cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Targeting Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Using Cre-Recombinase Transgenes

The bone marrow microenvironment contains hematopoietic niches that regulate the proliferation, differentiation, and trafficking of hematopoietic stem/progenitors cells (HSPCs). These hematopoietic niches are comprised of a heterogeneous population of stromal cells that include, endothelial cells, osteoblasts, CXCL12-abundant reticular (CAR) cells, mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), arteriolar pericytes, and sympathetic nerves. Emerging data suggest that specific stromal populations may regulate distinct types of HPSCs. Thus, it is important to have validated approaches to interrogate and target specific stromal cell populations. Prior studies have shown that Prx1-Cre, Osx-Cre, Lepr-Cre, and Nes-Cre broadly target mesenchymal stromal cells in the bone marrow. Here, we rigorously define the stromal cell populations targeted by two Cre-transgenes that are commonly used to target osteolineage cells (Ocn-Cre, and Dmp1-Cre) and introduce a new Cre-transgene (Tagln-Cre) that efficiently targets bone marrow pericytes. For each Cre-transgene, we performed lineage mapping using ROSA26Ai9/Ai9 mice, in which cells that have undergone Cre-mediated recombination express tdTomato. In some cases, we further crossed these mice to introduce the Cxcl12gfp transgene, which can be used to define GFP-bright CAR cells. Immunostaining of bone sections and flow cytometry were used to define the target stromal cell population(s) in these mice. Osteocalcin (Bglap, Ocn) is primarily expressed in mature osteoblasts. Accordingly, Ocn-Cre is widely used to specifically target osteoblasts. However, our lineage mapping studies show that Ocn-Cre targets not only all osteoblasts, but also 72 ± 4.0% of CAR cells. Ocn-Cre also targets a subset of NG2+ arteriolar pericytes. Dentin matrix acidic phosphoprotein 1 (Dmp1) is expressed primarily in osteocytes, and Dmp1-Cre has been widely used to specifically target osteocytes. However, we show that Dmp1-Cre also efficiently targets endosteal osteoblasts and approximately 40% of CAR cells. To target bone marrow pericytes, we tested several Cre-transgenes, ultimately focusing on Tagln-Cre. Transgelin (Tagln, SM22a) is broadly expressed in pericytes, smooth muscle cells, and cardiomyocytes. Lineage-mapping studies show that Tagln-Cre targets all arteriolar and venous sinusoidal pericytes in the bone marrow. It also targets osteoblasts and 75 ± 5.2% of CAR cells. There are several recent studies that have ascribed specific functions to osteoblasts or osteocytes based on targeting using Ocn-Cre or Dmp1-Cre, respectively. In light of our data, these conclusions need to be re-evaluated. Ocn-Cre, Dmp1-Cre, and Tagln-Cre each target a subset of CAR cells. Studies are underway to determine whether these CAR subsets have unique expression profiles and functions. Finally, Talgn-Cre represents a new tool for investigators in the field to efficiently target bone marrow pericytes. Disclosures No relevant conflicts of interest to declare.
Gene Expression Correlated with Severe Asthma Characteristics Reveals Heterogeneous Mechanisms of Severe Disease

Rationale: Severe asthma (SA) is a heterogeneous disease with multiple molecular mechanisms. Gene expression studies of bronchial epithelial cells in individuals with asthma have provided biological insight and underscored possible mechanistic differences between individuals.Objectives: Identify networks of genes reflective of underlying biological processes that define SA.Methods: Airway epithelial cell gene expression from 155 subjects with asthma and healthy control subjects in the Severe Asthma Research Program was analyzed by weighted gene coexpression network analysis to identify gene networks and profiles associated with SA and its specific characteristics (i.e., pulmonary function tests, quality of life scores, urgent healthcare use, and steroid use), which potentially identified underlying biological processes. A linear model analysis confirmed these findings while adjusting for potential confounders.Measurements and Main Results: Weighted gene coexpression network analysis constructed 64 gene ne...
Extrusion-on-demand methods for high solids loading ceramic paste in freeform extrusion fabrication

ABSTRACTFabrication of highly dense ceramic parts with complex geometries by paste extrusion-based solid freeform fabrication processes requires a precise control of the extrusion start and stop to dispense material on demand, which is often referred to as extrusion-on-demand (EOD). The EOD process for high solids loading pastes is difficult to control due to the paste’s non-Newtonian behaviour, compressibility, and inhomogeneity. In this study, three EOD methods based on ram extruder, shutter valve, and auger extruder are investigated for extrusion of high solids loading (>50 vol.%) aqueous ceramic pastes. The extrusion performance characteristics of the three methods in terms of start and stop accuracy, as well as flowrate consistency, are compared and analysed. The results indicate that the auger extruder-based extrusion method has superior EOD performance, and the highest flowrate consistency. Test parts were printed by using these methods and compared to further validate this conclusion.
Adulthood, Addiction, and Antisocial Behavior

