cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A size- and age-structured model to estimate fish recruitment, growth, mortality, and gear selectivity

Most stock assessment models are solely age-based and ignore variability in length-at-age, but the incorporation of length structure can improve parameter estimates. Here, we present an age- and length-structured population model to estimate fish recruitment, von Bertalanffy growth parameters, natural mortality, and gear selectivity from survey length- and age-specific catch, fishery length distributions, and total harvested biomass. We evaluated parameter bias when fitting the model to simulated data with variable fish longevity, survey sampling duration (i.e., years of data), survey gear selectivity (i.e., asymptotic or dome-shaped), instantaneous fishing mortality rate and fishing mortality trend (i.e., stable or increasing). Median proportional bias in mortality (fishing and natural), growth, and gear selectivity parameters did not exceed 0.05 across all scenarios. Median recruitment bias ranged up to 0.12 and was greatest for the short-lived species and for scenarios with increasing fishing mortality, but bias for all other scenarios was less than 0.1. The model was demonstrated using data from a whole-lake biomanipulation of gizzard shad (Dorosoma cepedianum) at a 2300-ha lake in Florida, USA. Model estimates of gizzard shad exploitation rate were similar to an independent estimate from an in-season depletion analysis. Estimates of gizzard shad natural mortality and growth parameters were within the range of literature values for the species. The model could be useful for estimating growth, mortality, and recruitment parameters that account for gear selectivity and the cumulative effects of size-selective harvest.
The anchored node backpropagation network

Summary form only given, as follows. Simple modifications to a standard backpropagation (BP) network have been made that result in a 90% decrease in training times for an eight input, one hidden layer, feedforward network. Compared to a similar BP network, the modified network is equally good at generalization and is not as sensitive to initial weight settings as measured by its likelihood of becoming trapped in a local minimum. >
Expediting the availability of drugs for US patients with cancer.

In this Viewpoint, the authors discuss the FDA's strategies for increasing access to new medicines for patients with serious or life-threatening illnesses. The article describes the currently available access mechanisms, and highlights the FDA's planned regulation revisions for expanding access.
Global Signatures and Dynamical Origins of the Little Ice Age and Medieval Climate Anomaly

Global temperatures are known to have varied over the past 1500 years, but the spatial patterns have remained poorly defined. We used a global climate proxy network to reconstruct surface temperature patterns over this interval. The Medieval period is found to display warmth that matches or exceeds that of the past decade in some regions, but which falls well below recent levels globally. This period is marked by a tendency for La Nina-like conditions in the tropical Pacific. The coldest temperatures of the Little Ice Age are observed over the interval 1400 to 1700 C.E., with greatest cooling over the extratropical Northern Hemisphere continents. The patterns of temperature change imply dynamical responses of climate to natural radiative forcing changes involving El Nino and the North Atlantic Oscillation-Arctic Oscillation.
Coherent Anti-Stokes Raman Scattering Imaging of Axonal Myelin in Live Spinal Tissues

We present a vibrational imaging study of axonal myelin under physiological conditions by laser-scanning coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS) microscopy. We use spinal cord white matter strips that are isolated from guinea pigs and kept alive in oxygen bubbled Krebs' solution. Both forward- and epi-detected CARS are used to probe the parallel axons in the spinal tissue with a high vibrational contrast. With the CARS signal from CH2 vibration, we have measured the ordering degree and the spectral profile of myelin lipids. Via comparison with the ordering degrees of lipids in myelin figures formed of controlled lipid composition, we show that the majority of the myelin membrane is in the liquid ordered phase. By measuring the myelin thickness and axon diameter, the value of g ratio is determined to be 0.68 with forward- and 0.63 with epi-detected CARS. Detailed structures of the node of Ranvier and Schmidt-Lanterman incisure are resolved. We have also visualized the ordering of water molecules between adjacent bilayers inside the myelin. Our observations provide new insights into myelin organization, complementary to the knowledge from light and electron microscopy studies of fixed and dehydrated tissues. In addition, we have demonstrated simultaneous CARS imaging of myelin and two-photon excitation fluorescence imaging of intra- and extraaxonal Ca2+. The current work opens up a new approach to the study of spinal cord injury and demyelinating diseases.
Exploiting local and global scene constraints in modeling large-scale dynamic 3D scenes from aerial video

This paper presents a framework to analyze a large amount of video data and extract high-level structural information - planar structures and motion information - in typical urban scenes, which may be used in video coding or object recognition. The method consists of two phases. In the first phase, multiple parallel-perspective (pushbroom) mosaics are generated from the video data. In the second phase, the planar structures and the moving objects are extracted from the mosaics by a segmentation-based stereo match method. The focus of this paper is the use of local and global scene constraints to improve the accuracy of high-level structural information extraction. The 3D planar patches obtained from the first step of 3D reconstruction are automatically clustered into one or more dominant planes, which are typical in indoor or outdoor city scene and are used to improve the 3D model. Then a local scene constraint is used to further refine the structure of a patch from the structures of its neighboring patches that have better structure estimations. Further, the dominant planes also provide information of road network directions, which greatly facilitates the search of moving objects on the roads. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach by experiments on a real video data set of a New York City scene.
On Cancer and People

The winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction blends a historical survey of cancer and Mukherjee9s "coming of age as an oncologist."
Modeling misidentification errors in capture-recapture studies using photographic identification of evolving marks.

