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Abstract The oil and gas (O&G) sector is estimated to be the largest contributor to anthropogenic methane (CH4) emissions in Colorado. Since 2004, the State of Colorado has implemented multiple regulations to significantly reduce emissions from the O&G sector. The Denver‐Julesburg Basin (DJ Basin) is a significant O&G producing region in northern Colorado, and O&G production here has steadily increased over the last decade. To assess CH4 trends in Northern Colorado, we selected CH4 retrievals from the NASA Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) instrument for 2003–2020. The study grid cell includes Denver, Boulder, and much of the dense O&G production in the DJ Basin. We computed mean June‐August ascending node AIRS 700 hPa CH4 for each year and subtracted mean June–August CH4 sampled at NOAA's Niwot Ridge (NWR) station, a high‐altitude background site. Differences represent estimated enhancement over background. Linear regression shows an annual change of −2.84 ppb ± 0.8 ppb from 2012 to 2020 (R2 0.90) and an estimated reduction of 56% for 2012–2020, despite substantial increases in O&G production. Local CH4 enhancement is strongly correlated with surface measurements of ethane at Platteville which is in the center of the O&G fields (correlation coefficient 0.96), and this is evidence that reductions in O&G emissions are driving reductions in CH4. We conclude that AIRS CH4 can be used to measure the efficacy of emissions control programs in this region and that regulatory requirements are having an effect.

Abstract Lyme disease is caused by an infection with the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, and is the most common vector-borne disease in North America. B. burgdorferi isolates harbor extensive genomic and proteomic variability and further comparison of isolates is key to understanding the infectivity of the spirochetes and biological impacts of identified sequence variants. Here, we applied both transcriptome analysis and mass spectrometry-based proteomics to assemble peptide datasets of B. burgdorferi laboratory isolates B31, MM1, and the infective isolate B31-5A4, to provide a publicly available Borrelia PeptideAtlas. Included are total proteome, secretome, and membrane proteome identifications of the individual isolates. Proteomic data collected from 35 different experiment datasets, totaling 386 mass spectrometry runs, have identified 81,967 distinct peptides, which map to 1,113 proteins. The Borrelia PeptideAtlas covers 86% of the total B31 proteome of 1,291 protein sequences. The Borrelia PeptideAtlas is an extensible comprehensive peptide repository with proteomic information from B. burgdorferi isolates useful for Lyme disease research.

We present airborne measurements made during the 2014 Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Experiment (FRAPPÉ) project to investigate the impacts of the Denver Cyclone on regional air quality in the greater Denver area. Data on trace gases, non-refractory submicron aerosol chemical constituents, and aerosol optical extinction (βext) at λ = 632 nm were evaluated in the presence and absence of the surface mesoscale circulation in three distinct study regions of the Front Range: In-Flow, Northern Front Range, and the Denver metropolitan area. Pronounced increases in mass concentrations of organics, nitrate, and sulfate in the Northern Front Range and the Denver metropolitan area were observed during the cyclone episodes (27–28 July) compared to the non-cyclonic days (26 July, 2–3 August). Organic aerosols dominated the mass concentrations on all evaluated days, with a 45 % increase in organics on cyclone days across all three regions, while the increase during the cyclone episode was up to ∼ 80 % over the Denver metropolitan area. In the most aged air masses (NOx / NOy βext displayed strong correlations (r = 0.71) with organic and nitrate in the Northern Front Range and only with organics (r = 0.70) in the Denver metropolitan area, while correlation of βext during the cyclone was strongest (r = 0.86) with nitrate over Denver. Mass extinction efficiency (MEE) values in the Denver metropolitan area were similar on cyclone and non-cyclone days despite the dominant influence of different aerosol species on βext. Our analysis showed that the meteorological patterns associated with the Denver Cyclone increased aerosol mass loadings in the Denver metropolitan area mainly by transporting aerosols and/or aerosol precursors from the northern regions, leading to impaired visibility and air quality deterioration.

