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Abstract At the end of gestation, fetal skeleton rapidly accumulates calcium, and bone development continues in offspring postnatally. To accommodate, maternal skeletal physiology is modulated in a serotonin‐dependent manner. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are generally considered safe for treatment of major depressive disorder, postpartum depression, and other psychiatric illnesses during the peripartum period, but because serotonin affects bone remodeling, SSRIs are associated with decreased bone mass across all ages and sexes, and the impact of SSRIs during fetal and postnatal development has not been fully investigated. In the present study, our aim was to examine developmental fluoxetine exposure on offspring skeleton and to assess varying degrees of impact depending on dose and window of exposure in short‐term and long‐term contexts. We established that a low dose of lactational fluoxetine exposure caused a greater degree of insult to offspring bone than either a low dose during fetal and postpartum development or a high dose during lactation only in mice. We further discovered lasting impacts of developmental fluoxetine exposure, especially during lactation only, on adult bone and body composition. Herein, we provide evidence fluoxetine exposure during early development may have detrimental effects on the skeleton of offspring at weaning and into adulthood.

Rapid evaporative ionization mass spectrometry (REIMS) is a novel technique that provides rapid chemical information on biological tissues and has the potential to predict beef quality attributes in real time. This study aims to assess the ability of analysis by REIMS coupled with chemometric modeling to predict the quality attributes of wet-aged beef at the grading time. USDA Select and upper two-thirds Choice (n=42, N=84) striploins (longissimus lumborum [LL]) and tenderloins (psoas major [PM]) were collected 36 h postmortem from a commercial beef abattoir. The LL and PM were cut into portions and aged for 3, 14, and 28 d. Aged samples were analyzed for slice shear force,Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBS), and trained sensory panels (tenderness, juiciness, and flavor attributes), and results were used to categorize both LL and PM into binary classes. Additionally, slivers of the longissimus dorsi muscle between the 12th and 13th rib were collected during grading (36 h postmortem) and analyzed using REIMS. The REIMS data were used to build predictive models for tenderness, juiciness, and flavor classes for the 3 aging periods and 2 muscles. Prediction accuracies of all models were higher than classifying the samples by chance (P0.05). However, model accuracies were not too high, which could be due to overlaps between classes, small sample sizes, and unbalanced data, which could negatively affect predictive models. Results demonstrated that the chemical finger-prints obtained with REIMS could potentially sort carcasses by flavor, juiciness, and tenderness in real time. However, the full realization of this approach will require an increased sample size and the development of a sampling method that allows improved separation between sensory classes.

This paper establishes the practicality of terrestrial microwave power beaming at distances >1 km. To beam microwave power along the surface of the earth, it is necessary to consider and, where possible, exploit the effects of microwave propagation across terrain. Key design considerations include the effect of scattering from surface topography, approaches for characterizing the beam in the presence of multipath, safety, and efficiency. A rapid demonstration at the US Army Research Field in Blossom Point, MD, delivers 1.6 kW of electrical power at a 1046 m standoff from a 5.4-m-diameter X band transmitter. The transmitter is a reflector antenna with a linearly actuated feed horn that can focus the power density at specific standoff distances. Experimental results over cluttered, irregular terrain achieve a 2.3 dB (70%) enhancement in power density at the target site by deliberate exploitation of a ground bounce. A 4 m2 rectenna receiver produces the 1.6 kW of output power at a 73% RF-to-DC conversion efficiency, which exceeds the current state of the art at X band. In addition, a test to destruction of 4 large rectenna arrays demonstrates how overvoltage protection circuits can improve the RF power handling of rectenna arrays by >1 dB. A final experiment demonstrates >1 kW delivered at >1 km distance to a light display. Since these results should readily scale to higher levels of power and performance, recommendations are provided to mature the technology for operational use.

