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The burgeoning field of nanotechnology aims to create and deploy nanoscale structures, devices, and systems with novel, size-dependent properties and functions. The nanotechnology revolution has sparked radically new technologies and strategies across all scientific disciplines, with nanotechnology now applied to virtually every area of research and development in the US and globally. NanoFlorida was founded to create a forum for scientific exchange, promote networking among nanoscientists, encourage collaborative research efforts across institutions, forge strong industry-academia partnerships in nanoscience, and showcase the contributions of students and trainees in nanotechnology fields. The 2019 NanoFlorida International Conference expanded this vision to emphasize national and international participation, with a focus on advances made in translating nanotechnology. This review highlights notable research in the areas of engineering especially in optics, photonics and plasmonics and electronics; biomedical devices, nano-biotechnology, nanotherapeutics including both experimental nanotherapies and nanovaccines; nano-diagnostics and -theranostics; nano-enabled drug discovery platforms; tissue engineering, bioprinting, and environmental nanotechnology, as well as challenges and directions for future research.

Tourism has helped redefine Tennessee's identity, brand and brashness. Tennessee's tourism moves with the beat of the state's musical melting pot--from its country music scene, to down-home Appalachian bluegrass, to the languid notes of jazz and blues--and fusions of all these genres. It's the lyrical soundtrack of a state filled with songs to sing, breathtaking vistas to view, rivers to explore, mountains to hike and whiskey trails to travel on down the road. Through the state's Music Trails campaign, tourists are encouraged to explore the roots of the state's music by designing customized travel across the state--west to east, or east to west--to hear each particular region's distinctive sound and to meet the people who drive that beat. And in Middle Tennessee, Nashville is synonymous with the country music scene, comprised of legendary bars and world-class recording studios.

An approximate set of coupled ordinary differential equations are developed which describe the temporal evolution of the vapor domes and film over a flat plate heater surface during film boiling for the general case of a subcooled bulk liquid. Given these results, a phenomenological model is then developed to describe the intermittent surface wetting process observed to occur in the film boiling regime. Assuming that the heater surface has been locally wetted, equations are developed to predict the time-dependent heat flux during contact and the subsequent duration of the liquid dryout period. Additionally, assuming that liquid propagation along the surface is terminated at the inception of nucleate boiling, an expression is developed to predict the wetted area of contact at a given node site. The hydrodynamic and surface interaction results are then combined to obtain an expression for the composite heat flux in the film boiling regime. A comparison of the local liquid-solid contact model with the experimental data available in the literature indicates that the model adequately predicts the wetted area fraction in a large neighborhood of the minimum film boiling point for an aluminum-water system. The model slightly underpredicts the wetted area fraction for methanol on the same surface. A comparison of the overall energy balance to the experimental data indicates that the model reasonably predicts the film to transition boiling progression for a wide class of heater surface/bulk liquid systems.

A difference equation model of a single climax species with two age classes (juvenile and adult) is studied. In a single species climax population model with no age structure, high population densities lead to extinction. It is shown that age structure makes it possible for a density that has extinction as its ultimate life history to have persistence as its ultimate fate with juvenile-adult competition. This suggests that juvenile-adult competition is key to species diversity. Finally, the results of the analysis are applied to several population models which are or are not capable of generating chaotic dynamics such as a period doubling bifurcation route to chaos or chaotic attractors. The results of the analysis are also applied to population data of the purse-seine anchovy, Engraulis capensis, that is located off the West Cape coast of South Africa.

