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Vadose zone transport of tritium and nitrate can be important considerations at radioactive waste sites, landfills, or areas with industrial impacts. These contaminants are of particular concern because they typically have a relatively higher mobility in the subsurface compared to other compounds. Here, we describe a semiarid site with tritium and nitrate contamination involving a manmade ponded water source above a thick unsaturated zone at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, USA. This study demonstrates the value of vadose zone flow and transport modeling for the development of field investigation plans (i.e., identifying optimal borehole locations and depths for contaminant characterization), and how a combination of modeling with isotope and geochemical measurements can provide insight into how tritium and nitrate transport in the vadose zone in semiarid environments. Modeling results suggest that at this location, tritium transport is well predicted by classical multiphase theory. Our work expands the demonstrated usefulness of a standard tritium conceptual model to sites with ponded surface conditions and agrees with previous results where a standard model was able to explain the evolution of a tritium plume at an arid waste disposal site. In addition, depth-based analyses of δ18O and δ2H of pore waters helped confirm the extent of pond infiltration into the vadose zone, and the δ15N of nitrate showed that the contaminant release history of the site was different than originally assumed.

Background: Cannabis use has been associated with abnormalities in cerebellar mediated motor and non-motor (i.e. cognition and personality) phenomena. Since the cerebellum is a region with high cannabinoid type 1 receptor density, these impairments may reflect alterations of signaling between the cerebellum and other brain regions. Aims: We hypothesized that cerebellar-cortical resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) would be altered in cannabis users, relative to their non-using peers. It was also hypothesized that differences in rsFC would be associated with cannabis use features, such as age of initiation and lifetime use. Methods: Cerebellar-cortical and subcortical rsFCs were computed between 28 cerebellar lobules, defined by a spatially unbiased atlas template of the cerebellum, and individual voxels in the cerebral regions, in 41 regular cannabis users (20 female) and healthy non-using peers ( N = 31; 18 female). We also investigated associations between rsFC and cannabis use features (e.g. lifetime cannabis use and age of initiation). Results: Cannabis users demonstrated hyperconnectivity between the anterior cerebellar regions (i.e. lobule I-IV) with the posterior cingulate cortex, and hypoconnectivity between the rest of the cerebellum (i.e. Crus I and II, lobule VIIb, VIIIa, VIIIb, IX, and X) and the cortex. No associations were observed between features of cannabis use and rsFC. Conclusions: Cannabis use was associated with altered patterns of rsFC from the cerebellum to the cerebral cortex which may have a downstream impact on behavior and cognition.

Quorum sensing gene expression in vibrios is regulated by the LuxR/HapR family of transcriptional factors, which includes Vibrio vulnificus SmcR. The consensus binding site of Vibrio LuxR/HapR/SmcR proteins is palindromic but highly degenerate with sequence variations at each promoter. To examine the mechanism by which SmcR recognizes diverse DNA sites, we generated SmcR separation-of-function mutants that either repress or activate transcription but not both. SmcR N55I is restricted in recognition of single base-pair variations in DNA binding site sequences and thus is defective at transcription activation but retains interaction with RNA polymerase (RNAP) alpha. SmcR S76A, L139R and N142D substitutions disrupt the interaction with RNAP alpha but retain functional DNA binding activity. X-ray crystallography and small angle X-ray scattering data show that the SmcR DNA binding domain exists in two conformations (wide and narrow), and the protein complex forms a mixture of dimers and tetramers in solution. The three RNAP interaction-deficient variants also have two DNA binding domain conformations, whereas SmcR N55I exhibits only the wide conformation. These data support a model in which two mechanisms drive SmcR transcriptional activation: interaction with RNAP and a multi-conformational DNA binding domain that permits recognition of variable DNA sites.

