Course and predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder among Gulf War veterans: A prospective analysis.

Rates and predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) over time are not well understood. This study is the first to look at the rates of PTSD immediately following war and 2 years later using a large cohort (N?=?2,949) of Gulf War veterans. Using a cut score to indicate presumptive PTSD, 3% of participants exceeded the cutoff at Time 1 compared with 8% at Time 2. Those who exceeded the cutpoint at Time 1 were up to 20 times more likely to exceed the cutpoint at Time 2 than those who did not exceed the cutpoint at Time 1. Women and those with high levels of combat exposure were at increased risk for PTSD at both times. Being young, being single, and having previous combat experience were associated with increased risk at Time 1 only, whereas reservists and enlisted personnel were at increased risk at Time 2 only. These findings indicate that, although low initially, rates of PTSD increased substantially over time. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Influence of Processing on Microstructures of Ti-44Al-llNb Alloy

The cyclic and static oxidation behavior in the processing of Ti-44A1-11Nb alloy has been studied at 900, 950, and 1000^°C in air for a period of up to 168 hours (or a week). A recreation of diffusion paths for the oxide to penetrate into the base metal during every cycle results in the lower oxidation rates during cyclic mode compared to static mode. An extended period of heating time allows for the coarsening of the structure for both forms of alloys: polycrystalline and directionally solidified crystals. Coarsening and phase transformation in the heating period involves large amounts of dislocation activities in the lamellar structure as well as at the interface of lamellar structure and islands of γ.     

The influence of implicit motives on memory processes.

Four studies tested the hypothesis that agentic and communal motives act as a channel for new knowledge and are linked to specific ways of organizing information that facilitate its accessibility. In Study 1, agentic and communal participants read an agentic or a communal vignette consisting of differentiated and integrated statements, performed a distraction task, then completed written recall and recognition tasks. Agentics recalled and recognized more differentiation in the agentic story; communals recalled and recognized more integration in the communal story. A computerized replication with randomized recognition items (Study 2) found the same pattern of recognition results. Studies 3 and 4 used implicit motive primes and found similar results in both written and computerized recognition tasks. These ways of organizing information have powerful implications for the encoding of autobiographical knowledge and its long-term organization. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Evaluating the impacts of density on urban goods movement externalities

Research has established a potential to reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) by replacing passenger travel for shopping with delivery service, and a few studies have indicated CO2 emissions can also be reduced. However, that research has mostly focused on urban locations and has not addressed criteria pollutants. This study examines the impacts of replacing passenger travel for shopping with delivery service over a broader set of externalities (VMT, CO2, NOx, and PM10) in both urban and rural communities. Three different goods movement strategies are considered in three different municipalities in King County, Washington, which vary in size, density, and distance from the metropolitan core. The research finds that delivery services can reduce VMT over passenger vehicle travel for shopping, however, the potential to reduce CO2, NOx, and PM10 emissions varies by municipality. Significant trade-offs are observed between VMT and emissions – especially between VMT and criteria pollutants.     

Medullary Thymic Epithelial Cells and Central Tolerance in Autoimmune Hepatitis Development: Novel Perspective from a New Mouse Model

Autoimmune hepatitis (AIH) is an immune-mediated disorder that affects the liver parenchyma. Diagnosis usually occurs at the later stages of the disease, complicating efforts towards understanding the causes of disease development. While animal models are useful for studying the etiology of autoimmune disorders, most of the existing animal models of AIH do not recapitulate the chronic course of the human condition. In addition, approaches to mimic AIH-associated liver inflammation have instead led to liver tolerance, consistent with the high tolerogenic capacity of the liver. Recently, we described a new mouse model that exhibited spontaneous and chronic liver inflammation that recapitulated the known histopathological and immunological parameters of AIH. The approach involved liver-extrinsic genetic engineering that interfered with the induction of T-cell tolerance in the thymus, the very process thought to inhibit AIH induction by liver-specific expression of exogenous antigens. The mutation led to depletion of specialized thymic epithelial cells that present self-antigens and eliminate autoreactive T-cells before they exit the thymus. Based on our findings, which are summarized below, we believe that this mouse model represents a relevant experimental tool towards elucidating the cellular and molecular aspects of AIH development and developing novel therapeutic strategies for treating this disease.     