Misidentification of animals is potentially important when naturally existing features (natural tags) are used to identify individual animals in a capture-recapture study. Photographic identification (photoID) typically uses photographic images of animals' naturally existing features as tags (photographic tags) and is subject to two main causes of identification errors: those related to quality of photographs (non-evolving natural tags) and those related to changes in natural marks (evolving natural tags). The conventional methods for analysis of capture-recapture data do not account for identification errors, and to do so requires a detailed understanding of the misidentification mechanism. Focusing on the situation where errors are due to evolving natural tags, we propose a misidentification mechanism and outline a framework for modeling the effect of misidentification in closed population studies. We introduce methods for estimating population size based on this model. Using a simulation study, we show that conventional estimators can seriously overestimate population size when errors due to misidentification are ignored, and that, in comparison, our new estimators have better properties except in cases with low capture probabilities (<0.2) or low misidentification rates (<2.5%).
Does Religiousness Increase Self-Control and Reduce Criminal Behavior?: A Longitudinal Analysis of Adolescent Offenders

Previous research suggests that religiousness correlates with less criminal behavior and that this relationship is partially mediated by higher self-control. Because most studies are cross-sectional, causality remains uncertain as stable between-subject factors may influence self-control, religiousness, and offending, confounding their relationships. Moreover, directionality may be reversed with higher self-control leading to both higher religiousness and less offending. The current research aimed to directly exclude these possibilities using longitudinal data from 1,354 adolescents participating in the Pathways to Desistance Study. Results indicated that short-term, within-subject increased religiousness predicted decreased future criminal behavior and that this effect was partially mediated by increased self-control. A reversed model in which past self-control predicted future religiousness was not significant. These findings suggest that religiousness may be causally related to offending, and self-cont...
The in vivo estrogenic and in vitro anti-estrogenic activity of permethrin and bifenthrin

Pyrethroids are highly toxic to fish at parts per billion or parts per trillion concentrations. Their intended mechanism is prolonged sodium channel opening, but recent studies reveal that pyrethroids such as permethrin and bifenthrin also have endocrine activity. Additionally, metabolites may have greater endocrine activity than parent compounds. The authors evaluated the in vivo concentration-dependent ability of bifenthrin and permethrin to induce choriogenin (an estrogen-responsive protein) in Menidia beryllina, a fish species known to reside in pyrethroid-contaminated aquatic habitats. The authors then compared the in vivo response with an in vitro assay--chemical activated luciferase gene expression (CALUX). Juvenile M. beryllina exposed to bifenthrin (1, 10, 100 ng/L), permethrin (0.1, 1, 10 µg/L), and ethinylestradiol (1, 10, 50 ng/L) had significantly higher ng/mL choriogenin (Chg) measured in whole body homogenate than controls. Though Chg expression in fish exposed to ethinylestradiol (EE2) exhibited a traditional sigmoidal concentration response, curves fit to Chg expressed in fish exposed to pyrethroids suggest a unimodal response, decreasing slightly as concentration increases. Whereas the in vivo response indicated that bifenthrin and permethrin or their metabolites act as estrogen agonists, the CALUX assay demonstrated estrogen antagonism by the pyrethroids. The results, supported by evidence from previous studies, suggest that bifenthrin and permethrin, or their metabolites, appear to act as estrogen receptor (ER) agonists in vivo, and that the unmetabolized pyrethroids, particularly bifenthrin, act as an ER antagonists in cultured mammalian cells.
Recycling titanium from Ti-waste by a low-temperature extraction process

In the commercial chloride process, titanium is extracted from Ti concentrates at high temperatures (800–1,500°C), and the high-purity rutile is the primary raw material. Chlorination at high temperatures results in high-energy consumption, rapid corrosion of equipment, pipelines and control system, and agglomeration of the solid bed by the liquid byproducts. The high-purity rutile is expensive and its natural deposit is being depleted. Therefore, a low-temperature Ti extraction process using Ti-waste as the primary raw material is highly desirable. Thermodynamic equilibrium simulation of the reaction system shows that the extraction of Ti from Ti waste is feasible at a temperature as low as 200°C. In this study, a simple technology was used to remove diffusion barriers, and a low-temperature chloride process was developed. The chlorination reaction operates at 300–350°C, and Ti-waste can be used to replace the expensive rutile. Up to 80% of the titanium can be recycled in 5 min at 350°C. The extraction of other components has a relatively low extent, so a selective extraction of Ti can be achieved. A fluidized-bed reactor was used for the chlorination process. The formation of an activated TiO2–C–Cl complex on the TiO2/C interface accounts for the gas-solid-solid reaction mechanism.
Indirect Measures of Causal Dimensions: Estimating the Reliability of a Composite of Separate Constructs