Objective:Peripheral artery disease (PAD) is an atherothrombotic disease of the lower limbs with substantial morbidity and mortality. We used next-generation sequencing to identify genome-wide expression signatures associated with prevalent PAD and its outcomes.Approach and Results:We performed whole blood RNA sequencing among patients with severe symptomatic PAD undergoing lower extremity revascularization and controls. Dysregulated pathways and blood transcriptional modules were identified by comparing patients with PAD (n=42) to age- and sex-matched controls (N=29). The identified signature was compared in patients with PAD before LER with or without incident major adverse cardiac or limb events (MACLE). A novel microRNA associated with prevalent PAD and incident MACLE was then evaluated in a mouse hindlimb ischemia model. One hundred twenty-seven transcripts were differentially expressed (77 upregulated and 50 downregulated; adjustedP0.5) and analyzed using weighted gene co-expression network analysis. Weighted gene co-expression network analysis revealed blood modules enriched for immune activation, secretory granules, and coagulation in patients with PAD. Of these 127 differentially expressed transcripts, 40 were significantly associated with MACLE (log-rank false discovery rate Conclusions:A whole blood transcript signature identified patients with symptomatic PAD and PAD patients at increased risk of MACLE. A previously uncharacterized transcript microRNA-4477b was overexpressed in prevalent PAD, incident MACLE, and in a mouse hindlimb ischemia model. Our novel transcriptomic signature provides insight into potential mechanisms of patients with severe symptomatic PAD.

Woodlands and pastures across the Post Oak Savannas (POS) in Texas have been undergoing thicketization over the last century via encroachment by understory shrubs such as Yaupon (Ilex decidua, Ilex vomitoria) and expansion of eastern redcedar (Juniperus virginiana). Because a large part of POS overlies the Carrizo-Wilcox (CW) aquifer - the third most important aquifer in Texas, there is a strong incentive to identify opportunities to increase groundwater recharge through land management. The purpose of this research is to evaluate the influence of thicketization of post oak (Quercus stellata) stands on deep drainage (DD) in POS. We achieved this by, a) applying chloride mass balance on soil cores, and b) simultaneously monitoring soil moisture in a woodland pasture setting in POS. Four sites representing different vegetation covers were identified for sampling: 1) a thicketized oak woodland paired with an adjacent open site, 2) a woodland mosaic, 3) a pasture and 4) a pine-oak stand paired with an adjacent open site. A total of 24 soil cores to the depth of 260 cm were collected and (soil) pore water chloride concentrations at multiple depths were measured. Soil moisture was monitored at 21 locations, to the depth of 140-260 cm using a neutron moisture meter. Negligible DD was estimated in the thicketized woodland, whereas most open locations recorded 3-18 cm/year and the woodland mosaic 0-1 cm of DD. Soil moisture data, collected from Jul-2020 to Jun-2021 also suggested higher deep drainage fluxes under open areas - with occurrence of sub-surface saturation only under the open areas and never under the woodlands. These results suggest that the thicketization in oak savannas is substantially reducing groundwater recharge. Given the extent of thicketized oak savannas across United States, this could be impacting water budgets and groundwater recharge rates on regional scales.

Background: While women have lower risks of cardiovascular disease (CVD) than men, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2D) seems to be a stronger risk factor for major adverse cardiac events (MACE) for women. No study has evaluated sex differences in MACE for patients with T2D admitted for non-CVD diagnoses in the NIS. Pneumonia is one of the most common primary diagnoses in the inpatient setting. Methods: Patients hospitalized in 2013 for a primary diagnosis of pneumonia were identified from the NIS. MACE was defined as acute myocardial infarction (AMI) , ischemic stroke, cardiac arrest, or cardiogenic shock, and was compared by sex in patients with T2D. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to estimate odds of in-hospital MACE adjusted for demographics, cardiovascular risk factors, comorbidities, and pneumonia severity. Results: In 2013, 192,100 patients were admitted for a primary diagnosis of pneumonia, and 50,776 of these patients had T2D. Of the patients with T2D, 50.9% were female. Female patients with T2D were less likely to smoke and had fewer comorbidities than male patients with T2D (all P Conclusion: While T2D seems to be a stronger risk factor for AMI in female patients, male and female patients with T2D have an overall similar risk of in-hospital MACE when admitted for pneumonia. Disclosure S.Leventhal: None. G.Rubinfeld: None. J.S.Berger: Advisory Panel; Amgen Inc., Janssen Scientific Affairs, LLC. J.D.Newman: None. N.R.Smilowitz: Advisory Panel; Abbott.

