cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Intraosseous hydroxocobalamin versus intravenous hydroxocobalamin compared to intraosseous whole blood or no treatment for hemorrhagic shock in a swine model

Objective: To determine if intraosseous (IO) hydroxocobalamin can improve systolic blood pressure (SBP) in a swine model after severe hemorrhagic shock. Methods: Thirty six swine (45-55 kg) were anesthetized, intubated, and instrumented with continuous femoral and pulmonary artery pressure monitoring and then hemorrhaged such that 30 percent of their blood volume was extracted over 20 minutes. Five minutes later, animals were randomly assigned to receive 500 mL IO whole blood, 150 mg / kg IO or intravenous (IV) hydroxocobalamin in 180 mL of saline, or no treatment and then monitored for 60 minutes. A sample size of eight animals per group was based on a power of 80 percent, an alpha of 0.05, and a small effect size to detect a difference in SBP between groups. Outcome data were analyzed using repeated measures analysis of variance (RMANOVA). Results: RMANOVA outcome analysis detected a significant difference between groups (p < 0.05). IO whole blood, IO hydroxocobalamin, and IV hydroxocobalamin groups were similar to each other, but significantly different compared to controls regarding SBP, mean arterial pressure (MAP), systemic vascular resistance, and heart rate. Differences in SBP and MAP were sustained throughout the experiment. At 60 minutes, the comparison among the groups, IO whole blood, IO hydroxocobalamin, IV hydroxocobalamin, and control, was the following: SBP 78.2 versus 83.7 versus 75.1 versus 55.3 mm Hg; MAP 62.7 versus 65 versus 60 versus 43 mm Hg. There was a significant interaction by time in lactate values (p < 0.01) such that control animal lactate values increased over time (3.3 mmol / L) compared to IO whole blood, IO or IV hydroxocobalamin treated animals (1.1, 1.6, 1.3 mmol/L). Conclusions: IO hydroxocobalamin improved SBP, MAP, compared to no treatment and was similar to IO whole blood and IV hydroxocobalamin in this animal model of severe hemorrhage. Moreover, whereas serum lactate was improving in all treated groups, it was deteriorating in the control group.
Return to Play and Performance After Jones Fracture in National Basketball Association Athletes

Background:Basketball players are at risk for foot injuries, including Jones fractures. It is unknown how this injury affects the future play and performance of athletes.Hypothesis:National Basketball Association (NBA) players who sustain Jones fractures of the base of the fifth metatarsal have high rates of return to play and do not experience a decrease in performance on return to competition when compared with preinjury and with control-matched peers.Study Design:Retrospective cohort study.Level of Evidence:Level 5.Methods:Data on 26 elite basketball players with Jones fractures over 19 NBA seasons (1994-1995 to 2012-2013) were obtained from injury reports, press releases, player profiles, and online public databases. Variables included age, body mass index (BMI), player position, experience, and surgical treatment. Individual season statistics pre- and postinjury were collected. Twenty-six controls were identified by matched player position, age, and performance statistics.Results:The mean age at the ...
Automated Simulation System of Moisture Diffusion and Hygrothermal Stress for Microelectronic Packaging

Moisture sensitivity of microelectronic packages is an area of great concern for the microelectronics industry. The differential swelling of materials in a non-hermetic package during manufacture, handling, storage, and assembly and during its lifetime can cause stresses large enough to damage the package. An automated simulation system (AutoSim) for moisture diffusion and related stress analysis is developed based on ANSYS® Workbench and Excel platform in this chapter. The automated simulation system includes five modules: a Package Model CAD Library, an Executable Wizard System, a Package Material Library, an Environment Options (or Library), and a Report Generation System. It allows users to select the geometry models from CAD library and then perform various moisture-related analyses automatically. This automated simulation system has been applied for moisture diffusion and related stress analysis of an MLP package. Comparison of the results based on the automated simulation system and ANSYS-Multiphysics is presented and discussed in this chapter. A design of experiment (DoE) simulation for epoxy mold compound material examination has been carried out and discussed. The simulation results show that the methodology developed in this chapter provides a high-efficiency solution for package designers and reliability and test engineers who do not have the modeling and the moisture physics background, to find the optimized result much faster than regular method. This may extremely save the design cycle time and the cost for the new product development.
Abstract 1681: DUOX1 expression in lung cancer disrupts pro-oncogenic activation mechanisms and localization of Src and EGFR

Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains to be one of the leading causes of cancer-related mortalities worldwide. The NADPH oxidase homolog, Dual Oxidase 1 (DUOX1), is an H2O2 producing enzyme located in the airway epithelium with key roles in mucosal host defense and wound repair mechanisms. Recent studies indicate that DUOX1 is epigenetically silenced in many forms of NSCLC via hypermethylation of its promoter. We previously demonstrated that DUOX1 silencing in lung cancer cells is associated with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a key feature of tumor invasiveness and metastasis, and that RNAi-mediated DUOX1 suppression can promote EMT, but the mechanism(s) by which DUOX1 silencing promotes these outcomes are not understood. Previous findings indicate that DUOX1-dependent epithelial host defense pathways are mediated by redox-dependent activation of epithelial signaling via the non-receptor tyrosine kinase, Src, and the receptor tyrosine kinase, EGFR. We therefore hypothesized that loss of DUOX1 in lung cancer may be associated with aberrant regulation of Src and/or EGFR, tyrosine kinases that are frequently overexpressed and activated in lung cancer and strongly contribute to tumor growth and survival. Furthermore, nuclear Src/EGFR localization and phosphorylation of EGFR-Y1101 in lung cancers was recently associated with metastatic cell behavior and poor clinical outcome. Preliminary findings in alveolar lung cancer A549 cells, which possesses some EMT-like features, indicate that DUOX1 overexpression redistributes Src localization to the plasma membrane and decreases its nuclear accumulation. Moreover, DUOX1 overexpression in A549 cells also suppressed EGF-stimulated EGFR internalization and nuclear translocation, in association with reduced EGFR phosphorylation on its Src target, Y1101. Conversely, RNAi-mediated silencing of DUOX1 in the epithelial cancer cell line H292 (which has retained DUOX1 expression) promoted EGF-mediated EGFR nuclear translocation and Y1101 phosphorylation. Further mechanistic studies will be performed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms by which DUOX1 is able to alter these events. Collectively, our findings indicate that DUOX1 silencing in lung cancer may contribute to EMT and/or tumor invasiveness by altering Src/EGFR localization and activation mechanisms. Citation Format: Andrew C. Little, Karamatullah Danyal, Robert A. Bauer, David E. Heppner, Milena Hristova, Christopher Dustin, Aida Habibovic, Albert van der Vliet. DUOX1 expression in lung cancer disrupts pro-oncogenic activation mechanisms and localization of Src and EGFR. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 107th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2016 Apr 16-20; New Orleans, LA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2016;76(14 Suppl):Abstract nr 1681.
JEWISH LAW AND MEDIEVAL LOGIC: WHY EATING HORSE MEAT IS A PUNISHABLE OFFENSE

This article presents a case study of the influence of Muslim and Christian logicians on medieval Jewish law. The case in question is why it is a punishable offense for Jews to eat mammals that do not have either sign of purity—that is, neither have split hooves nor chew their cud—and the article examines the answers given by three medieval Jewish sages: Rashi, Maimonides, and Naḥmanides. The Written Law of the Torah explicitly allows the consumption of mammals, such as cattle, with both signs of purity. It also explicitly prohibits the eating of mammals, such as camels or pigs, with one sign but not the other. It does not, however, appear to explicitly prohibit the consumption of mammals, such as horses, with neither sign. Using a fortiori logic, Rashi derives a punishable prohibition against eating horses from the prohibition against eating camels and pigs. Maimonides ascribes this prohibition to the Oral Law of the Talmud. Naḥmanides, by contrast, attributes it directly to the Written Law without relying on either a fortiori logic or the Oral Law. This article argues that this solution was available to Naḥmanides because he adopted inclusive disjunction from Christian logicians, but it was not available to Maimonides because he adopted exclusive disjunction from Muslim logicians. The choice between inclusive and exclusive disjunction is shown to continue to be of importance in modern American law.
Assigning Peptide Disulfide Linkage Pattern Among Regio-Isomers via Methoxy Addition to Disulfide and Tandem Mass Spectrometry

Pinpointing disulfide linkage pattern is critical in the characterization of proteins and peptides consisting of multiple disulfide bonds. Herein, we report a method based on coupling online disulfide modification and tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to distinguish peptide disulfide regio-isomers. Such a method relies on a new disulfide bond cleavage reaction in solution, involving methanol as a reactant and 254 nm ultraviolet (UV) irradiation. This reaction leads to selective cleavage of a disulfide bond and formation of sulfenic methyl ester (–SOCH3) at one cysteine residue and a thiol (–SH) at the other. Under low energy collision-induced dissociation (CID), cysteine sulfenic methyl ester motif produces a signature methanol loss (–32 Da), allowing its identification from other possible isomeric structures such as S-hydroxylmethyl (–SCH2OH) and methyl sulfoxide (–S(O)-CH3). Since disulfide bond can be selectively cleaved and modified upon methoxy addition, subsequent MS2 CID of the methoxy addition product provides enhanced sequence coverage as demonstrated by the analysis of bovine insulin. More importantly, this reaction does not induce disulfide scrambling, likely due to the fact that radical intermediates are not involved in the process. An approach based on methoxy addition followed by MS3 CID has been developed for assigning disulfide linkage patterns in peptide disulfide regio-isomers. This methodology was successfully applied to characterizing peptide systems having two disulfide bonds and three disulfide linkage isomers: side-by-side, overlapped, and looped-within-a-loop configurations.
Offspring of parents who were separated and not speaking to one another have reduced resistance to the common cold as adults