This study aimed to investigate the physiological, perceptual, and biomechanical differences between male and female soldiers across several military-relevant load and walking speed combinations. Eleven female and twelve male soldiers completed twelve 12 min walking trials at varying speeds (3.5 km·h−1, 5.5 km·h−1, 6.5 km·h−1) and with varying external loads (7.2 kg, 23.2 kg, 35.2 kg). Physiological (indirect calorimetry, heart rate), perceptual (perceived exertion), and biomechanical (spatiotemporal, kinematic, kinetic) outcomes were measured throughout each trial. Females had a lower aerobic capacity and lower body strength than males, which resulted in them working at a greater exercise intensity (%VO2peak and heart rate) but with a lower oxygen pulse. Females demonstrated higher breathing frequency and perceived exertion with specific loads. At selected loads and speeds, frontal and sagittal pelvis, hip, and knee motions and forces were greater for females. Females consistently displayed greater relative stride length and step width. In conclusion, this study demonstrates the importance of tailored interventions, periodisation, and nutritional strategies for female military personnel, given their higher relative work rate and increased injury risk during load carriage tasks. Understanding these differences is crucial for preparing female soldiers for the physical demands of military service.

The National Water Model (NWM) provides critical analyses and projections of streamflow that support water management decisions. However, the NWM performs poorly in lower-elevation rivers of the western United States (US). The accuracy of the NWM depends on the fidelity of the model inputs and the representation and calibration of model processes and water sources. To evaluate the NWM performance in the western US, we compared observations of river water isotope ratios (18O / 16O and 2H / 1H expressed in δ notation) to NWM-flux-estimated (model) river reach isotope ratios. The modeled estimates were calculated from long-term (2000–2019) mean summer (June, July, and August) NWM hydrologic fluxes and gridded isotope ratios using a mass balance approach. The observational dataset comprised 4503 in-stream water isotope observations in 877 reaches across 5 basins. A simple regression between observed and modeled isotope ratios explained 57.9 % (δ18O) and 67.1 % (δ2H) of variance, although observations were 0.5 ‰ (δ18O) and 4.8 ‰ (δ2H) higher, on average, than mass balance estimates. The unexplained variance suggest that the NWM does not include all relevant water fluxes to rivers. To infer possible missing water fluxes, we evaluated patterns in observation–model differences using δ18Odiff (δ18Oobs−δ18Omod) and ddiff (δ2Hdiff-8⋅δ18Odiff). We detected evidence of evaporation in observations but not model estimates (negative ddiff and positive δ18Odiff) at lower-elevation, higher-stream-order, arid sites. The catchment actual-evaporation-to-precipitation ratio, the fraction of streamflow estimated to be derived from agricultural irrigation, and whether a site was reservoir-affected were all significant predictors of ddiff in a linear mixed-effects model, with up to 15.2 % of variance explained by fixed effects. This finding is supported by seasonal patterns, groundwater levels, and isotope ratios, and it suggests the importance of including irrigation return flows to rivers, especially in lower-elevation, higher-stream-order, arid rivers of the western US.

Stratosphere-to-troposphere transport (STT) results in air masses of stratospheric origin intruding into the free troposphere. Once in the free troposphere, ozone (O3)-rich stratospheric air can be transported and mixed with tropospheric air masses, contributing to the tropospheric O3 budget. Evidence of STT can be identified based on the differences in the trace gas composition of the two regions. Because O3 is present in such large quantities in the stratosphere compared to the troposphere, it is frequently used as a tracer for STT events. This work reports on airborne in situ measurements of O3 and other trace gases during two STT events observed over California, USA. The first, on 14 May 2012, was associated with a cutoff low, and the second, on 5 June 2012, occurred during a post-trough, building ridge event. In each STT event, airborne measurements identified high O3 within the stratospheric intrusion, which were observed as low as 3 km above sea level. During both events the stratospheric air mass was characterized by elevated O3 mixing ratios and reduced carbon dioxide (CO2) and water vapor. The reproducible observation of reduced CO2 within the stratospheric air mass supports the use of non-conventional tracers as an additional method for detecting STT. A detailed meteorological analysis of each STT event is presented, and observations are interpreted with the Realtime Air Quality Modeling System (RAQMS). The implications of the two STT events are discussed in terms of the impact on the total tropospheric O3 budget and the impact on air quality and policy-making.

