The need to decrease dependency on fossil fuels has never been more evident. Wind and solar energy sources offer promise, but siting can present obstacles. While resistance to wind and massive solar ...projects has, to some extent, been explored, larger, residential, ground-mounted solar projects, requiring many acres of land, and largely dependent on the receptivity of a local community for successful adoption, have largely been left unexamined. This case study explores the resistance of residents in one suburban, New England town, to a large-scale (2 MW), ground-mounted solar project in a residential neighborhood. The case study incorporates a mixed methodology of participant observation, interview, content analysis, social media activism, and participatory action research. Both the centralized nature of large scale residential solar projects, nonlocal financiers and beneficiaries, and the desire to keep residential areas esthetically pleasing and properly zoned, fueled opposition to this solar project. This research indicates that environmental advocates and policymakers need to more fully incorporate both the meanings of, and connections to places, residents of a community hold. Incentives intended to increase solar projects should not be at the expense of procedural justice, and the push should not feed solar into the centralized system, but should be in the hands of local communities in order for them to be embraced. Additionally, this case further highlights the complexity of NIMBY thinking in renewable projects. Dismissing all renewable opposition as NIMBY is failing to see the complicated nature of residents’ motivations and understandings of place. Future research exploring the success of decentralized projects, community based projects, and projects incorporated within industrial zoning is necessary.
Despite significant advances in research, the prognosis for both primary and secondary brain cancers remains poor. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) is a complex and unique semi-permeable membrane that ...serves as a protective structure to maintain homeostasis within the brain. However, it presents a significant challenge for the delivery of therapeutics into the brain and tumor. Some brain tumors are known to compromise BBB integrity, producing a highly heterogeneous vasculature known as the blood-tumor-barrier (BTB). Identifying strategies to bypass these obstacles to improve the penetrability of anticancer therapeutics has been the focus of research in this area. In this review, we discuss the strategies that have been investigated to evade or alter the cellular and molecular barriers of both the BBB and the BTB and detail the methods currently under preclinical or clinical investigation, including molecular, biological, and physical processes to overcome the BBB or BTB. Increased understanding of the BBB and BTB and the current methods of overcoming these barriers will enable the development of new and more effective treatment strategies for brain tumors.
Calix4pyrroles (CPs) and polyammonium azacrowns (ACs) are well-known receptors for anions. CPs bind anions by directional hydrogen bonds that do not always work well for aqueous analytes. The ...positive charge in polyammonium ACs allows for a stronger but non-directional anion-ammonium electrostatic attraction but lack selectivity. Bridging the gap between CPs and ACs could increase affinity and potentially preserve the selectivity of anion binding. We have synthesized a flexible calixpyrrole-azacrown near isosteric receptor and incorporated an environmentally sensitive dansyl fluorophore to enable fluorescence measurements. Anion binding was evaluated using NMR and fluorescence titrations. The isosteric receptor shows a strong affinity for aqueous phosphates and phosphonates (Na
+
salts) in the order HAsO
4
2−
> H
2
PO
4
−
> H
2
P
2
O
7
2−
> glyphosate
2−
> AMP
−
> methylphosphonate
−
> ADP
2−
or ATP
3−
but does not bind halides. This is in stark contrast to CP which shows a strong preference for halides over oxyanions. The anion binding by the new receptor was accompanied by analyte-specific changes in fluorescence intensity and spectral width and by a wavelength shift. These parameters were used in qualitative and quantitative sensing of aqueous anions. By applying machine-learning algorithms, such as linear discriminant analysis and support vector machine linear regression, this one sensor can differentiate between 10 different analytes and accurately quantify herbicide glyphosate and methylphosphonate, a product of sarin, soman or cyclosarin hydrolysis. In fact, glyphosate can be quantified even in the presence of competing anions such as orthophosphate (LODs were ≤ 1 μM).
Hybrid isosteres display different selectivities and affinities for anions.
Joint Communication and radio Sensing (JC&S) has gained significant attention over the past few years. The advantages of this technology include reduced cost, size and power consumption. With further ...advancements in JC&S systems, it can potentially be used in next-generation cellular networks, internet-of-things and upcoming applications such as Industry 4.0, where a single system is capable of performing a wide variety of functions or tasks. The inclusion of this technology will result in improved performance and safety of the systems. Even though communication and radio sensing make use of a similar Radio Frequency (RF) front-end, the specifications for both these technologies mainly differ in terms of bandwidth and linearity. In this survey, a detailed study of the specifications of radar and communication systems was conducted. For the RF front-end to operate efficiently in both radar and communication modes, there must be reconfigurability in terms of frequency, bandwidth, gain and linearity. In this survey, we investigated different frequency, bandwidth, gain and linearity reconfigurable low noise amplifier (LNA) and down-conversion mixer architectures. The merits and demerits of each architecture are discussed and a summary of the performance of the reconfigurable LNAs and down-conversion mixers in the literature is presented. Finally, possible topologies for JC&S are deduced based on their performance.
