Viral pathogens and acute lung injury: investigations inspired by the SARS epidemic and the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic.

Acute viral pneumonia is an important cause of acute lung injury (ALI), although not enough is known about the exact incidence of viral infection in ALI. Polymerase chain reaction-based assays, direct fluorescent antigen (DFA) assays, and viral cultures can detect viruses in samples from the human respiratory tract, but the presence of the virus does not prove it to be a pathogen, nor does it give information regarding the interaction of viruses with the host immune response and bacterial flora of the respiratory tract. The severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) epidemic and the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic provided a better understanding of how viral pathogens mediate lung injury. Although the viruses initially infect the respiratory epithelium, the relative role of epithelial damage and endothelial dysfunction has not been well defined. The inflammatory host immune response to H1N1 infection is a major contributor to lung injury. The SARS coronavirus causes lung injury and inflammation in part through actions on the nonclassical renin angiotensin pathway. The lessons learned from the pandemic outbreaks of SARS coronavirus and H1N1 capture key principles of virally mediated ALI. There are pathogen-specific pathways underlying virally mediated ALI that converge onto a common end pathway resulting in diffuse alveolar damage. In terms of therapy, lung protective ventilation is the cornerstone of supportive care. There is little evidence that corticosteroids are beneficial, and they might be harmful. Future therapeutic strategies may be targeted to specific pathogens, the pathogenetic pathways in the host immune response, or enhancing repair and regeneration of tissue damage

Electronic and Optical Properties of Vacancy Defects in Transition Metal Dichalcogenides

A detailed first-principle study has been performed to evaluate the electronic and optical properties of single-layer (SL) transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) (MX${}_2$; M= transition metal such as Mo, W and X= S, Se, Te), in the presence of vacancy defects (VDs). Defects usually play an important role in tailoring electronic, optical, and magnetic properties of semiconductors. We consider three types of VDs in SL TMDCs i) $X$-vacancy, $X_{2}$-vacancy, and iii) $M$-vacancy. We show that VDs lead to localized defect states (LDS) in the band structure, which in turn give rise to sharp transitions in in-plane and out-of-plane optical susceptibilities, $\chi_{\parallel}$ and $\chi_{\perp}$. The effects of spin orbit coupling (SOC) are also considered. We find that SOC splitting in LDS is directly related to the atomic number of the transition metal atoms. Apart from electronic and optical properties we also find magnetic signatures (local magnetic moment of $\sim\mu_{B}$) in MoSe$_{2}$ in the presence of Mo vacancy, which breaks the time reversal symmetry and therefore lifts the Kramers degeneracy. We show that a simple qualitative tight binding model (TBM), involving only the hopping between atoms surrounding the vacancy with an on-site SOC term, is sufficient to capture the essential features of LDS. In addition, the existence of the LDS can be understood from the solution of the 2D Dirac Hamiltonian by employing infinite mass boundary conditions. In order to provide a clear description of the optical absorption spectra, we use group theory to derive the optical selection rules between LDS for both $\chi_{\parallel}$ and $\chi_{\perp}$.Comment: 14 pages, 11 figure

How does explicit phonemic awareness instruction in a 6th-grade classroom, influence students reading fluency and comprehension?

The purpose of this study was to determine if using phonemic awareness lessons could help students with reading comprehension and fluency. This action research study was conducted in a rural 6th-grade classroom with a total of 38 students. The classroom is in west-central Minnesota. The student participants were two sections that included the entire 6th grade. The research entailed whole group lessons; which involved games, syllable instruction and explicit instruction on listening to the sounds in words and noticing the patterns that sounds and spellings have in words. Small group lessons were also implemented where students rotated in the classroom to stations set up with phonemic awareness assignments. The students were also given tools and resources to use independently to decode and attack new words. Data was collected with the STAR Renaissance assessment tools. Students were assessed for comprehension three times a year, and fluency throughout the year. A comprehensive phonemic awareness assessment was given to students to determine students that had a gap in this foundational reading skill

The Proliferation Of Pawnshops And Check Cashing Outlets: Can Regulation Be To Blame?

Regulation, particularly in banking, is often meant to protect the consumer.  The Community Reinvestment Act, codified in 1977, was intended to protect low-income depositors by encouraging banks to extend loans to such depositors.  Unfortunately, there are some important unintended consequences of the act that actually harm, rather than protect, low-income individuals.  Using panel data from the first quarter of 2000, this paper illustrates that the implementation of the 1977 act may actually explain the growth in pawnshop and check cashing outlets both of which are extremely expensive forms of intermediation for consumers

Alien Registration- Hendrickson, Hilma M. (South Thomaston, Knox County)

https://digitalmaine.com/alien_docs/13162/thumbnail.jp