Brain tumors necessitate swift detection and classification for optimal patient outcomes. Deep learning has been extensively utilized to recognize complex tumor patterns in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) images, aiding in tumor diagnosis, treatment, and prognostication. However, model complexity and limited generalizability with unfamiliar data hinder appropriate clinical integration. The objective of this study is to develop a clean-energy cloud-based deep learning platform to classify brain tumors. Three datasets of a total of 2611 axial MRI images were used to train our multi-layer convolutional neural network (CNN). Our platform automatically optimized every transfer learning and data augmentation feature combination to provide the highest predictive accuracy for our classification task. Our proposed system identified and classified brain tumors successfully and efficiently with an overall precision value of 96.8% [95% CI; 93.8–97.6]. Using clean energy supercomputing resources and cloud platforms cut our workflow to 103 min, $0 in total cost, and a negligible carbon footprint (0.0014 kg eq CO2). By leveraging automated optimized learning, we developed a cost-effective deep learning (DL) platform that accurately classified brain tumors from axial MRI images of different levels. Although studies have identified machine learning tools to overcome these obstacles, only some are cost-effective, generalizable, and usable regardless of experience.

Objective: Large language models such as ChatGPT have demonstrated significant potential in question-answering within ophthalmology, but there is a paucity of literature evaluating its ability to generate clinical assessments and discussions. The objectives of this study were to (1) assess the accuracy of assessment and plans generated by ChatGPT and (2) evaluate ophthalmologists’ abilities to distinguish between responses generated by clinicians versus ChatGPT. Design: Cross-sectional mixed-methods study. Subjects: Sixteen ophthalmologists from a single academic center, of which 10 were board-eligible and 6 were board-certified, were recruited to participate in this study. Methods: Prompt engineering was used to ensure ChatGPT output discussions in the style of the ophthalmologist author of the Medical College of Wisconsin Ophthalmic Case Studies. Cases where ChatGPT accurately identified the primary diagnoses were included and then paired. Masked human-generated and ChatGPT-generated discussions were sent to participating ophthalmologists to identify the author of the discussions. Response confidence was assessed using a 5-point Likert scale score, and subjective feedback was manually reviewed. Main Outcome Measures: Accuracy of ophthalmologist identification of discussion author, as well as subjective perceptions of human-generated versus ChatGPT-generated discussions. Results: Overall, ChatGPT correctly identified the primary diagnosis in 15 of 17 (88.2%) cases. Two cases were excluded from the paired comparison due to hallucinations or fabrications of nonuser-provided data. Ophthalmologists correctly identified the author in 77.9% ± 26.6% of the 13 included cases, with a mean Likert scale confidence rating of 3.6 ± 1.0. No significant differences in performance or confidence were found between board-certified and board-eligible ophthalmologists. Subjectively, ophthalmologists found that discussions written by ChatGPT tended to have more generic responses, irrelevant information, hallucinated more frequently, and had distinct syntactic patterns (all P < 0.01). Conclusions: Large language models have the potential to synthesize clinical data and generate ophthalmic discussions. While these findings have exciting implications for artificial intelligence-assisted health care delivery, more rigorous real-world evaluation of these models is necessary before clinical deployment. Financial Disclosures: The author(s) have no proprietary or commercial interest in any materials discussed in this article.