Exposure to parental separation or divorce during childhood has been associated with an increased risk for physical morbidity during adulthood. Here we tested the hypothesis that this association is primarily attributable to separated parents who do not communicate with each other. We also examined whether early exposure to separated parents in conflict is associated with greater viral-induced inflammatory response in adulthood and in turn with increased susceptibility to viral-induced upper respiratory disease. After assessment of their parents’ relationship during their childhood, 201 healthy volunteers, age 18–55 y, were quarantined, experimentally exposed to a virus that causes a common cold, and monitored for 5 d for the development of a respiratory illness. Monitoring included daily assessments of viral-specific infection, objective markers of illness, and local production of proinflammatory cytokines. Adults whose parents lived apart and never spoke during their childhood were more than three times as likely to develop a cold when exposed to the upper respiratory virus than adults from intact families. Conversely, individuals whose parents were separated but communicated with each other showed no increase in risk compared with those from intact families. These differences persisted in analyses adjusted for potentially confounding variables (demographics, current socioeconomic status, body mass index, season, baseline immunity to the challenge virus, affectivity, and childhood socioeconomic status). Mediation analyses were consistent with the hypothesis that greater susceptibility to respiratory infectious illness among the offspring of noncommunicating parents was attributable to a greater local proinflammatory response to infection.
Comparisons Between the Response of German Cockroach Field-Collected Strains (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae) to Vapors and Contact with a Cyfluthrin Formulation

Research on differences in insecticide-induced behavior of German cockroach field-collected strains was continued. Late instar nymphs (5th–6th stadia) were drawn from the Fairbanks, an insecticide ...
Posthuman research practices in education

In this volume, the editors Carol Taylor and Christina Hughes along with the contributors make a strong case that in order to do posthumanist research practices we must engage with experimentation ...
Extracellular RNA profiles with human age

Circulating extracellular RNAs (exRNAs) are potential biomarkers of disease. We thus hypothesized that age-related changes in exRNAs can identify age-related processes. We profiled both large and small RNAs in human serum to investigate changes associated with normal aging. exRNA was sequenced in 13 young (30-32 years) and 10 old (80-85 years) African American women to identify all RNA transcripts present in serum. We identified age-related differences in several RNA biotypes, including mitochondrial transfer RNAs, mitochondrial ribosomal RNA, and unprocessed pseudogenes. Age-related differences in unique RNA transcripts were further validated in an expanded cohort. Pathway analysis revealed that EIF2 signaling, oxidative phosphorylation, and mitochondrial dysfunction were among the top pathways shared between young and old. Protein interaction networks revealed distinct clusters of functionally-related protein-coding genes in both age groups. These data provide timely and relevant insight into the exRNA repertoire in serum and its change with aging.
Pragmatism, Inquiry, and Design: A Dynamic Approach

There is an underappreciated affinity between the Daniel C. Dennett’s account of the evolution of intelligence and design and the theory of inquiry developed by American pragmatists, such as Charles Sanders Peirce and John Dewey. This pragmatic theory of inquiry has its basis in homeostasis and allostasis. This biological basis serves as a dynamic platform for sophisticated technoscientific inquiry through which humans produce designs of their own as well as retroactively learn of design in nature.
Excess Rumen Undegradable Protein Alters Parameters of Reproductive Function in Beef Cows

Evolution of the ethanol industry will likely result in future distiller’s grains feedstuffs that are more concentrated in crude protein (CP) and less concentrated in fat. However, the direct effects of excess dietary CP on reproductive function in beef cows have not been adequately addressed. In the present study, we observed that excess dietary CP derived from a rumen undegradable protein (RUP) abundant feedstuff impacted ovarian follicular growth patterns and affected follicular estradiol production and circulating concentrations of progesterone in the subsequent estrous cycle. The mechanisms by which these physiological and endocrine changes occur as a result of excessive RUP supplementation have not been fully elucidated. However, the need exists to continue research to determine how CP from these feedstuffs, when fed as a supplemental energy source in low quality forage-based diets, may impact reproductive efficiency in the beef herd.
Correlation Between Physical Measurements and Sensory Assessments of Texture and Viscosity

This chapter is designed to discuss the correlation between physical measurements and sensory assessments of texture and viscosity. There are several reasons for measuring physical properties of foods: engineering process design, determination of structure, and texture. Sometimes these measurements are employed to establish a quality grade used to set a price for the product. The quality of correlation between sensory and objective measurements of texture is of paramount importance. To be of value, instrument readings need to have a high level of predictability of sensory assessments of textural quality. The human assessment of texture has to be the standard against which instrument readings are calibrated. Texture is a sensory attribute, perceived by the senses of touch, sight, and hearing. Thus, the only direct method of measuring texture is by means of one or more senses. Nonsensory techniques can never be more accurate than sensory methods. The accuracy of the former can only be judged by their ability to predict the sensory quality being studied. Consumers have a rich vocabulary of words relating to quality.. Scientists have the task of translating these descriptors into scientific principles, which can be measured by instruments. The number of instruments being used to measure food texture or viscosity is much smaller than the number of human beings measuring texture.
An Investigation of Racial and Ethnic Homophily on Grindr Among an Ongoing Cohort Study of YMSM