IntroductionConcussive events and other brain injuries are known to reduce cognitive inhibition, a key aspect of cognition that supports ones' behaviors and impacts regulation of mood or affect. Our primary objective is to investigate how induction of negative affect (such as frustration) impacts cognitive inhibition and the dynamic process by which youth athletes modulate responses. Secondary objective is to address the lack of Black representation in the scientific literature that promotes brain health and investigates pediatric sports-related brain injury. In particular, neuroscience studies predominantly include White participants despite broad racial representation in sport, in part due to technological hurdles and other obstacles that challenge research access for Black participants.MethodsUsing electroencephalography (EEG), we evaluate the dynamic brain processes associated with cognitive inhibition in the context of frustration induction in adolescent athletes during pre-season conditioning (i.e., prior to contact; N = 23) and a subset during post-season (n = 17).ResultsThe N2 component was sensitive to frustration induction (decreased N2 amplitude, slower N2 latency), although effects were less robust at postseason. Trial-by-trial changes indicated a steady decrease of the N2 amplitude during the frustration block during the preseason visit, suggesting that affective interference had a dynamic effect on cognitive inhibition. Lastly, exploratory analyses provide preliminary evidence that frustration induction was less effective for athletes with a previous history of concussion or migraines (trending result) yet more effective for athletes endorsing a history with mental health disorders.DiscussionWe emphasize the urgent need to improve representation in cognitive neuroscience, particularly as it pertains to brain health. Importantly, we provide detailed guides to our methodological framework and practical suggestions to improve representative participation in studies utilizing high-density mobile EEG.

In Arctic ecosystems, increasing temperatures are driving the expansion of nitrogen (N) fixing shrubs across tundra landscapes. The implications of this expansion to the biogeochemistry of Arctic ecosystems are of critical importance and more work is needed to better understand the form, availability, and transportation potential of N from these shrubs across a variety of Arctic landscapes. To gain insights into the processes controlling N within a permafrost hillslope system, the spatiotemporal variability of nitrate (NO3-) and its environmental controls were investigated at an alder (Alnus viridis spp. fruticosa) dominated permafrost tundra landscape in the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, USA. Soil pore water was collected from locations within alder shrubland growing along a well-drained hillslope and was compared to soil pore water collected from locations outside (upslope, downslope, and between) the alder shrubland. Soil pore water collected within alder shrubland had an average NO3-N (nitrogen from nitrate) concentration of 4.27±8.02 mg L−1 and differed significantly from locations outside alder shrubland (0.23±0.83 mg L−1; p). Temporal variation in NO3-N within and downslope of alder shrubland co-occurred with precipitation events where NO3- that accumulated in the soil was likely flushed downslope during rainfall. These findings have important implications for nutrient availability and mobility in N-limited permafrost systems that are experiencing shrub expansion in response to a warming Arctic.

Future direct imaging missions such as HabEx and LUVOIR aim to catalog and characterize Earth-mass analogs around nearby stars. The exoplanet yield of these missions will be dependent on the frequency of Earth-like planets, and potentially the a priori knowledge of which stars specifically host suitable planetary systems. Ground or space based radial velocity surveys can potentially perform the pre-selection of targets and assist in the optimization of observation times, as opposed to an uninformed direct imaging survey. In this paper, we present our framework for simulating future radial velocity surveys of nearby stars in support of direct imaging missions. We generate lists of exposure times, observation time-series, and radial velocity time-series given a direct imaging target list. We generate simulated surveys for a proposed set of telescopes and precise radial velocity spectrographs spanning a set of plausible global-network architectures that may be considered for next generation extremely precise radial velocity surveys. We also develop figures of merit for observation frequency and planet detection sensitivity, and compare these across architectures. From these, we draw conclusions, given our stated assumptions and caveats, to optimize the yield of future radial velocity surveys in support of direct imaging missions. We find that all of our considered surveys obtain sufficient numbers of precise observations to meet the minimum theoretical white noise detection sensitivity for Earth-mass habitable zone planets, with margin to explore systematic effects due to stellar activity and correlated noise., Comment: Submitted to AAS Journals; under revision

Background: Patients with chronic coronary disease (CCD) and at least moderate ischemia who were randomized in the ISCHEMIA trial to an invasive strategy (INV) had greater benefit in angina-related health status during follow-up than with a conservative strategy (CON). Whether this benefit varies by age is unknown. Methods: Angina-related health status was assessed with the 7-item Seattle Angina Questionnaire (SAQ; score range 0-100; higher score=less angina). Linear regression models assessed the association of treatment strategy (INV vs CON) with 1-year health status, including a treatment-by-age interaction using splines, adjusted for sex, ejection fraction, eGFR, diabetes, and baseline health status. Results: Among 4617 ISCHEMIA patients with complete health status data, mean age was 64±10 years; 2239 (48.5%) were Figure ). At age 80, the benefits of an INV over CON strategy diminished for SAQ Summary Score, Physical Limitations, and QOL, despite increases in SAQ Angina Frequency scores. Similar trends were observed when patients without angina were excluded. Conclusion: CCD patients of all ages had better health status with an INV vs CON strategy, but these benefits were greater in younger patients and diminished with increasing age. These data suggest an initial CON strategy may be preferred in older patients with CCD, based on goals of care.