Problems related to addiction and antisocial behavior may be particularly pronounced in adolescence and emerging adulthood, but both—for a critical minority of individuals—persist well into the adult stage. In this chapter, we begin by making the case that a biosocial understanding of adulthood demands that we pay careful attention to developmental differences across the five to six decades that, on average, constitute the adult years. Next, we present data on drug abuse, addiction, and antisocial behavior during the stages of young (ages 26–34), middle (ages 35–64), and older (ages 65 and older) adulthood from several of the leading sources of epidemiological surveillance in the United States. In particular, we pay careful attention to the precipitous declines in these behaviors that are typically observed beginning with the young adult stage and continuing on through the end of life. Finally, we examine several of the key insights that can be gleaned from long-term, prospective studies conducted with adults who struggle with alcohol and drug-use disorders.
The plot thickens: supporting pre-service teachers in authentic use of cooperative learning through the Storypath instructional approach

AbstractPre-service teachers typically find it challenging to implement cooperative learning authentically in schools given the complexities of classroom environments. Curriculum integration also is demanding because it requires combining research-informed pedagogies and best practices to promote academic and social learning. This article describes how Storypath, a narrative approach to organising the curriculum, assists novice teachers in skilfully implementing cooperative learning and meaningfully integrating it with other best practices. It begins by describing cooperative learning’s central role in Seattle University’s Master in Teaching (MIT) programme, along with elements foundational to cooperative work. It continues by explaining how Storypath scaffolds pre-service teachers’ capacity to successfully facilitate cooperative learning, then provides a specific example focused on environmental sustainability. The example illustrates how Storypath naturally creates positive interdependence among partici...
Predicting Network Futures with Plankton

Recent years have seen significant advancement in the field of formal network verification. Tools have been proposed for offline data plane verification, real-time data plane verification and configuration verification under arbitrary, but static sets of failures. However, due to the fundamental limitation of not treating the network as an evolving system, current verification platforms have significant constraints in terms of scope. In real-world networks, correctness policies may be violated only through a particular combination of environment events and protocol actions, possibly in a non-deterministic sequence. Moreover, correctness specifications themselves may often correlate multiple data plane states, particularly when dynamic data plane elements are present. Tools in existence today are not capable of reasoning about all the possible network events, and all the subsequent execution paths that are enabled by those events. We propose Plankton, a verification platform for identifying undesirable evolutions of networks. By combining symbolic modeling of data plane and control plane with explicit state exploration, Plankton performs a goal-directed search on a finite-state transition system that captures the behavior of the network as well as the various events that can influence it. In this way, Plankton can automatically find policy violations that can occur due to a sequence of network events, starting from the current state. Initial experiments have successfully predicted scenarios like BGP Wedgies.
Complete Genome Sequences of Seven Strains Composing a Model Bacterial Community of Maize Roots.

ABSTRACT Previously, we assembled a model bacterial community of maize roots. Here, we report the complete genome sequences of the seven strains composing the community.
Introduction: Framing the African Condition

This chapter undertakes four major interrelated tasks. First, the chapter provides the context for the book by surveying some of the major dimensions of the African condition. Second, it lays out the purposes of the volume. Third, it delineates the contours of the book’s theoretical framework. Fourth, it summarizes the various chapters that constitute the volume.
Breeding season length and nest mortality drive cryptic life history variation in Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis) breeding across a montane elevational gradient

ABSTRACT The manner in which individual life history traits respond to the environment and to each other, and how these traits combine to form overall patterns of life history variation, remains poorly characterized in wild populations. We monitored breeding Dark-eyed Juncos (Junco hyemalis) across a 700-m elevational range. We compared breeding season length, temporal patterns of breeding activity, adult body size, clutch size, brood size, nestling quality, and nest mortality among elevations. We also compared environmental measures across the studied elevations to determine whether abiotic factors explained life history trait variation. We used 12 microsatellite loci to test for genetic differentiation in populations at different elevations. Finally, we constructed a computer simulation to evaluate the combined effects of observed variation in life history traits. We found differences among elevations in breeding season length and in patterns of reproductive timing, which did not match each other and wh...
Voxel Deconvolutional Networks for 3D Brain Image Labeling

Deep learning methods have shown great success in pixel-wise prediction tasks. One of the most popular methods employs an encoder-decoder network in which deconvolutional layers are used for up-sampling feature maps. However, a key limitation of the deconvolutional layer is that it suffers from the checkerboard artifact problem, which harms the prediction accuracy. This is caused by the independency among adjacent pixels on the output feature maps. Previous work only solved the checkerboard artifact issue of deconvolutional layers in the 2D space. Since the number of intermediate feature maps needed to generate a deconvolutional layer grows exponentially with dimensionality, it is more challenging to solve this issue in higher dimensions. In this work, we propose the voxel deconvolutional layer (VoxelDCL) to solve the checkerboard artifact problem of deconvolutional layers in 3D space. We also provide an efficient approach to implement VoxelDCL. To demonstrate the effectiveness of VoxelDCL, we build four variations of voxel deconvolutional networks (VoxelDCN) based on the U-Net architecture with VoxelDCL. We apply our networks to address volumetric brain images labeling tasks using the ADNI and LONI LPBA40 datasets. The experimental results show that the proposed iVoxelDCNa achieves improved performance in all experiments. It reaches 83.34% in terms of dice ratio on the ADNI dataset and 79.12% on the LONI LPBA40 dataset, which increases 1.39% and 2.21% respectively compared with the baseline. In addition, all the variations of VoxelDCN we proposed outperform the baseline methods on the above datasets, which demonstrates the effectiveness of our methods.
Meiotic Abnormalities: Abnormal Numbers of Chromosomes

