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A prototype reusable large-volume (2mL) autoinjector (LVAI) was designed to compare injection performance of a novel 27 gauge ultra-thin wall (UTW) pre-filled syringe (PFS) cannula (8mm external cannula length, 14.4mm total needle length) against an existing 27 gauge special thin wall (STW) PFS cannula (12.7mm external cannula length, 19mm total needle length) across a range of injectate viscosities (2.3-30 cP) in a series of in vivo feasibility studies in swine. The UTW cannula had an approximately 30% greater cross-sectional lumen area than the STW cannula. The target exposed needle length was adjusted to ensure appropriate needle penetration depth and achieve injectate deposition in the subcutaneous (SC) tissue. Delivery time and volume, injection site leakage, injectate depot location, and local tissue effects were examined. The STW and UTW cannulae both provided effective SC delivery of contrast placebo solutions, and were able to accommodate injectate viscosity up to 30 cP without quantifiable leakage from the tissue and with minor tissue effects which resolved within 1-2 hours. Delivery times at each viscosity were significantly different between PFS types with the UTW PFS producing faster delivery times. In a histological substudy of the UTW cannula using injectate viscosities up to 50 cP, injection site reactions were rare and, when present, were of minimal severity. This series of studies demonstrates the feasibility of LVAI SC injection and informs autoinjector and PFS design considerations. Use of a UTW cannula may enable more rapid LVAI injections with minimal tissue effects, especially for higher viscosity formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Little is known about the availability of residual fertilizer-N and cotton (Gossypium spp.) residue-N to subsequent crops. This study determined the effects of two soil types and N fertilization rates on the recovery of residual [sup.15]N-fertilizer and [sup.15]N from labeled cotton residue in the soil and plants of subsequent cotton crops. Microplots in the San Joaquin Valley, California, on a Panoche clay loam [fine-loamy, mixed (calcareous), thermic Typic Terriorthents] and a Wasco sandy loam (coarse-loamy, mixed, nonacid, thermic Typic Torriorthents) were used to trace the fate of [sup.15]N from labeled abovcground cotton residue separately from the [sup.15]N in roots and soil. Total [sup.15]N -fertilizer recovery in the second year after application averaged 5.8% for Acala (G. hirsutum L.) and 2.9% for Pima (G. barbadense L.) cotton. In the third year after application, total [sup.15]N-fertilizer recovered by Acala averaged 2.0% on the clay loam soil and 3.3% on the sandy loam. Most of this recovered [sup.15]N-fertilizer was cycled through soil pools and roots and only small amounts originated from labeled aboveground residue. Virtually all of the [sup.15]N applied in the form of labeled aboveground residue and recovered in the soil was found in the top 0.3 m. The [sup.15]N-fertilizer which cycled through belowground pools was found mainly in the top 0.6 m of the soil. Recovery of residual [sup.15]N-fertilizer appears to contribute little to total cotton N uptake in the second and third crop after application.

A better understanding of plant nitrogen (N) dynamics in modern varieties of Acala (Gossypium hirsutum L.) and Pima (G. barbadense L.) cotton grown with prevailing management practices may help in the design of N management strategies that optimize N utilization and lint yields. The response of Acala cotton to different N fertility levels was evaluated on a Panoche clay loam (fine-loamy, mixed (calcareous), thermic Typic Torriorthents) and on a Wasco sandy loam (coarse-loamy, mixed, nonacid, thermic Typic Torriorthents). Nitrogen treatments of 56, 112, 168, and 224 kg N [ha.sup.-1] and check plots were established in 1998, 1999, and 2000. Plant shoots were collected and fractionated into different components at several growth stages for determination of N concentration. Both Acala and Pima tissue N concentrations were strongly affected by developmental stage and N treatment. Acala tissue N concentrations differed significantly between soil types. Maximum N uptake rates of both Pima and Acala occurred between early square and early bloom. Physiological N use efficiency averaged 11.4 kg lint [kg.sup.-1] plant N for Acala grown on the Panoche clay loam and 9.4 kg [kg.sup.-1] on the Wasco sandy loam, and 13.2 kg [kg.sup.-1] for Pima grown on Panoche day loam. Leaf N concentration as an in-season indicator of N status and estimates of seasonal soil N mineralization potential may be useful in optimizing cotton N management., NITROGEN MANAGEMENT is an important factor in optimizing cotton lint yield and quality. Cotton is produced on a wide range of soil types, in contrasting climatic conditions, and with varied [...]

A semiactive method of Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) remote sensing has been developed and field tested. The method replaces the sender telescope of an active technique with an extended, heated broadband source. The output of the extended source (a commercial griddle) is not collimated and thus facilitates alig~ment by having the detector optics simply point at the griddle. The present source fills the detector's field of view at 100 m and maintains a temperature ~80 K warmer than ambient. In field tests with live CO releases, the method was ~30 times less sensitive than active methods, but ~30 times more sensitive than passive methods, with far greater sensitivity in the midwave infrared. OCIS codes: 070.0070, 120.0120, 280.0280, 300.0300.