Men who have sex with men (MSM), and especially MSM of color, are disproportionately affected by HIV. Previous research shows that MSM have high levels of racial/ethnic homophily (the tendency for people to have sex with others who share the same racial/ethnic identification) in sexual dyads, which may help explain HIV disparities. This study fills a gap in previous research by grounding network data from a cohort study of young MSM in Chicago (RADAR) in the contexts of virtual spaces (VSs) and examining differences in levels of racial/ethnic homophily using multilevel-logistic-regression models. Results show that Grindr differs from other VSs in proportions of racially/ethnically homophilous dyads and by partner racial/ethnic identification. After controlling for general homophily trends, sex partnerships formed on Grindr by Black MSM were significantly less likely to be homophilous than those of White MSM. While racial/ethnic groups differ in likelihood to form homophilous partnerships, this trend varies by VS.
Enhanced molecular beacon based DNA detection using plasmonic open-ring nanoarrays

Molecular beacon (MB) probe is a fluorophore-labeled oligonucleotide and has been widely used in biological analysis and medical diagnostics by detecting DNA or RNA with specific sequences. The MB initially folds into a loop shape that brings the fluorophore close to a quencher for fluorescence quenching. It opens up upon the binding of target DNA that separates the fluorophore from the quencher to allow fluorescence emission. In this paper, we experimentally demonstrate the use of a silver open-ring nanostructure array (ORA) to enhance both fluorescence emission and quenching of MBs for highly sensitive DNA detection. The ORA displays a broadband resonance spectrum to enhance both the excitation and emission of fluorophores. The fluorescence enhancement is highly dependent on the distance between nanostructure and fluorophore. The couplings of the fluorescence emission and the external excitation with the proximate plasmonic nanostructure result in coherent electron oscillations that in turn act as secondary excitation of the fluorophore in a ~10 nm separation distance, leading to fluorescent enhancement. The resonance feature of ORA also improved the Forster resonance energy transfer between the fluorophore and ORA in an even shorter separation distance that promotes the fluorescence quenching. The enhanced fluorescence emission and quenching amplified the on-off ratio of the detection signal. The sensor was integrated into a microfluidic chamber to handle microliter-volume analyte and achieved a ~300 fM detection limit, an equivalent 360 zmol in a 1.2 μL analyte volume, superior to the detection on plane silver surfaces.
Altered Cervical Spinal Cord Resting‐State Activity in Fibromyalgia

OBJECTIVE Altered afferent input and central neural modulation are thought to contribute to fibromyalgia symptoms, and these processes converge within the spinal cord. We undertook this study to investigate the hypothesis that, using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI) of the cervical spinal cord, we would observe altered frequency-dependent activity in fibromyalgia. METHODS Cervical spinal cord rs-fMRI was conducted in fibromyalgia patients (n = 16) and healthy controls (n = 17). We analyzed the amplitude of low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF), a measure of low-frequency oscillatory power, for frequencies of 0.01-0.198 Hz and frequency sub-bands to determine regional and frequency-specific alterations in fibromyalgia. Functional connectivity and graph metrics were also analyzed. RESULTS As compared to healthy controls (n = 14), greater ventral and lesser dorsal mean ALFF of the cervical spinal cord was observed in fibromyalgia patients ( n = 15) (uncorrected P < 0.05) for frequencies of 0.01-0.198 Hz and all sub-bands. Additionally, lesser mean ALFF within the right dorsal quadrant (corrected P < 0.05) for frequencies of 0.01-0.198 Hz and sub-band frequencies of 0.073-0.198 Hz was observed in fibromyalgia. Regional mean ALFF was not correlated with pain; however, regional lesser mean ALFF was correlated with fatigue in patients (r = 0.763, P = 0.001). Functional connectivity and graph metrics were similar between groups. CONCLUSION Our results indicate unbalanced activity between the ventral and dorsal cervical spinal cord in fibromyalgia. Increased ventral neural processes and decreased dorsal neural processes may reflect the presence of central sensitization and contribute to fatigue and other bodily symptoms in fibromyalgia.
Gender and the Balance of Parenting and Professional Life among Gynecology Subspecialists.

