Article describes how cell-derived extracellular matrix has become increasingly popular in tissue engineering applications due to its ability to provide tailored signals for desirable cellular responses. The objective of this study was to assess the efficacy of two detergent-based decellularization methods: a combination of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid and sodium dodecyl sulfate and a combination of sodium deoxycholate and deoxyribonuclease.

This article identifies that an rRNA released in hemolysis activates clotting in human and zebrafish plasma. Furthermore, it shows that fish Hgfac plays a role in rRNA-mediated activation of coagulation.

Article discusses the utility of SCED data for trauma research, provides recommendations for addressing challenges specific to SCED approaches, and introduces a tutorial for two Bayesian models—the Bayesian interrupted time-series (BITS) model and the Bayesian unknown change-point (BUCP) model—that can be used to analyze the typically small sample, autocorrelated, SCED data.

Article examines the covalent character of the interaction between the metal cation and the oxygen ligands for two Fe oxides with different nominal oxidation states, Fe(II)O, and Fe(III)₂O₃.

This article offers a response to the impact, value, and application of a manuscript published by Philipsen et al. (Improving teacher professional development for online and blended learning: A systematic meta-aggregative review. Educational Technology and Research Development, 67, 1145–1174. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11423-019-09645-8, 2019). and its value and application in light of an emergency shift to digital to address a global pandemic.

This article devised, fabricated, and tested a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) film based electrochemical sensor for selective determination of tyramine.

Article providing a research perspective on Giannakas et al.’s (2018) manuscript, “A critical review of 13 years of mobile game-based learning” to serve as a resource to educators navigating the transition to remote learning during the pandemic.

This article considers an analogous problem in which the observed random variables are the steps of a symmetric random walk. Assuming continuously distributed step sizes, it describes the optimal stopping rules for the cases n = 2 and n = 3 in two versions of the problem: a "full information" version in which the actual steps of the random walk are disclosed to the decision maker; and a "partial information" version in which only the relative ranks of the positions taken by the random walk are observed. When n = 3, the optimal rule and expected rank depend on the distribution of the step sizes. The authors give sharp bounds for the optimal expected rank in the partial information version, and fairly sharp bounds in the full information version.

This article shows that rates of stutter can vary substantially depending on the flanking haplotype, and while there are cases where the LUS is a better predictor of stutter than the PAL, examples to the contrary are apparent in commonly assayed forensic markers. Further, flanking variation that is 7 bp from the repeat region can impact rates of stutter. These findings suggest that non-proximal effects, such as DNA secondary structure, may be impacting the rates of stutter in common forensic short tandem repeat markers.

This article presents electrochemical deposition of a ceramic with nanoclay addition, cerium oxide/layered silicate films.

This article focuses on the gene At5g39050, which encodes a phenolic glucoside malonyltransferase 1 (PMAT1), to better understand the biological significance of N-lauroylethanolamine (NAE 12:0)-induced gene expression changes.

This article provides evidence in support of C. elegans as initial in vivo model to study nicotine and its effects on oncogenic mutations identified in humans.

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Decays of B mesons to states involving {tau} leptons can be used as a tool to search for the effects of new physics, such as those involving a charged Higgs boson. The experimental status of the decays B {yields} {tau}{nu} and B {yields} D{sup (*)}{tau}{nu} is discussed, together with limits on new physics effects from current results. Leptonic and semileptonic decays of B mesons into states involving {tau} leptons remain experimentally challenging, but can prove a useful tool for constraining Standard Model parameters, and also offer to constrain the effects of any new physics that may exist including the presence of a charged Higgs boson.

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The current status of the determinations of CKM matrix element |V{sub ub}| via exclusive and inclusive charmless semileptonic B decays is reviewed. The large datasets collected at the B-Factories, and the increased precision of theoretical calculations have allowed an improvement in the determination of |V{sub ub}|. However, there are still significant uncertainties. In the exclusive approach, the most precise measurement of the pion channel branching ratio is obtained by an untagged analysis. This very good precision can be reached by tagged analyses with more data. The problem with exclusive decays is that the strong hadron dynamics can not be calculated from first principles and the determination of the form factor has to rely on light-cone sum rules or lattice QCD calculations. The current data samples allow a comparison of different FF models with data distributions. With further developments on lattice calculations, the theoretical error should shrink to reach the experimental one. The inclusive approach still provides the most precise |V{sub ub}| determinations. With new theoretical calculations, the mild (2.5{sigma}) discrepancy with respect to the |V{sub ub}| value determined from the global UT fit has been reduced. As in the exclusive approach, theoretical uncertainties represent the limiting factor to the precision …

The Large Area Telescope (LAT) on-board the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope began its on-orbit operations on June 23, 2008. Calibrations, defined in a generic sense, correspond to synchronization of trigger signals, optimization of delays for latching data, determination of detector thresholds, gains and responses, evaluation of the perimeter of the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA), measurements of live time, of absolute time, and internal and spacecraft boresight alignments. Here we describe on-orbit calibration results obtained using known astrophysical sources, galactic cosmic rays, and charge injection into the front-end electronics of each detector. Instrument response functions will be described in a separate publication. This paper demonstrates the stability of calibrations and describes minor changes observed since launch. These results have been used to calibrate the LAT datasets to be publicly released in August 2009.