In 1987, Russell, McAuley, and Tarico examined the reliability of both indirect and direct measures of causal dimensions (i.e., stability, controllability, and locus of causality). Their results indicated that the reliability of indirect measures was unacceptably low and much worse than the reliability of Russell's directly measured Causal Dimension Scale. The purpose of the present study was to demonstrate that Russell and associates misconceptualized the nature of the constructs assessed in the indirect measures and, as a result, grossly underestimated their reliabilities. Findings indicated that, when properly conceptualized and analyzed, indirect measures are at least as reliable as direct measures.
Centralized Pricing Versus Delegating Pricing to the Salesforce Under Information Asymmetry

The issue of delegating pricing responsibility to the salesforce is of interest to marketing academics and practitioners. It has been shown by Lal (1986) that under certain situations with information asymmetry, it is more profitable for the firm to delegate pricing authority to the salesforce than to have centralized pricing. In this paper we re-examine situations where information asymmetry exists and analyze its effect on the decision of the firm to set a price or delegate pricing responsibility to the salesforce. Using contract theory, we find that when the salesperson's private information can be revealed to the firm through contracting, centralized pricing performs at least as well as price delegation. We derive the optimal centralized pricing contract under a set of standard assumptions used in the economics and business literature.
Characterizing host immune responses by monitoring fluorescently marked cells.

A multi-cellular organism is vulnerable to a multitude of challenges including infectious agents and malignancy. To maintain homeostasis, the organism must posses the ability to deter challenges po...
Synaptic basis for developmental plasticity in a birdsong nucleus

The development and adult production of birdsong are subserved by specialized brain nuclei, including the robust nucleus of the archistriatum (RA), and its afferents originating in the caudal nucleus of the ventral hyperstriatum (HVc) and the lateral portion of the magnocellular nucleus of the anterior neostriatum (L-MAN). An in vitro brain slice preparation was used to characterize the electrophysiological properties of L-MAN and HVc axonal synapses within RA and to examine how these synaptic connections change during the course of song development. Electrical stimulation of L-MAN and not HVc fibers evoked excitatory synaptic potentials from virtually all RA neurons in brain slices prepared from male and female zebra finches less than 25 d of age. These "L-MAN" EPSPs were blocked substantially by the NMDA receptor antagonist D(-)-2-amino-5-phosphonopentanoic acid (D-APV; 50-100 microM) and by hyperpolarization of the postsynaptic membrane. In contrast, when slices were prepared from male finches greater than 35 d of age, electrical stimulation of the L-MAN and the HVc fiber tracts evoked synaptic responses from over 70% of RA neurons. Although the L-MAN EPSPs resembled those seen in RA before day 25, the "HVc" EPSPs were relatively insensitive to D-APV, but almost completely abolished by 6-cyano-7-nitroquinoxaline-2,3-dione, a non-NMDA glutamate receptor antagonist. These experiments indicate that L-MAN and HVc axons make pharmacologically distinct synapses on the same RA neurons, and that these synapses first form at different stages during development.
Serum Cystatin C and the Incidence of Hypertension in Type 1 Diabetes Mellitus

Background Serum cystatin has been shown to be associated with hypertension in the general population. Little is known on the relationship of serum cystatin C with the long-term hypertension incidence in persons with diabetes. We examined the association of serum cystatin C with the incidence of hypertension over a 15-year period in people with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Methods The 15-year cumulative incidence of hypertension was measured in Wisconsin Epidemiologic Study of Diabetic Retinopathy participants. Hypertension was defined as a systolic blood pressure (BP) of ≥140 mm Hg and/or a diastolic BP of ≥90 mm Hg and/or history of use of antihypertensive treatment. The relation of cystatin C and other risk factors to hypertension incidence was determined with generalized linear modeling with the complementary log-log link function. Results After controlling for age, gender, diabetes duration, body mass index (BMI), glycosylated hemoglobin, and baseline systolic and diastolic BP, the baseline serum cystatin C was associated with the 15-year cumulative incidence of hypertension (hazard ratio (HR) per mg/l of cystatin C: 3.43, and 95% confidence interval: 1.36, 8.63). Conclusions These findings show a relationship of serum cystatin C with the incidence of hypertension in type 1 diabetes mellitus. The underlying biological processes remain to be determined.
Behavioral and monoamine perturbations in adult male mice with chronic inflammation induced by repeated peripheral lipopolysaccharide administration