STUDY OBJECTIVE To compare the parenting and career patterns of female and male gynecology subspecialists. DESIGN Cross-sectional survey study (Canadian Task Force classification II-3). SETTING Survey administered electronically in February 2015 to physician members of the Society of Gynecologic Oncology, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, and the American Urogynecologic Society. PARTICIPANTS All physician members of the 3 national gynecology subspecialty organizations listed above. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS There were 75 questions in 4 domains: demographics, mentoring issues, work-life balance, and caregiving responsibilities. Data were analyzed for survey sampling weights. Six hundred seventy-seven physicians completed the survey, 62% of whom were women (n = 420; 20.2% response rate). Sixty-four percent were aged 36 to 55 years. Eighty-two percent of respondents had at least 1 child, and men had more children than women (42% of men had 3 or more children compared with 20% of women, p <.0001). Thirty-seven percent of women reported that career plans affected the decision to become a parent somewhat or very much compared with 23% of men (p = .0006). Eighty-three percent of women believed career affected the timing of becoming a parent somewhat or very much compared with 48% of men (p <.0001). In addition, 76% of female physicians perceived that having children decreased their academic productivity compared with 54% of male physicians (p <.0001). Most men and women believed having children had no effect or increased their clinical performance (76% and 65%, respectively), but this was significantly lower in women (p = .01). CONCLUSION Female gynecology subspecialists perceive that their career impacted decisions on parenting more frequently than their male counterparts. They were also more likely than men to report that having children had a negative impact on academic and, to a lesser extent, clinical performance. Increased support for combining childbirth and parenting with training and academic careers is needed.
Stem cell proliferation is induced by apoptotic bodies from dying cells during epithelial tissue maintenance.

Epithelial tissues require the removal and replacement of damaged cells to sustain a functional barrier. Dying cells provide instructive cues that can influence surrounding cells to proliferate, but how these signals are transmitted to their healthy neighbors to control cellular behaviors during tissue homeostasis remains poorly understood. Here we show that dying stem cells facilitate communication with adjacent stem cells by caspase-dependent production of Wnt8a-containing apoptotic bodies to drive cellular turnover in living epithelia. Basal stem cells engulf apoptotic bodies, activate Wnt signaling, and are stimulated to divide to maintain tissue-wide cell numbers. Inhibition of either cell death or Wnt signaling eliminated the apoptosis-induced cell division, while overexpression of Wnt8a signaling combined with induced cell death led to an expansion of the stem cell population. We conclude that ingestion of apoptotic bodies represents a regulatory mechanism linking death and division to maintain overall stem cell numbers and epithelial tissue homeostasis. Damaged epithelial tissues are known to compensate for cell death through compensatory cell divisions to maintain epithelial integrity. Here, the authors show in living epithelia that dying cells stimulate adjacent stem cells to divide through caspase-dependent production of Wnt8a-containing apoptotic bodies.
Best Practices in Data Collection and Preparation: Recommendations for Reviewers, Editors, and Authors:

We offer best-practice recommendations for journal reviewers, editors, and authors regarding data collection and preparation. Our recommendations are applicable to research adopting different epist...
Hip or spine surgery first?: a survey of treatment order for patients with concurrent degenerative hip and spinal disorders

Aims Patients may present with concurrent symptomatic osteoarthritis (OA) of the hip and degenerative disorders of the lumbar spine, with surgical treatment being indicated for both. Whether arthro...
Suprascapular neuropathy: A review of 87 cases.

Introduction Suprascapular neuropathy (SSN) is rare, with an estimated prevalence of 4.3% in patients with shoulder pain. Methods This retrospective chart review included patients with SSN seen during a 16-year period. Demographics and clinical information were recorded. Descriptive statistics, including percentages, means, and standard deviations, were computed for the variables of interest for all patients. Results Of 87 patients included in this study, trauma (n = 27) was the most common cause of SSN, followed by neuralgic amyotrophy (n = 21). Fifty-seven patients had isolated SSN. Others had SSN associated with axillary neuropathy (23 patients), brachial plexopathy (3 patients), and long thoracic, radial, or spinal accessory neuropathy (1 patient each). Discussion SSN is commonly associated with axillary neuropathy. Trauma remains the most common cause of SSN. Electrodiagnostic findings aid in the initial diagnosis and may indicate the need for close clinical follow-up based on the severity of the axonal injury.
Kinetic and structural evidence that Asp-678 plays multiple roles in catalysis by the quinoprotein glycine oxidase.

PlGoxA from Pseudoalteromonas luteoviolacea is a glycine oxidase that utilizes a protein-derived cysteine tryptophylquinone (CTQ) cofactor. A notable feature of its catalytic mechanism is that it forms a stable product-reduced CTQ adduct that is not hydrolyzed in the absence of O2. Asp-678 resides near the quinone moiety of PlGoxA, and an Asp is structurally conserved in this position in all tryptophylquinone enzymes. In those other enzymes, mutation of that Asp results in no or negligible CTQ formation. In this study, mutation of Asp-678 in PlGoxA did not abolish CTQ formation. This allowed, for the first time, studying the role of this residue in catalysis. D678A and D678N substitutions yielded enzyme variants with CTQ, which did not react with glycine, although glycine was present in the crystal structures in the active site. D678E PlGoxA was active but exhibited a much slower kcat. This mutation altered the kinetic mechanism of the reductive half-reaction such that one could observe a previously undetected reactive intermediate, an initial substrate-oxidized CTQ adduct, which converted to the product-reduced CTQ adduct. These results indicate that Asp-678 is involved in the initial deprotonation of the amino group of glycine, enabling nucleophilic attack of CTQ, as well as the deprotonation of the substrate-oxidized CTQ adduct, which is coupled to CTQ reduction. The structures also suggest that Asp-678 is acting as a proton relay that directs these protons to a water channel that connects the active sites on the subunits of this homotetrameric enzyme.
Uncertainty Estimation with Distributional Reinforcement Learning for Applications in Intelligent Transportation Systems: A Case Study

