inflammatory cells primarily relying on glycolysis. It was recently shown that lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated monocytes can compensate for a lack of glucose by utilizing fatty acid oxidation. Given that mitochondrial function decreases with age, we hypothesized that monocytes taken from aged individuals would have an impaired ability to upregulate oxidative metabolism and would have impaired effector functions. Aging did not impair LPS-induced oxygen consumption rate during glucose deprivation as measured on a Seahorse XFp system. Additionally, aged monocytes maintained inflammatory gene expression responses and phagocytic capacity during LPSstimulation in the absence of glucose. In conclusion, aged monocytes maintain effector and metabolic functions during glucose deprivation, at least in an ex vivo context

Optimization of Bacterial Expression and Purification of Nipsnap1 Protein

Nipsnap1 (4-nitrophenylphosphatase domain and non-neuronal SNAP25-like homolog 1) is a novel mitochondrial protein shown to interact with the intracellular domain of amyloid precursor protein (APP), one of the key biomarkers implicated in Alzheimer’s disease (AD) pathology. A formerly developed expression strategy for Nipsnap1 based on the pET-28a expression system showed direct binding of purified recombinant Nipsnap1 to NAD+ and NADP+. This was further confirmed using Circular Dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, indicating that NAD+ binding produces a structural change in Nipsnap1.To address the low yield of Nipsnap1 protein in the former expression system, several approaches and conditions were evaluated in this study. A GST-fusion strategy was developed to stabilize the recombinant protein. GST fusion did not result in sufficient solubility of Nipsnap1, with the majority of expressed GST-fused Nipsnap1 aggregating in inclusion bodies. Growth curve analysis showed that Nipsnap1 expression did not cause a bacteriostatic effect. After several experiments to optimize induction, solubilization and purification of recombinant Nipsnap1, the yield for Nipsnap1 remained low, but several truncated forms of Nipsnap1 were expressed in higher quantities. Future strategies of recombinant Nipsnap1 expression and purification may benefit from the use of a codon-optimized form of Nipsnap1 introduced into expression systems known to aid in protein solubility and stability

PREPARATION OF THORIUM OXIDE FROM ORNL THOREX THORIUM NITRATE

Thorium nitrate, removed from irradiated Th metal processed in the Thorex pilot plant, was converted to the oxide and then to the fluoride in one pilot-plant-scale and two laboratory-scale runs. Activity distributions, decontamination factors, and safety of the process are treated. (D.L.C.

Negative relationships between the nutrient and carbohydrate content of the seagrass Thalassia testudinum

This study documents relationships between plant nutrient content and rhizome carbohydrate content of a widely distributed seagrass species, Thalassia testudinum, in Florida. Five distinct seagrass beds were sampled for leaf nitrogen, leaf phosphorus, and rhizome carbohydrate content from 1997 to 1999. All variables displayed marked intra- and inter- regional variation. Elemental ratios (mean N:P ± S.E.) were lowest for Charlotte Harbor (9.9 ± 0.2) and highest for Florida Bay (53.5 ± 0.9), indicating regional shifts in the nutrient content of plant material. Rhizome carbohydrate content (mean ± S.E.) was lowest for Anclote Keys (21.8 ± 1.6 mg g−1 FM), and highest for Homosassa Bay (40.7 ± 1.7 mg g−1 FM). Within each region, significant negative correlations between plant nutrient and rhizome carbohydrate content were detected; thus, nutrient-replete plants displayed low carbohydrate content, while nutrient-deplete plants displayed high carbohydrate content. Spearman\u27s rank correlations between nutrient and carbohydrate content varied from a minimum in Tampa Bay (ρ = −0.2) to a maximum in Charlotte Harbor (ρ = −0.73). Linear regressions on log-transformed data revealed similar trends. This consistent trend across five distinct regions suggests that nutrient supply may play an important role in the regulation of carbon storage within seagrasses. Here we present a new hypothesis for studies which aim to explain the carbohydrate dynamics of benthic plants

Modeling interfacial area transport in multi-fluid systems

Many typical chemical engineering operations are multi-fluid systems. They are carried out in distillation columns (vapor/liquid), liquid-liquid contactors (liquid/liquid) and other similar devices. An important parameter is interfacial area concentration, which determines the rate of interfluid heat, mass and momentum transfer and ultimately, the overall performance of the equipment. In many cases, the models for determining interfacial area concentration are empirical and can only describe the cases for which there is experimental data. In an effort to understand multiphase reactors and the mixing process better, a multi-fluid model has been developed as part of a research effort to calculate interfacial area transport in several different types of in-line static mixers. For this work, the ensemble-averaged property conservation equations have been derived for each fluid and for the mixture. These equations were then combined to derive a transport equation for the interfacial area concentration. The final, one-dimensional model was compared to interfacial area concentration data from two sizes of Kenics in-line mixer, two sizes of concurrent jet and a Tee mixer. In all cases, the calculated and experimental data compared well with the highest scatter being with the Tee mixer comparison

Borderlands/La Frontera de Gloria Anzaldúa: Estudios Culturales, Diferencia y el Sujeto no Unitario

Uno de las capítulos de la obra de la escritora vietnamita Trinh T. Minh-lia, Mujer, Nativa, Opa lleva el titulo Un número especial dedicado a las mujeres del tercer mundo. Alude a la persistente costumbre de reconocer el tema de la raza y el origen ktnico, pero dejandolo conceptualmente marginado a mvks de números especiales de publicaciones profesionales. En su ariicdo Feminismo y Racismo Chela Sandoval critic6 la estructura de un congreso de 1981 en que se ofiecia una sesibn para las mujeres de color mientras que se ofwia una prolifwacibn de opciones a las mujeres blancas (60). Nueve aiíos m&, tarde, un congreso que se realizb en la Universidad de California, Los Angeles sobre Teoría Feminista y la Cuesti6n del Sujeto reprodujo este panorama y presentó una plenitud de paneles sobre distintos aspectos de la cuestión del sujeto, a la vez que delimitaba un espacio para el discurso minoritario que revelaba simultáneamente la condición desapercibida del sujeto genkrico (blanco) de los demás paneles. Isaac Julien y Kobena Mercer, los jefes de redacción invitados de un número especial de Screen, formulan su título como una pregunta irónica: ¿El último número especial de la raza

The use of safeguards data for process monitoring in the Advanced Test Line for Actinide Separations

Los Alamos is constructing an integrated process monitoring/materials control and accounting (PM/MC and A) system in the Advanced Testing Line for Actinide Separations (ATLAS) at the Los Alamos Plutonium Facility. The ATLAS will test and demonstrate new methods for aqueous processing of plutonium. The ATLAS will also develop, test, and demonstrate the concepts for integrated process monitoring/materials control and accounting. We describe how this integrated PM/MC and A system will function and provide benefits to both process research and materials accounting personnel

Monocytes in Aging and Exercise

Monocytes are cells of the innate immune system which perform important functions, including inflammatory cytokine production and phagocytosis, and participate in pathogen defense. In aging and disease, monocyte functions are dysregulated, and this dysregulation has been conclusively linked to the pathogenesis of a variety of age-related chronic diseases. In this review, we summarize the current literature supporting exercise training as a potential therapy for improving monocyte function, with particular attention to studies in the aging population. Substantial evidence suggests exercise is an effective therapy for modulating monocyte biology, although mechanisms by which this occurs are still not well understood