A neuploidy is the loss or gain of individual chromosomes. It can be the result of nondisjunction in a premeiotic mitotic division in the germline of either parent, a first or second meiotic division in either parent, or an early embryonic mitotic (postzygotic) division in the affected individual. Nondisjunction refers to any process that causes two homologous chromosomes to go to the same pole instead of segregating to opposite poles. Some meiotic aberrations leading to nondisjunction are described in Table 11.1 and illustrated in Fig. 11.1. When homologous chromosomes fail to pair or fail to form chiasmata the homologues fall apart and appear as univalents in diplotene. Univalents may drift at random to the two poles in the first division and divide regularly in the second. Alternatively, they may divide mitotically in anaphase I and in anaphase II drift at random to opposite poles or fail to go to either pole, rarely, one may misdivide at the centromere, just as univalents might in the first meiotic division. Only a small segment of the XY bivalent forms a synaptonemal complex in which crossing over takes place (Fig. 17.2). Thus, the X and Y remain as univalents much more often than even the smallest autosome pair. Frequencies of univalents vary among different individuals, but the mean frequency of unpaired sex chromosomes in the male is about 11 per cent (Laurie and Hulten, 1985). Multiple aneuploidy of one or several chromosomes is very uncommon, except for the sex chromosomes. Polyploidy (triploidy or tetraploidy) is the gain of whole sets of chromosomes. Table 11.1. Principal Meiotic Events and Outcomes of Their Failures Stage Meiotic events Results of unsuccessful completion of meiotic events Leptotene Chromosomes become visible; lateral elements begin to form Germ cell degeneration; sometimes nondisjunction Zygotene Chromosomes form bouquet; each chromosome pairs with its lateral element; homologous lateral elements unite into a synaptonemal complex, which completes the pairing Germ cell degeneration; sometimes nondisjunction Pachytene, early Recombination nodules attach to the central elements No crossing over; chromosomes remain univalent Pachytene, late During crossing over, recombination nodules change into bars Because of lack of chiasmata, bivalents fall into univalents Diplotene Homologues repel each other until they are held together only at the chiasmata More univalents visible than in earlier stages Metaphase I, Anaphase I, Metaphase II, Anaphase II Orderly segregation of chromosomes is prerequisite for regular gametogenesis Univalents may undergo nondisjunction, loss, or misdivision, spindle abnormalities interfere with chromosome segregation
Isolation of an insulin-degrading enzyme from beef liver.

SUMMARY phate buffer with a sulfhydryl compound such as GSH or 2-mer- captoethanol, the addition of this enzyme greatly increa.ses the A highly purified enzyme which promotes the degradation of insulin has been isolated from beef liver. The usefulness of an rate at which the solution becomes turbid. Along with this is an increase in the amount of trichloroacetic acid-soluble 1131-labeled protein as substrate for developing a procedure for material from insulin.6 Although the isolated enzyme may enzyme purification has also been demonstrated. promote the cleavage of peptide bonds of insulin, enzymatic Acknowledgments-The authors wish to thank Dr. R. H. reductive cleavage of disulfide bonds, a possibility investigated Williams for his encouragement and support, and Mrs. Ann by Racker (13) and by Narahara and Williams (14), must also Harmon, Mrs. Adclc Hopkins, and Mrs. Ellen Larson for ex- be considered. cellent technical assistance. REFERENCES
Growth performance of pigs subjected to multiple concurrent environmental stressors.

