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Background: Rates of nicotine use remain a prominent public health concern, especially among young adults. Previous findings have demonstrated that chronic exposure to nicotine during adolescence may be linked to various neurocognitive deficits. Nicotine differentially affects the brain by gender. Objectives: The present study investigated the effects of gender and chronic nicotine use on cognition in the developing brain. Methods: From 2008 to 2011, 57 young adult (ages 18-25) participants were recruited as part of a larger cross-sectional neuroimaging study and divided into 21 nicotine users (12 female) and 36 non-using controls (17 female). Participants completed various questionnaires, drug use interview, neuropsychological battery, and MRI scan in a university setting. A series of multiple regressions was conducted with nicotine group and gender*nicotine group interaction as predictors. Results: After controlling for gender, nicotine group status alone was not associated with neuropsychological performance. A gender x nicotine interaction was significantly associated with performance on trial 1, short delay free recall, and long delay free recall of the CVLT-II. Female smokers demonstrated better performance on trial 1 and short and long delay free recall than female controls. Male smokers performed more poorly than male controls on short and long delay free recall. Conclusions: These preliminary findings suggest that cognitive effects of chronic nicotine use are moderated by gender. Further research is needed to determine causality, and identify underlying brain structures and function that may be responsible for differences in verbal memory.

Background and Purpose: Clinical trials on stroke prevention in patients with atrial fibrillation have consistently shown clinical benefit from either warfarin or non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulants (NOACs). NOAC-treated patients have consistently reported to be at lower risk for intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) than warfarin-treated patients. The aims of this prospective, multicenter, multinational, unmatched, case-control study were (1) to investigate for risk factors that could predict ICH occurring in patients with atrial fibrillation during NOAC treatment and (2) to evaluate the role of CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED scores in the same setting. Methods: Cases were consecutive patients with atrial fibrillation who had ICH during NOAC treatment. Controls were consecutive patients with atrial fibrillation who did not have ICH during NOAC treatment. As within the CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED scores there are some risk factors in common, several multivariable logistic regression models were performed to identify independent prespecified predictors for ICH events. Results: Four hundred nineteen cases (mean age, 78.8±8.1 years) and 1526 controls (mean age, 76.0±10.3 years) were included in the study. From the different models performed, independent predictors of ICH were increasing age, concomitant use of antiplatelet agents, active malignancy, high risk of fall, hyperlipidemia, low clearance of creatinine, peripheral artery disease, and white matter changes. Low doses of NOACs (given according to label or not) and congestive heart failure were inversely associated with the risk of ICH. HAS-BLED and CHA2DS2-VASc scores performed poorly in predicting ICH with areas under the curves of 0.496 (95% CI, 0.468-0.525) and 0.530 (95% CI, 0.500-0.560), respectively. Conclusions: Several risk factors were associated to ICH in patients treated with NOACs for stroke prevention but not HAS-BLED and CHA2DS2-VASc scores. © 2021 Lippincott Williams and Wilkins. All rights reserved.

MeerKAT's large number of antennas, spanning 8 km with a densely packed 1 km core, create a powerful instrument for wide-area surveys, with high sensitivity over a wide range of angular scales. The MeerKAT Galaxy Cluster Legacy Survey (MGCLS) is a programme of long-track MeerKAT L-band (900-1670 MHz) observations of 115 galaxy clusters, observed for $\sim$6-10 hours each in full polarisation. The first legacy product data release (DR1), made available with this paper, includes the MeerKAT visibilities, basic image cubes at $\sim$8" resolution, and enhanced spectral and polarisation image cubes at $\sim$8" and 15" resolutions. Typical sensitivities for the full-resolution MGCLS image products are $\sim$3-5 {\mu}Jy/beam. The basic cubes are full-field and span 4 deg^2. The enhanced products consist of the inner 1.44 deg^2 field of view, corrected for the primary beam. The survey is fully sensitive to structures up to $\sim$10' scales and the wide bandwidth allows spectral and Faraday rotation mapping. HI mapping at 209 kHz resolution can be done at $0, Comment: 43 pages, 33 figures, 6 tables. Accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysics

During the past two decades, a growing interest surrounding the interaction between microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs) and pattern recognition receptors has occurred. This attention is now driven alongside bacterial-derived metabolites, which impact immune cell differentiation and function. Hence, this review introduces the term meta-MAMP as a means to classify the microbial derived-metabolites, which influence the immune response by affecting specific cellular processes. We discuss two prominent examples of meta-MAMPs: the first, rapamycin (isolated from Streptomyces), was discovered in the 1970s and since then has been thoroughly studied. The second, soraphen A (isolated from Myxobacteria), was discovered in the early 1990s but only recently identified as a promising immunomodulator. Both meta-MAMPs are similar in their remarkable capacity to modulate T cell fate by targeting key metabolic pathways triggered upon T cell activation. In this context, we highlight the progress made in the field of immunometabolism and the possibility of modulating metabolic pathways such as cellular fatty acid metabolism as a strategy for immunomodulation. We focus on the use of microbial metabolites as auspicious agents for T cell fate modulation.

