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OBJECTIVE: Evaluate longitudinal changes in brain microstructure and volumes in very preterm during the first year of life with and without intervention. DESIGN: Descriptive pilot study METHODS: Five preterm infants in a three-arm clinical trial, one SPEEDI Early, two SPEEDI Late, and two usual care. Brain structural and diffusion MRI’s were acquired within 72 hours after neonatal intensive care unit discharge (n=5), three months post-baseline (n=5), and six months post-baseline (n=3). Fractional anisotropy (FA), Mean diffusivity (MD), and volume metrics were computed for five brain regions. RESULTS: More than 60% of eligible participants completed 100% of the scheduled MRIs. FA and volume increased from baseline to six months across all brain regions. Rate of white matter volume change from baseline to six months was highest in SPEEDI Early. CONCLUSIONS: Non-sedated longitudinal MRI is feasible in very preterm infants and appears to demonstrate longitudinal changes in brain structure and connectivity.

Nutrition indicators suggest that Belize faces broad food challenges; however, there are little data on factors influencing perceived food access. This study, based in the Cayo District, Belize, ex...

The pseudonymous artist Banksy is one of the UK’s most successful contemporary artists, but his identity remains a mystery. Here, we use a Dirichlet process mixture (DPM) model of geographic profiling, a mathematical technique developed in criminology and finding increasing application within ecology and epidemiology, to analyse the spatial patterns of Banksy artworks in Bristol and London. The model takes as input the locations of these artworks, and calculates the probability of ‘offender’ residence across the study area. Our analysis highlights areas associated with one prominent candidate (e.g., his home), supporting his identification as Banksy. More broadly, these results support previous suggestions that analysis of minor terrorism-related acts (e.g., graffiti) could be used to help locate terrorist bases before more serious incidents occur, and provides a fascinating example of the application of the model to a complex, real-world problem.

One of the most glaring deficiencies in the current assessment of mortality risk is the lack of information concerning the impact of familial longevity. In this work, we update estimates of sibling relative risk of living to extreme ages using data from more than 1,700 sibships, and we begin to examine the trend for heritability for different birth-year cohorts. We also build a network model that can be used to compute the increased chance for exceptional longevity of a subject, conditional on his family history of longevity. The network includes familial longevity from three generations and can be used to understand the effects of paternal and maternal longevity on an individual's chance to live to an extreme age.

This qualitative sociolinguistic research study examines Latino/a students’ use of language in a science classroom and laboratory. This study was conducted in a school in the southwestern United States that serves an economically depressed, predominantly Latino population. The object of study was a 5th-grade bilingual (Spanish/English) class. The findings demonstrate the students’ awareness of their own bilingualism, their preference for speaking Spanish, and their conceptualization of English as the language of academic success. Most significantly, this study reveals how the institutional context impacts both the teacher’s and the students’ behaviors, resulting in an implicit institutionalized bias against Spanish.

This analysis examines the negotiation of a critical 1961 defence production agreement between Canada and the United States. Through this triangular transaction, the United States transferred American F-101 interceptors to Canadian ownership and paid $150 million to procure F-104 fighters in Canada. In return, Canada contributed $50 million to the F-104 project and assumed the significant costs of operating stations in the Pinetree radar line. Complex diplomatic discussions led to the conclusion of this deal. On the Canadian side, economic stagnation and the controversial cancellation of the Avro Arrow interceptor forced Prime Minister John Diefenbaker's government to seek an arrangement that would revive Canada's troubled aircraft industry whilst minimising nationalist opposition to the acquisition of American-built interceptors. The successive American administrations of Dwight Eisenhower and John F. Kennedy, on the other hand, were guided by the military imperative of transferring F-101 aircraft to all...

Since the synthesis of acetylsalicylic acid in 1897 by Felix Hoffmann, several pseudoallergic and allergic adverse reactions, caused by aspirin (ASA) and nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAID...

The Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Physics (CNRP) of the Department of Physics at the Uniersity of Surrey hosts the largest nuclear theory activity in the UK. The university is situated in the town of Guildford, 48km SW of London.Theoretical research includes both the structure and reactions of light and exotic-particularly halo-nuclei, as well as the structure of heavy nuclei. Together with the experimental activity, the theory group is part of the newly formed CNRP, which also includes applied nuclear physics for medicine, imaging, and materials characterisation.

The Cambro-Ordovician Glenelg tectonic zone of western Victoria is a distinctive metamorphic-igneous segment of the Delamerian Orogenic Belt comprising two northwest-striking regional metamorphic segments of andalusite-sillimanite type prograding towards an axial granitic batholith. The second of five deformations (D2) was most significant, producing isoclinal folds, transposition and a pervasive regional foliation (S2). Southwest of the central batholith, biotite to migmatite zones contain mainly quartzo-feldspathic rock (turbiditic metagreywacke, quartzo-feldspathic schist and migmatite), plus less common metaquartzite and calc-silicate rocks and minor metapelite. Metagabbro, metadolerite and amphibolite typically have the chemistry of mid-ocean ridge basalts. Serpentinite pods and sheets were tectonically introduced to low-grade areas. Northeast of the central batholith, quartzo-feldspathic rock occupies the sillimanite and migmatite zones exclusively, with a regional concentration of pegmatites adjacent to the zone boundary. Gross interleaving of quartzo-feldspathic schist, migmatite, pegmatite and muscovite-bearing granitic rock is characteristic. Peak metamorphic conditions of 550 MPa at 640°C leading to migmatite formation were established by D2 time and accompanied by tonalite-granodiorite and pegmatite emplacement. Subsequently, the thermal high contracted to the northeast culminating in the more extensive syn-, post-D4 to pre-D5 granitic magmatism.