Research was conducted to examine the mechanism of spiking that occurs through Ti at temperatures higher than 500 degrees C using high resolution transmission electron microscopy and electron dispersive spectroscopy. It was observed that TiN was saturated with Al upon annealing at 550 degrees C. Results demonstrate that spiking through TiN is caused by the formation and growth of Al3Ti after the Al saturation at the bottom of TiN.

Research was conducted to examine the stability of small boron clusters in crystalline silicon using a tight-binding model for B-B interactions. The model was developed by fitting to the band structure developed by local-density approximation calculations on periodic supercells. Results demonstrate that the B-B model reproduces the self-consistent field/configuration-interaction results for free clusters much better than the model developed in earlier experiments.

Research was conducted to examine the characteristics of extended boron defects in crystalline silicon. The test performed involved the addition of a second boron atom in an interstitial position to the cluster to see whether the formation energy per interstitial was lowered. Results indicate that the relative lowering of the formation energy when the second boron atom is captured by the BI2 center may mean that the defect could act as a cluster-nucleating site.

Saccadic reaction time (RT) has been shown to be unimpaired in schizophrenia. Could this be due to its not requiring controlled information processing? The authors gave 49 schizophrenia patients and 34 controls manual and saccadic RT tasks with preparatory intervals of 1, 3, and 5 s given in regular and irregular sequences. If saccades require mainly automatic processes, they should not be affected by variations in the preparatory interval that are mediated by controlled processing. The manual task showed typical slower RT and larger preparatory interval effects in patients than in controls. Although the saccadic task showed significant effects of both the preparatory interval and the preparatory interval on the preceding trial similar in kind to those in manual RT, there were no group differences in these or in RT. The results are attributed to greater stimulus-response compatibility in the saccadic task, which puts fewer demands on working memory.

A study was conducted to examine the conceptual negative priming in younger and older adults. Negative priming refers to slowed or less accurate responses on a probe trial to an item that served as an ignored irrelevant item in a preceding prime trial. Results indicate that wherever negative priming occurs, it is a function of episodic retrieval which proves that inhibitory processes are intact in older adults.

Using randomized stimulus onset asynchrony (SOAs), the authors traced the time course of Stroop interference and facilitation in normal participants and participants with schizophrenia. Unlike earlier findings using blocked SOAs, singular peaks in interference, facilitation, or both occurred at particular SOAs. The peaks of normal participants and participants with schizophrenia differed. Findings are congruent with a model of Stroop performance that posits individual differences in processing speeds of target and nontarget stimulus dimensions, coupled with critical points in response selection. Participants with schizophrenia also showed more overall interference than normal control participants. A second experiment that added a temporal gap between the distractor word and target color obliterated Stroop effects only for individuals with schizophrenia. These findings provide a new empirical basis for models of Stroop effects. They are also consistent with hypotheses about the importance of the prefrontal cortex for working memory and prefrontal dysfunction in schizophrenia.

David Ruccio's blog, Occasional Links & Commentary, having grown out of postings created for his students at the University of Notre Dame, continues to focus on teaching its audience, putting information and trends into the context of a self-consciously Marxian understanding built from the concepts of class and surplus, understood not as a taxonomy but as process. From revealing the pretensions of neoclassical economics by examining the ongoing economic impacts of events, such as the Second Great Depression, to addressing theoretical controversies and misrepresentations, such as with Modern Monetary Theory, the blog not only examines policy choices and encourages readers to criticize and press for changes but also prods readers to consider more than the usual form of policy choices, beyond governments as actors and citizens as consumers of the consequences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this pilot study, we sought to characterize the gut microbiome from a cohort of peanut-allergic patients who participated in our double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 2 peanut OIT study and who successfully desensitized.5 We retrospectively investigated stool samples collected from seven participants who received peanut flour as OIT, sampled before and after 52 weeks of OIT (Table 1). Microbiome, food allergy, OIT, peanut allergy, clinical trial Manipulating the gut microbiota has been proposed as an adjunct to FA immunotherapy to enhance safety and efficacy.3 Oral immunotherapy (OIT) is widely studied in clinical trials, and the PALFORZIA (AR101) OIT regimen is the first FDA-approved treatment for peanut allergy.4 However, whether the gut microbial composition is altered during successful OIT in peanut-allergic patients is unknown. Keywords: microbiome; food allergy; OIT; peanut allergy; clinical trial EN microbiome food allergy OIT peanut allergy clinical trial 927 930 4 03/09/21 20210301 NES 210301 It has been estimated that around 10.8% of adults in the United States suffer from food allergy (FA), and 1.8% of adults are allergic to peanut.1 The striking generational increase of FA prevalence has been associated with changes in the environment, including the gut microbiota.2 The gut microbiota shapes the development of the host immune system, and the host immune system in return influences the microbial composition. [Extracted from the article]

To investigate ways computers promote social skills and esteem, the first author met weekly with a small group of learning disabled high schoolers around the computer. The most positive results occurred when students were given a chance to share their computer skills with others through a tutoring program. (Author/CL)

The disorder in zero-temperature random-field Ising model was varied to analyze hysteresis loops in first-order phase transitions. The hysteresis loops comprised small avalanches in specific magnetic systems. Mean-field theory and perturbation expansions facilitated the study of these transitions, which were numerically simulated in three dimensions.