Prandial insulin has been essential for the improved management of the type 1 diabetic patient. Interestingly, many studies have evaluated the addition of prandial insulin to the type 2 diabetic patients with improved control. The greatest drop in A1c with the use of various type of prandial insulins have resulted in the decrease of 1.3% in the A1c measurement. Interestingly, none of the published trials with goal of fasting blood glucose (FBG) have ever obtained the goal A1c. Since a drop in FBG of 28.7mg/dl is equal to a 1% drop in A1c, a simple approach to obtain a target A1c would be to focus on the FBG (per ADA: Average Blood Glucose = A1c (%) x 28.7 - 46.7mg/d). However, average blood glucose requires multiple measurements and may be less accurate then using just a FBG. Since prandial insulin clinical trials have only demonstrated a drop in A1c by 0.3-1.3% the use of only a FBG to help patients get to goal may be easier to teach and to obtain. It might save time and money. Our hypothesis is that if patient obtain a FBG

Neural activity has been implicated in the motility and outgrowth of glial cell processes throughout the central nervous system. Here, we explore this phenomenon in Müller glia, which are specialized radial astroglia that are the predominant glial type of the vertebrate retina. Müller glia extend fine filopodia-like processes into retinal synaptic layers, in similar fashion to brain astrocytes and radial glia that exhibit perisynaptic processes. Using two-photon volumetric imaging, we found that during the second postnatal week, Müller glial processes were highly dynamic, with rapid extensions and retractions that were mediated by cytoskeletal rearrangements. During this same stage of development, retinal waves led to increases in cytosolic calcium within Müller glial lateral processes and stalks. These regions comprised distinct calcium compartments, distinguished by variable participation in waves, timing, and sensitivity to an M1 muscarinic acetylcholine receptor antagonist. However, we found that motility of lateral processes was unaffected by the presence of pharmacological agents that enhanced or blocked wave-associated calcium transients. Finally, we found that mice lacking normal cholinergic waves in the first postnatal week also exhibited normal Müller glial process morphology. Hence, outgrowth of Müller glial lateral processes into synaptic layers is determined by factors that are independent of neuronal activity.

Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) are the most common antidepressant used by pregnant women; however, they have been associated with adverse pregnancy outcomes and perinatal morbidity in pregnant women and animal models. We investigated the effects of two SSRI, fluoxetine and sertraline, on pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in mice. Wild-type mice were treated daily with low and high doses of fluoxetine (2 and 20 mg/kg) and sertraline (10 and 20 mg/kg) from the day of detection of a vaginal plug until the end of lactation (21 days postpartum). Pregnancy rate was decreased only in the high dose of fluoxetine group. Maternal weight gain was reduced in the groups receiving the high dose of each drug. Number of pups born was decreased in the high dose of fluoxetine and low and high doses of sertraline while the number of pups weaned was decreased in all SSRI-treated groups corresponding to increased neonatal mortality in all SSRI-treated groups. In conclusion, there was a dose-dependent effect of SSRI on pregnancy and neonatal outcomes in a non-depressed mouse model. However, the distinct placental transfer of each drug suggests that the effects of SSRI on pup mortality may be mediated by SSRI-induced placental insufficiency rather than a direct toxic effect on neonatal development and mortality.

A relativistic coupled-cluster study of the low-lying electronic states in the radium monohydroxide molecule (RaOH), a radioactive polyatomic molecule of interest to laser cooling and to the search of new physics beyond the Standard Model, is reported. The level positions of the A2Π1/2 and C2Σ states have been computed with an accuracy of around 200 cm−1 to facilitate spectroscopic observation of RaOH using laser induced fluorescence spectroscopy, thereby exploiting the systematic convergence of electron-correlation and basis-set effects in relativistic coupled-cluster calculations. The energy level for the B2Δ3/2 state has also been calculated accurately to conclude that the B2Δ3/2 state lies above the A2Π1/2 state. This confirms X2Σ ↔ A2Π1/2 as a promising optical cycling transition for laser cooling RaOH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the end of gestation, fetal skeleton rapidly accumulates calcium, and bone development continues in offspring postnatally. To accommodate, maternal skeletal physiology is modulated in a serotonin‐dependent manner. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are generally considered safe for treatment of major depressive disorder, postpartum depression, and other psychiatric illnesses during the peripartum period, but because serotonin affects bone remodeling, SSRIs are associated with decreased bone mass across all ages and sexes, and the impact of SSRIs during fetal and postnatal development has not been fully investigated. In the present study, our aim was to examine developmental fluoxetine exposure on offspring skeleton and to assess varying degrees of impact depending on dose and window of exposure in short‐term and long‐term contexts. We established that a low dose of lactational fluoxetine exposure caused a greater degree of insult to offspring bone than either a low dose during fetal and postpartum development or a high dose during lactation only in mice. We further discovered lasting impacts of developmental fluoxetine exposure, especially during lactation only, on adult bone and body composition. Herein, we provide evidence fluoxetine exposure during early development may have detrimental effects on the skeleton of offspring at weaning and into adulthood. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]