Search

The COVID-19 pandemic has introduced new difficulties in keeping participants and research assistants safe during lab visits, forcing many researchers to alter their data collection protocols. Many labs have adapted previously-validated in-person research tasks and experiments to online platforms. The proposed study will evaluate the efficacy of an online version of the Infant Cry Stimulus (ICS) task (Ablow et al., 2013). The ICS is commonly used in developmental psychology to measure sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system responses to an attachment-relevant stressor in pregnant women, the infant cry (Ablow et al., 2013; Leerkes et al., 2015). Using ambulatory physiological recording devices, research assistants developed online lab visit protocols to collect data with the ICS. This study aims to compare the validity of the standard laboratory ICS task with the virtual ICS task, conducted in the participant’s home. We have a unique opportunity to compare laboratory visits conducted pre-pandemic using the same ICS video sequence in a sample (N = 129) of pregnant women in their third trimester, half of whom conducted the ICS task online. As other labs have likely adopted similar strategies to measure stress reactivity during the pandemic, a comparison of online/virtual and laboratory ICS will be an important first step in understanding whether sympathetic and parasympathetic stress responses to the virtual ICS is comparable to the laboratory ICS. Should the virtual ICS elicit similar responses, future studies will be able to recruit from a wider pool of participants in rural or otherwise underrepresented populations unable to travel to large institutions.

Mice are a commonly used model to investigate aging-related bone loss but, in contrast to humans, mice exhibit cancellous bone loss prior to skeletal maturity. The mechanisms mediating premature bone loss are not well established. However, our previous work in female mice suggests housing temperature is a critical factor. Premature cancellous bone loss was prevented in female C57BL/6J mice by housing the animals at thermoneutral temperature (where basal rate of energy production is at equilibrium with heat loss). In the present study, we determined if the protective effects of thermoneutral housing extend to males. Male C57BL/6J mice were housed at standard room temperature (22°C) or thermoneutral (32°C) conditions from 5 (rapidly growing) to 16 (slowly growing) weeks of age. Mice housed at room temperature exhibited reductions in cancellous bone volume fraction in distal femur metaphysis and fifth lumbar vertebra; these effects were abolished at thermoneutral conditions. Mice housed at thermoneutral temperature had higher levels of bone formation in distal femur (based on histomorphometry) and globally (serum osteocalcin), and lower global levels of bone resorption (serum C-terminal telopeptide of type I collagen) compared to mice housed at room temperature. Thermoneutral housing had no impact on bone marrow adiposity but resulted in higher abdominal white adipose tissue and serum leptin. The overall magnitude of room temperature housing-induced cancellous bone loss did not differ between male (current study) and female (published data) mice. These findings highlight housing temperature as a critical experimental variable in studies using mice of either sex to investigate aging-related changes in bone metabolism.

第19回宇宙科学シンポジウム (2019年1月9日-10日. 宇宙航空研究開発機構宇宙科学研究所(JAXA)(ISAS)相模原キャンパス), 相模原市, 神奈川県, 19th Space Science Symposium (January 9-10, 2019. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science, Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency(JAXA)(ISAS)Sagamihara Campus), Sagamihara, Kanagawa Japan, 著者人数: 53名, 資料番号: SA6000144056, レポート番号: P-020

Buprenorphine is a partial μ-opioid agonist used for analgesia. Due to the small size of laboratory rodents, buprenorphine HCl is typically diluted 10- or 20-fold with a sterile diluent, such as saline, for accurate dosing. Protocols for preparing and storing diluted buprenorphine vary by institution, and little published information is available regarding stability and beyond-use dating of specific buprenorphine preparations. The purpose of this study was to determine the chemical and microbiologic stability of diluted buprenorphine stored for a maximum of 180 d. Buprenorphine HCl was diluted 1:10 into sterile bacteriostatic saline by using aseptic technique. Diluted samples were stored in glass vials or plastic syringes, protected from light, and maintained at refrigerated or room temperature for as long as 180 d. Aerobic and anaerobic cultures on all stored samples were negative for bacterial and fungal growth. According to HPLC analysis, diluted buprenorphine stored in glass vials experienced less than 10% loss when stored for 180 d at either refrigerated or room temperature. However, the concentration of buprenorphine stored in syringes declined rapidly to more than 80% loss at room temperature and 28% loss in the refrigerator after 180 d. According to the results of this study, diluted buprenorphine stored in glass vials retains more than 90% of the initial concentration and is microbiologically stable for 180 d. However, our data suggest that, regardless of the duration, storing diluted buprenorphine in plastic syringes is inadvisable.