This study is designed to extend the sociological research on alcohol use and family relationships. We focus specifically on how heavy drinking by a sibling erodes the sibling relationship performance. Using survey data gathered from 339 college students attending a large Southern University, the results indicate that siblings who are heavy drinkers exhibit substantially poorer sibling relationship performance than nondrinking siblings. However, the data also indicate that there is an important factor mediating this link. Once a measure of disruptive behaviors often associated with heavy drinking is controlled, sibling drinking is no longer a significant predictor of sibling relationship performance. Hence, the inverse relationship between sibling drinking and sibling relationship performance is actually accounted for by an underlying association between disruptive behaviors associated with heavy drinking and poor sibling relationship performance. We conclude with a discussion of the limitations of the st...

(1998). A Man's Guide To Stronger Erections: Overcoming Erectile Difficulties (1998). Video. Available from the Sinclair Institute, 1829 E. Franklin Street, Suite 1014, Chapel Hill, NC 27514. Phone 800-955-0888. VHS, color, 60 minutes, $29.95. Journal of Sex Education and Therapy: Vol. 23, No. 3, pp. 267-269.

Regular aliphatic/aromatic copolyoxamides were prepared from diamine-oxamides and aromatic diacid chlorides by interfacial and solution polymerization. Solution polymerization in chloroform or dimethylacetamide is preferred for the preparation of large quantities of polymers but interfacial polymerization is most conveniently carried out for the preparation of polymers with high molecular weight. Aromatic diacid chlorides used included the diacid chlorides of terephthalic acid, isophthalic acid, 2,6-pyridinedicarboxylic acid, two isomeric naphthalene dicarboxylic acids, two cyclo-hexanedicarboxylic acid isomers, as well as 1,1-cyclobutane-dicarboxylic acid. Copolymers of diamine-oxamides with mixtures of acid chlorides of isophthalic and pyridine dicarboxylic acid and isophthalic acid/tetrachloroterephthalic acid have also been prepared. Most polymers are film-forming and are soluble in concentrated sulfuric acid, trifluoroacetic acid, and dimethylacetamide (containing several per cent LiCl). A n...

Isocyanates are in widespread use in certain industries such as in the manufacture of polyurethane products, paints and elastomers. The occupational exposure limit for isocyanates corresponds to 0.3 μg of isocyanate per sample using a 15 minute sampling time. Airborne isocyanates cause a variety of respiratory problems and workplace monitoring is therefore necessary. Two methods have recently been published by the Health and Safety Executive, one colorimetric and one HPLC using both electrochemical and UV detection. This study has compared these two methods using both field samples and laboratory generated standard atmospheres over a range of concentrations relevant to test the method at occupational exposure levels. The result of the field study showed that the colorimetric method was generally being used at its limit of sensitivity. Although potentially more sensitive, HPLC did show some interference with the field samples, thus limiting its sensitivity. The laboratory study showed good correla...

To identify and characterize aspirin sensitivity, over 500 oral aspirin challenges have been performed in patients since 1970. Protocols were developed, and an aspirin desensitization process was created as an extension of the challenge protocol. Without exception, desensitization has been achieved in 66 of 66 consecutive aspirin-sensitive asthmatics. There is also cross-desensi-tization with nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in the limited number of patients studied. After desensitization with either aspirin or NSAIDs, an interruption of continuous therapy is followed by a reappearance of sensitivity. Patients must be cautioned about this and the possibility of a severe reaction should aspirin be reintroduced after aspirin avoidance for 2-5 days.

An overview is presented of the general status of materials research and development activities related to the needs of controlled thermonuclear fusion reactors. Emphasis is placed on materials res...

The past decade has seen some dramatic changes in our understanding of the environmental levels, exposure pathways and uptake of heavy metals by man. It is now increasingly clear that the human body burden of lead in industrialised countries is commonly several times higher than in remote areas, and possibly orders of magnitude higher than “natural” levels. A growing appreciation of the extent to which gross contamination during sampling and analysis has contributed to extremely inaccurate analyses, and the associated improvements in analytical reliability, has been the most important factor in changing our perception of man’s role in the distribution of environmental heavy metals. Published interlaboratory analysis trials clearly show extreme unreliability of analyses during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, but greatly improved performance in the late 1970’s. The difficulties in heavy metal analyses at trace or ultra-trace levels are such that no laboratory should consider undertaking such work...

Immunologic reactions to airborne and other antigens may account for a wide spectrum of tissue damage in the bronchopulmonary tree. Recognition of clinical syndromes in which such reactions occur and of the antigens involved enables more definitive prevention or treatment of these disorders.