cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
UNIT 7.1 Metabolic Labeling with Amino Acids

Metabolic labeling techniques are used to study the biosynthesis, processing, intracellular transport, secretion, degradation, and physical-chemical properties of proteins. This unit provides protocols for metabolic labeling of cells with [35S]-labeled amino acids to provide material suitable for analysis by immunoprecipitation, for characterization of cellular proteins, for analysis of protein trafficking, and for one- and two-dimensional gel electrophoresis. Three procedures are described for suspension and adherent cells: pulse-labeling, pulse-chase labeling, or continuous long-term labeling. A support protocol describes TCA precipitation to measure the extent of labeling.
How Latin America Met the Arab World: Toward a Political Economy of Arab–Latin American Relations

Recent years have borne witness to an unprecedented expansion of political and economic ties between Latin America and the Arab world. Concurrently, a growing number of mostly Latin American scholars has sought to analyze the history, present state, and future prospects of these relations. This chapter systematically reviews this literature and delineates its contributions to our understanding of this emerging research area. Based on this analysis and several friendly critiques of this body of literature, this chapter argues that to advance our understanding of Arab–Latin American relations, scholars should adopt a political–economy approach that is able to shed light on the mix of political and economic interests that will continue to serve as the impetus for this rising axis of relations.
Global Attractor for Nonlinear Wave Equations with Critical Exponent on Unbounded Domain

Asymptotic and global dynamics of weak solutions for a damped nonlinear wave equation with a critical growth exponent on the unbounded domain Rn(n≥3) is investigated. The existence of a global attractor is proved under typical dissipative condition, which features the proof of asymptotic compactness of the solution semiflow in the energy space with critical nonlinear exponent by means of Vitali-type convergence theorem.
Larval Survival and Growth of Emerald Ash Borer (Coleoptera: Buprestidae) on White Ash and White Fringetree Saplings Under Well-Watered and Water-Deficit Conditions

Emerald ash borer (Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire) was recently found on a novel host in North America, white fringetree (Chionanthus virginicus L.) (Oleaceae). In this study, we artificially infested 4-yr-old, naive white fringetree and white ash (Fraxinus americana L.) saplings under well-watered and water-deficit conditions with emerald ash borer eggs. We used physiological and phenotypical approaches to investigate both plant response to emerald ash borer and insect development at 21, 36, and 61 d postinfestation. Photosynthesis was reduced in both tree species by larval feeding, but not by water deficits. Emerald ash borer larvae established and survived successfully on white ash. Both establishment and survival were lower on white fringetree than on white ash. Larvae were larger, and had reached higher instars at all three time points on white ash than on white fringetrees. Larvae grew faster in white ash under water-deficit conditions; however, water-deficit conditions negatively impacted survival of larvae at 61 d postinfestation in white fringetrees, although head size did not differ among surviving larvae. White ash showed higher callus formation in well-watered trees, but no impact on larval survival was observed. In white fringetree, callus formation was not affected by water treatment, and was inversely related to larval survival. The higher rate of mortality and slow growth rate of larvae in white fringetree as compared to white ash suggest that populations of emerald ash borer may be sustained by white fringetree, but may grow more slowly than in white ash.
Decentralized coordination via task decomposition and reward shaping

In this work, we introduce a method for decentralized coordination in cooperative multiagent multi-task problems where the subtasks and agents are homogeneous. Using the method proposed, the agents cooperate at the high level task selection using the knowledge they gather by learning subtasks. We introduce a subtask selection method for single agent multi-task MDPs and we extend the work to multiagent multi-task MDPs by using reward shaping at the subtask level to coordinate the agents. Our results on a multi-rover problem show that agents which use the combination of task decomposition and subtask based difference rewards result in significant improvement both in terms of learning speed, and converged policies.
Disruption of Aneuploidy and Senescence Induced by Aurora Inhibition Promotes Intrinsic Apoptosis in Double Hit or Double Expressor Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphomas

Double hit (DH) or double expressor (DE) diffuse large B-cell lymphomas (DLBCL) are aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) with translocations and/or overexpressions of MYC and BCL-2, which are difficult to treat. Aurora kinase (AK) inhibition with alisertib in DH/DE-DLBCL induces cell death in ∼30%, while ∼70% are aneuploid and senescent cells (AASC), a mitotic escape mechanism contributing to drug resistance. These AASCs elaborated a high metabolic rate by increased AKT/mTOR and ERK/MAPK activity via BTK signaling through the chronic active B-cell receptor (BCR) pathway. Combinations of alisertib + ibrutinib or alisertib + ibrutinib + rituximab significantly reduced AASCs with enhanced intrinsic cell death. Inhibition of AK + BTK reduced phosphorylation of AKT/mTOR and ERK-1/2, upregulated phospho-H2A-X and Chk-2 (DNA damage), reduced Bcl-6, and decreased Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL and induced apoptosis by PARP cleavage. In a DE-DLBCL SCID mouse xenograft model, ibrutinib alone was inactive, while alisertib + ibrutinib was additive with a tumor growth inhibition (TGI) rate of ∼25%. However, TGI for ibrutinib + rituximab was ∼50% to 60%. In contrast, triple therapy showed a TGI rate of >90%. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed that 67% of mice were alive at day 89 with triple therapy versus 20% with ibrutinib + rituximab. All treatments were well tolerated with no changes in body weights. A novel triple therapy consisting of alisertib + ibrutinib + rituximab inhibits AASCs induced by AK inhibition in DH/DE-DLBCL leading to a significant antiproliferative signal, enhanced intrinsic apoptosis and may be of therapeutic potential in these lymphomas. Mol Cancer Ther; 16(10); 2083-93. ©2017 AACR.
The Playing Ground of Childhood: Boyhood Battles in Américo Paredes', George Washington Gómez

Although playing is generally viewed as a childhood universal—an expected and somewhat innocuous part of children9s lives—Chicano writers often particularize play9s universality by constructing the diverse grounds of childhood play as sites that encapsulate conflicting subject positions. Among the Chicano texts in which playing shares this complexity as a critical locus for the child protagonist is Americo Paredes9 George Washington Gomez . Paredes employs narratives of childhood play in a dialectical pattern that elucidates his protagonist9s inner and outer conflicts and that also evokes Ramon Saldivar9s theory of Chicano literature. While Gualinto Gomez9s playworlds reflect both the violence and discrimination that surround him in the real world and highlight his struggles with his dual American and Mexican identity, Paredes provides no synthesis for his protagonist9s dialectical dilemma of doubleness.
Chapter 34 – Clinical and Translational Science Infrastructure

This chapter reviews the infrastructure of clinical and translational research, especially in the United States, and considers its historical background, current evolution, and the future opportunities that will substantially alter its nature and allow it to support new paradigms of clinical research. This chapter will particularly emphasize the evolution of the General Clinical Research Centers and the impact of Clinical and Translational Science Institutes, which began to be funded in 2006 and currently evolve further under the auspices of The National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences. These institutes, which are still in their formative stage, were established with the aim of constituting an academic home for clinical research in American Academic Health Centers.
Bistatic Radar Equation for Signals of Opportunity Revisited

The bistatic radar equation currently used for simulating surface-reflected waveforms or delay-Doppler maps (DDMs), produced by signals of opportunity from global navigation satellites system (GNSS) or communication satellites, was previously derived under some limiting assumptions. One of them was the use of the Kirchhoff approximation in a geometric optics limit that assumes strong diffuse (noncoherent) scattering typical for very rough surfaces. This equation would produce an incorrect result for the case of weak diffuse scattering, or in the presence of coherent reflection. In this paper, it is shown that the assumption of strong diffuse scattering is not necessary in deriving such an equation. The derivation of a generalized bistatic radar equation is now based only on the assumption of roughness statistics being spatially homogeneous, and thus this equation is applicable for a much wider range of surface conditions and scattering geometries. This approach allows to correctly describe the transition from partially coherent scattering to completely noncoherent, strong diffuse scattering. It is demonstrated for the case of the GNSS-R DDMs simulated for a wide range of surface winds, and their transitional behavior is discussed.
Belief in a Just World and Right-Wing Authoritarianism as Moderators of Perceived Risk

We live in a world filled with risk. Nearly every day, we face the prospect of many different types of threats ranging from relatively common, everyday risks (e.g., of losing one’s wallet) to the most serious personal calamities (e.g., getting hit by a car, dying of AIDS). From a psychological standpoint, understanding how people form subjective estimates of risk, and the factors that influence such perceptions, is of critical importance. In particular, it seems likely that one’s subjective sense of well-being may depend on whether one feels personally vulnerable to these threats or not. Thus, understanding when and why people feel vulnerable to life’s many risks should offer more general insights into the factors mediating mental health. Perceptions of risk also seem likely to play a role in mediating many sorts of decisions and behaviors (cf. Johnson & Tversky, 1983, for a related discussion). For example, such simple acts as driving a car probably involve the implicit or explicit assessment of different sorts of risks (e.g., the probability of getting in an accident) and these perceptions may strongly determine many of the choices we make (e.g., how fast to drive on a stormy night).
Parasites and Tiger Snakes

The Tiger Snake that lay on the board before me was of course already dead. Not being fond of snakes, I even took the extra precaution of decapitating it after it was thoroughly chloroformed and pronounced dead by the herpetological lab technician. I had proceeded to dissect its vividly colored skin and had pinned the skin down on both sides of the carcass with two neat rows of pins. Just then Mike came in cautiously to look over my shoulder to examine the glistening muscles of the freshly dissected carcass of the Australian Tiger Snake, Notechis scutatus, reputedly one of the world’s most poisonous snakes.
Advances in Monitoring to Understand Flow Paths in Karst: Comparison of Historic and Recent Data from the Valley and Ridge of Pennsylvania

We revisited seven karst springs studied in 1971 to examine how advances in monitoring techniques influence our understanding of spring flow paths and recharge. These springs in the Valley and Ridge of Pennsylvania offer a variety of spring discharge volumes and physical appearance (visible conduits at the discharge site versus fracture networks). We focused on temperature for a comparison between historic and recent trends because it is the least likely to differ in value due to updated measurement techniques. High-resolution temperature data showed variations in storm responses (not observed with historic data) which distinguish among springs. We also used automatic samplers to track geochemical changes during storm events. Variations in CO2 concentrations and Mg/Ca ratios provided indicators of fast and slow recharge and changes in flow paths over time. Some springs showed similar response from storm to storm and some varied. Rare earth elements (REEs) were analyzed in baseflow samples to evaluate their potential for distinguishing spring source rock along flow pathways. The REE grouped springs differently than their temperature and storm response geochemistry. This study showed that classification of karst springs varied depending on the parameter monitored. This variation further points out the complexity of karst flow paths and recharge. Multiple methods and long-term monitoring are needed to interpret karst spring discharge and provide sampling schemes for source water protection.
Analog and digital filter design using C

Introduction to filters and filter design software analogue filter approximation functions analogue lowpass, highpass, bandpass and bandstop filters analogue frequency response calculation and display analogue filter implementation using active filters introduction to discrete-time systems infinite impulse response (IIR) digital filter design finite impulse response (FIR) digital filter design digital filter implementation using C. Appendices: technical references code organization.
Phenolic content and antioxidant activity of variety grapes from kurdistan Iraq

This study was carried out to determine the amount of total phenols, total flavonoid and antioxidant activity of 7 grape cultivars grown in Kurdistan rejoin of Iraq. The results showed that total phenols, flavonoid and antioxidant activity in the berries varied among the investigated cultivars. Total phenolic content, total flavonoid content ranged from 112.77 to 249.19 mg GAE/100g FW, 584.23 to 288.55 mg of rutin equivalents/100 g of (fresh sample) respectly and antioxidant capacity value ranged from 41.79 to 92.30%. Tahlik cultivar had the highest value of antioxidant capacity, flavonoid and total phenolic content. The lowest total phenolic, flavonoid content and the lowest value of antioxidant capacity were found in Abhar cultivar. Present results showed statistically significant correlations with the free radical scavenging activity. There was a very strong positive correlation (R² =1, p <0.05) between the antioxidant activity and total phenolic content and a strong positive correlation (R² =0.9735, p <0.05) between the antioxidant activity and total flavonoid content.
“I Accept All Students”: Tolerance Discourse and LGBTQ Ally Work in U.S. Public Schools

This article explores how tolerance discourse is being taken up by educators in interview data about the roles and responsibilities of LGBTQ allies. Participating teachers used the phrase “all stud...
Using poetry to re-present the narratives of Black students and Black single mothers

ABSTRACTThe purpose of this report is to present partial findings of a qualitative study that explored academic success as perceived and experienced by African American high school seniors and their single mothers using poetic transcription techniques. First, a brief discussion of the literature on Black student achievement and Black single-mother households is provided. Second, an exploration of poetic inquiry is offered to ground the methods. Third, the methods used to create the poems are provided. Fourth, the poems are presented. Finally, implications for using poetic representation with Black students and families are discussed.
Stories of the town: balancing character autonomy and coherent narrative in procedurally generated worlds

Procedural narrative generation systems often focus on autonomous agent based simulations to create emergent interactions, plan-based approaches to provide guarantees for coherence, or using elements of simulation to guide plan-based approaches. These different approaches, with some exceptions, tend to trade off character autonomy in service of more designer controlled experiences or content authoring in service of encoding domain knowledge of possible branches of the narrative and participating characters. We have developed a system, called Stories of the Town, that automatically generates narratives by synthesizing three distinct approaches to traditional narrative generation: context-free grammars, planning, and simulation. More specifically, our system generates narratives via probabilistic context-free grammars applied to state-space planning problem solutions from planning problem formulations of simulated character models. Our system uses character simulations to generate variety in narratives and ensures narrative coherence through authoring probabilistic context-free grammars. By doing so, this system takes advantage of the strengths of each individual approach (e.g. controllability, scalability, intentionality, and variety) to generate narratives that are extensible, expressive, consistent with simulated character personalities and histories, and controllable. We show that this system has strong potential in automatically generating varied, complex, consistent, and goal-oriented narratives. Further development of the system will allow for more efficient utilization of the strengths of each narrative generation approach while also using these strengths to supplement their individual shortcomings.
Power and Statistical Significance in Securities Fraud Litigation

Event studies, a half-century-old approach to measuring the effect of events on stock prices, are now ubiquitous in securities fraud litigation. In determining whether the event study demonstrates a price effect, expert witnesses typically base their conclusion on whether the results are statistically significant at the 95% confidence level, a threshold that is drawn from the academic literature. As a positive matter, this represents a disconnect with legal standards of proof. As a normative matter, it may reduce enforcement of fraud claims because litigation event studies typically involve quite low statistical power even for large-scale frauds. This paper, written for legal academics, judges, and policy makers, makes three contributions. First, it contributes to a nascent literature demonstrating that the standard event-study methodology can be problematic in securities litigation. In particular, the paper documents the tradeoff between power and confidence level and the ensuing impact on the likelihood that valid claims of fraud will erroneously be rejected. In so doing, the article highlights that the choice of confidence level is a policy judgment about the appropriate balance between the costs of litigation and the costs of securities fraud. Second, the article argues that the SEC has both the legal power and the institutional competence to develop litigation standards that balance these costs. Third, the article provides a novel and feasible framework through which the SEC can implement such litigation standards. The framework relies on an assessment of the defendant firm’s market capitalization and abnormal returns distribution to determine the maximum confidence level (minimum significance level) that is consistent with the minimum required power of detecting a fraud of the benchmark magnitude. The SEC is uniquely positioned to make this determination based on the information it possesses about the level of fraud in the capital markets and the role of private litigation in deterring fraud.
Where Schools Are Broken: Radio for Education in Crises Societies

Since its invention more than a century ago, radio has played varied roles in society. Its invention was revolutionary—not only for technology but also and most profoundly, for mass communication. For the first time, it was possible to instantly transmit a live voice to mass audiences simultaneously.
Expedited placement to maximize utilization of marginal organs.

Purpose of review Deceased donation represents the largest supply of organs for transplant in the United States. Organs with suboptimal characteristics related to donor disease or recovery-related issues are increasingly discarded at the time of recovery, prompting late allocation to candidates later in the match sequence. Late allocation contributes to organ injury by prolonging cold ischemia, which may further lead to the risk of organ discard, despite the potential to provide benefit to certain transplant candidates. Recent findings Expedited placement of marginal organs has emerged as a strategy to address the growing problem of organ discard of marginal organs that have been declined late after recovery. In this review, we describe the basis for expedited organ placement, and approaches to facilitating placement of these grafts, drawing examples from kidney and liver donation and transplantation globally. Summary There is significant global variation in practice related to late allocation. Multiple policy mechanisms exist to facilitate expedited placement, including simultaneous offers to multiple centers, predesignation of aggressive centers, and increasing organ procurement organization autonomy in late allocation. Optimizing late allocation of deceased donor organs holds significant promise to increase the number of transplants.
Surveillance Missions Deployment on the Edge by Combining Swarm Robotics and Blockchain

Current swarm robotics systems are not utilized as frequently in surveillance missions due to the limitations of the existing distributed systems’ designs. The main limitation of swarm robotics is the absence of a framework for robots to be self-governing, secure, and scalable. As of today, a swarm of robots is not able to communicate and perform tasks in transparent and autonomous ways. Many believe blockchain is the imminent future of distributed autonomous systems. A blockchain is a system of computers that stores and distributes data among all participants. Every single participant is a validator and protector of the data in the blockchain system. The data cannot be modified since all participants are storing and watching the exact same records. In this study, we will focus on blockchain applications in swarm robotics using Ethereum smart contracts because blockchain can make a swarm globally connected and secure. A decentralized application (DApp) is used to deploy surveillance missions. After mission deployment, the swarm uses blockchain to communicate and make decisions on appropriate tasks within Ethereum private networks. We conclude that, although blockchain enables a swarm to be globally connected and secure, there are performance limitations that can become a critical issue.
Professional Development Simulations for K12 Educators to Address Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Concerns in the School Setting

This chapter addresses the role that K12 educators and school staff play in supporting student mental health and wellness within our educational system. Students who feel included, understood, and safe in their educational environment are better equipped to do well academically and have better social relationships. This chapter will first overview the status of student mental health and how this affects academic achievement, how student mental health can impact educator fatigue and burnout, overall school mental health culture, and barriers for help-seeking, which include mental health stigma, cultural perceptions of mental health, and cost and availability of care. The chapter will then review the impact of online role-play simulations from a suite of K12 programs that include three simulations: At-Risk for Elementary School Educators, At-Risk for Middle School Educators and At-Risk for High School Educators. These virtual role-plays teach educators and school personnel how to identify students in psychological distress and how to use motivational interviewing tactics that they can apply in conversations with students and parents to discuss their concerns and, if necessary, make a referral to the appropriate support services. As K12 educators become more cognizant of how to identify and refer those in need, the overall culture of school mental health and wellness will improve.
COVID-19 Pandemic Leading to the Accelerated Development of a Virtual Health Model for Isotretinoin

Isotretinoin is a highly efficacious medication for the treatment of acne vulgaris; however, its prescription is subject to the strict requirements of the iPLEDGE restricted distribution program. These requirements have placed significant financial, time, and logistical burdens on patients taking the medication. The stay-at-home ordinances enacted by many states during the 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) global pandemic have accelerated previous trends toward utilization of telehealth and decreased laboratory monitoring in the care of patients on isotretinoin. Recent changes to the iPLEDGE program allowing use of at-home pregnancy tests to meet monthly pregnancy test requirements during the pandemic have increased availability of testing options for patients of child-bearing potential on isotretinoin. The change to use of at-home pregnancy test monitoring as well as long-term trends toward increasing access to isotretinoin through the use of telehealth are discussed.
Assessing socio-economic profile of U-Reporters: Towards establishing a pool for equity analysis of future crowdsourced surveys.

Background Crowdsourcing was recognized as having the potential to collect information rapidly, inexpensively and accurately. U-Report is a mobile empowerment platform that connects young people all over the world to information that will change their lives and influence decisions. Previous studies of U-Report's effectiveness highlight strengths in the timeliness, low cost and high credibility for collecting and sending information, however they also highlight areas to improve on concerning data representation. EquityTool has developed a simpler approach to assess the wealth quintiles of respondents based on fewer questions derived from large household surveys such as Multiple Indicators Cluster Surveys (MICS) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS). Methods The methodology of Equity Tool was adopted to assess the socio-economic profile of U-Reporters (ie, enrolled participants of U-Report) in Bangladesh. The RapidPro flow collected the survey responses and scored them against the DHS national wealth index using the EquityTool methodology. This helped placing each U-Reporter who completed all questions into the appropriate wealth quintile. Results With 19% of the respondents completing all questions, the respondents fell into all 5 wealth quintiles, with 79% in the top-two quintiles and only 21% in the lower-three resulting in an Equity Index of 53/100 where 100 is completely in line with Bangladesh equity distribution and 1 is the least in line. An equitable random sample of 1828 U-Reporters from among the regular and frequent respondents was subsequently created for future surveys and the sample has an Equity Index of 98/100. Conclusions U-Report in Bangladesh does reach the poorest quintiles while the initial recruitment skews to respondents towards better off families. It is possible to create an equitable random sub-sample of respondents from all five wealth quintiles and thus process information and data for future surveys. Moving forward, U-Reporters from the poorly represented quintiles may be incentivized to recruit peers to increase equity and representation. In times of COVID-19, U-Report in combination with the EquityTool has the potential to enhance the quality of crowdsourced data for statistical analysis.
Melanoma subpopulations that rapidly escape MAPK pathway inhibition incur DNA damage and rely on stress signalling

Despite the increasing number of effective anti-cancer therapies, successful treatment is limited by the development of drug resistance. While the contribution of genetic factors to drug resistance is undeniable, little is known about how drug-sensitive cells first evade drug action to proliferate in drug. Here we track the responses of thousands of single melanoma cells to BRAF inhibitors and show that a subset of cells escapes drug via non-genetic mechanisms within the first three days of treatment. Cells that escape drug rely on ATF4 stress signalling to cycle periodically in drug, experience DNA replication defects leading to DNA damage, and yet out-proliferate other cells over extended treatment. Together, our work reveals just how rapidly melanoma cells can adapt to drug treatment, generating a mutagenesis-prone subpopulation that expands over time. BRAF inhibitors are used to treat late-stage melanoma patients harbouring BRAF mutations. Here the authors track the responses of single melanoma cells to BRAF inhibitors and show that a subset of cells rapidly escapes drug via non-genetic mechanisms and incurs DNA damage.
The Protective Effects of Religious Group Membership, Service Attendance, and Scripture Reading on Binge Drinking among College Students

Using a national sample of college students drawn from Wave 3 of the National Study of Youth and Religion (NSYR), the current study investigates the protective effects of religious group membership, service attendance, and scripture reading on binge drinking. Specifically, the study examines whether or not any effects exist independent of overall religiousness and the extent to which peers mediate these associations. Findings reveal that religious group membership and scripture reading are associated with significant reductions in binge drinking and that service attendance has a marginally significant association, after controlling for religiousness. The association involving service attendance is mediated by the number of friends who use drugs or drink heavily. Implications of the findings are discussed and include potential policy applications such as devoting more resources to campus ministry offices as allies in promoting healthy behavior, as well as creating programs geared toward students across the religiousness spectrum, including those designed for “seekers” or “skeptics.”
Supine lying center of pressure movement characteristics as a predictor of normal developmental stages in early infancy

BACKGROUND Absent or abnormal fidgety movements in young infants are associated with subsequent diagnoses of developmental disorders such as cerebral palsy. The General Movement Assessment (GMA) is a qualitative clinical tool to visually identify infants with absent or abnormal fidgety movements associated with developmental stage, yet no quantitative measures exist to detect fidgety activity. OBJECTIVE To determine whether a correlation exists between quantitative Center of Pressure (CoP) measurements during supine lying and age. METHODS Twenty-four healthy full-term infants participated in the Institutional Review Board-approved study. Participants were placed supine in view of a GoPro camera on an AMTI force plate for two minutes. Spontaneous movements were evaluated by three trained raters using the GMA. Traditional CoP parameters (range, total path length, mean velocity, and mean acceleration of resultant CoP) were assessed, and complexity of each of the resultant CoP variables (location, velocity, and acceleration) was calculated by sample entropy. Linear regression with Pearson correlation was performed to assess the correlations between the CoP parameters and adjusted age. RESULTS Nineteen infants were deemed fidgety per the GMA and were included in further analyses. All Sample entropy measures and range of resultant CoP had significant correlations with adjusted age (p< 0.05). Sample entropy of resultant CoP decreased with increasing age while range of resultant CoP increased with increasing age. CONCLUSION The results suggest that complexity of CoP and range of CoP are good predictors of age in typical developing infants during the fidgety period. Therefore, an approach using these parameters should be explored further as a quantifiable tool to identify infants at risk for neurodevelopmental impairment.
NOTCH-ing up nucleotide metabolism in T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia

In a recent issue of Science Advances, Srivastava et al. report a novel nucleotide biosynthesis regulatory role for UBR7 in NOTCH1-driven T-ALL. Here we will discuss their key findings and the implications for using cancer metabolism to understand the development and progression of T-ALL.
Buddhism, Education and Politics in Burma and Thailand: From the Seventeenth Century to the Present, by Khammai Dhammasami.

Buddhism, Education and Politics in Burma and Thailand: From the Seventeenth Century to the Present, by Khammai Dhammasami. London: Bloomsbury, 2018. 272 pp., ?85 (hb), ?28.99 (pb). ISBN 978-1-3500-5424-0 (hb), 978-1-3501-2306-9 (pb).
Examining the Use of the Technology Acceptance Model for Adoption of Advanced Digital Technologies in Nuclear Power Plants

The United States nuclear industry is being economically challenged and needs wide-scale adoption of enabling technology like advanced automation to remain viable. To enable wide-scale adoption of advanced technology, addressing the human-technology integration challenges and factors that influence technology acceptance (i.e., ‘buy in’) is pertinent. This work examines the Technology Acceptance Model as a framework for characterizing the factors influencing technology adoption in the nuclear industry. An outcome of this work is to support the development of future tools such as a technology acceptance survey that can be used to assess technology acceptance throughout the lifespan of a modernization program to provide a systematic way of ensuring stakeholder and operations ‘buy in’.
Interactive Effects of HIV Infection and Cannabis Use on Insula Subregion Functional Connectivity

Chronic inflammation in the central nervous system is one mechanism through which human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) may lead to progressive cognitive decline. Given cannabis's (CB's) anti-inflammatory properties, use prevalence among people living with HIV (PLWH), and evidence implicating the insula in both, we examined independent and interactive effects of HIV and CB on insular circuitry, cognition, and immune function. We assessed resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) of three insula subregions among 106 participants across four groups (co-occurring: HIV+/CB+; HIV-only: HIV+/CB-; CB-only: HIV-/CB+; controls: HIV-/CB-). Participants completed a neurocognitive battery assessing functioning across multiple domains and self-reported somatic complaints. Blood samples quantified immune function (T-cell counts) and inflammation (tumor necrosis factor alpha [TNF-α]). We observed interactive HIV × CB effects on rsFC strength between two anterior insula (aI) subregions and sensorimotor cortices such that, CB appeared to normalize altered rsFC among non-using PLWH. Specifically, compared to controls, HIV-only and CB-only groups displayed decreased dorsal anterior insula (DI) - postcentral gyrus rsFC and increased ventral anterior insula (VI) - supplementary motor area rsFC, whereas the co-occurring group displayed DI and VI rsFC more akin to that of controls. Altered DI - postcentral rsFC correlated with decreased processing speed and somatic complaints, but did not significantly correlate with inflammation (TNF-α). These outcomes implicate insula - sensorimotor neurocircuitries in HIV and CB and are consistent with prior work suggesting that CB use may normalize insula functioning among PLWH.
The transgressive rhetoric of standup comedy in China

Public discourse under authoritarian rule is not monolithic. Yet how popular rhetoric engages with the hegemonic rhetoric in the same discursive space remains understudied. This article examines th...
Impacts of COVID-19 on Orthopaedic Surgery Residency / Spine Trainee Application Trends

Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic has had widespread impact across medical educational sectors, including cancellations and delays of board exams, interruptions in clinical rotations and electives, altered processes for away rotations, and conversion to virtual interviews. These changes, combined with applicant and program uncertainty, may affect the 2021 residency application cycle for competitive fields such as orthopaedic surgery. In consideration of spine trainees and the spine fellow application pipeline, the current study aims to evaluate for deviations in trends found in applications to an orthopaedic surgery residency program from the 2021 cycle compared to six years prior. Methods After institutional review board approval, applications to a single orthopaedic surgery residency program from application cycles 2015 to 2021 were evaluated in the Electronic Residency Application System (ERAS) and analyzed for trends. Supplementary information was taken from publicly available ERAS statistics. Results Compared to existing trends, the ERAS 2021 cycle had a greater number of applicants, more research items, and lower rates of USMLE Step 2 test administration. Of the 4,965 applications analyzed, no deviations in trends were found in number of female applicants, Black and Hispanic applicants, applicants from medical schools outside the US, DO applicants, applicants with interruptions in their training, or USMLE scores. Conclusions The orthopaedic surgery applicant pool increased amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and applicants had more research items than previous years. No significant deviations in the demographics of the applicant pool were noted. This is thought to be reassuring about the integrity of the orthopaedic residency application process / spine fellow application pipeline and should continue to be observed in the coming years.
Benign Biliary Strictures: Diagnostic Evaluation and Approaches to Percutaneous Treatment

Interventional radiologists are often consulted to help identify and treat biliary strictures that can result from a variety of benign etiologies. Mainstays of noninvasive imaging for benign biliary strictures include ultrasound, contrast-enhanced computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography, and computed tomography cholangiography. Endoscopic retrograde cholangiography is the invasive diagnostic procedure of choice, allowing both localization of a stricture and treatment. Percutaneous biliary interventions are reserved for patients who are not candidates for endoscopic retrograde cholangiography (eg, history of distal gastrectomy and biliary-enteric anastomosis to a jejunal roux limb). This review discusses the roles of percutaneous transhepatic cholangiography and biliary drainage in the diagnosis of benign biliary strictures. The methodology for crossing benign biliary strictures, approaches to balloon dilation, management of recalcitrant strictures (ie, large-bore biliary catheters and retrievable covered stents), and the expected outcomes and complications of percutaneous treatment of benign biliary strictures are also addressed.
Multitasking Domain Decomposition Fast Poisson Solvers on the Cray Y-MP

The results of multitasking implementation of a domain decomposition fast Poisson solver on eight processors of the Cray Y-MP are presented. The object of this research is to study the performance of domain decomposition methods on a Cray supercomputer and to analyze the performance of different multitasking techniques using highly parallel algorithms. Two implementations of multitasking are considered: macrotasking (parallelism at the subroutine level) and microtasking (parallelism at the do-loop level). A conventional FFT-based fast Poisson solver is also multitasked. The results of different implementations are compared and analyzed. A speedup of over 7.4 on the Cray Y-MP running in a dedicated environment is achieved for all cases.
Productivity Convergence in Eight Sectors in Eight Midwestern States

This paper investigates whether there is convergence in the productivity of eight sectors in eight midwestern states over the period 1963-89. Both cross-section and time-series techniques are used. Using cross-section techniques, it is found that convergence did occur for total, state productivity but not for each of the sectors. In particular, convergence did not occur in the productivity of service-related sectors while it did occur in manufacturing and transportation and public utilities. Using time-series techniques, no convergence is found. However, common trends were present for both the total, state productivity and most of the individual sectors.
Differential Effects of Graduating during a Recession across Race and Gender

This paper examines the differential effects of the unemployment rate at entry to the labor market, defined as completion of education, on subsequent wages across race and gender. Economic theories about search frictions, human capital accumulation and the internal labor markets all predict less persistence for low skilled or disadvantaged workers and weaker effects on those with weak attachment to the labor force. Consistent with these predictions, I find that the effect fades faster for blacks, although the initial impact of a recession at entry is stronger for them. I also find weaker effects for women.
My Beautiful Tax Reform

Many experts equate the best tax system with the simplest, and the best tax reform with the one that most simplifies the system. However, the simplest, most elegant policy need not be the best because tax policy involves a tradeoff among objectives, including equity and efficiency objectives, and often, achieving equity and efficiency requires some complexity. Because one's favored tax system depends both on economic assumptions and value judgments, which not everyone shares, this paper discusses both what tax system I favor and what has led me to my viewpoint, so the reader can get a sense of how his own economics or values would lead to a different policy prescription. Under my beautiful tax reform, most Americans would not have to file tax returns. The tax system would no longer be the primary source of goodies passed out by the government and a major determinant of how resources are allocated - what goodies and subsidies that remain would be consolidated. Progressivity would be retained with a system under which most, but not all, American taxpayers would be subject to a low, basic rate, the same rate at which all tax credits can be redeemed. Taxation of business income would be rationalized with the objective of taxing all business income at the appropriate tax rate of the income earner, sharply reducing tax sheltering, and making corporation tax payments more transparent.
Synthesis of Cartesian stiffness for robotic applications

A new, systematic approach to the synthesis of Cartesian stiffness by springs is presented using screw (spatial vector) algebra. The space of solutions is fully characterized for all stiffnesses realizable by springs. The main result shows that a rank r stiffness can always be synthesized by r springs. Further, it can also be synthesized by an arbitrarily large number of springs greater than r. Synthesis algorithms are presented and numerical results support the theory.
Direct Cortical Neurophysiology of Speech Perception

Given that many processes in language are unique to humans, methods to study its neural basis directly are limited. Individuals undergoing clinical evaluation for epilepsy surgery or awake craniotomies provide a unique opportunity to examine both population and single neuron activity evoked by language directly from the brain. Here, we review the contributions of intracranial neurophysiology to the study of language, with a focus on speech perception. Advances in the design of electrode arrays, in addition to multivariate statistical and machine learning analysis tools, have provided an unprecedented detailed view of neural populations that subserve language. Recent discoveries using an intracranial approach complement those of noninvasive modalities and are contributing meaningfully to our detailed understanding of how sensory signals are transformed into abstract linguistic representations.
Ion cyclotron resonance and photoionization investigations of the thermochemistry and reactions of ions derived from CF3I

Abstract The techniques of ion cyclotron resonance spectroscopy and photoionization mass spectrometry are used to investigate the thermochemistry and ion/molecule reactions of ions derived from CF 3 I. Reaction sequences are identified and rate constants measured for reactive fragment ions using trapped-ion techniques at low pressure (0.5–1.0 × 10 −7 torr). Only bimolecular reactions are observed, and the results are contrasted with previous experiments at high pressures. Photoionization thresholds of 10.32 and 11.36 eV are measured for the molecular ion and CF 3 + fragment respectively. The latter threshold gives Δ H f o o (CF 3 + ) = 98.3 ∓ 1 kcal mol −1 or Δ H f 298 o (CF 3 + ) = 97.6 kcal mol −1 , which are shown to be in excellent agreement with independent determinations of this quantity.
Electrophysiological correlates of rapid escape reflexes in intact earthworms, Eisenia foetida. I. Functional development of giant nerve fibers during embryonic and postembryonic periods

Grids of recording electrodes etched onto printed circuit boards were used for noninvasive recording of medial (MGF) and lateral (LGF) giant nerve fiber spikes in developing earthworms, Eisenia foetida. Stereotyped patterns of through-conducted giant fiber spikes, evoked by light tactile stimulation, were first detectable in the normal crawling embryonic stage and continued to be detectable throughout postembryonic development. Giant fiber spiking activity in normal crawling embryos was accompanied by stereotyped muscle activity and rapid escape withdrawal, suggesting that giant fiber reflex pathways are functionally intact before the worm hatches. For both the MGF and LFG, several age-dependent changes were noted, including the following: increases in spike conduction velocity, increases in giant fiber diameter, and decreases in spike duration. The MGF conduction velocity in normal crawling embryos was 1.1-1.6 m s-1 (6-7 micrometers diameter) and increased to 7.0-8.5 m s-1 (20-25 micrograms diameter) by 60 days after hatching. The LGF conduction velocity in normal crawling embryos was 0.7-1.1 m s-1 (2.5-4.0 micrometers diameter) and increased to 4.0-5.5 m s-1 (8-14 micrometers diameter) by 60 days after hatching. During postembryonic development MGF and LGF conduction velocities were linearly related to fiber diameter.
Strength of quasi-isotropic co-cured composite joints under quasi-static and fatigue loading

Three composite joint configurations, namely, the straight laminate (SL), the single lap, and the single nested overlap (SNO) joints are investigated to ascertain the improvement of the SNO joint over the single lap joint under quasi-static and cyclic loading. The SNO joint is a co-cured composite joint design proposed previously, while the SL represents a perfect joint and serves as an upper bound for static strength and fatigue life comparisons. Stress-number curves are generated based on constant amplitude tension-tension cyclic loading at a frequency of 5 Hz and stress ratio (R) of 0.1 for quasi-isotropic graphite/epoxy (IM7/8551-7) joints. The maximum fatigue load is varied between an average of 70-90 % UTS for SL, 20–80 % ultimate tensile strength (UTS) for single lap joints and 40–95 % UTS for SNO joints. Fatigue run-out is defined at 1×106 cycles. The fatigue strength improvement of SNO joint is ascertained quantitatively through two indicators. Three quasi-static acoustic emission (AE) count peaks were identified during monotonic loading before eventually reaching a maximum at ultimate failure. The cumulative AE count peaks are used as a collective measurement of the significant damage event incurred under specific loading and subsequently correlated to the fatigue performance of each of these three joint configurations.