This paper presents a hydrologic closure design concept to minimize the risk of water discharges from closed mine tailings facilities. It evaluates the applicability of U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission guidelines to develop acceptable designs for the closure of tailings facilities that have a calculated adequate surcharge capacity for environmental protection and an emergency spillway for dam safety. The guidelines provide a basis to estimate an acceptable surcharge capacity of a Probable Maximum Flood series for storage of surface runoff. To be conservative and for redundancy with respect to dam safety, an emergency spillway is provided to pass the Probable Maximum Precipitation. Depending on the annual water balance, the surcharge capacity may be used by surface runoff and minor amounts of sediment that accumulates in the impoundment from year to year. The emergency spillway crest is then set at this level or above the surcharge capacity, whichever is higher. An example is given of the active Red Dog Mine tailings facility in Alaska where this method was used for the preliminary design of the tailings main dam at its ultimate closure configuration. [All papers were considered for technical and language appropriateness by the organizing committee.]

Defoliation by pests was simulated with potted tree model systems and field-grown trees. `Redchief'/M.7 apple trees were grown in 10 1 pots as a single shoot. Forty-five days after 25%, 50%, or 75% removal of apical or basal leaf number, new leaf dry weight (produced after treatment) was 23%, 53%, and 45% higher, respectively, for apically treated trees, and -7%, 61%, and 64% higher for basally treated trees, than control trees. Root dry weight was reduced by as much as 59% (apical 75% removed). Photosynthesis following 75% leaf removal was inhibited 1 day after treatment, but increased above the control within 3 days. However, by 35 days after treatment photosynthesis had declined to 53% of control. Leaf removal (50%) June 15 (1990) of 4-year old `Early Granny'/Mark increased net photosynthesis by 40% within 8 days of treatment. Trunk cross-sectional area increase of June- and twice-(June 15 and July 30) defoliated trees was 35% of control trees. Leaf nitrogen content (% dry wt.) in September was 1.75 for twice-defoliated trees compared to 1.58 for control trees.

The intracranial pressure "reserve" test seems to be the most reliable method of determining when the brain's natural mechanisms for pressure compensation for added intracranial volume have been compromised or exhausted. The test employs a timed sequence of intracranial fluid injections, but as a safety precaution injections are discontinued if intracranial pressure remains elevated more than 10 Torr over baseline. In this case, a linear extrapolation is then calculated to determine the elevation which might have been achieved by a full series of injections. However, this linear extrapolation has been criticised on the expectation that an exponential response should be expected. A series of experimental observations in dogs and baboons and a review of clinical records in humans have been made to determine the observed slope of increase following aliquot injection during performance of the intracranial pressure reserve test. In these species the observed response was actually linear in shape rather than exponential. This held true even for different initial baseline values and with different volumes of "lesion" balloon inflations in experimental animals. A theoretic explanation is proposed.

UV-SCOPE is a mission concept to determine the causes of atmospheric mass loss in exoplanets, investigate the mechanisms driving aerosol formation in hot Jupiters, and study the influence of the stellar environment on atmospheric evolution and habitability. As part of these investigations, the mission will generate a broad-purpose legacy database of time-domain ultraviolet (UV) spectra for nearly 200 stars and planets. The observatory consists of a 60 cm, f/10 telescope paired to a long-slit spectrograph, yielding simultaneous, almost continuous coverage between 1203 {\AA} and 4000 {\AA}, with resolutions ranging from 6000 to 240. The efficient instrument provides throughputs > 4% (far-UV; FUV) and > 15% (near-UV; NUV), comparable to HST/COS and much better than HST/STIS, over the same spectral range. A key design feature is the LiF prism, which serves as a dispersive element and provides high throughput even after accounting for radiation degradation. The use of two delta-doped Electron-Multiplying CCD detectors with UV-optimized, single-layer anti-reflection coatings provides high quantum efficiency and low detector noise. From the Earth-Sun second Lagrangian point, UV-SCOPE will continuously observe planetary transits and stellar variability in the full FUV-to-NUV range, with negligible astrophysical background. All these features make UV-SCOPE the ideal instrument to study exoplanetary atmospheres and the impact of host stars on their planets. UV-SCOPE was proposed to NASA as a Medium Explorer (MidEx) mission for the 2021 Announcement of Opportunity. If approved, the observatory will be developed over a 5-year period. Its primary science mission takes 34 months to complete. The spacecraft carries enough fuel for 6 years of operations., Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, 1 table. Conference presentation, 17 July 2022, SPIE Astronomical Telescopes and Instrumentation, Montreal, Canada