Reinforcement learning (RL) algorithms have been successfully used in the area of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) for applications such as energy management strategies (EMS) of hybrid electric vehicles, autonomous driving, traffic light cycle control and bottleneck decongestion. In this work, we investigate a distributional RL algorithm on an EMS problem as a case study to show the benefits of estimating the uncertainty associated with different actions at different states. The uncertainty estimation is highly beneficial to ITS applications as randomness and uncertainty are intrinsic characteristics of real-world problems due to incomplete knowledge of the environment and the stochastic nature of some real-world systems and human behaviors. The modeled uncertainty has the form of a return distribution for taking an action at a certain state. We provide a case study to show that only considering the expected reward value would result in a loss of important information such as the spread. By modeling the return distribution, domain knowledge can be incorporated to make the results more interpretable. Also, risk-sensitive strategies can be developed to build more robust solutions using a chosen utility function.
The Human Gut Microbiome’s Influence on Arsenic Toxicity

Arsenic exposure is a public health concern of global proportions with a high degree of interindividual variability in pathologic outcomes. Arsenic metabolism is a key factor underlying toxicity, and the primary purpose of this review is to summarize recent discoveries concerning the influence of the human gut microbiome on the metabolism, bioavailability, and toxicity of ingested arsenic. We review and discuss the current state of knowledge along with relevant methodologies for studying these phenomena. Bacteria in the human gut can biochemically transform arsenic-containing compounds (arsenicals). Recent publications utilizing culture-based approaches combined with analytical biochemistry and molecular genetics have helped identify several arsenical transformations by bacteria that are at least possible in the human gut and are likely to mediate arsenic toxicity to the host. Other studies that directly incubate stool samples in vitro also demonstrate the gut microbiome’s potential to alter arsenic speciation and bioavailability. In vivo disruption or elimination of the microbiome has been shown to influence toxicity and body burden of arsenic through altered excretion and biotransformation of arsenicals. Currently, few clinical or epidemiological studies have investigated relationships between the gut microbiome and arsenic-related health outcomes in humans, although current evidence provides strong rationale for this research in the future. The human gut microbiome can metabolize arsenic and influence arsenical oxidation state, methylation status, thiolation status, bioavailability, and excretion. We discuss the strength of current evidence and propose that the microbiome be considered in future epidemiologic and toxicologic studies of human arsenic exposure.
Retrieval of Polarizability Matrix for Metamaterials

Exact retrieval of polarizability matrix is of critical importance in designing metamaterials and frequency-selective surfaces. We evaluate practical methods for effectively extracting the polarizability matrix of dielectric and metallic metamaterials. We focus on three approaches: analytical solutions, induced or displacement current distributions, and reflection/transmission parameters. The analytical solutions are limited to particles of canonical shapes; even minor alterations in the structure results in a different analytical model. In case of arbitrary shapes, it is useful to adopt the approach based on the calculation of the induced or displacement current distributions of the excited particle in response to plane wave illumination. A more rigorous estimate of the polarizability matrix for irregular shapes is possible via measured or simulated reflection/transmission parameters. We provide new insights related to the empirical and theoretical analysis of these algorithms. In particular, we show that, wherever applicable, these methods retrieve all components of polarizability matrix identically.
Un sistema de Economía social de mercado para una Europa solidaria, responsable y productiva

This editorial analyses a breakthrough in the design of European integration in favor of social reordering, that took place in Lisbon in 2007. It is, therefore, an analysis of the ethics pertaining to the domestic market, following the best cultural tradition of social constitutionalism of a good part of the European States: the social economic market system. While it was the State that contemplated this issue in the past century, it now corresponds to us, 21st century Europeans, to reﬂect upon the market. With the formal establishment of a socioeconomic system with normative capacities, the social economy of the market could lead to the integration of the most authentic and highest aspirations of the European soul: solidarity, responsibility and productivity. Europe can only leave behind its profound and persistent crisis if it manages not to lose its soul. This task is not only Europe’s to carry out, but has to be the work of citizens in all European countries. We must succeed in resocialising the European project with new vigor, with new clarity, with a new passion for Europe. The editorial refers to a recent document of the Commission of the Catholic episcopate of the EU (October, 2011, made public in January 2012): A European Community of Solidarity and Responsibility.
Elixir of Youth: Lipid Signaling Chaperones Synthesized in the Liver.