Considering the limited information on the ability of chronic peripheral inflammation to induce behavioral alterations, including on their persistence after inflammatory stimuli termination and on associated neurochemical perturbations, this study assessed the effects of chronic (0.25 mg/kg; i.p.; twice weekly) lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment on selected behavioral, neurochemical and molecular measures at different time points in adult male C57BL/6 mice. Behaviorally, LPS-treated mice were hypoactive after 6 weeks, whereas significant hyperactivity was observed after 12 weeks of LPS and 11 weeks after 13 week LPS treatment termination. Similar biphasic responses, i.e., early decrease followed by a delayed increase were observed in the open field test center time, suggestive of, respectively, increased and decreased anxiety. In a forced swim test, mice exhibited increased immobility (depressive behavior) at all times they were tested. Chronic LPS also produced persistent increase in splenic serotonin (5-HT) and time-dependent, brain region-specific alterations in striatal and prefrontocortical dopamine and 5-HT homeostasis. Microglia, but not astrocytes, were activated by LPS early and late, but their activation did not persist after LPS treatment termination. Above findings demonstrate that chronic peripheral inflammation initially causes hypoactivity and increased anxiety, followed by persistent hyperactivity and decreased anxiety. Notably, chronic LPS-induced depressive behavior appears early, persists long after LPS termination, and is associated with increased splenic 5-HT. Collectively, our data highlight the need for a greater focus on the peripheral/central monoamine alterations and lasting behavioral deficits induced by chronic peripheral inflammation as there are many pathological conditions where inflammation of a chronic nature is a hallmark feature.
Promoting Social Interaction Skills to Influence Employment for Older Youths With Autism Spectrum Disorders

Date Presented 4/18/2015 Qualitative research on the perspective of parents of youths with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and school staff suggests that needed social interaction skills and strategies to address these skills need to be included in transition programming to support future employment.
Nature of Activated Manganese Oxide for Oxygen Evolution

Electrodeposited manganese oxide films (MnOx) are promising stable oxygen evolution catalysts. They are able to catalyze the oxygen evolution reaction in acidic solutions but with only modest activity when prepared by constant anodic potential deposition. We now show that the performance of these catalysts is improved when they are “activated” by potential cycling protocols, as measured by Tafel analysis (where lower slope is better): upon activation the Tafel slope decreases from ∼120 to ∼70 mV/decade in neutral conditions and from ∼650 to ∼90 mV/decade in acidic solutions. Electrochemical, spectroscopic, and structural methods were employed to study the activation process and support a mechanism where the original birnessite-like MnOx (δ-MnO2) undergoes a phase change, induced by comproportionation with cathodically generated Mn(OH)2, to a hausmannite-like intermediate (α-Mn3O4). Subsequent anodic conditioning from voltage cycling or water oxidation produces a disordered birnessite-like phase, which is ...
Analysis of Large, Natural Strain Increments Using the Mohr’s Circle

An approximate relation is developed between the magnitude of direct strain induced in line elements and their mean angle of relative orientation during straining. This relation, shown to be representable by means of a Mohr’s circle, leads to the evaluation of the principal strain components from the measurement of direct strain in three coplanar directions. Errors associated with such use are evaluated and plotted for various input parameters. The errors increase with the magnitude of the effective strain; for normal working conditions, effective strain increments of the order of 0·4 may be evaluated with an accuracy of about 1·3 per cent, or better. The proposed technique is simple, easily adaptable to computer work, and in usual practical applications yields results that differ insignificantly from those obtained by an ‘exact’ analysis.
Design Recommendations for Self-Paced Online Faculty Development Courses

An increased need for self-paced, online professional development opportunities in higher education has emerged from a variety of factors including dispersed geographic locations of faculty, full teaching loads, and institutional evaluation requirements. This article is a report of ﻿the examination of the design and evaluation of a self-paced online faculty development course about rubrics. A mixed-methods research design was implemented to collect quantitative and qualitative data from faculty members upon completion. Data obtained from an evaluation questionnaire, rubric artifact, self-reflections, and teaching improvement plan revealed that faculty viewed the course as a positive and useful experience. Specific design recommendations for instructional designers and faculty developers of self-paced online courses are provided. These design recommendations emphasize adult learning principles and transformative learning through self-reflection.
A game theory approach to identify alternative regulatory frameworks for hazardous materials routing

Hazardous materials (hazmat) transportation vehicles can be viewed as potential targets for terrorist attack because of the serious health and environmental risk produced by hazmat release. Some effective approaches in attack and disaster preparation are to restrict the transportation of hazmat on some high risk links, design robust routing schemes that direct hazmat vehicles through minimal risk paths, and to identify vulnerable links where a terrorist attack is likely to occur. In this paper, we apply a non-zero sum game theoretic framework between a hazmat router and terrorist to determine routing plans that maximize a hazmat carrier's payoff (utility) and to identify vulnerable links requiring additional defense against terrorist attack.
MetaSeer.STEM: towards automating meta-analyses

Meta-analysis is a principled statistical approach for summarizing quantitative information reported across studies within a research domain of interest. Although the results of meta-analyses can be highly informative, the process of collecting and coding the data for a meta-analysis is often a labor-intensive effort fraught with the potential for human error and idiosyncrasy. This is due to the fact that researchers typically spend weeks poring over published journal articles, technical reports, book chapters and other materials in order to retrieve key data elements that are then manually coded for subsequent analyses (e.g., descriptive statistics, effect sizes, reliability estimates, demographics, and study conditions). In this paper, we propose a machine learning based system developed to support automated extraction of data pertinent to STEM education meta-analyses, including educational and human resource initiatives aimed at improving achievement, literacy and interest in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Generalized Schrödinger Semigroups