Event: SPIE Astronomical Telescopes + Instrumentation, 2018, Austin, Texas, United States., The X-IFU will be provided by an international consortium led by France, The Netherlands and Italy, with further ESA member state contributions from Belgium, Finland, Germany, Poland, Spain, Switzerland and two international partners from the United States and Japan: et al., The X-ray Integral Field Unit (X-IFU) is the high resolution X-ray spectrometer of the ESA Athena X-ray observatory. Over a field of view of 5’ equivalent diameter, it will deliver X-ray spectra from 0.2 to 12 keV with a spectral resolution of 2.5 eV up to 7 keV on ∼ 5” pixels. The X-IFU is based on a large format array of super-conducting molybdenum-gold Transition Edge Sensors cooled at ∼ 90 mK, each coupled with an absorber made of gold and bismuth with a pitch of 249 μm. A cryogenic anti-coincidence detector located underneath the prime TES array enables the non X-ray background to be reduced. A bath temperature of ∼ 50 mK is obtained by a series of mechanical coolers combining 15K Pulse Tubes, 4K and 2K Joule-Thomson coolers which pre-cool a sub Kelvin cooler made of a 3He sorption cooler coupled with an Adiabatic Demagnetization Refrigerator. Frequency domain multiplexing enables to read out 40 pixels in one single channel. A photon interacting with an absorber leads to a current pulse, amplified by the readout electronics and whose shape is reconstructed on board to recover its energy with high accuracy. The defocusing capability offered by the Athena movable mirror assembly enables the X-IFU to observe the brightest X-ray sources of the sky (up to Crab-like intensities) by spreading the telescope point spread function over hundreds of pixels. Thus the X-IFU delivers low pile-up, high throughput (< 50%), and typically 10 eV spectral resolution at 1 Crab intensities, i.e. a factor of 10 or more better than Silicon based X-ray detectors. In this paper, the current X-IFU baseline is presented, together with an assessment of its anticipated performance in terms of spectral resolution, background, and count rate capability. The X-IFU baseline configuration will be subject to a preliminary requirement review that is scheduled at the end of 2018., We acknowledge support from the Athena Science Study Team, the Athena Working Group Chairs, the Athena Topical Panel Chairs and the Topical Panel members in strengthening the X-IFU top level performance requirements. Particular thanks go to: E. Rasia, V. Biffi, S. Borgani and K. Dolag for providing cosmological hydrodynamic simulations of a cluster used to produce simulation of X-IFU observation presented in Fig. 2; P.T. O'Brien for assistance with Sect. 2.2.1, A.C. Fabian and C. Pinto for providing inputs for Figure 1. We also thank the ESA project team, and in particular Mark Ayre and Ivo Ferreira, for their work on the assessment of the ToO efficiency requirement. The Italian contribution to X-IFU is supported through the ASI contractn. 2015-046-R.0. XB, MTC and BC acknowledge nancial support by MINECO through grant ESP2014-53672-C3-1-P. A.R., P.O, and A.J. were supported by Polish NSC grants: 2015/17/B/ST9/03422 and 2015/18/M/ST9/00541. GR, ER, YN, and PJ acknowledges support by FNRS and Prodex (Belspo). This work was supported by the French Space Agency (CNES).

International audience; The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI) on-board the Solar Orbiter mission will provide full-sun and high-resolution image sequences of the solar atmosphere at selected spectral emission lines in the extreme and vacuum ultraviolet. After the breadboarding and prototyping activities that focused on key technologies, the EUI project has completed the design phase and has started the final manufacturing of the instrument and its validation. The EUI instrument has successfully passed its Critical Design Review (CDR). The process validated the detailed design of the Optical Bench unit and of its sub-units (entrance baffles, doors, mirrors, camera, and filter wheel mechanisms), and of the Electronic Box unit. In the same timeframe, the Structural and Thermal Model (STM) test campaign of the two units have been achieved, and allowed to correlate the associated mathematical models. The lessons learned from STM and the detailed design served as input to release the manufacturing of the Qualification Model (QM) and of the Flight Model (FM). The QM will serve to qualify the instrument units and sub-units, in advance of the FM acceptance tests and final onground calibration.