Properties of the human neck such as range and resistance to motion are considered important determinants of the kinematic response of the head pre, during and post-impact. Mechanical surrogate necks (i.e., anthropomorphic test device necks), have generally been limited to a single anatomical plane of motion and an artificially high resistance to motion. The aim of this study was to present the Loughborough University Surrogate Neck that is representative of the 50th percentile human male neck, developed for motion in and between each of the anatomical planes with inertial and flexural stiffness properties matching those of a passive elastic (i.e., negligible active tension) neck muscle state. The complex intervertebral joints were reduced to three encapsulated ball joints with appropriate locations, orientations and distributed range of motion to precisely position and orientate the head with respect to the torso at the neutral position and end range of motion. A plain bearing sub-assembly was incorporated at the C1-C2 vertebral level to permit 50% of the axial rotation with negligible resistance to motion, as exhibited by humans. Detachable elastomeric elements provided resistance to motion across each ball joint and permit any orientation of the head within the physiological range of motion of the joints. The mass of the surrogate neck (1.62 Kg) was in agreement with the typical human range and similar agreement was found for the principal moments of inertia (I xx 26.8 kg cm 2 , I yy 20.5 kg cm 2 and I zz 14.3 kg cm 2 ). Quasi-static bending moment and dynamic torque tests characterised the surrogate neck in flexion/extension, lateral flexion and axial rotation. With respect to commercial surrogate necks, the surrogate neck presented here was in closer agreement to the reported human responses, for equivalent loading conditions. The applications of a surrogate neck that can appropriately constrain the head relative to the torso are far reaching in the areas of brain injury mechanism research, and for the development and assessment of protective equipment to reduce the risk of such injuries.

Characterized primarily by a low body-mass index, anorexia nervosa is a complex and serious illness 1 , affecting 0.9–4% of women and 0.3% of men 2 – 4 , with twin-based heritability estimates of 50–60% 5 . Mortality rates are higher than those in other psychiatric disorders 6 , and outcomes are unacceptably poor 7 . Here we combine data from the Anorexia Nervosa Genetics Initiative (ANGI) 8 , 9 and the Eating Disorders Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC-ED) and conduct a genome-wide association study of 16,992 cases of anorexia nervosa and 55,525 controls, identifying eight significant loci. The genetic architecture of anorexia nervosa mirrors its clinical presentation, showing significant genetic correlations with psychiatric disorders, physical activity, and metabolic (including glycemic), lipid and anthropometric traits, independent of the effects of common variants associated with body-mass index. These results further encourage a reconceptualization of anorexia nervosa as a metabo-psychiatric disorder. Elucidating the metabolic component is a critical direction for future research, and paying attention to both psychiatric and metabolic components may be key to improving outcomes. Genome-wide analyses identify eight independent loci associated with anorexia nervosa. Genetic correlations implicate both psychiatric and metabolic components in the etiology of this disorder, even after adjusting for the effects of common variants associated with body mass index.

Abstract Introduction/Objective Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) is an effective methodology to monitor the community spread of pathogens and has successfully been used to identify potential outbreaks. Most standardized methodologies used in WBE for the detection of viruses have been validated for non-enveloped viruses; therefore, there is a need for the development of a standardized protocol for the detection of both enveloped (such as SARS- CoV-2) and non-enveloped viruses (such as Hepatitis A). Wastewater seeded with Pseudomonas syringae bacteriophage (Φ6), an enveloped virus surrogate, and coliphage MS2, a non-enveloped virus surrogate, were used to evaluate the efficiency of four different aluminium flocculation methods. Untreated wastewater spiked with known amounts of surrogates was used as a control for viral recovery. Methods/Case Report Four different viral concentration methods were used. Method 1: AlCl3 flocculation at pH 3.5 followed by centrifugation, resuspension with 10% beef extract and filtered with a 0.22 μm filter. Method 2: AlCl3 flocculation at pH 6.0 followed by room temperature agitation, centrifugation, and resuspension with 3% beef extract. Method 3: Mixed method protocol-AlCl3 flocculation at pH 3.5 followed by room temperature agitation, centrifugation, resuspension with 3% beef extract. Method 4: Mixed method protocol-AlCl3 flocculation at pH 6.0 followed by centrifugation, resuspension with 10% beef extract filtered with a 0.22 μm filter. Viral RNA was extracted after concentration, and reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT- qPCR) was performed. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) The average Ct reduction of untreated wastewater compared to spiked was calculated for each method. The highest recovery of both Φ6 and MS2 was obtained using Method 3 (mixed protocol) with a significant difference at 95% confidence in the recovery of Φ6 (p= 0.0029) and MS2 (p= 0.0225). Conclusion Previous results from our lab demonstrate the importance of pH during the flocculation step of viral concentration using different methods of concentration. Here, the results suggest that the increased contact time between virus and the flocs is also critical. This can facilitate the implementation of WBE in Grenada to monitor and track potential viral outbreaks of both enveloped and non-enveloped viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and Hepatitis A.