We report the discovery of gamma-ray pulsations from the nearby isolated millisecond pulsar PSR J0030+0451 with the Large Area Telescope (LAT) on the Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope (formerly GLAST). This discovery makes PSR J0030+0451 the second millisecond pulsar to be detected in gamma-rays after PSR J0218+4232, observed by the EGRET instrument on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory. The spin-down power {dot E} = 3.5 x 10{sup 33} ergs s{sup -1} is an order of magnitude lower than the empirical lower bound of previously known gamma-ray pulsars. The emission profile is characterized by two narrow peaks, respectively 0.07 {+-} 0.01 and 0.08 {+-} 0.02 wide, separated by 0.44 {+-} 0.02 in phase. The first gamma-ray peak falls 0.15 {+-} 0.01 after the main radio peak. The pulse shape is similar to that of the 'normal' gamma-ray pulsars. An exponentially cut-off power-law fit of the emission spectrum leads to an integral photon flux above 100 MeV of (6.76 {+-} 1.05 {+-} 1.35) x 10{sup -8} cm{sup -2} s{sup -1} with cut-off energy (1.7 {+-} 0.4 {+-} 0.5) GeV. Based on its parallax distance of (300 {+-} 90) pc, we obtain a gamma-ray efficiency L{sub {gamma}}/{dot E} {approx_equal} 15% for the conversion of …

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An investigation was conducted to compare and evaluate contaminant transport results of two model codes, GoldSim and Porflow, using a simple 1-D string of elements in each code. Model domains were constructed to be identical with respect to cell numbers and dimensions, matrix material, flow boundary and saturation conditions. One of the codes, GoldSim, does not simulate advective movement of water; therefore the water flux term was specified as a boundary condition. In the other code, Porflow, a steady-state flow field was computed and contaminant transport was simulated within that flow-field. The comparisons were made solely in terms of the ability of each code to perform contaminant transport. The purpose of the investigation was to establish a basis for, and to validate follow-on work that was conducted in which a 1-D GoldSim model developed by abstracting information from Porflow 2-D and 3-D unsaturated and saturated zone models and then benchmarked to produce equivalent contaminant transport results. A handful of contaminants were selected for the code-to-code comparison simulations, including a non-sorbing tracer and several long- and short-lived radionuclides exhibiting both non-sorbing to strongly-sorbing characteristics with respect to the matrix material, including several requiring the simulation of in-growth of daughter radionuclides. The …

The need for a fundamental understanding of material response to a neutron and/or high heat flux environment can yield development of improved materials and operations with existing materials. Such understanding has numerous applications in fields such as nuclear power (for the current fleet and future fission and fusion reactors), aerospace, and other research fields (e.g., high-intensity proton accelerator facilities for high energy physics research). A proposal has been advanced to develop a facility for testing various materials under extreme heat and neutron exposure conditions at Princeton. The Extreme Environment Materials Research Facility comprises an environmentally controlled chamber (48 m^3) capable of high vacuum conditions, with extreme flux beams and probe beams accessing a central, large volume target. The facility will have the capability to expose large surface areas (1 m^2) to 14 MeV neutrons at a fluence in excess of 10^13 n/s. Depending on the operating mode. Additionally beam line power on the order of 15-75 MW/m2 for durations of 1-15 seconds are planned... The multi-second duration of exposure can be repeated every 2-10 minutes for periods of 10-12 hours. The facility will be housed in the test cell that held the Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor (TFTR), which has the …

The Savannah River Site (SRS) is a 310-square-mile United States Department of Energy nuclear facility located along the Savannah River (SRS) near Aiken, South Carolina. Nuclear weapons material production began in the early 1950s, utilizing five production reactors. In the early 1990s all SRS production reactor operations were terminated. The first reactor closure end state declaration was recently institutionalized in a Comprehensive Environmental Response and Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) Early Action Record of Decision. The decision for the final closure of the 318,000 square foot 105-P Reactor was determined to be in situ decommissioning (ISD). ISD is an acceptable and cost effective alternative to off-site disposal for the reactor building, which will allow for consolidation of remedial action wastes generated from other cleanup activities within the P Area. ISD is considered protective by the regulators, U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA) and the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC), public and stakeholders as waste materials are stabilized/immobilized, and radioactivity is allowed to naturally decay, thus preventing future exposure to the environment. Stakeholder buy-in was critical in the upfront planning in order to achieve this monumental final decision. Numerous public meetings and workshops were held in …

We present methods for analyzing commercial and industrial facility 15-minute-interval electric load data. These methods allow building managers to better understand their facility's electricity consumption over time and to compare it to other buildings, helping them to ask the right questions to discover opportunities for demand response, energy efficiency, electricity waste elimination, and peak load management. We primarily focus on demand response. Methods discussed include graphical representations of electric load data, a regression-based electricity load model that uses a time-of-week indicator variable and a piecewise linear and continuous outdoor air temperature dependence, and the definition of various parameters that characterize facility electricity loads and demand response behavior. In the future, these methods could be translated into easy-to-use tools for building managers.

How would we recover if a Radiological Dispersion Device (e.g., dirty bomb) or Improvised Nuclear Device were to detonate in a large city? In order to assess the feasibility of remediation following such an event, several issues would have to be considered, including the levels and characteristics of the radioactive contamination, the availability of the required resources to accomplish decontamination, and the planned future use of the city's structures and buildings. Presently little is known about the distribution, redistribution, and migration of radionuclides in an urban environment. However, Pripyat, a city substantially contaminated by the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant accident, may provide some answers. The main objective of this study was to determine the radionuclide distribution on a Pripyat multi-story building, which had not been previously decontaminated and therefore could reflect the initial fallout and its further natural redistribution on external surfaces. The 7-story building selected was surveyed from the ground floor to the roof on horizontal and vertical surfaces along seven ground-to-roof transections. Some of the results from this study indicate that the upper floors of the building had higher contamination levels than the lower floors. The authors consequently recommend that existing decontamination procedures for tall structures be re-examined …