Highly stretchable thermoset fibers and nonwovens using thiol-ene photopolymerization.

In this report, we describe the preparation and characterization of a new class of thermoset fibers with high elongation and elastic recovery. Integrating UV-activated thiol-ene photopolymerization and electrospinning, we demonstrate an environmentally friendly single step approach to convert small monomeric precursor molecules into highly elastic fibers and nonwoven mats. The fibers were derived by in situ photopolymerization of a trifunctional vinyl ether monomer and a tetrafunctional thiol.

Many roads to synchrony: natural time scales and their algorithms.

We consider two important time scales-the Markov and cryptic orders-that monitor how an observer synchronizes to a finitary stochastic process. We show how to compute these orders exactly and that they are most efficiently calculated from the ε-machine, a process's minimal unifilar model. Surprisingly, though the Markov order is a basic concept from stochastic process theory, it is not a probabilistic property of a process.

Structural variation among wild and industrial strains of Penicillium chrysogenum.

Strain selection and strain improvement are the first, and arguably most important, steps in the industrial production of biological compounds by microorganisms. While traditional methods of mutagenesis and selection have been effective in improving production of compounds at a commercial scale, the genetic changes underpinning the altered phenotypes have remained largely unclear. We utilized high-throughput Illumina short read sequencing of a wild Penicillium chrysogenum strain in order to make whole genome comparisons to a sequenced improved strain (WIS 54-1255).

Listening to Religious Music and Mental Health in Later Life.

Purpose Of The Study: Research has linked several aspects of religion--including service attendance, prayer, meditation, religious coping strategies, congregational support systems, and relations with God, among others--with positive mental health outcomes among older U.S. adults.

Religious Attendance and Biological Functioning: A Multiple Specification Approach.

Objective: This study explores the role of religious attendance across a wide range of biological markers.

Method: The data are drawn from the National Social Life, Health, and Aging Project to assess continuous and categorical biomarker specifications.

Results: Across specifications, higher levels of attendance are associated with lower levels of pulse rate and overall allostatic load.

Discovering functions of unannotated genes from a transcriptome survey of wild fungal isolates.

Most fungal genomes are poorly annotated, and many fungal traits of industrial and biomedical relevance are not well suited to classical genetic screens. Assigning genes to phenotypes on a genomic scale thus remains an urgent need in the field. We developed an approach to infer gene function from expression profiles of wild fungal isolates, and we applied our strategy to the filamentous fungus Neurospora crassa.

My Body is a Temple: Eating Disturbances, Religious Involvement, and Mental Health Among Young Adult Women.

A growing body of the literature outlines the undesirable mental health consequences of eating disturbances. However, little attention has been given to the possible mitigating effects of cultural institutions, such as religion, in the lives of women suffering from such pathologies. Our work contributes to the literature by (a) outlining a series of arguments linking eating disturbances, religion, and mental health; (b) specifying two conceptual models of these relationships; and (c) testing relevant hypotheses using data on a large nationwide sample of young women.

The epigenome of evolving Drosophila neo-sex chromosomes: dosage compensation and heterochromatin formation.

Sex chromosomes originated from autosomes but have evolved a highly specialized chromatin structure. Drosophila Y chromosomes are composed entirely of silent heterochromatin, while male X chromosomes have highly accessible chromatin and are hypertranscribed as a result of dosage compensation. Here, we dissect the molecular mechanisms and functional pressures driving heterochromatin formation and dosage compensation of the recently formed neo-sex chromosomes of Drosophila miranda.

Dosage compensation via transposable element mediated rewiring of a regulatory network.

Transposable elements (TEs) may contribute to evolutionary innovations through the rewiring of networks by supplying ready-to-use cis regulatory elements. Genes on the Drosophila X chromosome are coordinately regulated by the male specific lethal (MSL) complex to achieve dosage compensation in males. We show that the acquisition of dozens of MSL binding sites on evolutionarily new X chromosomes was facilitated by the independent co-option of a mutant helitron TE that attracts the MSL complex (TE domestication).