The effects of many single stressors have been reported, but how pigs perform when subjected to more than one or two stressors at a time, as is common in commercial swine production, has not. To study this, 256 Yorkshire x Hampshire or purebred Duroc pigs (34.7+/-.5 kg) were subjected to one of the eight treatment combinations (2 x 2 x 2 factorial) of ambient temperature (constant thermoneutral [24 degrees C] or high cycling temperature [28 to 34 degrees C]), stocking density (.56 or .25 m2/pig), and social group (static group or regrouped at the start of wk 1 and 3) during a 4-wk experiment. The temperature regimens were imposed in two adjacent mechanically ventilated rooms, and each temperature was imposed in each room across two trials. Four barrows and four gilts were assigned to each of the eight pens in the two rooms, and they always had free access to water and a corn-soybean meal-based diet. Treatments were imposed after a 7-d acclimation period at 24 degrees C and .56 m2/pig. Weight gain and feed intake were measured weekly. The main effects of each of the stressors for 4-wk ADG and ADFI were significant (P < .05). The stress of high temperature, high stocking density, and regrouping depressed 4-wk ADG by 12, 16 and 10% and ADFI by 7, 6, and 5%, respectively. Of the possible 60 stressor interactions for ADG, ADFI, and gain:feed (G:F), there were no significant three-way interactions and only six two-way interactions, suggesting that the effects of the individual stressors were additive. Accordingly, the growth rate of pigs subjected to the single stressor of high cycling temperature, restricted space allowance, or regrouping was depressed 10, 16, and 11%, respectively, and ADG of pigs subjected to all three stressors simultaneously was depressed by 31%. Stressor additivity was further corroborated by examining the effect of stressor order, or the number of stressors imposed simultaneously. As the number of stressors increased from 0 to 3, ADG, ADFI, and G:F decreased linearly. These data suggest that multiple concurrent stressors affect growth performance of pigs in a predictable fashion (i.e., additively) and indicate that avoidance or removal of a given stressor is advantageous even when other uncontrollable stressors persist.
Privacy Preserving Fine-Grained Data Distribution Aggregation for Smart Grid AMI Networks

An advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)allows real-time fine-grained monitoring of the energy consumption data of individual consumers. Collected metering data can be used for a multitude of applications. For example, energy demand forecasting, based on the reported fine-grained consumption, can help manage the near future energy production. However, fine- grained metering data reporting can lead to privacy concerns. It is, therefore, imperative that the utility company receives the fine-grained data needed to perform the intended demand response service, without learning any sensitive information about individual consumers. In this paper, we propose an anonymous privacy preserving fine-grained data aggregation scheme for AMI networks. In this scheme, the utility company receives only the distribution of the energy consumption by the consumers at different time slots. We leverage a network tree topology structure in which each smart meter randomly reports its energy consumption data to its parent smart meter (according to the tree). The parent node updates the consumption distribution and forwards the data to the utility company. Our analysis results show that the proposed scheme can preserve the privacy and security of individual consumers while guaranteeing the demand response service.
Earlier Dopaminergic Treatment in Parkinson's Disease Is Not Associated With Improved Outcomes

Background The appropriate timing of dopaminergic treatment initiation in Parkinson's disease (PD) remains a matter of debate. The primary objective of this study was to determine whether earlier initiation of treatment was associated with less worsening of total UPDRS scores over 48 months. Methods We performed a secondary analysis of data from the CALM-PD (Comparison of the Agonist Pramipexole With Levodopa on Motor Complications of Parkinson's Disease) trial to examine the associations between years since diagnosis and 48-month changes in total and component UPDRS scores, Parkinson's Disease Quality of Life Scale (PDQUALIF) score, and the EuroQol-5D visual analogue scale (VAS) score. Results There were no associations between years since PD diagnosis and 48-month changes in total UPDRS, component UPDRS scores, PDQUALIF score, or EuroQol-5D VAS score. Conclusion Earlier treatment was not associated with improved long-term outcomes in this secondary analysis. Prospective studies are required to determine the appropriate timing of initiation of dopaminergic treatment to inform clinical practice.
Housing price dynamics: The impact of stock market sentiment and the spillover effect

Abstract We examine the cross-market impact of U.S. stock market sentiment on U.S. housing prices from January 1991 to December 2014. We find that median housing price returns are typically higher during periods of pessimistic sentiment. We also find, using a VAR-GARCH-in-mean model, that these returns have a differential response to positive and negative sentiment shocks. Additionally, based on a VAR framework developed by Yilmaz and Diebold (2009), we find indications of a strong return spillover effect which is mostly self-contained within the housing market. Finally, using a DCC model, we find that correlations between aggregate stock market sentiment and housing returns are time-varying and rising during economic recessions.
People with schizophrenia show enhanced cognitive costs of maintaining a single item in working memory.

Background Working memory (WM) deficits are seen as a core deficit in schizophrenia, implicated in the broad cognitive impairment seen in the illness. Here we examine the impact of WM storage of a single item on the operation of other cognitive systems. Methods We studied 37 healthy controls (HCS) and 43 people with schizophrenia (PSZ). Each trial consisted of a sequence of two potential target stimuli, T1 and T2. T1 was a letter presented for 100 ms. After delays of 100–800 ms, T2 was presented. T2 was a 1 or a 2 and required a speeded response. In one condition, subjects were instructed to ignore T1 but respond to T2. In another condition, they were required to report T1 after making their speeded response to T2 (i.e. to make a speeded T2 response while holding T1 in WM). Results PSZ were dramatically slowed at responding to T2 when T1 was held in WM. A repeated measures ANOVA yielded main effects of group, delay, and condition with a group by condition interaction (p's < 0.001). Across delays, the slowing of the T2 response when required to hold T1 in memory, relative to ignoring T1, was nearly 3 times higher in PSZ than HCS (633 v. 219 ms). Conclusions Whereas previous studies have focused on reduced storage capacity, the present study found that PSZ are impaired at performing tasks while they are successfully maintaining a single item in WM. This may play a role in the broad cognitive impairment seen in PSZ.
Preliminary effects on the innate immune system with the combination of cetuximab and durvalumab in metastatic/ relapsed head and neck squamous cell carcinoma in a phase II trial.