Intravenous edetate disodium-based infusions reduced cardiovascular events in a prior clinical trial. The Trial to Assess Chelation Therapy 2 (TACT2) will replicate the initial study design.TACT2 is an NIH-sponsored, randomized, 2x2 factorial, double masked, placebo-controlled, multicenter clinical trial testing 40 weekly infusions of a multi-component edetate disodium (disodium ethylenediamine tetra-acetic acid, or NaResults are expected in 2024.TACT2 may provide definitive evidence of the benefit of edetate disodiumbased chelation on cardiovascular outcomes, as well as the clinical importance of longitudinal changes in toxic metal levels of participants.

Although urban community food gardens have the capacity to strengthen and support neighborhoods in need, the benefits of such operations must be considered in tandem with the potential risks associated with urban environmental contamination. Therefore, research is needed to characterize existing community gardens in urban areas. In the present study, a survey of Houston, TX, community gardeners (N = 20) was conducted to better understand their risk-based knowledge and perceptions, current gardening practices, and willingness to implement risk mitigation measures. Soil samples collected from the beds (N = 22) and surrounding grounds (N = 24) of existing community garden sites in Houston, TX, were screened for trace and heavy metals using X-ray fluorescence spectrometry. The survey indicated that community gardeners had few concerns with regard to potential soilborne hazards and were generally willing to use diverse strategies to reduce potential hazards related to garden soil contamination. Ground and garden bed soil collected from community gardens were found to have excess concentrations of arsenic compared to federal health screening limits. The information provided here provides insight into possible discordance between community gardening risk perception and contamination risk that could be addressed through outreach, engagement, and remediation approaches.

Refactoring is the art of improving the internal structure of a program without altering its external behavior, and it is an important task when it comes to software maintainability. While existing studies have focused on the detection of refactoring operations by mining software repositories, little was done to understand how developers document their refactoring activities. Therefore, there is recent trend trying to detect developers documentation of refactoring, by manually analyzing their internal and external software documentation. However, these techniques are limited by their manual process, which hinders their scalability. Hence, in this study, we tackle the detection of refactoring documentation as binary classification problem. We focus on the automatic detection of refactoring activities in commit messages by relying on text-mining, natural language preprocessing, and supervised machine learning techniques. We design our tool to overcome the limitation of the manual process, previously proposed by existing studies, through exploring the transformation of commit messages into features that are used to train various models. For our evaluation, we use and compare five different binary classification algorithms, and we test the effectiveness of these models using an existing dataset of manually curated messages that are known to be documenting refactoring activities in the source code. The experiments are carried out with different data sizes and number of bits. As per our results, the combination of Chi-Squared with Bayes point machine and Fisher score with Bayes point machine could be the most efficient when it comes to automatically identifying refactoring text patterns in commit messages, with an accuracy of 0.96, and an F-score of 0.96.

An asymmetric bipy/NHC ligand L has been used to construct Au/Au, Au/Ag and Au/Cu bimetallic complexes through prior coordination of the NHC to Au(I) and subsequent introduction of the second group 11 metal ion at the bipy donor of the hybrid ligand. The complex [Au(κC-L)2]BF4, 1, has been used as the precursor for the formation of [AuAg(κ-CAu,κ2-N,N′Ag-1)2](BF4)2, 2a, [AuCu(κ-CAu,κ2-N,N′Cu-1)2](BF4)2, 2b and [AuAu′(κ-CAu/Au′,κ1-NAu/Au′-1)2](BF4)2, 3.

