Summary
The STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) statement was first published in 2007 and again in 2014. The purpose of the original STROBE was to provide ...guidance for authors, reviewers and editors to improve the comprehensiveness of reporting; however, STROBE has a unique focus on observational studies. Although much of the guidance provided by the original STROBE document is directly applicable, it was deemed useful to map those statements to veterinary concepts, provide veterinary examples and highlight unique aspects of reporting in veterinary observational studies. Here, we present the examples and explanations for the checklist items included in the STROBE‐Vet Statement. Thus, this is a companion document to the STROBE‐Vet Statement Methods and process document, which describes the checklist and how it was developed.
Perovskite solar cells (PSCs) promise high efficiencies and low manufacturing costs. Most formulations, however, contain lead, which raises health and environmental concerns. In this review, we use a ...risk assessment approach to identify and evaluate the technology risks to the environment and human health. We analyze the risks by following the technology from production to transportation to installation to disposal and examine existing environmental and safety regulations in each context. We review published data from leaching and air emissions testing and highlight gaps in current knowledge and a need for more standardization. Methods to avoid lead release through introduction of absorbing materials or use of alternative PSC formulations are reviewed. We conclude with the recommendation to develop recycling programs for PSCs and further standardized testing to understand risks related to leaching and fires.
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Applied sciences; Environmental toxicology; Toxicology
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•pH change is necessary for Presynaptic Homeostatic Potentiation at the mouse NMJ.•Extracellular acidification is sufficient for quantal content (QC) upregulation.•Pharmacological ...inhibition of the PMCA increases QC, contingent on functional ASICs.•Inhibition of PMCA precludes Presynaptic Homeostatic Potentiation.
At the vertebrate neuromuscular junction (NMJ), presynaptic homeostatic potentiation (PHP) refers to an increase in neurotransmitter release that restores the strength of synaptic transmission following a blockade of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). Mechanisms informing the presynaptic terminal of the loss of postsynaptic receptivity remain poorly understood. Previous research at the mouse NMJ suggests that extracellular protons may function as a retrograde signal that triggers an upregulation of neurotransmitter output (measured by quantal content, QC) through the activation of acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs). We further investigated the pH-dependency of PHP in an ex-vivo mouse muscle preparation. We observed that increasing the buffering capacity of the perfusion saline with HEPES abolishes PHP and that acidifying the saline from pH 7.4 to pH 7.2-7.1 increases QC, demonstrating the necessity and sufficiency of extracellular acidification for PHP. We then sought to uncover how the blockade of nAChRs leads to the pH decrease. Plasma-membrane calcium ATPase (PMCA), a calcium-proton antiporter, is known to alkalize the synaptic cleft following neurotransmission in a calcium-dependent manner. We hypothesize that since nAChR blockade reduces postsynaptic calcium entry, it also reduces the alkalizing activity of the PMCA, thereby causing acidosis, ASIC activation, and QC upregulation. In line with this hypothesis, we found that pharmacological inhibition of the PMCA with carboxyeosin induces QC upregulation and that this effect requires functional ASICs. We also demonstrated that muscles pre-treated with carboxyeosin fail to generate PHP. These findings suggest that reduced PMCA activity causes presynaptic homeostatic potentiation by activating ASICs at the mouse NMJ.
As the nuclear fleet in the United States ages and subsequent license renewal applications grow, the prediction of concrete durability at extended operation becomes more important. To address this ...issue, a Fast-Fourier Transform (FFT) method is utilized to simulate aging-related degradation of concrete within the Microstructure Oriented Scientific Analysis of Irradiated Concrete (MOSAIC) software. MOSAIC utilizes compositional phase maps to simulate damage from radiation-induced volumetric expansion (RIVE), applied force, creep, and thermal expansion. This compositional detail allows each mineral in the microstructure to be assigned specific material properties, allowing the simulation to be as accurate and representative as possible. The principal goal of MOSAIC is to simulate the effects of nonlinear aging mechanisms occurring in nuclear concrete on the macroscopic mechanical properties, using only the aggregate microstructure compositional information as a starting point. Several realistic example simulations are shown to demonstrate the utility and uniqueness of the MOSAIC software.
Myoepithelial carcinoma (MECA) is an underrecognized challenging entity with a broad morphologic spectrum. Misinterpreting MECA is not uncommon as distinguishing it from its mimics, especially ...cellular myoepithelial-rich pleomorphic adenoma (PA), can be difficult. We described 21 histologically challenging cases of MECAs (16 MECA ex-PA and 5 MECA de novo). All MECAs ex-PA were intracapsular or minimally invasive except for 3 cases. Eighteen (86%) were initially misinterpreted as benign neoplasms, including PA (10), atypical PA (5), and myoepithelioma (3). The remaining 3 were initially diagnosed as malignant (MECA ex-PA) but were histologically challenging. Histologic features that were found most helpful in recognizing the malignant nature of MECA included: uniformly cellular myoepithelial proliferation with an expansile nodular lobulated pattern (all cases) and alternate hypocellular and hypercellular zonal distribution (76% of cases). Among the 16 MECA patients with follow-up, 14 (87.5%) progressed: 10 developed local recurrence and 5 distant metastases. In contrast, only one of 33 patients with cellular PA (control group) recurred locally. Ten of the 14 MECAs that progressed were MECA ex-PA, and 12 (85%) had an initial benign diagnosis. Two patients with MECA ex-PA died of their disease; one had an initial diagnosis of PA. MECA is a histologically challenging entity that closely mimics PA and seems to carry a significant risk of recurrence. Areas of clonal appearing cellular myoepithelial growth with an expansile nodular lobulated pattern and zonal cellular distribution distinguish the majority of MECAs and may serve as useful diagnostic histologic features to differentiate MECA from its benign mimics.