e14273Background: Cetuximab is a recombinant chimeric monoclonal IgG1 antibody which binds specifically to the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and stimulates an innate immune response by pr...
Influence of metal nanocomposite morphology on Helium implantation response

Abstract This work reports on Helium (He) accumulation in novel metal nanocomposites fabricated by phase separation in three-dimensions. These nanocomposites are dense with semi-coherent interfaces that ultimately influence He implantation response. The effect of film morphology on three aspects of He response is investigated: size and distribution of He precipitates, He retention, and He-induced changes in mechanical properties. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that He bubbles agglomerated along the vertical phase boundaries in morphologies with lateral and random domains of Cu and Mo. Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) and nanoindentation results show He retention and hardness is morphology dependent.
Sources on social media: Information context collapse and volume of content as predictors of source blindness:

Although social media has become a primary news platform, the effects of social media features on users’ information processing remains under-explored. This study explores how social media design f...
Relations between disease status and body composition in pediatric inflammatory bowel disease.

To evaluate the effect of remission status on physical activity and body composition in pediatric patients with inflammatory bowel disease (PIBD) and healthy peers. Single-center cohort study, including 54 PIBD patients and 33 healthy peers. During the initial study visit, a brief demographic questionnaire, physical activity questionnaire completed by participants, and instructions on recording dietary intake were given. Physicians completed the Physician Global Assessment (PGA) for disease severity. Medical chart abstraction was done to obtain disease variables of interest. DEXA scan completed 1 week later to obtain information on body composition. Variables of interest were compared between the three groups (IBD-Remission, IBD-Active, and healthy controls) using an ANOVA or Chi-square test as appropriate. IBD patients were older than controls, reported lower quality of life (73.9 vs. 80.9), and engaged in less MVPA (195.4 versus 361.1). The IBD-Active group had a significantly lower lean body mass, bone mineral density, and time spent in MVPA compared to the IBD-Remission group and healthy controls. IBD-Remission group had a significantly lower percentage of biologic use (55% vs. 87%) and comorbidities (26% vs. 44%) compared to IBD-active group. IBD-remission group also had a lower fat mass percentage. In this study, we report significantly favorable LBM, BMD, and time spent in MVPA in patients with IBD in remission compared to those not in remission with the former demonstrating a body composition resembling that of healthy peers. Conclusion: While an improvement in BMD was observed with remission, the scores were still lower than controls.
Geospatial Analysis of Individual and Community-Level Socioeconomic Factors Impacting SARS-CoV-2 Prevalence and Outcomes

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has disproportionately affected racial and ethnic minority communities across the United States. We sought to disentangle individual and census tract-level sociodemographic and economic factors associated with these disparities. Methods and Findings: All adults tested for SARS-CoV-2 between February 1 and June 21, 2020 were geocoded to a census tract based on their address; hospital employees and individuals with invalid addresses were excluded. Individual (age, sex, race/ethnicity, preferred language, insurance) and census tract-level (demographics, insurance, income, education, employment, occupation, household crowding and occupancy, built home environment, and transportation) variables were analyzed using linear mixed models predicting infection, hospitalization, and death from SARS-CoV-2. Among 57,865 individuals, per capita testing rates, individual (older age, male sex, non-White race, non-English preferred language, and non-private insurance), and census tract-level (increased population density, higher household occupancy, and lower education) measures were associated with likelihood of infection. Among those infected, individual age, sex, race, language, and insurance, and census tract-level measures of lower education, more multi-family homes, and extreme household crowding were associated with increased likelihood of hospitalization, while higher per capita testing rates were associated with decreased likelihood. Only individual-level variables (older age, male sex, Medicare insurance) were associated with increased mortality among those hospitalized. Conclusions: This study of the first wave of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in a major U.S. city presents the cascade of outcomes following SARS-CoV-2 infection within a large, multi-ethnic cohort. SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospitalization rates, but not death rates among those hospitalized, are related to census tract-level socioeconomic characteristics including lower educational attainment and higher household crowding and occupancy, but not neighborhood measures of race, independent of individual factors.
An Ankle-Foot Prosthesis for Rock Climbing Augmentation