Abstract Route of immunization can markedly influence the quality of immune response. Here, we show that intradermal (ID) but not intramuscular (IM) modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccinations provide protection from acquisition of intravaginal tier2 simian-human immunodeficiency virus (SHIV) challenges in female macaques. Both routes of vaccination induce comparable levels of serum IgG with neutralizing and non-neutralizing activities. The protection in MVA-ID group correlates positively with serum neutralizing and antibody-dependent phagocytic activities, and envelope-specific vaginal IgA; while the limited protection in MVA-IM group correlates only with serum neutralizing activity. MVA-ID immunizations induce greater germinal center Tfh and B cell responses, reduced the ratio of Th1 to Tfh cells in blood and showed lower activation of intermediate monocytes and inflammasome compared to MVA-IM immunizations. This lower innate activation correlates negatively with induction of Tfh responses. These data demonstrate that the MVA-ID vaccinations protect against intravaginal SHIV challenges by modulating the innate and T helper responses.

Background. Asthma medication prescription trends, including those of short-acting β2-agonists (SABAs), are not well documented for South Africa (SA). Objectives. To describe demographics, disease characteristics and asthma prescription patterns in the SA cohort of the SABA use IN Asthma (SABINA) III study. Methods. An observational, cross-sectional study conducted at 12 sites across SA. Patients with asthma (aged ≥12 years) were classified by investigator-defined asthma severity, guided by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) 2017 recommendations, and practice type (primary/ specialist care). Data were collected using electronic case report forms. Results. Overall, 501 patients were analysed − mean (standard deviation) age, 48.4 (16.6) years; 68.3% female − of whom 70.6% and 29.4% were enrolled by primary care physicians and specialists, respectively. Most patients were classified with moderate-to-severe asthma (55.7%; GINA treatment steps 3 - 5), were overweight or obese (70.7%) and reported full healthcare reimbursement (55.5%). Asthma was partly controlled/uncontrolled in 60.3% of patients, with 46.1% experiencing ≥1 severe exacerbations in the 12 months before the study visit. Overall, 74.9% of patients were prescribed ≥3 SABA canisters in the previous 12 months (over-prescription); 56.5% were prescribed ≥10 SABA canisters. Additionally, 27.1% of patients reported purchasing SABA over-the-counter (OTC); among patients with both SABA purchase and prescriptions, 75.4% and 51.5% already received prescriptions for ≥3 and ≥10 SABA canisters, respectively, in the preceding 12 months. Conclusion. SABA over-prescription and OTC purchase were common in SA, demonstrating an urgent need to align clinical practices with the latest evidence-based recommendations and regulate SABA OTC purchase to improve asthma outcomes.

Abstract The Denver Metro/Northern Front Range area has been designated a severe nonattainment area (NAA) for O3. Previous research associated with the 2014 Front Range Air Pollution and Photochemistry Éxperiment field campaign and a 2017 O3 source apportionment modeling analysis point to north‐south gradients in oil and gas (O&G) impacts on O3, with greater contributions to the north and a dominance of mobile sources to the south. Recent analysis of Atmospheric Infrared Sounder satellite methane enhancement and ethane trends in the area show ∼50% and ∼70% reductions in methane and ethane, respectively, from 2013 to 2020. These are consistent with reductions in O&G volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions estimated in the most recent O3 State Implementation Plan but inconsistent with a timeline of top‐down methane flux estimates for limited periods from 2012 to 2021. Reductions in annual fourth maximum eight‐hour O3 concentrations from 2012 to 2019 are 5 ppb greater at Fort Collins West (FTCW) to the north than at Chatfield Reservoir to the south. Bayesian correlation analyses and partial correlations between FTCW O3 and ethane conditioned for tropospheric NO2 from the Aura satellite Ozone Monitoring Instrument suggest that most of the 9‐ppb reduction here is due to declines in O&G emissions, and 9 ppb is comparable to estimated O&G VOC contributions on high‐concentration days in the northern portion of the study area. The gradient in trends suggests that significant O&G emissions reductions have benefited locations in the central and northern portions of the NAA.