Understanding the role of boranes in hypervalent iodine chemistry will open up new reactivities which can be utilised in organic synthesis. Due to similar reactivities, λ3-iodanes have presented themselves as viable alternatives for many transformations dominated by transition metals whilst mitigating some of the associated drawbacks of metal systems. As showcased by recent reports, boranes can adopt a dual role in hypervalent iodine chemistry that surpasses mere activation of the hypervalent iodine reagent. Increased efforts to harness this potential with diverse boranes will uncover exciting reactivity with high applicability across various disciplines including adoption in the pharmaceutical sciences. This review will be relevant to the wider synthetic community including organic, inorganic, materials, and medicinal chemists due to the versatility of hypervalent iodine chemistry especially in combination with borane activation or participation. We aim to highlight the development of hypervalent iodine compounds including their structure, bonding, synthesis and utility in metal-free organic synthesis in combination with Lewis acidic boranes.

Fine particulate air pollution

Background The incidence of neonatal abstinence syndrome has increased significantly as a result of the opioid epidemic. A lengthy hospitalization is often required to treat the infant's withdrawal symptoms. A comprehensive understanding of factors that influence nurses' implementation of nonpharmacological interventions for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome is needed. Purpose To investigate barriers and enablers to nurses' implementation of nonpharmacological interventions for infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome through the lens of the Theoretical Domains Framework, which provides a structure to examine factors that influence healthcare providers' behavior related to the implementation of evidence-based practice and interventions in clinical practice. Methods A convergent parallel mixed-methods study was conducted. Qualitative data were collected using semistructured interviews and quantitative data were collected using a tailored Determinants of Implementation Behavior Questionnaire with neonatal nurses. Findings from the interviews and surveys were merged through joint review to compare and contrast themes. Results Enablers and barriers to nurses' implementation of nonpharmacological interventions included education, experience, ability to implement nonpharmacological interventions, parental participation, stigmatization, lack of managerial/organizational support, staffing ratios, internal and external resources, and stress. Knowledge, Skills, Beliefs About Capabilities, Social/Professional Role and Identity, Organization, and Emotion of the Theoretical Domains Framework aligned with these themes. Implications for practice and research Findings from this study will inform the development of programs to improve nurses' implementation of nonpharmacological interventions and health and utilization outcomes in infants with neonatal abstinence syndrome. Furthermore, future work should focus on the development of programs to improve nurses' implementation of nonpharmacological interventions, with specific strategies aimed to mitigate marginalization of vulnerable patient populations.

The goal of the study was to evaluate how repetitive head traumas sustained by athletes in contact sports depend on sport and level of play. A total of 16 middle school football players, 107 high school football players, and 65 high school female soccer players participated. Players were separated into levels of play: middle school (MS), freshman (FR), junior varsity (JV), junior varsity-varsity (JV-V), and varsity (V). xPatch sensors were used to measure peak translational and angular accelerations (PTA and PAA, respectively) for each head acceleration event (HAE) during practice and game sessions. Data were analyzed using a custom MATLAB program to compare metrics that have been correlated with functional neurological changes: session metrics (median HAEs per contact session), season metrics (total HAEs, cumulative PTA/PAA), and regressions (cumulative PTA/PAA versus total HAEs, total HAEs versus median HAEs per contact session). Football players had greater session ( p

ObjectiveThe demand for neurology services at Geisinger exceeds the current clinical capacity. Therefore, we implemented and assessed the utility of Ask-a-Doc (AAD), which is an electronic medical record–based interface developed at Geisinger to facilitate communication between primary care physicians (PCPs) and specialists.MethodsAAD was used at the end of 2015 in our department. Based on the clinical picture, the PCP assesses whether to send an urgent AAD question with a phone request or a more elective question that can be answered by email message. The AAD message is then relayed to the on-call neurologist. We analyzed 4-year longitudinal data to assess for the efficacy of this tool in our department in improving patient care and communication.ResultsThere were a total of 3,190 messages during this period. Of which, 2,927 (91.7%) were completed and routed correctly, and 263 (8.3%) messages had errors including routing issues, communication mismatch, and delayed time frame. The average specialist turnaround time was 5 hours. During this period, the number of AAD messages increased by 300% as PCPs and neurologists became more comfortable with the process.ConclusionsAAD provides an interface between PCPs and neurology specialists and can assist in determining whether a patient needs to be seen urgently in the clinic, the correct subspecialty, and prerequisite diagnostic tests. AAD was successfully implemented and used in our rural neurology setting, with rapid turnaround, increased usage, and accuracy.