This research presents the design and preliminary evaluation of an electromyographically (EMG) controlled 2-degree-of-freedom (DOF) ankle-foot prosthesis designed to enhance rock climbing ability in persons with transtibial amputation. The prosthesis comprises motorized ankle and subtalar joints, and is capable of emulating some key biomechanical behaviors exhibited by the ankle-foot complex during rock climbing maneuvers. The free space motion of the device is volitionally controlled via input from EMG surface electrodes embedded in a custom silicone liner worn on the residual limb. The device range of motion is 0.29 radians of each dorsiflexion and plantar flexion, and 0.39 radians each of inversion and eversion. Preliminary evaluation of the device was conducted, validating the system mass of 1292 grams, build height of 250 mm, joint velocity of 2.18 radians/second, settling time of 120 milliseconds, and steady state error of 0.008 radians. Clinical evaluation of the device was performed during a preliminary study with one subject with transtibial amputation. Joint angles of the ankle-foot, knee, and hip were measured during rock climbing with the robotic prosthesis and with a traditional passive prosthesis. We found that the robotic prosthesis increases the range of achieved ankle and subtalar positions compared to a standard passive prosthesis. In addition, maximum knee flexion and hip flexion angles are decreased while climbing with the robotic prosthesis. These results suggest that a lightweight, actuated, 2-DOF EMG-controlled robotic ankle-foot prosthesis can improve ankle and subtalar range of motion and climbing biomechanical function.
Mechanism Design for Capacity Planning Under Dynamic Evolutions of Asymmetric Demand Forecasts

This paper investigates the role of time in forecast information sharing and decision making under uncertainty. To do so, we provide a general framework to model the evolutions of forecasts generated by multiple decision makers who forecast demand for the same product. We also model the evolutions of forecasts when decision makers have asymmetric demand information and refer to it as the Martingale Model of Asymmetric Forecast Evolutions. This model helps us study mechanism design problems in a dynamic environment. In particular, we consider a supplier's principal's problem of eliciting credible forecast information from a manufacturer agent when both firms obtain asymmetric demand information for the end product over multiple periods. The supplier uses demand information to better plan for a capacity investment decision. When the supplier postpones building capacity and screening the manufacturer's private information, the supplier and the manufacturer can obtain more information and update their forecasts. This delay, however, may increase respectively, decrease the degree of information asymmetry between the two firms, resulting in a higher respectively, lower cost of screening. The capacity building cost may also increase because of a tighter deadline for building capacity. Considering all such trade-offs, the supplier has to determine i when to stop obtaining new demand information and build capacity, ii whether to offer a screening contract to credibly elicit private forecast information or to determine the capacity level without information sharing, iii how much capacity to build, and iv how to design the overall mechanism so that both firms benefit from this mechanism. This paper provides an answer to these questions. In doing so, we develop a new solution approach for a class of dynamic mechanism design problems. In addition, this paper provides a framework to quantify the option value of time for a strategic investment decision under the dynamic evolutions of asymmetric forecasts. This paper was accepted by Yossi Aviv, operations management.
Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Wettability, Thermal Transport, and Interfacial Liquid Structuring at the Nanoscale in Polar Solid-Liquid Interfaces

Engineering nano- and microscale systems for water filtration, drug delivery, and biosensing is enabled by the intrinsic interactions of ionic compounds in aqueous environments and limited by our u...
A Systematic Review of Acoustic Telemetry as a Tool to Gain Insights Into Marine Turtle Ecology and Aid Their Conservation

While widely applied in fisheries science, acoustic telemetry remains an underutilized method in the field of marine turtle biotelemetry. However, with the ability to provide fine-scale spatial data (10s to 100s of meters, depending on array setup and receiver range) at a low cost, acoustic telemetry presents an important tool for obtaining key information on marine turtle ecology. We present a comprehensive and systematic review acknowledging how acoustic telemetry has been used to advance the field of marine turtle ecology and conservation. We identify the extent of current studies and discuss common and novel research approaches while addressing specific limitations of acoustic telemetry. Forty-eight studies were reviewed, representing six of the seven marine turtle species and all life stages, with most individuals identified as juveniles (45%) and hatchlings (36%). Most studies (83%) focused on the spatial distribution of marine turtles, including estimating home ranges, investigating drivers of habitat use, and identifying horizontal movement patterns and vertical space use. Additionally, acoustic telemetry has been used to study hatchling dispersal and marine turtle exposure and response to threats, as well as to monitor physiological parameters. We identified that acoustic telemetry directly or indirectly informs 60% of top questions and research priorities related to marine turtles identified by experts in the field. With an increase in acoustic telemetry receiver networks and collaborations across taxa, the applicability of acoustic telemetry is growing, not only for marine turtles but for a wide array of marine species. Although there are limitations that need to be considered at a site/project-level, acoustic telemetry is an important, low-cost technology able to address key questions related to marine turtle ecology that can aid in their conservation, and therefore should be considered by researchers as they develop their projects.
Accommodating students with disabilities in soil science activities