Abstract Introduction/Objective The rise of antibiotic resistance poses a significant global health threat, needing a robust monitoring system to track its emergence and spread. However, most developing countries lack the infrastructure to monitor such resistance effectively. Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has been proven effective in surveilling various outbreaks and offers a promising method for monitoring antibiotic resistance at the community level. This study aims to assess and compare the antibiotic resistance of Escherichia coli isolated from raw wastewater with those isolated from clinical urinary tract infection (UTI) samples from the same community. Methods/Case Report Conducted from January 2022 to October 2023, this study analyzed antibiogram data from eighty-six Escherichia coli isolates sourced from wastewater and thirty-four isolates derived from clinical urinary tract infections (UTIs). The clinical samples were obtained and processed at the Clinical Microbiology Laboratory of a university campus. The isolates were evaluated against the eleven most prescribed antibiotics for UTIs in the University Clinic including: Amoxicillin/Clavulanic Acid, Ampicillin, Cefazolin, Cefoxitin, Ceftriaxone, Cefuroxime, Ciprofloxacin, Gentamicin, Nalidixic Acid, Nitrofurantoin, and Sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim. Results (if a Case Study enter NA) Explaining the observed trends in both wastewater and clinical samples from the perspective of AWaRE-WHO classification (Access, Watch, Reserve), we see similar trends of resistance in both data sets. A) The antibiotics used in the Access category (Empiric first or second choice for treatment of most common infections) demonstrates similar resistance patterns for both wastewater and clinical isolates except for Nitrofurantoin. B) The antibiotics used in the Watch category (Antibiotics that have higher toxicity issues and higher potential to negatively impact AMR) resistance pattern shows negligible risk in the university community evaluated. Conclusion It is recommended that the university clinic prescribe Nitrofurantoin as the last antibiotic from the Access list to the university community to treat UTI patients. Furthermore, WBE is a useful tool to determine patterns of resistance under the studied settings.

Background Identifying mechanisms to maintain CBPR studies during an infectious disease pandemic is vital. The current paper describes the changes in methods and processes conducted within a CBPR mixed-methods study to a virtual setting during the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Method The DC Community Organizing for Optimal Culinary Knowledge study with Heart (DC COOKS with Heart) was designed to assess the feasibility of a dietary behavior intervention among African-American adults that are at risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The study is under the umbrella of an ongoing CBPR study and community advisory board that facilitates community involvement in study design and promotes ongoing engagement with community members and leaders. The study population for D.C. COOKS with Heart consists of adult African-American individuals who live in two low-resource neighborhoods in Washington, D.C., which were impacted disproportionately by COVID. Eligible study participants who previously participated in the DC CHOC community-based studies were contacted to participate in Phase 1. The quantitative part of the mixed-methods included survey data collection. Results Due to the pandemic, the mode of data collection for surveys changed from self-administered face-to-face to internet-based. All virtual study procedures were conducted between March and April, 2021. Anticipated benefits of the virtual setting included participant safety during the pandemic, ease of logistics for participants. Anticipated challenges included administration of electronic devices to participants, research team training, and potential threats to established trust related to the privacy and confidentiality of participants. Conclusion The transition to a virtual setting for study procedures in a mixed-methods study was conducted successfully in terms of recruitment, retention of participants, and training of research team members. The virtual transition required established and ongoing engagement through the community advisory board and CBPR practices, institutional support through virtual research policies, collaborations with information technology-based teams, and equipment administration for the study. Trials registration NCT04305431 . Registered on March 12, 2020.