Background: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) addresses uncontrolled and abandoned hazardous waste sites throughout the country. Sites that are perceived to be a significant threat to ...both surrounding populations and the environment can be placed on the U.S. EPA Superfund list and qualify for federal cleanup funds. The equitability of the Superfund program has been questioned; the representation of minority and low-income populations in this cleanup program is lower than would be expected. Thus, minorities and low-income populations may not be benefiting proportionately from this environmental cleanup program. In 1994 President Clinton signed Executive Order 12898 requiring that the U.S. EPA and other federal agencies implement environmental justice policies. These policies were to specifically address the disproportionate environmental effects of federal programs and policies on minority and low-income populations. Objective and Methods: I use event history analysis to evaluate the impact of Executive Order 12898 on the equitability of the Superfund program. Discussion: Findings suggest that despite environmental justice legislation, Superfund site listings in minority and poor areas are even less likely for sites discovered since the 1994 Executive Order. Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that Executive Order 12898 for environmental justice has not increased the equitability of the Superfund program.
Financial distress is a primary concern for young adults with cancer.
The aim of this study was to identify material resources, physical and psychological health, and workplace variables that are ...associated with financial distress in young adult cancer survivors.
A cross-sectional study was conducted using the Cancer Survivor Employment Needs Survey. Participants were young adults (18-39 years of age) who lived in the United States and had a cancer diagnosis. Multivariable linear regression was used to model relations between financial distress and material resources, physical and psychological health, and workplace variables.
Participants (N = 214) were mostly non-Hispanic White (78%), female (79%), and had a mean age of 31 years and 4.6 years post-diagnosis. Material resources, physical and psychological health, and workplace variables were all identified as contributing to study participants' financial distress. Among the young adults surveyed, financial distress was prevalent, and an array of problems were associated with financial distress.
Oncology and rehabilitation providers should openly discuss finances with YAs with cancer and guide them to resources that can address their financial, benefits, and vocational needs to ultimately improve quality of life.
Basal-like breast cancer (BLBC) is an aggressive molecular subtype that represents up to 15% of breast cancers. It occurs in younger patients, and typically shows rapid development of locoregional ...and distant metastasis, resulting in a relatively high mortality rate. Its defining features are that it is positive for basal cytokeratins and, epidermal growth factor receptor and/or c-Kit. Problematically, it is typically negative for the estrogen receptor and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2), which means that it is unsuitable for either hormone therapy or targeted HER2 therapy. As a result, there are few therapeutic options for BLBC, and a major priority is to define molecular subgroups of BLBC that could be targeted therapeutically. In this review, we focus on the highly proliferative and anti-apoptotic phenotype of BLBC with the goal of defining potential therapeutic avenues, which could take advantage of these aspects of tumor development.
Muscle-specific kinase (MuSK) belongs to the nicotinic acetylcholine receptor complex which is targeted by pathogenic autoantibodies causing Myasthenia gravis. While up to 95% of patients with ...generalized Myasthenia gravis were shown to be positive for acetylcholine receptor-specific autoantibodies, up to 70% of the remaining patients develop autoantibodies against MuSK. Discrimination of the autoantibody specificity is important for therapy of Myasthenia gravis. Recently, the new automatic fluorescence assessment platform AKLIDES has been developed for immunofluorescence-based diagnostics of autoimmune diseases. In order to establish an AKLIDES procedure for the detection of MuSK-specific autoantibodies (anti-MuSK), we developed a recombinant HEp-2 cell clone expressing the human MuSK cDNA. Here we show at the mRNA and protein level that the cell clone HEp-2 M4 stably expresses human MuSK. We provide evidence for a localization of MuSK at the cell membrane. Using cell clone HEp-2 M4 on the AKLIDES system, we investigated 34 patient sera that were previously tested anti-MuSK positive by radioimmunoassay as positive controls. As negative controls, we tested 29 acetylcholine receptor-positive but MuSK-negative patient sera, 30 amytrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patient sera and 45 blood donors. HEp-2 M4 cells revealed a high specificity for the detection of MuSK autoantibodies from 25 patient sera assessed by a specific pattern on HEp-2 M4 cells. By using appropriate cell culture additives, the fraction of cells stained positive with anti-MuSK containing sera can be increased from 2-16% to 10-48%, depending on the serum. In conclusion, we provide data showing that the novel recombinant cell line HEp-2 M4 can be used to screen for anti-MuSK with the automatic AKLIDES system.
Two conformationally different 26rubyrin(1.1.0.1.1.0) macrocycles with varying heteroatoms (S/O) and their bis-BODIPYs are reported. The solid-state structure confirms O 2 N 4 with fairly planar ...pyrrole-inverted conformation, whereas a thiophene-inverted structure for S 2 N 4 is observed. Such conformational differences can also be clearly realized from their spectral and optical features. Upon BF2 complexation, both rubyrins led to their respective bis-BODIPYs where S 2 N 4 -BOD displayed a perfectly planar conformation as evident from its X-ray structure.
This article explores how a novice chief nursing officer learns foundational skills and competencies via participation in the American Organization of Nurse Leaders (AONL) new nurse executive ...fellowship program. Transitioning into a new nurse executive role requires the development of confidence, knowledge, and professional collaborations. The connection between the fellowship and the core competencies for a nurse executive link together as a small cohort of new nurse executives meet and learn throughout the year. The value of this inaugural fellowship results in key lessons learned and relationships fostered.
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