Experimental and computational study of reaerosolization of 1 to 5 μm PSL microspheres using jet impingement

Chemical, biological, radiological, and explosive incidents produce immediate as well as delayed hazards as a result of reaerosolization of deposited particles from surfaces. Understanding reaerosolization mechanisms is important for hazard prediction and mitigation processes. A method to efficiently reaerosolize 1–5 µm particles (approximately the size of bacterial spores) has not been previously available; therefore, this study was conducted to test a simple and effective method to reaerosolize such particles. In this work, a high-speed vertical impinging jet was used to reaerosolize 1–5 µm polystyrene latex microspheres from a substrate, and measured removal efficiencies were compared with the performed numerical predictions. Experiments were conducted to determine the effect of location, number of pulsed air jets, particle size, aerosol generation methodology (wet and dry), and relative humidity (RH) on the amount of reaerosolization. The experimental results agreed with the numerical predictions and demonstrated that maximal reaerosolization efficiency (～90% in several cases) occurs at a few millimeters from the jet center. At the peak removal location, reaerosolization increased with increasing particle size and with increasing number of pulsed air jets. Dry deposited particles exhibited significantly higher reaerosolization compared to wet deposited particles. Equilibration of samples at low (20%) RH showed higher reaerosolization compared to the high RH conditions for dry deposited particles. This study demonstrates the effectiveness of using a single vertical impinging jet for localized reaerosolization of bacteria-sized particles from surfaces.     

Droplet Microarrays: From Surface Patterning to High‐Throughput Applications

High‐throughput screening of live cells and chemical reactions in isolated droplets is an important and growing method in areas ranging from studies of gene functions and the search for new drug candidates, to performing combinatorial chemical reactions. Compared with microfluidics and well plates, the facile fabrication, high density, and open structure endow droplet microarrays on planar surfaces with great potential in the development of next‐generation miniaturized platforms for high‐throughput applications. Surfaces with special wettability have served as substrates to generate and/or address droplets microarrays. Here, the formation of droplet microarrays with designed geometry on chemically prepatterned surfaces is briefly described and some of the newer and emerging applications of these microarrays that are currently being explored are highlighted. Next, some of the available technologies used to add (bio‐)chemical libraries to each droplet in parallel are introduced. Current challenges and future prospects that would benefit from using such droplet microarrays are also discussed.     

Impacts of indoor surface finishes on bacterial viability

Microbes in indoor environments are constantly being exposed to antimicrobial surface finishes. Many are rendered non‐viable after spending extended periods of time under low‐moisture, low‐nutrient surface conditions, regardless of whether those surfaces have been amended with antimicrobial chemicals. However, some microorganisms remain viable even after prolonged exposure to these hostile conditions. Work with specific model pathogens makes it difficult to draw general conclusions about how chemical and physical properties of surfaces affect microbes. Here, we explore the survival of a synthetic community of non‐model microorganisms isolated from built environments following exposure to three chemically and physically distinct surface finishes. Our findings demonstrated the differences in bacterial survival associated with three chemically and physically distinct materials. Alkaline clay surfaces select for an alkaliphilic bacterium, Kocuria rosea, whereas acidic mold‐resistant paint favors Bacillus timonensis, a Gram‐negative spore‐forming bacterium that also survives on antimicrobial surfaces after 24 hours of exposure. Additionally, antibiotic‐resistant Pantoea allii did not exhibit prolonged retention on antimicrobial surfaces. Our controlled microcosm experiment integrates measurement of indoor chemistry and microbiology to elucidate the complex biochemical interactions that influence the indoor microbiome.