The Problem
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, and other Black men (and women) successfully used servant leadership to advance U.S. civil rights. Yet, the value of these leadership practices among Black men ...in contemporary workplaces is not known. The decision to lead may be based upon one’s leadership self-efficacy and influenced by community and as Black men prioritize social justice and developing others, they may be servant leaders. While engaged, the role of microaggression on engagement has not been studied. Thus, research is needed on Black male leadership.
The Solution
This study examined whether Black men possess the antecedent of leadership efficacy, demonstrate servant leadership, experience the outcome of engagement, and microaggressions, whether microaggressions mediated and decreased their engagement, and did socio-identities function as a moderator. Using cross-sectional survey methodology, a confirmatory factor analysis and a causal model was conducted along with a post hoc ANOVA. Black men leaders were about a third of the sample (n = 364). The structural equation modeling revealed the significant findings that leadership efficacy predicted servant leadership, servant leadership predicted engagement, and, microaggressions partially mediated engagement. Socio-identities did moderate leadership efficacy, engagement, and microaggressions but not servant leadership and the overall measurement model.
The Stakeholders
This study benefits HRD and other scholars and practitioners who study leadership including those with intersecting identities—African American men.
Tumor genetics guides patient selection for many new therapies, and cell culture studies have demonstrated that specific mutations can promote metabolic phenotypes. However, whether tissue context ...defines cancer dependence on specific metabolic pathways is unknown. Kras activation and Trp53 deletion in the pancreas or the lung result in pancreatic ductal adenocarinoma (PDAC) or non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), respectively, but despite the same initiating events, these tumors use branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) differently. NSCLC tumors incorporate free BCAAs into tissue protein and use BCAAs as a nitrogen source, whereas PDAC tumors have decreased BCAA uptake. These differences are reflected in expression levels of BCAA catabolic enzymes in both mice and humans. Loss of Beati and Bcat2, the enzymes responsible for BCAA use, impairs NSCLC tumor formation, but these enzymes are not required for PDAC tumor formation, arguing that tissue of origin is an important determinant of how cancers satisfy their metabolic requirements.
Concerns about the completeness and accuracy of reporting of randomized clinical trials (RCTs) and the impact of poor reporting on decision-making have been documented in the medical field over the ...past several decades. Experience from RCTs in human medicine would suggest that failure to report critical trial features can be associated with biased estimated effect measures, and there is evidence to suggest similar biases occur in RCTs conducted in livestock populations. In response to these concerns, standardized guidelines for reporting RCTs were developed and implemented in human medicine. The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement was first published in 1996 with a revised edition published in 2001. The CONSORT statement consists of a 22-item checklist for reporting a RCT and a flow diagram to follow the number of participants at each stage of a trial. An explanation and elaboration document not only defines and discusses the importance of each of the items, but also provides examples of how this information could be supplied in a publication. Differences between human and livestock populations necessitate modifications to the CONSORT statement to maximize its usefulness for RCTs involving livestock. These have been addressed in an extension of the CONSORT statement titled the REFLECT statement: Methods and processes of creating reporting guidelines for randomized control trials for livestock and food safety. The modifications made for livestock trials specifically addressed the common use of group housing and group allocation to intervention in livestock studies, the use of a deliberate challenge model in some trials, and common use of non-clinical outcomes, such as contamination with a foodborne pathogen. In addition, the REFLECT statement for RCTs in livestock populations proposed specific terms or further clarified terms as they pertained to livestock studies.
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•Random finite element method simulations predicted the elastic properties of superfine graphite grades IG-110, 2114 and ETU-10.•Random finite element method elastic simulations are ...in agreement with experimental data for oxidized graphite up to 30% weight loss.•The minimum volume required to simulate the elastic properties of superfine graphite grades was estimated to be about (50 × 50 × 50) μm3.•Random finite element simulations can be incorporated into graphite component lifetime predictions for the design of Generation IV reactors.
Nuclear graphite is a candidate material for Generation IV nuclear power plants. Porous materials such as graphite can contain complex networks of pores that influence the material's mechanical and irradiation response. A methodology known as the random finite element method (RFEM) was adapted to create synthetic microstructures and predict the influence of porosity on the elastic properties of graphite during oxidation. RFEM combines random field theory and the finite element method in a Monte Carlo framework to estimate the mechanical response of a given grade of graphite. In this research, the random fields were verified through experimental characterization to predict the elastic response of three nuclear graphite grades, ETU-10, IG-110, and 2114. Finite element models (FEM) were generated using segmentations of x-ray computed tomography (XCT) data known as image-based models (IBMs) to validate and compare with the RFEM results and better understand the effects of uniform oxidation in these graphite grades. The RFEM predictions appear to correlate well with the experimental values of the measured Young’s modulus of the three graphite grades and display the same trends as IBMs.
This manuscript provides optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and transmission electron microscopy micrographs that show the microstructure of three superfine nuclear graphite grades ...IG-110, 2114 and ETU-10. This collection of microstructural data showcases the microstructure of these materials and helps to differentiate the most important features or phases of these graphite grades. In particular, the microstructural data illustrate the filler and binder morphology of these grades. Moreover, samples of as-received and oxidized IG-110 were characterized via optical microscopy and x-ray computed tomography. The microstructural data of oxidized IG-110 shows the porosity generated by oxidation experiments. These micrographs and data provide a unique insight into the microstructural features and oxidation effects in nuclear graphite and can be used to perform quantitative porosity analysis. This collection of microstructural data complements the modeling and characterization described in the associated manuscript, “Using porous random fields to predict the elastic modulus of unoxidized and oxidized superfine graphite (Arregui-Mena et al., 2022).”
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