Let X = (X t ) be a standard Brownian motion on R d and let μ be a Radon measure in the Kato class Kd. (See (1.1) below for the definition of the Kato class.) If A = (A t ) t>o is the continuous additive functional of X associated with μ, then the semigroup (S t ) t>0 defined below $$ {S_t}f(x) = {E^x}\{ {e^{{A_t}}}f({X_t})\},x \in {R^d} $$ is called a Schrodinger semigroup and it is of great importance in physics, and thus it has been studied by many authors, see [3], [13] and the references therein. Among other things, it is proved that the Schrodinger semigroup (S t ) t>o admits a jointly continuous symmetric integral kernel q(t, x,y) with the property that there exist constants C and s such that for any t >0 and any x, \( y \in {R^d} \) d (0.1) $$ {C^{ - 1}}{e^{ - \beta t}}{t^{ - \frac{d}{2}}}\exp ({\frac{{ - 3\left| {x - y} \right|}}{{4t}}^2}) \leqslant q(t,x,y) \leqslant C{e^{\beta t}}{t^{ - \frac{d}{2}}}\exp ({\frac{{ - \left| {x - y} \right|}}{{4t}}^2}) $$
Enantioselective Alkyne Conjugate Addition Enabled by Readily Tuned Atropisomeric P,N-Ligands

By the nature of its structure, the 5-membered chiral biaryl heterocyclic scaffold represents a departure from 6-membered P,N-ligands that facilitates tuning and enables ligand evolution to address issues of selectivity and reactivity. In this vein, the Cu-catalyzed enantioselective conjugate alkynylation of Meldrum’s acid acceptors is reported using Me-StackPhos. Enabled by this new ligand, the reaction tolerates a wide range of alkynes furnishing the products in high yields and excellent enantioselectivity. The transformation provides access to highly useful chiral β-alkynyl Meldrum’s acid building blocks as demonstrated by an efficient enantioselective synthesis of the preclinical agent OPC 51803.
Impaired Dual-Specificity Protein Phosphatase DUSP4 Reduces Corticosteroid Sensitivity

We have reported that phosphorylation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR) at Ser226 reduces GR nuclear translocation, resulting in corticosteroid insensitivity in patients with severe asthmas. A serine/threonine protein phosphatase 2A, which regulates c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) 1 and GR-Ser226 signaling, is involved in this mechanism. Here, we further explored protein kinase dual-specificity phosphatases (DUSPs) with the ability to dephosphorylate JNK, and identified DUSP4 as a phosphatase involved in the regulation of corticosteroid sensitivity. The effects of knocking down DUSPs (DUSP1, 4, 8, 16, and 22) by small interfering RNA (siRNA) were evaluated in a monocytic cell line (U937). Corticosteroid sensitivity was determined by dexamethasone enhancement of FK506-binding protein 51 or inhibition of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα)–induced interferon γ and interleukin 8 expression and GR translocation from cell cytoplasm to nucleus. The nuclear/cytoplasmic GR, phosphorylation levels of GR-Ser226 and JNK1, coimmunoprecipitated GR-JNK1-DUSP4, and DUSP4 expression were analyzed by western blotting and/or imaging flow cytometry. Phosphatase activity of immunoprecipitated (IP)-DUSP4 was measured by fluorescence-based assay. Knockdown of DUSP4 enhanced phosphorylation of GR-Ser226 and JNK1 and reduced GR nuclear translocation and corticosteroid sensitivity. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments showed that DUSP4 is associated with GR and JNK1. In peripheral blood mononuclear cells from severe asthmatics, DUSP4 expression was reduced versus healthy subjects and negatively correlated with phosphorylation levels of GR-Ser226 and JNK1. Formoterol enhanced DUSP4 activity and restored corticosteroid sensitivity reduced by DUSP4 siRNA. In conclusion, DUSP4 regulates corticosteroid sensitivity via dephosphorylation of JNK1 and GR-Ser226. DUSP4 activation by formoterol restores impaired corticosteroid sensitivity, indicating that DUSP4 is crucial in regulating corticosteroid sensitivity, and therefore might be a novel therapeutic target in severe asthma.
Abstract P255: Gut Microbiota Diversity and Specific Microbial Genera Associate with Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Findings From the Bogalusa Heart Study

