cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Differential action of hepatic sympathetic neuropeptides: metabolic action of galanin, vascular action of NPY

Activation of hepatic nerves increases both hepatic glucose production (HGP) and hepatic arterial vasoconstriction, the latter best described by a decrease of hepatic arterial conductance (HAC). Because activation of canine hepatic nerves releases the neuropeptides galanin and neuropeptide Y (NPY) as well as the classical neurotransmitter norepinephrine (NE), we sought to determine the relative role of these neuropeptides vs. norepinephrine in mediating metabolic and vascular responses of the liver. We studied the effects of local exogenous infusions of galanin and NPY on HGP and HAC to predict the metabolic and vascular function of endogenously released neuropeptide. Galanin (n = 8) or NPY (n = 4) was infused with and without NE directly into the common hepatic artery of halothane-anesthetized dogs, and we measured changes in HGP and HAC. A low dose of exogenous galanin infused directly into the hepatic artery potentiated the HGP response to NE yet had little effect on HGP when infused alone. The same dose of galanin infused into a peripheral vein (n = 8) did not potentiate the HGP response to NE, suggesting that the locally infused galanin acted directly on the liver to modulate NE's metabolic action. In contrast, a large dose of exogenous NPY failed to influence HGP when infused either alone or in combination with NE. Finally, NPY, but not galanin, tended to decrease HAC when infused alone; neither neuropeptide potentiated the HAC response to NE. Therefore, both hepatic neuropeptides may contribute to the action of sympathetic nerves on liver metabolism and blood flow. It is likely that endogenous hepatic galanin acts directly on the liver to selectively modulate norepinephrine's metabolic action, whereas endogenous hepatic NPY acts independently of NE to cause vasoconstriction.
Computing Circuit for Breath-by-Breath Ventilation

The measurement of breath-by-breath respiratory parameters, especially minute volume, has long been sought after by physiologists and anesthetists. The great majority of exercise laboratories still use the cumulative volumes-over-time period method and changes in ventilation must be laboriously calculated at the end of the experiment. Such data are generally calculated after the full fixed time period and represent only averaged values.
Murine Models Demonstrate Distinct Vasculogenic and Cardiomyogenic cKit+ Lineages in the Heart

After 2 recent genetic studies in mice addressing the developmental origins and regenerative activity of cardiac cKit+ cells, 2 additional reports by Sultana et al and Liu et al provide further information on the expression of cKit in the embryonic and adult hearts. Here, we synthesize the findings from the 4 distinct cKit models to gain insights into the biology of this important cell type.
The Indo-Europeanization of Europe: the intrusion of steppe pastoralists from south Russia and the transformation of Old Europe

(1993). The Indo-Europeanization of Europe: the intrusion of steppe pastoralists from south Russia and the transformation of Old Europe. WORD: Vol. 44, No. 2, pp. 205-222.
Parallel solution-phase synthesis and general biological activity of a uridine antibiotic analog library.

A small library of ninety four uridine antibiotic analogs was synthesized, under the Pilot Scale Library (PSL) Program of the NIH Roadmap initiative, from amine 2 and carboxylic acids 33 and 77 in solution-phase fashion. Diverse aldehyde, sulfonyl chloride, and carboxylic acid reactant sets were condensed to 2, leading after acid-mediated hydrolysis, to the targeted compounds 3–32 in good yields and high purity. Similarly, treatment of 33 with diverse amines and sulfonamides gave 34–75. The coupling of the amino terminus of d-phenylalanine methyl ester to the free 5′-carboxylic acid moiety of 33 followed by sodium hydroxide treatment led to carboxylic acid analog 77. Hydrolysis of this material gave analog 78. The intermediate 77 served as the precursor for the preparation of novel dipeptidyl uridine analogs 79–99 through peptide coupling reactions to diverse amine reactants. None of the described compounds show significant anticancer or antimalarial acivity. A number of samples exhibited a variety of pro...
Semiparametric Bayesian approaches to systems factorial technology

Abstract Systems factorial technology (e.g., Townsend and Nozawa, 1995) is a toolbox of methods to test characteristics of multichannel processing systems. In this paper, we present a semiparametric Bayesian model of response times based on a piecewise-exponential model. This model allows us to compute the posterior estimates of the response time distribution hazard function and the systems factorial technology functionals that can be computed from it, including the survivor function interaction contrast and the capacity coefficient. We then compute posterior estimates of statistics that reflect different behaviors of the functionals, and so arrive at a fully Bayesian and theoretically-motivated approach to systems factorial technology. Simulation studies demonstrate the effectiveness of the approach, and we apply it to a published data set.
Substitution of the Lys linker with the β-Ala linker dramatically decreased the renal uptake of 99mTc-labeled Arg-X-Asp-conjugated and X-Ala-Asp-conjugated α-melanocyte stimulating hormone peptides.

The purpose of this study was to examine whether the substitution of the Lys linker with the β-Ala could reduce the renal uptake of 99mTc-labeled Arg-X-Asp-conjugated and X-Ala-Asp-conjugated α-melanocyte stimulating hormone (α-MSH) peptides. RSD-β-Ala-(Arg11)CCMSH (1) {c[Arg-Ser-Asp-dTyr-Asp]-β-Ala-Cys-Cys-Glu-His-dPhe-Arg-Trp-Cys-Arg-Pro-Val-NH2}, RTD-β-Ala-(Arg11)CCMSH (2), RVD-β-Ala-(Arg11)CCMSH (3), RAD-β-Ala-(Arg11)CCMSH (4), NAD-β-Ala-(Arg11)CCMSH (5), and EAD-β-Ala-(Arg11)CCMSH (6) peptides were synthesized and evaluated for their melanocortin 1 (MC1) receptor binding affinities in B16/F1 melanoma cells. The biodistribution of their 99mTc-conjugates were determined in B16/F1 melanoma-bearing C57 mice. The substitution of the Lys linker with β-Ala linker dramatically reduced the renal uptake of all six 99mTc-peptides. 99mTc-4 exhibited the highest melanoma uptake (15.66 ± 6.19% ID/g) and the lowest kidney uptake (20.18 ± 3.86% ID/g) among these 99mTc-peptides at 2 h postinjection. The B16/F1 melano...
Netmetrics: Exploring Estimation Bias, Efficiency and Inference in Unknown, Partial Financial Networks

Advanced analytics are an integral inferential component for knowledge discovery and dissemination. We employ network metrics on relational variables of interest to control for econometric estimation bias, inefficiency and inferential problems from non-spherical, network induced disturbances in sampled, unknown political networks. Our analysis follows a two-step procedure to establish a conceptual baseline and then integrate real-world data and questions pertinent for statistical inference. First, artificial networks are generated using two well-known graph models, Erdos-Renyi and Barabasi-Albert. Simulated, synthetic data is created across a range of graph sizes with multiple node-level network attributes and estimation bias at different sample sizes. This gives a picture of efficiency and consistency across network metrics, controlling for varied true-population sampling ratios. Second, we generate artificial networks across a broad range of graph model types compared to real networks from IMF’s Direction of Trade Statistics and Correlates of War dyadic trade data. We then examine the consistency of each chosen metric across a wider range of possible network-creation processes. This information is visualized against one known and one potentially unknown statistic, R2 and node sample size. Our unique approach provides analytical and estimative insights for opaque and dynamic real world financial networks.
Exploration and appraisal of the South Arne Field, Danish North Sea

The South Arne Field lies in the Danish sector of the North Sea Basin 250 km WNW of Esbjerg on the Danish mainland. It is a chalk field 12 km by 3 km. The field was initially discovered in 1969 by the I-1 well which found a thin Maastrichtian Tor Formation producing up to 4040 BOPD upon test. The second well on the field (Baron-2) was drilled over 20 years later on the southwestern flank. The aim of this well, in addition to targeting deeper Jurassic prospectivity, was to test the concept that the chalk reservoir thickened off-structure. This well encountered no productive chalk reservoir and the prognosed Jurassic reservoir was not reached. Following a change of operator in 1994, the Rigs-1 well was drilled in the northern part of the field where the interpreted structure was most complex. The well was located on 2D seismic data towards the middle of what was interpreted to be a gas cloud. This well encountered a much thicker chalk reservoir sequence than had previously been drilled on the field. Following the acquisition of 3D seismic data and an intensive, integrated geological and geophysical work programme, an appraisal well (Rigs-2) and a down-dip sidetrack were planned in an area outside the gas cloud where the reservoir was predicted to be of high quality. These appraisal wells were very successful in their objectives and proved a stratigraphic element to the hydrocarbon trapping mechanism. The field development plan envisages the extensive use of horizontal wells and first oil is currently scheduled for mid 1999. Reserves are presently estimated to be 89 × 10 6 BBL oil, and 200 × 10 9 SCF of associated gas.
Efficient construction of unified continuous and discontinuous Galerkin formulations for the 3D Euler equations

A unified approach for the numerical solution of the 3D hyperbolic Euler equations using high order methods, namely continuous Galerkin (CG) and discontinuous Galerkin (DG) methods, is presented. First, we examine how classical CG that uses a global storage scheme can be constructed within the DG framework using constraint imposition techniques commonly used in the finite element literature. Then, we implement and test a simplified version in the Non-hydrostatic Unified Model of the Atmosphere (NUMA) for the case of explicit time integration and a diagonal mass matrix. Constructing CG within the DG framework allows CG to benefit from the desirable properties of DG such as, easier hp-refinement, better stability etc. Moreover, this representation allows for regional mixing of CG and DG depending on the flow regime in an area. The different flavors of CG and DG in the unified implementation are then tested for accuracy and performance using a suite of benchmark problems representative of cloud-resolving scale, meso-scale and global-scale atmospheric dynamics. The value of our unified approach is that we are able to show how to carry both CG and DG methods within the same code and also offer a simple recipe for modifying an existing CG code to DG and vice versa.
Commentary on “Mitsch et al., 2015, Protecting the Florida Everglades wetlands with wetlands: Can stormwater phosphorus be reduced to oligotrophic conditions?”

Abstract Constructed wetlands have been utilized with varying levels of success in an effort to reduce nutrient concentrations entering waterways. In south Florida, stormwater treatment areas (STAs) have been utilized to remove excessive phosphorus (P) from surface waters for more than two decades with remarkable results. Even though the STAs have been operational for more than two decade, further improvement of P removal performance is necessary to achieve the desired outflow concentrations. This commentary critically reviews a recently published manuscript concerning the ability of alternative vegetative communities’ ability to improve STA treatment efficiency. The commentary provides clarification of Everglades STA effluent limit and the total P water quality criterion established for the Everglades Protection Area. The commentary also addresses fundamental issues with the authors’ experimental design and interpretability in light of the studies treatment fidelity, controls and scalability.
Section 2: The Hearing of Different Animals

In comparing the auditory organs of man with those of different animals, one finds that, in all animals, the essential organs necessary for hearing consist of a gelatinous pulp, wrapped in a very fine and elastic membrane, in which the ends of the auditory nerve are resolved. Some other sections, designed to enforce or to modify the sound, are not found in all animals, and their structure varies greatly.
Growth factors and pancreatic cancer.

Cultured human pancreatic cancer cells produce a number of growth factors, including transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α). These cells also overexpress the epidermal growth factor (EGF) receptor and exhibit a parallel increase in EGF receptor mRNA levels. TGF-α, which binds to the EGF receptor, is more potent than EGF in enhancing the anchorage-independent growth of several pancreatic cancer cell lines, including T3M4 cells. In contrast, EGF is more efficient than TGF-α with respect to EGF receptor downregulation and tyrosine phosphorylation in T3M4 cells. Further, T3M4 cells recycle EGF, but markedly degrade TGF-α. It is suggested that the production of multiple growth factors, the overexpression of the EGF receptor, the recycling of EGF, and the attenuated ability of TGF-α to downregulate the EGF receptor combine to enhance the growth advantage of human pancreatic cancer cells.
A 1∼1.5 GHz capacitive coupled inductor-less multi-ring oscillator with improved phase noise

This paper presents a multi-ring coupled oscillator design that employs the common-source capacitive coupling technique to achieve improved phase noise by minimizing noise injection from tail current and adjacent rings. The proposed inductor-less ring oscillator also provides additional output phases for low noise multiphase clock generation. Implemented in a 130 nm CMOS technology, the 1.5 GHz triple-ring coupled ring oscillator achieved measured phase noise of −110.17 dBc/Hz @ 1 MHz offset, demonstrating 7 dB phase noise reduction comparing to its single-ring oscillator counterpart.
Guillain-Barré Syndrome Following Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplantation

Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS) is a clinical condition resulting from acute inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (radiculopathy). It most frequently occurs after infection and immunizations and after malignancy. Allogenic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) is an important source.
Evaluation of an Ongoing Diabetes Group Medical Visit in a Family Medicine Practice

Purpose Group medical visits (GMVs), which combine 1-on-1 clinical consultations and group self-management education, have emerged as a promising vehicle for supporting type 2 diabetes management in primary care. However, few evaluations exist of ongoing diabetes GMVs embedded in medical practices. Methods This study used a quasi-experimental design to evaluate diabetes GMV at a large family medicine practice. We examined program attendance and attrition, used propensity score matching to create a matched comparison group, and compared participants and the matched group on clinical, process of care, and utilization outcomes. Results GMV participants (n = 230) attended an average of 1 session. Participants did not differ significantly from the matched comparison group (n = 230) on clinical, process of care or utilization outcomes. Conclusions The diabetes GMV was not associated with improvements in outcomes. Further studies should examine diabetes GMV implementation challenges to enhance their effectiveness in everyday practice.
An Indirect Fitness Scheme for Automated Evolution of Aesthetic Images

Recently, the question of whether artifacts obtained from a generative art system can be judged as creative based on the characteristics of their offspring has received considerable attention. Here, we focus on the question of whether aesthetic images can be evolved by considering characteristics of their offspring. We introduce a formal model for designing fitness functions for use in automated evolution of aesthetic images whereby genotypes are evaluated relative to certain characteristics of their offspring. We describe the results of an experiment using such an indirect fitness scheme that promotes offspring diversity in order to help select for parent phenotypes with desired symmetry and complexity properties. We use as our image generation platform a variant of the Sims’ classical Evolving Expressions generative art system.
Control of Transmissible Diseases in Health Care Settings

Infectious diseases are a major cause of mortality and disability worldwide as well as in the United States. Leading global infectious killers are acute respiratory infections (including pneumonia and influenza), acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), diarrheal diseases, tuberculosis, malaria, and measles (Fig. 8.1). In addition to the increasing incidence and mortality, the resurgence of concern about transmissible diseases has been fueled by myriad factors. The ability of microbes to mutate, adapt, and survive was underestimated. Viruses evolve through replication errors, rearrangement of gene fragments, and invading new species. Resistant genes are transmitted from one bacterium to another on plasmids. These mechanisms promote new strains of influenza that traverse the globe along with tourists and immigrants. Resistance of many infectious diseases to current antimicrobial drugs is common. Antimicrobial resistant diseases include gonorrhea, malaria, pneumococcal disease, salmonellosis, shigellosis, tuberculosis, and staphylococcal infections. Medical practice and social and behavioral factors also have promoted a milieu for increasing the incidence of infectious diseases. Aggressive medical treatments (chemotherapy, bone marrow and organ transplantation, renal dialysis, indwelling medical devices) have increased the number of individuals living in an immunocompromised status. Increased use of illicit intravenous drugs has contributed to the spread of AIDS and hepatitis because of the use of contaminated needles. The behavior of exchanging sex for drugs also has been associated with an increase in the incidence of transmissible diseases, particularly for many sexually transmitted diseases, notably syphilis. A myriad of new infectious diseases including Escherichia coli O157:H7, hantaviruses, hepatitis C virus, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Legionnaire’s disease, Ebola virus, toxic shock syndrome, and Lyme disease have
Perception differences between groups of employees identifying the factors that influence a return to work after a work-related musculoskeletal injury

Employee health and productivity losses as a result of work-related injury are estimated to be US dollars 1.2 trillion annually to US companies. This is approximately 14.3% of the gross domestic product [6,8,11,35]. Workers' compensation, medical care, and short and long-term disability are a part of these costs. Controlling or eliminating these costs is a problem for US employers [3,6,14,21,29]. The study discussed in this article examined the perceptions of manufacturing employees in identifying factors that influence a return to work after a work-related musculoskeletal injury. The classification of employees who participated in this study were safety professionals, supervisors and workers from the manufacturing industry in central Kentucky. The worker group consisted of material handlers, assembly line workers and quality control inspectors. The participants completed a developed survey instrument, the Return to Work Perception Survey. This survey instrument examined the perception of the participants on factors related to return to work: company policies and procedures, job satisfaction, worker relationships and work environment. The results indicated safety professionals and supervisors perceptions differ from workers on the variables of job satisfaction, worker relationships and work environment. Their perceptions did not differ on the variable relating to company policies and procedures. In addition, the safety professional and supervisor groups rated the items addressing job satisfaction higher than did the worker group. The worker group did not differ from one another on any of the factors. Implications of this study for manufacturing companies suggest (a). identifying those issues contributing to employee job satisfaction, (b). developing a plan for achieving increased job satisfaction and employee recognition at the workplace among all workers, and (c). consider allowing employees to develop new capacities and new learning, thus fostering motivation and job satisfaction [18,20].
Forensic Remote Sensing

The application rich areas of remote sensing devoted to environmental analysis and assessment successfully demonstrate how this technology can be employed to address important questions concerning resource management, environmental impact analysis, and environmental planning. Whether focused on understanding and documenting natural processes or studies that fall under the broad umbrella of human impact, the capabilities of image processing techniques to provide thematic information that illuminates critical land surface patterns or confirms underlying process-response hypotheses is irrefutable. Given the wealth of accumulated knowledge together with the agglomeration of methods designed to extract information from raw imagery, environmental remote sensing is poised to embark on a new agenda that moves remote sensing technology beyond its predilection for application research and into a more directed operational setting. Borrowing from the Latin word “forensic,” meaning public, we can call this new agenda forensic remote sensing.
Caregiver-Mediated Intervention and the Achievements for Little Learners Model

ASD risk can be identified in infants and toddlers. Therefore, effective interventions tailored to the developmental characteristics of this young population are needed. Caregiver-mediated approaches provide a cost-effective venue for high-dosage immersion of children in enriched and scaffolded engagement experiences. This chapter examines caregiver-mediated approaches designed for infants and toddlers with ASD or ASD risk. A review of the literature is provided on features of interventions showing promising or limited treatment effects. The Achievements for Little Learners caregiver coaching and child intervention program, designed by the authors, is described. This intervention was designed to address gaps in existing intervention approaches by combining adult-learning principles and naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBI), as well as translating principles from embodied cognition and situated learning theories to create a potent learning environment for caregivers and their children. The design of the Achievements for Little Learner program also was intended to support caregivers’ adaptation to the ASD diagnosis or ASD concerns and their emotional resolution and to assist in the emotional resolution process. Preliminary data showing promise of the intervention for improving caregiver fidelity of implementation of intervention strategies and child outcomes is provided.
Design and Prototyping Efforts for the Space Solar Power Initiative

The Space Solar Power Initiative (SSPI) seeks to enable reliable, cost-effective baseload power generation from large-scale solar power stations in space. We propose an ultralight, modular power station, having specific power in the range of 1–10 kW/kg for the photovoltaic (PV) collection subsystem. The building block of the power station is the ‘tile,’ a self-contained element that performs PV energy collection, conversion to radio frequency (RF), and transmission to earth. To minimize PV mass, we select a 1D, 10-20X parabolic trough concentrator geometry, which provides cooling and radiation shielding for the cells, and which folds flat for deployment. Here, we discuss the design, fabrication, and testing of the initial PV tile prototypes.
“I Thought I Was Going to Die”: Examining Experiences of Childbirth Pain Through Bioarchaeological and Ethnographic Perspectives

This chapter analyzes the pain associated with human childbirth, combining bioarchaeological analysis with biocultural data, focusing on Latin American birthing processes, specifically birth in Mexico and the Dominican Republic. It will explore challenges to childbirth across time, adaptive strategies, and individual agency related to the acceptance of the amount of pain endured during the process. Human childbirth is notoriously difficult, with maternal and infant mortality as distinct possibilities, and labor pain a near certainty. Past tendencies to see childbirth through the lens of the obstetrical dilemma created a framework for discussing reproduction as pathological. There are adaptations that suggest an alleviation of the obstetric dilemma, for instance, in correlating pelvic size and shape with head size. The traditional obstetric dilemma neatly packages the difficulty of human birth, but disregards several environmental and evolutionary factors that complicate the birth process of human infants. Given the numerous complications associated with pregnancy and birth, it is not surprising that most of the bioarchaeological cases include individuals who died right around the time of parturition. The need for medical intervention due to obstetric hazards is clear, as seen in the cases of dystocic labor where fetal bones are found in the pelvic cavities of pregnant women due to bony obstructions of the birth canal, misaligned pelvic bones, mismatched canal versus baby size, and breech and prolapsed infants. Pain in childbirth is highly likely, given the obstetrical dilemma with the complicated physiological process of moving a fetus through the birth canal. This chapter addresses the evidence for different facets of pregnancy and birth in the bioarchaeological and ethnographic records, conjecturing that many of the women would have experienced some level of pain in their childbirth. Some of this pain would even have been excruciating—especially in the cases leading to complications such as dystocia, obstruction, or placental abruption. Ethnographic data add richness to this issue, as they can tell us if certain conditions produce pain that is out of the ordinary. Ethnography is also a key way to explore why women would choose to undergo purposeful pain in childbirth.
When Black-box Testing is Not Enough - on Designing Auto-graded Programming Assignments

Automatic programming assignment assessment is often premised on black-box testing. Grading of student submissions typically relies on functional specifications expressed in terms of expected outputs for given test inputs. Many upper-level courses, however, are centered on concepts that relate to how programs are implemented. In a course that teaches functional programming, for instance, the assignments should require that students use functional programming techniques, even if imperative solutions are supported by the language. When students are required to use certain programming language constructs, algorithms or design strategies as they implement their programs, a different approach to automated assessment is needed. Our strategy is centered on programming assignments designed in such a way that the internals of the assignment implementation can be evaluated through automated testing. A challenge of designing such auto-graded assignments is that both the specifications and the grading tests have a much higher level of complexity compared to plain functional specifications and black-box tests. The specification of a homework assignment must have precise requirements, but not prescribe a certain solution or impair student creativity. Furthermore, test cases should not inadvertently rely on implementation details that were not specified, but must be able to detect forbidden algorithms or language features. The benefits and difficulties of our approach are discussed in this work.
Reachability-Based Safety Guarantees using Efficient Initializations

Hamilton-Jacobi-Isaacs (HJI) reachability analysis is a powerful tool for analyzing the safety of autonomous systems. This analysis is computationally intensive and typically performed offline. Online, however, the autonomous system may experience changes in system dynamics, external disturbances, and/or the surrounding environment, requiring updated safety guarantees. Rather than restarting the safety analysis, we propose a method of "warm-start" reachability, which uses a user-defined initialization (typically the previously computed solution). By starting with an HJI function that is closer to the solution than the standard initialization, the analysis may take fewer iterations. In this paper we prove that warm-starting will result in guaranteed conservative solutions by over-approximating the states that must be avoided to maintain safety. We additionally prove that for many common problem formulations, warm-starting will result in exact solutions. We demonstrate our method on several illustrative examples with a double integrator, and also with a more practical 10D quadcopter model that experiences changes in mass and disturbances and must update its safety guarantees accordingly. We compare our approach to standard reachability and a recently proposed "discounted" reachability method, and find for our examples that warm-starting is 1:6 times faster than standard and 6:2 times faster than (untuned) discounted reachability.
Abstract B09: Nitric oxide stimulates PI3K-AKT pathway activation by S-nitrosylation of PTEN in human melanoma cells

Based on our previous finding that inflammation associated nitric oxide synthase (NOS) expression in melanoma and its association with poor prognosis in melanoma patients, we investigated the role of nitric oxide (NO) on the PI3K-Akt pathway. Human melanoma cell lines were exposed in vitro to the NO donor (DETA NONOate), and increased Akt Serine 473 phosphorylation (pAkt S473) was detected after addition of 50-500μM DETA NONOate at as early as 2 hours. Significant increases of pAkt S473 were observed mostly in cell lines with wild-type PTEN, such as A375 and MeWo, which under our conditions do not have elevated basal Akt phosphorylation. A375 cells were further examined for DETA NONOate-induced functional consequences of Akt phosphorylation and activation; enhanced kinase activity was found to increase phosphorylation of 12 of 16 AKT signaling proteins, which include GSK, MAPK, Bad, and others. By analyzing melanoma data in The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA), we found a similar result that patients with positive iNOS mRNA expression have higher pAkt S473 levels compared with those without iNOS. When both PTEN and iNOS expression status were analyzed, pAkt S473 is only significantly (P Citation Format: Zhen Ding, Dai Ogata, Jason Roszik, Yong Qin, Sun-Hee Kim, Suhendan Ekmekcioglu, Elizabeth A. Grimm. Nitric oxide stimulates PI3K-AKT pathway activation by S-nitrosylation of PTEN in human melanoma cells [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Melanoma: From Biology to Target; 2019 Jan 15-18; Houston, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2020;80(19 Suppl):Abstract nr B09.
Drivers of differential views of health equity in the U.S.: is the U.S. ready to make progress? Results from the 2018 National Survey of Health Attitudes

The public health sector has long recognized the role of the social determinants of health in health disparities and the importance of achieving health equity. We now appear to be at an inflection point, as we hear increasing demands to dismantle structures that have perpetuated inequalities. Assessing prevailing mindsets about what causes health inequalities and the value of health equity is critical to addressing larger issues of inequity, including racial inequity and other dimensions. Using data from a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States, we examined the factors that Americans think drive health outcomes and their beliefs about the importance of health equity. Using data from the 2018 National Survey of Health Attitudes, we conducted factor analyses of 21 survey items and identified three factors from items relating to health drivers—traditional health influencers (THI), social determinants of health (SDoH), and sense of community health (SoC). Health equity beliefs were measured with three questions about opportunities to be healthy. Latent class analysis identified four groups with similar patterns of response. Factor mixture modeling combined factor structure and latent class analysis into one model. We conducted three logistic regressions using latent classes and demographics as predictors and the three equity beliefs as dependent variables. Nearly 90% of respondents comprised one class that was characterized by high endorsement (i.e., rating the driver as having strong effect on health) of THI, but lower endorsement of SDoH and SoC. Logistic regressions showed that respondents endorsing (i.e., rated it as a top priority) all three health equity beliefs tended to be female, older, Black or Hispanic, more educated, and have lower incomes. The class of respondents that endorsed SDoH the most was more likely to endorse all three equity beliefs. Results suggested that people historically impacted by inequity, e.g., people of color and people with low incomes, had the most comprehensive understanding of the drivers of health and the value of equity. However, dominant beliefs about SDoH and health equity are still generally not aligned with scientific consensus and the prevailing narrative in the public health community.
Can the Subaltern Speak?: Feminism in Robotic Mask Design

This paper presents AI-controlled robotic masks intended to empower women and allow them to communicate with one another. These are inspired by the historical masks worn by the Bandari women from southern Iran. Legend has it that these masks were developed during Portuguese colonial rule as a way of protecting the wearer from the gaze of slave masters looking for attractive women. In this project two robotic masks seemingly begin to develop their own language to communicate with each other, blinking their eyelashes in rapid succession using AI-generated Morse code. This project draws upon a Facebook experiment where two AI bots apparently began to develop their own language. It also draws upon an incident when an American soldier used his eyes to blink and spell out the word "TORTURE" using Morse code during his captivity in Vietnam, as well as stories of women using code to report domestic abuse during the COVID-19 lockdown. The aim is to sow anxiety within the patriarchal system where the "wink" of the sexual predator is subverted into a language to protect women from the advances of a predator. The project bridges AI, interactive design, and critical thinking (Figure 1).
Individual differences in behavioral flexibility predict future volitional ethanol consumption in mice

Cognitive control is key to regulating alcohol intake and preventing relapse. Behavioral inflexibility can prevent adaptive strategies such as mindfulness or other relapse-prevention behaviors. In a mouse model we investigated whether individual variability in behavioral flexibility (using attentional set-shifting task; ASST) predicts future alcohol intake. Adult male and female C57BL/6J mice were subjected to ASST using a bowl digging paradigm where mice identify a baited bowl based on compound odor and textural cues. This was completed prior to any alcohol exposure. Individual performance across mice varied within the group. We integrated several metrics, specifically ASST stage completed, trials to completion and errors performed to produce an individual performance index measure of behavioral flexibility. After, ASST mice were trained to drink ethanol (15%, v/v, 1hr/day) for 3-4 weeks until intake stabilized. Using this prospective approach, we identified an inverse relationship between behavioral flexibility and drinking - less flexible mice had a propensity to consume more alcohol. Similar relationships have been identified previously in non-human primates and rats. Our results show that the relationship between alcohol and cognitive flexibility is a robust trait that is conserved across species and can be used in mice to study neural substrates underlying these behaviors.
Towards understanding microbial degradation of chloroquine in large saltwater systems.

Circulating saltwater aquariums hosting marine animals contain a wide range of microorganisms, which have strong implications on promoting animal health. In this study, we investigated the degradation of chloroquine phosphate, an anti-parasitic bath pharmaceutical used in saltwater quarantine and exhibition systems, and attributed the reduction in drug concentration to microbial degradation of chloroquine associated with pipeline microbial communities. To advance our knowledge on chloroquine degradation in aquatic systems, we conducted microbial and chemical analyses on three tropical saltwater systems. Our findings show that aquarium microbiome composition is shaped by sampling location (i.e., tank water and pipeline; PERMANOVA R2 = 0.09992, p = 0.0134), chloroquine dosing (PERMANOVA R2 = 0.05700, p = 0.0030), and whether the aquarium is occupied by marine animals (PERMANOVA R2 = 0.07019, p = 0.0009). Several microbial taxa belonging to the phyla Actinobacteria, Bacteroidetes, Chloroflexi, and Proteobacteria, along with functional genes related to pathways such as phenylethylamine degradation and denitrification, appeared to have differential (relative) abundance between samples where chloroquine degradation was observed and those without degradation (Benjamini-Hochberg adjusted p-value <0.05). Together, these results provide practical mitigation options to prevent or delay the development of chloroquine-degrading microbial communities in saltwater aquariums. Our results further demonstrate the need to improve our understanding of the interactions between nitrogen availability and microbial activity in saltwater systems.
Squad-Level Soldier-Robot Dynamics: Exploring Future Concepts Involving Intelligent Autonomous Robots

Future U.S. Army robots are developing capabilities to better “see” (e.g., scan and recognize objects), “think” (e.g., recognize implications and decide on a best course of action), and “act” (e.g., execute actions). This report describes systematic feedback gained from active duty Soldiers with dismounted squad level experience, to identify preferences and levels of trust with regard to squad level robotic capabilities, roles, and tactics. Soldier-based feedback will inform ongoing programs of research regarding U.S. Army Autonomous Squad Member (ASM) capabilities, through validation of mission scenarios, information requirements, and tactical maneuvers.
An RNA species involved in Escherichia coli ribonuclease P activity. Gene cloning and effect on transfer RnA synthesis in vivo.

Abstract The isolation and characterization of a plasmid capable of complementing the temperature-sensitive transfer RNA biosynthetic mutation rnpA 49 (ribonuclease P) is described. The DNA segment responsible for complementation codes for an RNA species, approximately 340 bases long. Hybridization-selection experiments indicated that all rnp mutants were deficient in the production of the complementing RNA at high temperature; these defects were not due to the accumulation of a precursor form of this RNA. Examination of tRNA species synthesized in vivo indicated that the plasmid clone did not completely relieve the deficiency in RNase P activity of rnpA 49 since some tRNA precursors still accumulated in strain A 49 containing the plasmid. At least one other tRNA precursor was no longer detectable in plasmid-containing rnpA 49 cells.
Thermal Energy Transport in the Solar Wind

This paper is intended to summarize the present status of measurements of heat flux in the solar wind and to provide a comparison of these measurements with the theory for collision-dominated heat transport in a fully ionized medium developed by Spitzer and Harm [1953]. A short discussion of some recent models is included to illustrate the role of thermal conduction in the expansion. In addition, a brief description of the steady state solar wind is included in order to provide an observational background for this conference.
Exponential stabilization of the rolling sphere: stability analysis

In an earlier paper, we addressed the problem of stabilization of the rolling sphere about any desired configuration. For the controller proposed, we establish in this paper global stability of the desired configuration and exponential convergence of trajectories to this configuration from a large and well defined set in the configuration space. For configurations that lie outside the set, we define simple maneuvers to move them within the set in finite time such that the sphere can be exponentially converged to the desired configuration thereafter. Our theoretical claims are validated using simulations.
Mono Lake excursion recorded in sediment of the Santa Clara Valley, California

[1] Two intervals recording anomalous paleomagnetic inclinations were encountered in the top 40 meters of research drill hole CCOC in the Santa Clara Valley, California. The younger of these two intervals has an age of 28,090 ± 330 radiocarbon years B.P. (calibrated age ∼32.8 ka). This age is in excellent agreement with the latest estimate for the Mono Lake excursion at the type locality and confirms that the excursion has been recorded by sediment in the San Francisco Bay region. The age of an anomalous inclination change below the Mono Lake excursion was not directly determined, but estimates of sedimentation rates indicate that the geomagnetic behavior it represents most likely occurred during the Mono Lake/Laschamp time interval (∼45–28 ka). If true, it may represent one of several recurring fluctuations of magnetic inclination during an interval of a weak geomagnetic dipole, behavior noted in other studies in the region.
Moving Object Localization in Thermal Imagery by Forward-Backward Motion History Images

This chapter describes a moving object detection-and-localization method based on forward-backward motion history images (MHIs). Detecting moving objects automatically is a key component of an automatic visual surveillance and tracking system. In airborne thermal video especially, the moving objects may be small, color information is not available, and intensity appearance may be camouflaged. Although it is challenging for an appearance-or shape-based detector to detect the small objects in thermal images, pixel-level change detection or optical flow can provide powerful motion-based cues for detecting and localizing the objects. Previous motion detection approaches often use background subtraction, interframe difference, or three-frame difference, which are either costly or can only partially detect the object. We propose an MHI-based method that can accurately detect location and shape of moving objects for initializing a tracker or recovering from tracking failure. The effectiveness of this method is quantified using long and varied video sequences.
Differential role of sarcolemmal and mitochondrial KATP channels in adenosine-enhanced ischemic preconditioning

Adenosine-enhanced ischemic preconditioning (APC) extends the protection afforded by ischemic preconditioning (IPC) by both significantly decreasing infarct size and significantly enhancing postischemic functional recovery. The purpose of this study was to determine whether APC is modulated by ATP-sensitive potassium (K(ATP)) channels and to determine whether this modulation occurs before ischemia or during reperfusion. The role of K(ATP) channels before ischemia (I), during reperfusion (R), or during ischemia and reperfusion (IR) was investigated using the nonspecific K(ATP) blocker glibenclamide (Glb), the mitochondrial (mito) K(ATP) channel blocker 5-hydroxydecanoate (5-HD), and the sarcolemmal (sarc) K(ATP) channel blocker HMR-1883 (HMR). Infarct size was significantly increased (P < 0.05) in APC hearts with Glb-I, Glb-R, and 5-HD-I treatment and partially with 5-HD-R. Glb-I and Glb-R treatment significantly decreased APC functional recovery (P < 0.05 vs. APC), whereas 5-HD-I and 5-HD-R had no effect on APC functional recovery. HMR-IR significantly decreased postischemic functional recovery (P < 0.05 vs. APC) but had no effect on infarct size. These data indicate that APC infarct size reduction is modulated by mitoK(ATP) channels primarily during ischemia and suggest that functional recovery is modulated by sarcK(ATP) channels during ischemia and reperfusion.
A simple SPICE model for coupled transmission lines

An exact model of a lossless multiconductor transmission line (MTL) is presented. The model is directly implementable in the SPICE code. It is therefore more readily available for use than a specially designed FORTRAN code. It is also an exact solution of the MTL equations, whereas most specially designed time-domain FORTRAN codes are approximate solutions. Implementation of the model in a SPICE code allows the incorporation of nonlinear terminations already present in SPICE. Therefore, a wide variety of electronic-circuit design problems can be investigated, and the actual crosstalk in a particular conductor interconnection pattern can be investigated. The model is suitable for use in the personal computer versions of SPICE; the predictions were obtained on an IBM PC AT using the demo version of PSPICE. >
Moral Reasons and the Generalization Test in Ethics

In Forms and Limits of Utilitarianism (Oxford, 1965), David Lyons argues that for any principle which emphasizes consequences (either the promotion of desirable results or the avoidance of undesirable consequences), it is the causal properties of individual acts that are relevant, since it is in virtue of those properties that acts have consequences, and other properties such as ‘performed on Tuesday’ or ‘performed by a red-headed person’ are irrelevant.1 On this view, it matters not how we describe or refer to individual acts; it is their causal properties, not our description of them, that identify them for purposes of evaluation.
New selection rules and physical states in 2D gravity Conformal gauge

Abstract We study the constraint problem for two-dimensional dimensional quantum gravity in the conformal gauge. We classify the free field representations of the Liouville sector that can be coupled to the minimal conformal theories. The BRST homology is determined in all cases. Our results show that the Liouville theory is strongly connected with 2D gravity in the light-cone gauge, as well as with the multi-matrix models.
Synthetic heterodyne detection in a fiber-optic ring-laser gyro.

A synthetic heterodyne detection scheme for ring-laser gyros to sense both rotation rate and direction is presented. This scheme is compatible with the sinusoidal push–pull phase-modulation technique for suppressing frequency locking. The good experimental results achieved in a fiber-optic Brillouin ring-laser gyro show the potential of this detection scheme in applications.
Delay compensation - Its effect in reducing sampling errors in Fourier spectroscopy

An approximate formula is derived for the spectrum ghosts caused by periodic drive speed variations in a Michelson interferometer. The solution represents the case of fringe-controlled sampling and is applicable when the reference fringes are delayed to compensate for the delay introduced by the electrical filter in the signal channel. Numerical results are worked out for several common low-pass filters. It is shown that the maximum relative ghost amplitude over the range of frequencies corresponding to the lower half of the filter band is typically 20 times smaller than the relative zero-to-peak velocity error, when delayed sampling is used. In the lowest quarter of the filter band it is more than 100 times smaller than the relative velocity error. These values are ten and forty times smaller, respectively, than they would be without delay compensation if the filter is a 6-pole Butterworth.