Organ fibrosis represents a default tissue program activated when regenerative capacity is limited. In this issue of Developmental Cell, Ding et al. identify a lipid signaling pathway involving the liver synthesized chaperone ApoM as a circulating pro-regenerative mediator that is deficient in aging and mitigates fibrosis in distant organs.
Temporal Variation in Genetic Composition of Migratory Helicoverpa Zea in Peripheral Populations

Migrant populations of Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) captured during 2002, 2005, 2016, and 2018 from Landisville and Rock Springs in Pennsylvania, USA were genotyped using 85 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers. Samples (n = 702) genotyped were divided into 16 putative populations based on collection time and site. Fixation indices (F-statistics), analysis of molecular variance, and discriminant analysis of principal components were used to examine within and among population genetic variation. The observed and expected heterozygosity in putative populations ranged from 0.317–0.418 and 0.320–0.359, respectively. Broad range of FST (0.0–0.2742) and FIS (0.0–0.2330) values indicated different genotype frequencies between and within the populations, respectively. High genetic diversity within and low genetic differentiation between populations was found in 2002 and 2005. Interestingly, high genetic differentiation between populations from two collection sites observed in 2018 populations was not evident in within-site comparisons of putative populations collected on different dates during the season. The shift of H. zea population genetic makeup in 2018 may be influenced by multiple biotic and abiotic factors including tropical storms. Continued assessment of these peripheral populations of H. zea will be needed to assess the impacts of genetic changes on pest control and resistance management tactics.
Radiation-induced mitochondria-associated adaptive responses in tumorigenic human prostate cell lines

5763 Although accumulated data suggest that exposure of mammalian cells to different doses of ionizing radiation can induce adaptive responses to subsequent radiation exposures, the mechanism underlying such results still remains unclear. We have reported that cultured normal and tumor cells surviving long-term fractionated radiation exposure express radioresistant phenotypes. The purpose of this research is to identify the functional shift in mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation complexes in response to fractionated radiation exposure. The cell lines have been established from human neonatal prostate epithelium by transfection with SV40 (named 267B1) or co-transfection with SV40 and vKi-Ras. Clonogenic survival and animal xenograft experiments demonstrate that Ki cells are tumorigenic and radioresistant. A profile of clones has been established with the radiation regimen of long-term exposure with different daily doses. We are currently measuring the expression level and phosphorylation activities of nuclear encoded oxidative phosphorylation proteins, particularly cytochrome c oxidase (complex IV). We aim to identify if any components of cytochrome c oxidase are responsible for retaining mitochondria stability and result in tumor radioresistance which can lead to generating specific targets to enhance the therapy of prostate cancer.
Vertical Integration and Physician Practice Labor Composition.

With the growth of vertical integration among physician practices (i.e., hospital–physician integration), there have been many studies of its effects on health care treatments and spending. It is u...
Adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy, multifocal ERG and OCTA in unique case of suspected torpedo maculopathy presenting with vitelliform lesion.

Abstract Purpose To report the case of a ten-year old girl with torpedo maculopathy with a complete vitelliform lesion and describe associated optical coherence tomography (OCT), OCT angiography (OCTA), multifocal electroretinogram (ERG) and adaptive optics ophthalmoscopy (AOO) imaging of the lesion. Observations An asymptomatic ten-year old girl with visual acuity of 20/15 OU was referred for evaluation of possible Best's disease of her left eye. The unilaterality, location, and shape of the lesion was consistent with torpedo maculopathy. OCT and autofluorescence (AF) revealed that the entire lesion was composed of subretinal hyperreflective material that was hyperautofluorescent, consistent with vitelliform material. Within the boundary of the lesion, OCTA showed reduced choriocapillaris density while adjacent to the lesion, the choriocapillaris density was slightly increased. Microperimetry demonstrated normal sensitivity in both eyes, electrooculograms (EOG) were normal and multifocal ERG showed symmetrical mildly supernormal amplitudes. Additionally, AOO demonstrated that nasal to the lesion there were clusters of hyper-reflective areas, and immediately adjacent to the lesion cones were poorly resolved. However, there was a return to more normal photoreceptor architecture outside of the lesion. Conclusions and Importance Torpedo maculopathy lesions typically present with outer retinal attenuation and retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE) atrophy. Vitelliform material was recently observed for the first time in association with Torpedo maculopathy in a case report that described small vitelliform material at the periphery of the lesion. We report the second case of torpedo maculopathy associated with a vitelliform lesion and the first description of a torpedo lesion composed fully of presumed vitelliform material. We also describe findings of OCTA, multifocal ERG and AOO imaging in torpedo maculopathy with vitelliform lesion.
Expanding the Scope of Cross Examination so that Jurors Can Infer Witness Calibration

Jurors rely heavily on witnesses' confidence and veracity when evaluating credibility. Three studies demonstrate that jurors will regard a witness's calibration - the relation between that witness's own confidence and accuracy - as more important than either confidence or veracity when calibration information is available. We have already shown (Tenney et al. 2007) that initially jurors prefer a high-confidence witness; however, when an error allows the evaluation of calibration, jurors prefer a low-confidence but well-calibrated witness to a high-confidence poorly-calibrated one. Experiment 1 rules out the explanation that "modesty in the face of errors" is what matters. Experiment 2 shows that jurors understand that "good faith errors" are not errors in calibration. Experiment 3 shows that intentional lies are not treated as errors in calibration. Our results encourage a broad interpretation of FRE 611(b), allowing for more extensive cross-examination to provide calibration information that is relevant to credibility judgments. Calibration information can ameliorate over-reliance on witness confidence. Explanations for calibration errors can be important to witness credibility.
Targeting calcium-related mechanotransduction in early OA.

Sensation of mechanical stimuli by chondrocytes is critical to cartilage homeostasis and osteoarthritis development. The earliest responses in chondrocyte mechanotransduction pathways involve calcium influx and changes in mitochondrial function, which occur in seconds to minutes. Deeper understanding of these events can elucidate new therapeutic targets for early intervention to prevent osteoarthritis.
Making a Difference: Bridging the Gap Between the Ivory Tower & the Community

How those in academia can bridge the gap: (1) Reach out to the obvious consumers of your research (beyond other faculty, of course), discuss their issues, write a proposal, and in order to build a personal brand, over-deliver at a fair price. (2) Develop relationships in the sport community. While this is obvious, it may not be clear what type of project will emerge from that. (3) Let your industry contacts know what you are up to, in terms of topics you are teaching, research you are conducting, and any industry projects you are working on. (4) Say yes. If you can make time and are asked, it really can lead to unknowable future research and projects. (5) Don’t be afraid. I will let you in on a secret. Prior to most of the projects I work on, I have a fear of not knowing how I am going to actually do the work. What methods should I use? What if the data is insufficient? What even are the questions that are trying to be answered? (Most clients only have a vague idea about what they really need until we are already down the road into the project). The fear of the unknown is there, but trust your training, and partner-up with others if you need skills outside of your areas of expertise.
Numerical Simulation of an Untethered Omni-Directional Star-Shaped Swimming Robot

Simulating the swimming of soft underwater robot remains challenging due to the absence of an efficient numerical framework that can effectively capture the geometrically nonlinear deformation of soft materials and structures when interacting with a liquid environment. Here, we address this by introducing a discrete differential geometry-based model that incorporates an implicit treatment of the elasticity of soft limbs and a fluid model with three different components: hydrodynamic drag, jetting, and virtual added mass. The physical engine can run faster than real-time on a single thread desktop processor. We experimentally validate this numerical simulation tool by performing tests using an untethered omni-directional star-shaped swimming soft robot that is capable of moving with multiple swimming gaits. Quantitative agreement between experiment and simulation indicates the potential application of such a numerical framework for robot design and for model-based control schemes.
An automated AR-based annotation tool for indoor navigation for visually impaired people

Low vision people face many daily encumbrances. Traditional visual enhancements do not suffice to navigate indoor environments, or recognize objects efficiently. In this paper, we explore how Augmented Reality (AR) can be leveraged to design mobile applications to improve visual experience and unburden low vision persons. Specifically, we propose a novel automated AR-based annotation tool for detecting and labeling salient objects for assisted indoor navigation applications like NearbyExplorer. NearbyExplorer, which issues audio descriptions of nearby objects to the users, relies on a database populated by large teams of volunteers and map-a-thons to manually annotate salient objects in the environment like desks, chairs, low overhead ceilings. This has limited widespread and rapid deployment. Our tool builds on advances in automated object detection, AR labeling and accurate indoor positioning to provide an automated way to upload object labels and user position to a database, requiring just one volunteer. Moreover, it enables low vision people to detect and notice surrounding objects quickly using smartphones in various indoor environments.
A review of explainable and interpretable AI with applications in COVID-19 imaging.

The development of medical imaging AI systems for evaluating COVID-19 patients has demonstrated potential for improving clinical decision-making and assessing patient outcomes during the recent COVID-19 pandemic. These have been applied to many medical imaging tasks including disease diagnosis and patient prognosis, as well as augmented other clinical measurements to better inform treatment decisions. Because these systems are used in life-or-death decisions, clinical implementation relies on user trust in the AI output. This has caused many developers to utilize explainability techniques in an attempt to help a user understand when an AI algorithm is likely to succeed as well as which cases may be problematic for automatic assessment, thus increasing the potential for rapid clinical translation. AI application to Covid-19 has been marred with controversy recently. This review discusses several aspects of explainable and interpretable AI as it pertains to the evaluation of COVID-19 disease and it can restore trust in AI application to this disease. This includes the identification of common tasks that are relevant to explainable medical imaging AI, an overview of several modern approaches for producing explainable output as appropriate for a given imaging scenario, a discussion of how to evaluate explainable AI, and recommendations for best practices in explainable/interpretable AI implementation. This review will allow developers of AI systems for COVID-19 to quickly understand the basics of several explainable AI techniques and assist in selection of an approach that is both appropriate and effective for a given scenario. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.