Recent advances in sequencing technology have made it feasible to characterize human gut microbial communities (or microbiota) and examine their associations with disease outcomes, including cardiovascular disease (CVD) related traits. However, there is a paucity of research examining how the human gut microbiome may influence overall CVD risk in population based studies. The objective of the current study was to identify composite measures of microbiota diversity and specific microbial genera that associate with CVD risk among participants of the Bogalusa Heart Study (BHS). The current BHS cohort includes 1,257 participants who have been screened at least two times in childhood and two times in adulthood for CVD risk factors. For the microbiome study, we selected the 55 participants at highest CVD risk and 57 participants at lowest CVD risk using a z-score based data reduction technique, leveraging longitudinal mean measures of systolic BP, low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, and fasting plasma glucose levels. Next generation 16S rRNA sequencing of the V4 hypervariable region was conducted using genomic bacterial DNA extracted from stool samples of the 112 participants. The Wilcoxon rank sum test was used to examine differences in measures of alpha diversity, including observed operational taxonomic units (OTUs) and the Chao1 index, along with specific microbial taxa between CVD risk groups. Permutation multivariate analysis of variance (PERMANOVA) was used to test compositional differences based on unweighted Unifrac distance as a measure of beta diversity. We observed significantly less alpha diversity in those at high versus those at low CVD risk (P=0.04 and 0.02 for observed OTU and Chao1 index measures, respectively). The PERMANOVA test indicated marginal significance of compositional differences between the two groups (P=0.07). In addition, 10 microbial genera significantly differed between high and low CVD risk participants, including Faecalibacterium (P=0.0014), Subdoligranulum (P=0.01), Turicibacter (P=0.01), Rothia (P=0.01), Lachnospira (P=0.01), Haemophilus (P=0.03), Dialister (P=0.03), Bifidobacterium (P=0.03), Oscillibacter (P=0.04), and Megamonas (P=0.05). In summary, we provide empirical evidence of lower microbial enrichment among BHS participants at high versus those at low CVD risk, along with promising findings of differences in specific microbial genera between CVD risk groups.
Formally Copper(III)-Alkylperoxo Complexes as Models of Possible Intermediates in Monooxygenase Enzymes.

Reaction of [NBu4][LCuIIOH] with excess ROOH (R = cumyl or tBu) yielded [NBu4][LCuIIOOR], the reversible one-electron oxidation of which generated novel species with [CuOOR]2+ cores (formally CuIIIOOR), identified by spectroscopy and theory for the case R = cumyl. This species reacts with weak O–H bonds in TEMPO-H and 4-dimethylaminophenol (NMe2PhOH), the latter yielding LCu(OPhNMe2), which was also prepared independently. With the identification of [CuOOR]2+ complexes, the first precedent for this core in enzymes is provided, with implications for copper monooxygenase mechanisms.
GABA and Taurine Enzymes in Mammalian Brain

Publisher Summary γ -Aminobutyric acid (GABA) and taurine are two structurally related amino acids and both have been proposed as inhibitory neurotransmitters or modulators in the mammalian central nervous system. This chapter describes the purification procedures and basic physicochemical and kinetic properties of L-glutamate decarboxylase (GAD), GABA-transaminase (GABA-T), and cysteine sulfinate decarboxylase (CSAD)/ cysteic acid decarboxylase (CAD). The chapter also discusses the species, tissue, and cell specificities of GAD, GABA-T, and CSAD/CAD. GAD and GABA-T were purified from mouse brain by first extracting the enzymes from crude mitochondrial fraction, followed by ammonium sulfate fractionation and a combination of gel filtration, calcium phosphate gel, and DEAE-Sephadex column chromatographies. Eleven steps were employed in the purification of GAD and approximately 1.2% of the total activity was recovered as a purified enzyme preparation representing 940-fold purification over the original homogenate. GABA-T was purified 1200-fold over the brain homogenate with a specific activity of 5.0 units/mg of protein. The molecular weight of GAD and GABA-T from mouse brain was obtained as 85,000 ± 2000 and 109,000, respectively, from sedimentation equilibrium. The molecular weight of the human brain GAD was found to be about 100,000 by Sephadex-gel filtration and about 95,000 by sodium dodecyl sulfate -polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis.
THE MECHANISM OF POST-REPLICATION REPAIR IN MAMMALIAN CELLS

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses two mechanisms to explain post-replication repair in mammalian cells—the “gapped synthesis” model and the “replicative bypass” model. The “gapped synthesis” model predicts that (1) daughter strands replicated on damaged templates will contain discontinuities, (2) the size of the nascent strands should be equal to the distance between the damages, and (3) the rate of fork movement should be independent of the rate of discontinuity repair. The “replicative bypass” model predicts that (1) there will be no discontinuities in the daughter strands and (2) blocking repair would prevent fork movement. The chapter discusses the DNA fiber autoradiography, which was used to determine the rate of fork movement of growing replicons. To determine this rate, the average length of pulse labeled DNA segments were observed in the microscope.
T-Condylar Distal Humerus Fractures

By definition, T-condylar fractures are intra-articular, distal humerus fractures characterized by a central intercondylar split and extension of the fracture line proximally through both the medial and lateral columns. T-condylar fractures in children are rare elbow fractures and are, perhaps, the most challenging to manage. As opposed to the much more common supracondylar fractures of the humerus, these fractures more commonly require open reduction to restore the joint surface. Additionally, because patients with these injuries often straddle the border between pediatric and adult treatment strategies, pediatric orthopedic surgeons often are faced with using techniques for fixation that are less often used in the younger patient compared to simple pinning constructs.
Second-Generation Electronic Ligament Balancing for Knee Arthroplasty: A Cadaver Study