Significance The optical method to determine oxygen saturation in blood is limited to only tissues that can be transilluminated. The status quo provides a single-point measurement and lacks 2D oxygenation mapping capability. We use organic printed optoelectronics in a flexible array configuration that senses reflected light from tissue. Our reflectance oximeter is used beyond conventional sensing locations and accurately measures oxygen saturation on the forehead. In a full system implementation, coupled with a mathematical model, we create 2D oxygenation maps of adult forearms under pressure-cuff–induced ischemia. Our skin-like flexible sensor system has the potential to transform oxygenation monitoring of tissues, wounds, skin grafts, and transplanted organs., Transmission-mode pulse oximetry, the optical method for determining oxygen saturation in blood, is limited to only tissues that can be transilluminated, such as the earlobes and the fingers. The existing sensor configuration provides only single-point measurements, lacking 2D oxygenation mapping capability. Here, we demonstrate a flexible and printed sensor array composed of organic light-emitting diodes and organic photodiodes, which senses reflected light from tissue to determine the oxygen saturation. We use the reflectance oximeter array beyond the conventional sensing locations. The sensor is implemented to measure oxygen saturation on the forehead with 1.1% mean error and to create 2D oxygenation maps of adult forearms under pressure-cuff–induced ischemia. In addition, we present mathematical models to determine oxygenation in the presence and absence of a pulsatile arterial blood signal. The mechanical flexibility, 2D oxygenation mapping capability, and the ability to place the sensor in various locations make the reflectance oximeter array promising for medical sensing applications such as monitoring of real-time chronic medical conditions as well as postsurgery recovery management of tissues, organs, and wounds.

The Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid model is the leading candidate for describing one-dimensional metallic conductors at low temperature. Yet, experimental evidence that it is valid is sketchy. Scanning tunnelling and photoemission spectra suggest that it does, in fact, describe the behaviour of chains of gold atoms self-assembled on the surface of germanium.

The chicken Ig-like receptor (CHIR) gene family is located on microchromosome 31, the orthologous region to the mammalian leukocyte receptor complex. CHIR are equally related to the mammalian killer Ig-like receptors and leukocyte Ig-like transcripts, but they occur in a much higher number and diversity. The chicken microchromosome 31 has been neglected in the genome sequence analysis. Here, we provide a first analysis of this region. For this purpose bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) sequences originating from a single inbred red jungle fowl that served as basis for the chicken genome project were screened for the presence of CHIR sequences and eight BACs were identified as major CHIR containing regions. Since the sequences of these BACs that were available in the database were not complete, sequence gaps were further closed by novel data from the chicken genome project. The entire sequence was aligned into 26 contigs covering 875 kbp that contained 84 functional CHIR and 46 CHIR pseudogenes that were hampered by different reasons such as premature stop codons. The 84 functional CHIR were further categorized into 35 activating (CHIRA), 26 inhibitory (CHIRB) and 23 bifunctional (CHIRAB) genes. A detailed comparison of the annotated sequence taking also into account the previously published CHIR BAC sequence originating from an Lohman selected leghorn chicken revealed that the CHIR locus seems to be a very active region with a high degree of gene reorganization that resembles a constant birth and death evolution. The present report provides a framework for the future completion of the CHIR locus. It further suggests that the entire microchromosome 31 may resemble a locus of extraordinary genomic diversity that is beneficial for the development of a large CHIR repertoire, but that has therefore lost all other genes, where such a diversification would be fatal.