Genetic confirmation of the role of sulfopyruvate decarboxylase in coenzyme M biosynthesis in Methanococcus maripaludis.

Coenzyme M is an essential coenzyme for methanogenesis. The proposed biosynthetic pathway consists of five steps, of which the fourth step is catalyzed by sulfopyruvate decarboxylase (ComDE). Disruption of the gene comE by transposon mutagenesis resulted in a partial coenzyme M auxotroph, which grew poorly in the absence of coenzyme M and retained less than 3% of the wild type level of coenzyme M biosynthesis.

Consequences of surface neutralization in diblock copolymer thin films.

Two high-χ block copolymers, lamella-forming poly(styrene-block-[isoprene-random-epoxyisoprene]) (PS-PEI78, with 78 mol % epoxidation) and lamella-forming poly(4-trimethylsilylstyrene-block-d,l-lactide) (PTMSS-PLA), were used to study three combinations of interfacial neutrality involving at least one neutral interface. PS-PEI78 annealed on a nonpreferential polymer mat (SMG) produced perpendicular lamellae independent of film thickness, indicating a neutral substrate and neutral free surface. In contrast, the presence of only one neutral interface results in the formation of surface topography ("islands" and "holes") with 0.

Lack of functional TSLP receptors mitigates Th2 polarization and the establishment and growth of 4T1 primary breast tumours but has different effects on tumour quantities in the lung and brain.

The 4T1 mammary carcinoma cell line produces TSLP. We had hypothesized that TSLP promotes the development of a permissive environment for the growth and metastasis of primary tumour and that this is associated with a Th2-polarized antitumour immune response. We found that, in Tslpr(-/-) mice, the mean tumour diameters were smaller from days 27 to 40, and relatively fewer tumour cells were present in the lung, compared with wild-type mice.

Additive genetic architecture underlying a rapidly evolving sexual signaling phenotype in the Hawaiian cricket genus Laupala.

Complex, quantitative traits are often the function of the coordinated action of many physically independent genetic factors. Interactive properties of multilocus genotypes, such as epistasis, are thought to be pervasive components of the genetic architecture of complex phenotypes. Here, we utilize a panel of interspecific backcross introgression lines to evaluate the genetic architecture of song variation, a quantitative sexual signaling phenotype, in the Hawaiian swordtail cricket genus Laupala.

Early-phase clinical trials in the community: results from the national cancer institute community cancer centers program early-phase working group baseline assessment.

Purpose: The National Cancer Institute (NCI) Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP) formed an Early-Phase Working Group to facilitate site participation in early-phase (EP) trials. The Working Group conducted a baseline assessment (BA) to describe the sites' EP trial infrastructure and its association with accrual.

Methods: EP accrual and infrastructure data for the sites were obtained for July 2010-June 2011 and 2010, respectively.

Conservation and de novo acquisition of dosage compensation on newly evolved sex chromosomes in Drosophila.

Dosage compensation has arisen in response to the evolution of distinct male (XY) and female (XX) karyotypes. In Drosophila melanogaster, the MSL complex increases male X transcription approximately twofold. X-specific targeting is thought to occur through sequence-dependent binding to chromatin entry sites (CESs), followed by spreading in cis to active genes.

Beliefs about God and mental health among American adults.

This study examines the association between beliefs about God and psychiatric symptoms in the context of Evolutionary Threat Assessment System Theory, using data from the 2010 Baylor Religion Survey of US Adults (N = 1,426). Three beliefs about God were tested separately in ordinary least squares regression models to predict five classes of psychiatric symptoms: general anxiety, social anxiety, paranoia, obsession, and compulsion. Belief in a punitive God was positively associated with four psychiatric symptoms, while belief in a benevolent God was negatively associated with four psychiatric symptoms, controlling for demographic characteristics, religiousness, and strength of belief in God.

Faith-based HIV prevention and counseling programs: findings from the Cincinnati census of religious congregations.

Congregations are well positioned to address HIV in their communities, but their response to HIV has been mixed. An emerging literature describes HIV programming in urban, predominantly black congregations, but population-based data remain limited. This study examined the levels of HIV prevention and counseling programs and associated factors (e.

Bioinspired catecholic copolymers for antifouling surface coatings.

We report here a synthetic approach to prepare poly(methyl methacrylate)-polydopamine diblock (PMMA-PDA) and triblock (PDA-PMMA-PDA) copolymers combining mussel-inspired catecholic oxidative chemistry and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). These copolymers display very good solubility in a range of organic solvents and also a broad band photo absorbance that increases with increasing PDA content in the copolymer. Spin-cast thin films of the copolymer were stable in water and showed a sharp reduction (by up to 50%) in protein adsorption compared to those of neat PMMA.

Metabolism of profenofos to 4-bromo-2-chlorophenol, a specific and sensitive exposure biomarker.

Profenofos is a direct acting phosphorothioate organophosphorus (OP) pesticide capable of inhibiting β-esterases such as acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, and carboxylesterase. Profenofos is known to be detoxified to the biologically inactive metabolite, 4-bromo-2-chlorophenol (BCP); however, limited data are available regarding the use of urinary BCP as an exposure biomarker in humans. A pilot study conducted in Egyptian agriculture workers, demonstrated that urinary BCP levels prior to application (3.

Parental Divorce, Parental Religious Characteristics, and Religious Outcomes in Adulthood.

Parental divorce has been linked to religious outcomes in adulthood. Previous research has not adequately accounted for parental religious characteristics or subsequent family context, namely whether one's custodial parent remarries. Using pooled data from three waves of the General Social Survey, we examine the relationships among parental divorce, subsequent family structure, and religiosity in adulthood.

Does a cancer diagnosis influence religiosity? Integrating a life course perspective.

Based on a life course framework we propose that a cancer diagnosis is associated with increased religiosity and that this relationship is contingent upon three social clocks: cohort (1920-1945, 1946-1964, 1964+), age-at-diagnosis, and years-since-diagnosis. Using prospective data from the National Survey of Midlife Development (N=3443), taken in 1994-1995 and 2004-2006, we test these arguments. Results showed that a cancer diagnosis was associated with increased religiosity.

Polarity-switching top coats enable orientation of sub-10-nm block copolymer domains.

Block copolymers (BCPs) must necessarily have high interaction parameters (χ), a fundamental measure of block incompatibility, to self-assemble into sub-10-nanometer features. Unfortunately, a high χ often results from blocks that have disparate interfacial energies, which makes the formation of useful thin-film domain orientations challenging. To mitigate interfacial forces, polymers composed of maleic anhydride and two other components have been designed as top coats that can be spin-coated from basic aqueous solution in the ring-opened, acid salt form.

Integrated LTCC packaging for use in biomedical devices.

As implantable devices gain more widespread use, medical device manufacturers are constantly looking for novel materials that increase and improve capability and functionality. The packaging needs to be biocompatible, but it is also highly desirable for it to be radio transparent to facilitate wireless telemetry and remote powering. Low temperature co-fired ceramics (LTCC) provide a viable solution that meets these desired specifications while also having characteristics that support ease of manufacturing such as the ability for molding, shaping, and even embedding components within the material.

Patterning by Photochemically Directing the Marangoni Effect.

Polystyrene (PS) that has been exposed to ultraviolet light (UV) undergoes partial dehydrogenation of the alkane polymer backbone which increases its surface energy. Exploiting this photochemistry, we exposed polystyrene films to UV light using a photomask to induce a patterned photochemical reaction producing regions in the film with differing surface energy. Upon heating the solid polymer film with the preprogrammed surface energy pattern to a liquid state, the polymer flows from the low surface energy unexposed regions to high surface energy exposed regions.