Soil science education is lacking in terms of accommodations for persons with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities are often excluded from soil science activities in school, and from soil science careers. GLOBE (Global Learning Observations to Benefit the Environment) is a worldwide, hands-on primary and secondary school-based education and science program led in the USA by a federal interagency program supported by National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), National Science Foundation (NSF), and the U.S. State Department, in partnership with colleges and universities, state and local school systems, and nongovernment organizations. GLOBE encourages and promotes science in the classroom by providing students with the opportunity to collect scientifically valid data in the fields of atmosphere, hydrology, soils, and land cover/phenology and report it through the Internet. NASA collects and compiles data from GLOBE students around the world. This project in soil science at the University of Southern Maine originated as a result of the need to make soil science education accessible to individuals with disabilities. The GLOBE protocols were not originally developed using the concept of universal design, so the existing soils protocols were reworked, taking into account students with mobility, visual, hearing, and learning disabilities. A series of accommodations and suggestions were created to assist students with varying abilities, and their teachers. These new protocols were placed in easy-to-follow flowcharts with pictures and illustrations. The hope is that these model procedures will open the doors to soil science for all persons, including those with disabilities.
Increased PP-ribose-P synthetase activity: a genetic abnormality leading to excessive purine production and gout.

In recent years, progress has been made in identifying some of the specific biochemical and genetic factors responsible for the excessive purine synthesis which contributes to the hyperuricemia of a substantial proportion of individuals with gout. Deficiency of glucose-6-phosphatase in Type I glycogen storage disease leads to excessive purine synthesis (1) as do both partial and severe deficiencies of hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase (HGPRT) (2,3). Another hereditary abnormality of biochemistry has now been described in two families in which purine overproduction and clinical gout are associated with an increased, rather than a decreased, activity of a specific enzyme. The enzyme involved is PP-ribose-P synthetase (4,5).
A Time-Honored Model for the Profession and the Academy

Many years ago, an eager young law student sat in the back row of an oversized classroom at Yale Law School seeking to master the nuances of civil procedure. He found it to be an immensely complicated subject. Like many of his classmates, his most immediate concern was that he not be called on by his distinguished—and famously demanding—civil procedure professor. The teacher had a serious and penetrating style that deeply challenged the class and brought the subject matter to life through a sustained focus on the esoteric issues of doctrine and practice. Of equal interest to the student, however, was how this approach—both stylistically and intellectually—contrasted with the manner of several other faculty members. The seventies were a time of rapid transformation in political attitudes and academic approaches to law and legal education. Law schools were at the beginning of a revolution in interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching. And the student was (unabashedly) fascinated by and attracted to these developments. Yet, with all these changes, the legal novice could not help but appreciate in a deep and fundamental way the timeless approach of his civil procedure professor. The class explored the essential issues in civil procedure without overt reference to fashionable doctrines in economics, philosophy, or political science. The discussion nonetheless seemed to end in much the same place as courses that overtly embraced a more abstract and political world.
Immediate External Feedback in the Learning of Golf Skills

Abstract This study sought to investigate the effect of immediate external feedback on the learning of the golf drive and the 5-iron approach shot. The subjects were 80 university females who met the criterion of rank beginners in golf. They were randomly assigned to a control or an experimental group. The experimental factor was the graph-check-sequence camera used to photograph the movement patterns of each member of the experimental group. The photos were available for the student and instructor to observe performance strengths and weaknesses immediately. The criterion measure was a battery of three golf skill tests. Results were tabulated with a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design to determine the main effect factors or interaction factors on learning achievement. The only significant F's were methods main effects. Therefore, it was concluded that immediate external feedback through use of the graph-check-sequence camera facilitates the learning of the golf drive and the 5-iron approach shot.
ON CRACK PROPAGATION ALONG CRYSTALLOGRAPHIC SLIP BANDS

The influence of the crystallography of slip (fcc, hcp, and bcc) on crack propagation along planar slip bands is examined for two different mixed-mode crack configurations. If a crack propagates along a slip band and the Burger's vector of slip within that band is contained in the plane of the crack (i.e., coplanar slip), then non-coplanar slip is hindered and large normal stresses develop near the crack-tip. The magnitude of these normal stresses is largest for basal plane cracking in a hcp material. However, the calculations show that the magnitude of the plastic constraint factor is also large for an inclined crack in fcc and bee alloys fracturing along crystallographic slip bands with the resulting normal stresses being comparable to a mode I crack in a polycrystalline material. Thus, cracking along crystallographic slip bands is characterized by a combination of intense coplanar slip and large normal stresses. Easy crack propagation across individual grains and a susceptibility to hydrogen embrittlement may result as a consequence.
Calculation of boundary layers near the stagnation point of an oscillating airfoil

The results of an investigation of boundary layers close to the stagnation point of an oscillating airfoil are reported. Two procedures for generating initial conditions, the characteristics box scheme and a quasi-static approach, were investigated, and the quasi-static approach was shown to be appropriate provided the initial region was far from any flow separation. With initial conditions generated in this way, the unsteady boundary layer equations were solved for the flow in the leading edge region of a NACA 0012 airfoil oscillating from 0 to 5 deg. Results were obtained for both laminar and turbulent flow, and, in the latter case, the effect of transition was assessed by specifying its occurrence at different locations. The results demonstrate the validity of the numerical scheme and suggest that the procedures should be applied to calculation of the entire flow around oscillating airfoils.
Environmental assessment for ocean thermal energy conversion in Hawaii: Available data and a protocol for baseline monitoring