Additive and low-temperature printing processes enable the integration of diverse electronic devices, both power-supplying and power-consuming, on flexible substrates at low cost. Production of a complete electronic system from these devices, however, often requires power electronics to convert between the various operating voltages of the devices. Passive components—inductors, capacitors and resistors—perform functions such as filtering, short-term energy storage and voltage measurement, which are vital in power electronics and many other applications. In this paper, we present screen-printed inductors, capacitors, resistors and an RLC circuit on flexible plastic substrates and report on the design process for minimization of inductor series resistance that enables their use in power electronics. Printed inductors and resistors are then incorporated into a step-up voltage regulator circuit. Organic light-emitting diodes and a flexible lithium ion battery are fabricated and the voltage regulator is used to power the diodes from the battery, demonstrating the potential of printed passive components to replace conventional surface-mount components in a DC-DC converter application.

Advances in wireless technologies, low-power electronics, the internet of things, and in the domain of connected health are driving innovations in wearable medical devices at a tremendous pace. Wearable sensor systems composed of flexible and stretchable materials have the potential to better interface to the human skin, whereas silicon-based electronics are extremely efficient in sensor data processing and transmission. Therefore, flexible and stretchable sensors combined with low-power silicon-based electronics are a viable and efficient approach for medical monitoring. Flexible medical devices designed for monitoring human vital signs, such as body temperature, heart rate, respiration rate, blood pressure, pulse oxygenation, and blood glucose have applications in both fitness monitoring and medical diagnostics. As a review of the latest development in flexible and wearable human vitals sensors, the essential components required for vitals sensors are outlined and discussed here, including the reported sensor systems, sensing mechanisms, sensor fabrication, power, and data processing requirements.

The rotational spectrum of methyl phosphonic difluoride has been reinvestigated using a pulsed-molecular-beam Fabry–Perot cavity microwave spectrometer. The enhanced resolution of the Fourier transform microwave (FTMW) spectrometer (compared to the original work done in a conventional Stark spectrometer) has allowed the measurement of small A – E splittings of many of the rotational transitions caused by the internal rotation of the methyl top. The barrier to internal rotation, V 3 = 676 (25) cm −1 , has been determined experimentally from the A – E splittings of the rotational transitions in the ground vibrational state. This barrier height is substantially lower than the previously determined value for the barrier, which was 1252 (14) cm −1 . High-level ab initio calculations at the MP2/aug-cc-pVTZ level predict a barrier to internal rotation of 638 cm −1 , in agreement with the experimentally determined value found here. The high sensitivity of the FTMW spectrometer has also permitted the measurement of the 13 C and 18 O isotopomers in natural abundance. The addition of these two isotopomers has allowed an improved structural determination.

Objective This was a pilot study to determine whether menopausal hormone therapy users have a higher incidence of indeterminate calcifications on screening mammogram and a higher rate of associated malignancy than nonusers. Study design A retrospective chart review of routine screening mammograms with indeterminate calcifications was conducted to determine the malignancy rate overall and in hormone therapy users and nonusers. A control group of normal screening mammograms was used to determine whether hormone therapy use was representative of the population that undergo screening mammograms and to compare the malignancy rates. Results The rates of hormone therapy use in the study and control groups were similar. The overall malignancy rate was 24.7%; no difference existed between users and nonusers. Comparing estrogen only with estrogen-progestin users demonstrated a malignancy rate of 5.8% and 17.6%, respectively (odds ratio 2.28). Conclusions Hormone therapy users with indeterminate calcifications on screening mammograms are not at an increased risk of malignancy than nonusers. Estrogen-progestin users may be at an increased risk over estrogen-only users.

Pulse oximetry is a ubiquitous non-invasive medical sensing method for measuring pulse rate and arterial blood oxygenation. Conventional pulse oximeters use expensive optoelectronic components that restrict sensing locations to finger tips or ear lobes due to their rigid form and area-scaling complexity. In this work, we report a pulse oximeter sensor based on organic materials, which are compatible with flexible substrates. Green (532 nm) and red (626 nm) organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are used with an organic photodiode (OPD) sensitive at the aforementioned wavelengths. The sensor's active layers are deposited from solution-processed materials via spin-coating and printing techniques. The all-organic optoelectronic oximeter sensor is interfaced with conventional electronics at 1 kHz and the acquired pulse rate and oxygenation are calibrated and compared with a commercially available oximeter. The organic sensor accurately measures pulse rate and oxygenation with errors of 1% and 2%, respectively.

Author Institution: Department of Chemistry, Kent State University; Departmento de Qu\'{i}mica F\'{i}sica, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Valladolid; Optical Technology Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology; Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center, Edgewood Area

The rotational spectrum of cyclohexyl sarin (also known as GF) has been measured in a jet-cooled expansion using Fourier transform microwave spectroscopy. Two spectra have been observed, each having splittings associated with the internal rotation of the CH3 P group. The observed V3 barriers are similar in magnitude to those reported for other organophosphonate nerve agents. The two conformational structures of GF have been identified from comparisons of the observed rotational constants and dipole moment magnitudes with ab initio predictions at the MP2/6311G (d,p) level. These two structures are distinguished by the placement of the fluorophosphonate group at the equatorial and axial positions of the cyclohexane ring. The data also suggest that both conformers prefer a positioning of the FP group with the P O oxygen in an eclipsed orientation relative to the C1 hydrogen on the ring.

The pure rotational spectrum of the nerve agent Soman has been recorded using a pulsed-molecular-beam Fourier-transform microwave spectrometer. The spectrum consists of transitions from two different isomers. The two distinguishable isomers are likely the [SS] (or [RR]) and the [RS] (or [SR]) diastereomers that result from the two chiral centers in the molecule. The rotational constants determined for the A internal rotor states of the [SS, RR] and [RS, SR] isomers are A =1645.39765(9) MHz, B =591.97752(3) MHz, and C =547.58168(3) MHz, and A =1635.0580(1), B =600.14889(6), and C =556.45840(6) MHz, respectively, where type A, k =1 or 1 σ standard uncertainties are given. Structural assignments of the diastereomers were made based on comparisons of the calculated electric dipole moments at the MP2/6-311G level of theory with the observed selection rules. Many of the rotational transitions are split into doublets and correspond to the A - and E -state transitions arising from internal rotation of the methyl top attached to the phosphorus atom. These splittings have been used to obtain the V 3 barriers of the methyl groups for both diastereomers. This work is part of an ongoing project aimed at generating a spectral database of chemical agents and related families of compounds.

The annual trading agent competition offers agent designers a forum for evaluating programmed trading techniques in a challenging market scenario. TAC aims to spur research by enabling researchers to compare techniques on a common problem and build on each other's ideas. A fixed set of assumptions and environment settings facilitates communication of methods and results. As a multiyear event, TAC lets researchers observe trading agents' progress over time, in effect accelerating the evolution of an adapted population of traders. Given all the participant effort invested, it is incumbent on us to learn as much from the experience as possible. After three years of TAC, we're ready to examine there we stand. To do this, we used data from actual TAC tournaments and some post-competition experimentation. We based our analysis almost entirely on outcomes (profits and allocations), with very little direct accounting for specific agent techniques.

We organized Workshop 13, Machine learning for transient classification, into two distinct question-and-answer parts. The first was a so-called ‘idiot session’, in which basic questions about machine learning and artificial intelligence were elicited from the audience. The second focussed discussions on the application of artificial intelligence to transient astronomy.The workshop proved highly successful. The room was packed, and the many interesting questions and discussions were good preparation for the presentation to be made on ‘machine learning’ during the plenary session the following day.The workshop clearly reflected the general awareness and excitement in the community for the potential of machine learning in regard to transient detections in astronomy in the era of ZTF, LSST, LIGO and the SKA. Several of the presentations at this Symposium had already been exhibiting specific attention to the roles of machine-learning techniques and products. The extent to which the younger generations were being involved was clearly noticeable, and that augured well for research into workable solutions for astronomy’s ‘Big Data’ problems which – as stated frequently at this conference – are only just around the corner.

In the last decade Astronomy has been transformed by a deluge of data that will grow exponentially when near-future telescopes such as LSST and the SKA begin routine observing. Astroinformatics, a broad field encompassing many techniques in statistics, machine learning and data mining, is the key to extracting meaningful information from large amounts of data. This talk outlined Astroinformatics as a field, and gave a few examples of the use of machine learning and Bayesian statistics from my own work in survey Astronomy. The era of massive surveys in which we now find ourselves has the potential to revolutionise completely many fields, including time-domain Astronomy, but only if coupled with the powerful tools of Astroinformatics.

In this paper, we describe a physical activity classification system using a body sensor network (BSN) consisting of cost-sensitive tri-axial accelerometers. We focus on workspace activities (different motions and sitting postures). We use a Naive Bayes classifier and show that we can train the system simply and systematically. For each task, we find a set of features that separate the corresponding activities.