This study aimed to investigate the influence of calcium and magnesium supplementation on the skewing of sex ratio and placental genes expression in New Zealand White Rabbits. A total of 25 rabbits were allocated to 5 groups; each treatment group was supplemented with Ca and Mg; T1 (0.4% and 0.01%), T2 (0.6% and 0.02%), T3 (0.8% and 0.03%), and T4 (1.0% and 0.04%) respectively, while the C group was provided with regular feed and subjected to three breeding. The T3 group produced a female-biased litter and hence, the F1 female kits (n=12) of T3 and C group was provided same supplementation management. At 21 days of gestation, three animals from each group were sacrificed and placental samples were collected, the remaining animals were allowed for full-term delivery. The selected F1 produced female-biased litter with elevated serum Ca and Mg concentrations and reduced sodium and cholesterol levels. A total of 15 genes related to mineral absorption, placental development and immunity were selected to study the influence of diet on sex and placental gene expression. The expression of genes such as PEG10, SOD1, SLC30A, TLR4, AR, and TRPM6 was high in the treatment placenta compared to the control. RTL1, ESR2, CALM2, and TRPM6 upregulated in the treatment female placenta. The study concluded that the intake of 0.8% Ca and 0.03% Mg could lead to the production of more females and upregulation of some placental genes could serve as the molecular mechanism in response to intake of the minerals and fetal sex.

The great expectation of the dairy owners from the frozen semen industry is quality semen with high fertility. Many researchers concentrate in this area to produce frozen semen of high quality and fertility. However, the problem still exists to minimize or reduce the cryoinjury related damages that occur during the process of cryopreservation with the use of all kinds of semen additives. The success rate of the additives added semen is variable at a larger scale. Therefore, any new molecules which can effectively prevent or minimize the cryoinjury are warranted and it could be low cost substances. Our incidental finding and protein identification with molecular weight ≈ 19 kDa (cold-inducible RNA-binding protein CIRBP) in goat spermatozoa seems to be effective in minimizing cryoinjury. The identified CIRBP was confirmed via Western blotting. In future, further studies are needed to confirm the molecular mechanism of the CIRBP on the cryoinjury as semen additives, and application of this protein added semen in the field to improve the level of conception rate in cattle.

Flare frequency distributions represent a key approach to addressing one of the largest problems in solar and stellar physics: determining the mechanism that counterintuitively heats coronae to temperatures that are orders of magnitude hotter than the corresponding photospheres. It is widely accepted that the magnetic field is responsible for the heating, but there are two competing mechanisms that could explain it: nanoflares or Alfvén waves. To date, neither can be directly observed. Nanoflares are, by definition, extremely small, but their aggregate energy release could represent a substantial heating mechanism, presuming they are sufficiently abundant. One way to test this presumption is via the flare frequency distribution, which describes how often flares of various energies occur. If the slope of the power law fitting the flare frequency distribution is above a critical threshold, α = 2 as established in prior literature, then there should be a sufficient abundance of nanoflares to explain coronal heating. We performed >600 case studies of solar flares, made possible by an unprecedented number of data analysts via three semesters of an undergraduate physics laboratory course. This allowed us to include two crucial, but nontrivial, analysis methods: preflare baseline subtraction and computation of the flare energy, which requires determining flare start and stop times. We aggregated the results of these analyses into a statistical study to determine that α = 1.63 ± 0.03. This is below the critical threshold, suggesting that Alfvén waves are an important driver of coronal heating.

The efficiency of biological photosynthesis results from the exquisite organization of photoactive elements that promote rapid movement of charge carriers out of a critical recombination range. If synthetic organic photovoltaic materials could mimic this assembly, charge separation and collection could be markedly enhanced. We show that micelle-forming cationic semiconducting polymers can coassemble in water with cationic fullerene derivatives to create photoinduced electron-transfer cascades that lead to exceptionally long-lived polarons. The stability of the polarons depends on the organization of the polymer-fullerene assembly. Properly designed assemblies can produce separated polaronic charges that are stable for days or weeks in aqueous solution.