The need to increase renewable energy supply in the United States has prompted ocean thermal energy conversion (OTEC) technology to be re-considered for use in Hawaii. As with any new development, a thorough environmental impact assessment is needed before the technology can begin field trials. A previous Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) from 1981 is available, but needs to be brought up to current oceanographic and engineering standards. There has been much research done on the oceanography of Hawaii since the original EIS, and this report highlights some of the most important contributions in terms of OTEC development as well as existing gaps in knowledge. A protocol for environmental baseline monitoring is proposed, focusing on a set of ten chemical oceanographic parameters relevant to OTEC and addressing gaps in knowledge of the ecology and oceanography of the area chosen for OTEC development.
Multi-scale analysis of the relationship between economic statistics and DMSP-OLS night light images

Numerous studies have examined the correlation between socioeconomic statistics and night light (NL) imagery. Previous studies have shown that the NL data correlates well with gross domestic product (GDP) statistics. This study calls for a focus on process over correlation between the variables so as to better inform scaled models of the relationship. A focus on process is addressed in this study by examining the relationship between the variables at two scales and two time periods. The two scales examined are: States and Metropolitan Statistical Areas (MSA). The MSA scale exhibits a stronger relationship with the NLs over the State scale, and the results at either scale are consistent through time. However, the models examined here are miss-specified at all scales. Examination of outliers and residuals informs for future well-described models of the relationship.
A 785kb deletion of 3p14.1p13, including the FOXP1 gene, associated with speech delay, contractures, hypertonia and blepharophimosis.

Abstract We report a child with a 785 kb deletion of the 3p14.1p13 region including the genes FOXP1 , EIF4E3 , PROK2 , GPR27 resulting in speech delay, contractures, hypertonia and blepharophimosis. FOXP1 and FOXP2 are transcription factors containing a polyglutamine tract and a forkhead DNA binding domain. They both play a role in the developing human foregut and brain [W. Shu, M.M. Lu, Y. Zhang, P. Tucker, D. Zhou, E.E. Morrisey, Foxp2 and Foxp1 cooperatively regulate lung and esophagus development, Development 134 (2007) 1991–2000, E. Spiteri, G. Konopka, G. Coppola, J. Bomar, M. Oldham, J. Ou, et al. Identification of the transcriptional targets of FOXP2, a gene linked to speech and language, in developing human brain, Am. J. Hum. Genet. 81 (2007) 1144–1157, S. Tamura, Y. Morikawa, H. Iwanishi, T. Hisaoka, E. Senba. Expression pattern of the winged-helix/forkhead transcription factor Foxp1 in the developing central nervous system, Gene Expr. Patterns. 3 (2003) 193–197.]. Mutations in FOXP2 are known to cause severe speech and language abnormalities [C.S.L. Lai, S.E. Fisher, J.A. Hurst, F. Vargha-Khadem, A.P. Monaco, A forkhead-domain gene is mutated in a severe speech and language disorder, Nature 413 (2001) 519–523.] in humans and animals. It has been suggested that overlap of FOXP1 and FOXP2 expression in the songbird and human brain may indicate that mutations in FOXP1 would also result in speech and language abnormalities. The roles of EIF4E3, PROK2 and GPR27 are also evaluated.
Infectious Diseases, Preterm Delivery, and Infant Outcomes1.

Suggested citation for this article:Eschenback D, Gravett M, Willoughby R. Infectious diseases, preterm delivery, and infant outcomes. Emerg Infect Dis [serial on the Internet]. 2004 Nov [date cited]. http://dx.doi.org/10.3201/eid1011.040624_10 Address for correspondence: David Eschenbach, Chair, Obstetrics and Gynecology, BB-617 Health Sciences, Box 356460, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98915, USA; fax: 206-543-3915; email: eschen@u.washington.edu 1The following comments were made in presentations by the above authors at the International Conference on Women and Infectious Disease.
Firm performance and complementary strategy development processes

Purpose – This paper sets out to continue exploration of the process‐performance linkage by positing several relationships between a multidimensional operationalization of the strategy development process and firm performance, specifically identifying a strategy process configuration that is complementary to constrained environmental conditions.Design/methodology/approach – Hypotheses and empirical results from a survey of practicing senior managers are presented.Findings – The results infer that, in conjunction, the enforced choice and political strategy development process modes are superior to other strategy‐making archetypes in generating return on assets within constrained environments in for‐profit firms. No significant differences in firm performance were found for not‐for‐profit firms or for firms employing four other strategy development process modes prevalent in the current strategy process literature.Practical implications – When assessing their strategic management process, organizations must...