Abstract Background Knee instability is emerging as a major complication after total knee arthroplasty (TKA), with ligament laxity and component alignment listed as important contributory factors. Knee balancing remains an art and is largely dependent on the surgeon's subjective “feel.” The objectives were to measure the accuracy of an electronic balancing device to document the magnitude of correction in knee balance after soft-tissue releases and measure change in knee laxity after medial release. Methods The accuracy of a second-generation electronic ligament-balancing device was compared with that of 2 mechanical balancing instruments. TKA was performed in 12 cadaver knees. Soft-tissue balance was measured sequentially before TKA, after mounting a trial femoral component, after medial release, and after resecting the posterior cruciate ligament. Coronal laxity of the knee under a 10 Nm valgus moment was measured before and after medial release. Results The electronic balancing instrument was more accurate than mechanical instruments in measuring distracted gap and distraction force. On average, before TKA, the flexion gap was wider than the extension gap, and the medial gap was tighter than the lateral gap. Medial release increased the medial gap in flexion and increased passive knee valgus laxity. Posterior cruciate ligament release increased the tibiofemoral gap in both flexion and extension with a greater increase in the lateral gap. Conclusion The second-generation electronic balancing device was significantly more accurate than mechanical instruments and could record knee balance over the entire range of flexion. More accurate soft-tissue balance may enhance outcomes after TKA.
Opiates, Opioids Intoxication

Opiates are the psychoactive products found in the opium/poppy plant, mainly morphine and codeine. Opioids designate a larger family of chemical compounds that are similar to morphine in their action (e.g.: heroin hydrocodone, oxycodone, fentanyl). The use of opiates is as old as written human history and is well described in the antiquity by Hippocrates. Opioids receptors were discovered in the early 1970s. There are three known opioid receptors: μ, δ and κ. They regulate response to pain and other processes such as hunger, thirst, and breathing. Opioids also downregulate GABA which results in upregulation.
Use of Chitosan as a Bioactive Implant Coating for Bone-Implant Applications

Chitosan is the deacetylated derivative of the natural polysaccharide, chitin. Chitosan has been shown to be biocompatible, biodegradable, osteoconductive, and to accelerate wound healing. These characteristics are largely due to its structural and chemical homology to hyaluronic acid and other proteoglycans found in extracellular matrices. Because of these properties, chitosan has been investigated as a coating for implant materials to promote osseointegration, and as a potential vehicle to deliver therapeutic agents to the local implant–tissue interface. The coating of chitosan onto implant alloy surfaces has been achieved via chemical reactions and electrodeposition mechanisms as well as by other methods such as dip coating and layer-by-layer assembly. This work examines the different mechanisms and bond strengths of chitosan coatings for implant alloys, coating composition and physiochemical properties, degradation, delivery of therapeutic agents, such as growth factors and antibiotics, and in vitro and in vivo compatibilities.
How Twitter Can Support the HIV/AIDS Response to Achieve the 2030 Eradication Goal: In-Depth Thematic Analysis of World AIDS Day Tweets

Background: HIV/AIDS is a tremendous public health crisis, with a call for its eradication by 2030. A human rights response through civil society engagement is critical to support and sustain HIV eradication efforts. However, ongoing civil engagement is a challenge. Objective: This study aimed to demonstrate the use of Twitter data to assess public sentiment in support of civil society engagement. Methods: Tweets were collected during World AIDS Days 2014 and 2015. A total of 39,940 unique tweets (>10 billion users) in 2014 and 78,215 unique tweets (>33 billion users) in 2015 were analyzed. Response frequencies were aggregated using natural language processing. Hierarchical rank-2 nonnegative matrix factorization algorithm generated a hierarchy of tweets into binary trees. Tweet hierarchy clusters were thematically organized by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS core action principles and categorized under HIV/AIDS Prevention, Treatment or Care, or Support. Results: Topics tweeted 35 times or more were visualized. Results show a decrease in 2015 in the frequency of tweets associated with the fight to end HIV/AIDS, the recognition of women, and to achieve an AIDS-free generation. Moreover, an increase in tweets was associated with an integrative approach to the HIV/AIDS response. Hierarchical thematic differences in 2015 included no prevention discussion and the recognition of the pandemic’s impact and discrimination. In addition, a decrease was observed in motivation to fast track the pandemic’s end and combat HIV/AIDS. Conclusions: The human rights–based response to HIV/AIDS eradication is critical. Findings demonstrate the usefulness of Twitter as a low-cost method to assess public sentiment for enhanced knowledge, increased hope, and revitalized expectations for HIV/AIDS eradication.
Relation between Bayesian Fisher information and Shannon information for detecting a change in a parameter.

We derive a connection between the performance of statistical estimators and the performance of the ideal observer on related detection tasks. Specifically, we show how the task-specific Shannon information for the task of detecting a change in a parameter is related to the Fisher information and to the Bayesian Fisher information. We have previously shown that this Shannon information is related via an integral transform to the minimum probability of error on the same task. We then outline a circle of relations starting with this minimum probability of error and ensemble mean squared error for an estimator via the Ziv–Zakai inequality, then the ensemble mean squared error and the Bayesian Fisher information via the van Trees inequality, and finally the Bayesian Fisher information and the Shannon information for a detection task via the work presented here.
Using informatics and mobile health to improve medication safety monitoring in kidney transplant recipients.