We investigate tradeoffs among expressiveness, operational cost, and economic efficiency for a class of multiattribute double-auction markets. To enable polynomial-time clearing and information feedback operations, we restrict the bidding language to a form of multiattribute OR-of-XOR expressions. We then consider implications of this restriction in environments where bidders’ preferences lie within a strictly larger class, that of complement-free valuations. Using valuations derived from a supply chain scenario, we show that an iterative bidding protocol can overcome the limitations of this language restriction. We further introduce a metric characterizing the degree to which valuations violate the substitutes condition, theoretically known to guarantee efficiency, and present experimental evidence that the actual efficiency loss is proportional to this metric.

The quantitative UV absorption spectra of selected chemical agents and simulants have been measured for wavelengths in the near UV from 200 to 400 nm. Although these data are of interest in their own right, they are also necessary for predicting the sensitivity of UV Raman based detection systems. Of particular interest are the absorption values at 248.25 nm and 262 nm as these correspond to excitation wavelengths used by UV Raman based surface contamination detectors currently under development. These wavelengths are produced by KrF excimer lasers and quadrupled Nd:YLF lasers, respectively. This report collates these data in a presentable form.

UV Raman spectroscopy is being applied to the detection of natural and man-made surfaces contaminated with chemical agents. In support of these efforts, we have measured the UV Raman signatures of chemical agents and their simulants. In addition, we have measured both the UV Raman and UV absorption cross sections of these compounds for determining their relative limits of detection. The UV Raman measurements were made using a doubled Argon ion laser operating at 248 nm. Spectra were collected on an echelle spectrograph equipped with a CCD array detector. Based on the data collected, we also discuss the suitability of currently accepted agent simulants for testing UV Raman detection instruments.

The 2002 Trading Agent Competition (TAC) presents a challenging market game in the domain of travel shopping. One of the pivotal issues in this domain is uncertainty about hotel prices, which have a significant influence on the relative cost of alternative trip schedules. We survey agent approaches, finding an interesting diversity of techniques, taking into account differing sources of evidence bearing on prices. Based on agents' actual predictions in the TAC-02 finals and semifinals, we analyze the relative efficacy of these approaches. Employing a new measure of prediction quality, we relate absolute accuracy to bottom-line performance in the game.

TAC-02 was the third in a series of Trading Agent Competition events fostering research in automating trading strategies by showcasing alternate approaches in an open-invitation market game. TAC presents a challenging travel-shopping scenario where agents must satisfy client preferences for complementary and substitutable goods by interacting through a variety of market types. Michigan's entry, Walverine, attempts to bid optimally based on a competitive analysis of the TAC travel economy. Walverine's approach embodies several techniques not previously employed in TAC: (1) price prediction based on competitive equilibrium analysis, (2) hedged optimization with respect to a model of outlier prices, (3) optimal bidding based on a decision-theoretic calculation of bid actions, and (4) reinforcement learning for CDA trading strategies. Each of these is potentially applicable in a broad class of trading environments.

This report documents the performance of the Attenuated Total Reflectance - Fourier Transform Infrared (ATR-FTIR) Technology for the detection of various chemical compounds in water. Three classes of compounds were tested, chemical agent simulants, hydrolysis products, and chemical agents. These compounds were tested at varying concentrations to determine the minimum concentration detectable.

Allegations concerning the use and/or manufacture of chemical warfare (CW) agents in recent years has been of interest to many countries. The presence of OW agents, precursers, and decomposition breakdown) products in the environment has been studied by various collection and extraction means. This report details the work performed in the extraction of OW breakdown products from three types of standard soils, using the Dionex ASE 200 Accelerated Solvent Extractor and the Zymark TurboVap LV Evaporation System.

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Even if flow stabilizers are employed, pressure regulators are mandatory in gas chromatography. High requirements are imposed on them with regard to independence from input pressure, load and ambient temperature and to reproducibility of the pressure.

The 2002 Trading Agent Competition (TAC) presented a challenging market game in the domain of travel shopping. One of the pivotal issues in this domain is uncertainty about hotel prices, which have a significant influence on the relative cost of alternative trip schedules. Thus, virtually all participants employ some method for predicting hotel prices. We survey approaches employed in the tournament, finding that agents apply an interesting diversity of techniques, taking into account differing sources of evidence bearing on prices. Based on data provided by entrants on their agents' actual predictions in the TAC-02 finals and semifinals, we analyze the relative efficacy of these approaches. The results show that taking into account game-specific information about flight prices is a major distinguishing factor. Machine learning methods effectively induce the relationship between flight and hotel prices from game data, and a purely analytical approach based on competitive equilibrium analysis achieves equal accuracy with no historical data. Employing a new measure of prediction quality, we relate absolute accuracy to bottom-line performance in the game.