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of embryonic and post-hatch photo-stimulation with variable light sources with respect to hatchability parameters, hormonal profile and growth performance of commercial broiler chicken. Uniform sized Cobb broiler eggs (174) were procured from commercial hatchery and incubated in three different groups with arrangement of variable colour light source [Control group; Red light photo-stimulated (675 nm); Green light photo-stimulated group (575 nm) of light]. After hatching, as per earlier grouping, chicks hatched out from respective groups reared under continuous lighting in normal, red, green light up to six week of age in standard management condition in battery cages. The result of the present study indicated that photo-stimulation of incubated eggs with different lights sources had no significant effect on hatchability percentage and hatching time. Green light photo-stimulated group showed significantly higher body weight gain with better feed conversion ratio than red and control groups from 0 to 6 wk of age. Feed intake did not differ significantly within the groups. Green light photo-stimulation promotes growth performance traits via stimulating circulating level of gonadal axis and somatotrophic axis hormone. The results of the study provide evidence that green light photo-stimulation used in this study is beneficial in terms of improved growth performance without affecting hatchability in broiler chicken.

Mucosa-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are recently characterized as a novel subset of innate-like T cells that recognize microbial metabolites as presented by the MHC-1b-related protein MR1. The significance of MAIT cells in anti-bacterial defense is well-understood but not clear in viral infections such as SIV/HIV infection. Here we studied the phenotype, distribution, and function of MAIT cells and their association with plasma viral levels during chronic SHIV infection in rhesus macaques (RM). Two groups of healthy and chronic SHIV-infected macaques were characterized for MAIT cells in blood and mucosal tissues. Similar to human, we found a significant fraction of macaque T cells co-expressing MAIT cell markers CD161 and TCRVα-7.2 that correlated directly with macaque MR1 tetramer. These cells displayed memory phenotype and expressed high levels of IL-18R, CCR6, CD28, and CD95. During chronic infection, the frequency of MAIT cells are enriched in the blood but unaltered in the rectum; both blood and rectal MAIT cells displayed higher proliferative and cytotoxic phenotype post-SHIV infection. The frequency of MAIT cells in blood and rectum correlated inversely with plasma viral RNA levels and correlated directly with total CD4 T cells. MAIT cells respond to microbial products during chronic SHIV infection and correlated positively with serum immunoreactivity to flagellin levels. Tissue distribution analysis of MAIT cells during chronic infection showed significant enrichment in the non-lymphoid tissues (lung, rectum, and liver) compared to lymphoid tissues (spleen and LN), with higher levels of tissue-resident markers CD69 and CD103. Exogenous in vitro cytokine treatments during chronic SHIV infection revealed that IL-7 is important for the proliferation of MAIT cells, but IL-12 and IL-18 are important for their cytolytic function. Overall our results demonstrated that MAIT cells are enriched in blood but unaltered in the rectum during chronic SHIV infection, which displayed proliferative and functional phenotype that inversely correlated with SHIV plasma viral RNA levels. Treatment such as combined cytokine treatments could be beneficial for enhancing functional MAIT cells during chronic HIV infection in vivo.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of an intervention to improve the quality of data used to monitor the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (PMTCT) of the human immunodeficiency virus in South Africa. METHODS: The study involved 58 antenatal clinics and 20 delivery wards (37 urban, 21 rural and 20 semi-urban) in KwaZulu-Natal province that provided PMTCT services and reported data to the District Health Information System. The data improvement intervention, which was implemented between May 2008 and March 2009, involved training on data collection and feedback for health information personnel and programme managers, monthly data reviews and data audits at health-care facilities. Data on six data elements used to monitor PMTCT services and recorded in the information system were compared with source data from health facility registers before, during and after the intervention. Data completeness (i.e. their presence in the system) and accuracy (i.e. being within 10% of their true value) were evaluated. FINDINGS: The level of data completeness increased from 26% before to 64% after the intervention. Similarly, the proportion of data in the information system considered accurate increased from 37% to 65% (P < 0.0001). Moreover, the correlation between data in the information system and those from facility registers rose from 0.54 to 0.92. CONCLUSION: A simple, practical data improvement intervention significantly increased the completeness and accuracy of the data used to monitor PMTCT services in South Africa.