Purpose The development, testing, and preliminary validation of a technology-enabled, pharmacist-led intervention aimed at improving medication safety and outcomes in kidney transplant recipients are described. Summary Medication safety issues, encompassing medication errors (MEs), medication nonadherence, and adverse drug events (ADEs), are a predominant cause of poor outcomes after kidney transplantation. However, a limited number of clinical trials assessing the effectiveness of technology in improving medication safety and outcomes in transplant recipients have been conducted. Through an iterative, evidence-based approach, a technology-enabled intervention aimed at improving posttransplant medication safety outcomes was developed, tested, and preliminarily validated. Early acceptability and feasibility results from a prospective, randomized controlled trial assessing the effectiveness of this system are reported here. Of the 120 patients enrolled into the trial at the time of writing, 60 were randomly assigned to receive the intervention. At a mean ± S.D. follow-up of 5.8 ± 4.0 months, there were 2 patient dropouts in the intervention group, resulting in a retention rate of 98%, which was higher than the expected 90% retention rate. Conclusion The development and deployment of a comprehensive medication safety monitoring dashboard for kidney transplant recipients is feasible and acceptable to patients in the current healthcare environment. An ongoing randomized controlled clinical trial is assessing whether such a system reduces MEs and ADRs, leading to improved patient outcomes.
Education and the Curious Case of Conservative Compromise

“Education,” notes Philip Converse, “is everywhere the universal solvent.” Whatever the ill of the body politic, many believe that greater education improves the condition. Much scholarship explore...
A Noninvasive, Electromagnetic, Epidermal Sensing Device for Hemodynamics Monitoring

Non-intrusive monitoring of blood flow parameters is vital for obtaining physiological and pathophysiological information pertaining to dynamic cardiovascular events and is feasible to achieve via non-invasive, conformal, wearable technologies. Here, we present a proof-of-concept of a fully integrated, high frequency (bandwidth 40 MHz), electromagnetic sensing device for monitoring limb hemodynamics and morphology associated with blood flow. The sensing architecture integrates a novel radio frequency (RF) skin patch resonator embedded with a coplanar outer loop antenna and a scalable, standalone wireless readout hardware based on standing wave ratio (SWR) bridge. The resonator itself is a copper-based open circuit planar Archimedean spiral with a rectangular cross-sectional area, chemically etched on a flexible polyimide substrate. The readout hardware is developed exploiting off-the-shelf components, fabricated on the top of a rigid FR4 substrate. The proposed readout circuit can measure resonant frequency of an RLC network. When energized by the external oscillating RF field via loop antenna, the resonator produces an electromagnetic field response which can be perturbed by dielectric variation inside its field boundary. Through leveraging this principle, the in-vitro experimental results from the benchtop models suggest that the resonator's RF attributes such as resonant frequency shift and magnitude variation of reflection coefficient due to fluid volume displacement can be successfully detected through the proposed hardware architecture. Hence, the system could be an alternative to the conventional, multimodal, non-invasive wearable sensing with an unprecedented capability of ubiquitous fluid phenomena detection from multiple sites of the human body.
Gender and age differences in the associations between family social roles and excessive alcohol use.

Abstract Background Familial social roles are known to have important links with both acute and chronic excessive alcohol use. However, whether and how these links vary across adulthood and by gender is not well understood and would provide insight into populations most at risk for excessive alcohol use. Methods This study used data from those ages 18 to 60 in the National Epidemiologic Study of Alcohol and Related Conditions-III survey (N=28,475). We examined the gender- and age-varying associations of current marital status (married vs. divorced/separated vs. never married) and parental status (parent vs. not) with acute (binge drinking) and chronic (exceeding weekly drinking guidelines) excessive alcohol use using time-varying effect modelling. Results Both marital and parental statuses were inversely associated with acute and chronic excessive alcohol use at most ages, however the magnitude of these associations and gender differences in these associations varied by age. There were greater differences between adults who were married vs. never married and parents vs. not in excessive alcohol use during young adulthood as compared to later adulthood. The association of parental status with acute excessive alcohol use was stronger for women compared to men in young adulthood. Conclusions Gender and age should be considered when examining risk and protective factors, particularly in examining the role of parenthood in acute excessive alcohol use. These findings will help target populations most at risk for chronic and acute excessive alcohol use.
Therapeutic Landscape for NAFLD in 2020

Lifestyle modifications focused on healthy eating and regular exercise are the primary recommendations for patients with nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). However, for multiple societal, psychological, physical, genetic, and epigenetic reasons, the ability of people to adopt and sustain such changes is challenging and typically not successful. To end the epidemic of NASH and prevent its complications, including cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma, pharmacological interventions are now being evaluated in clinical trials. Treatments include drugs targeting energy intake, energy disposal, lipotoxic liver injury, and the resulting inflammation and fibrogenesis that lead to cirrhosis. It is likely that patients develop the phenotype of NASH by multiple mechanisms, and thus the optimal treatments of NASH will likely evolve to personalized therapy once we understand the mechanistic underpinnings of NASH in each patient. Reviewed here is the treatment landscape in this rapidly evolving field with an emphasis on drugs in Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials.