cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Topology preserving STACS segmentation of protein subcellular location images

We present an algorithm for the segmentation of multicell fluorescence microscopy images. Such images abound and a segmentation algorithm robust to different experimental conditions as well as cell types is becoming a necessity. In cellular imaging, among the most often used segmentation algorithms is seeded watershed. One of its features is that it tends to oversegment, splitting the cells, as well as create segmented regions much larger than a true cell. This can be an advantage (the entire cell is within the region) as well as a disadvantage (a large amount of background noise is included). We present an algorithm which segments with tight contours by building upon an active contour algorithm - STACS, by Pluempitiwiriyawej et al. We adapt the algorithm to suit the needs of our data and use another technique, topology preservation by Han et al., to build our topology preserving STACS (TPSTACS). Our algorithm significantly outperforms the seeded watershed both visually as well as by standard measures of segmentation quality: recall/precision, area similarity and area overlap.
Ultrastructural analysis of the motile apparatus of the aflagellate spermatozoon of Macrostomum tubum

Ultrastructural evidence for an active role for cortical singlet microtubules in male-gamete propulsion is presented. Two sets of singlet microtubules are the motile organelles of the aflagellate spermatozoon of Macrostomum tubum. The singlets are apposed to the inner surface of the cell membrane and contiguous in the intermicrotubule axis. Membranes adjacent the singlet sets are free of underlying microtubules. In the body of the gamete, 42 microtubules are found in both sets. Only 18 singlets extend from each set into the thin, anterior, distal process and there take on a planar wave conformation. In both sets, on diagonally opposite sides, a microtubule is subjacent to the penultimate singlet, a pattern of contralateral symmetry between the motile organelles. The singlet sets overlap one another in the direction of respective subjacent microtubules by five to six microtubule diameters (MTD). In the distal process, overlap is limited to one MTD of microtubule-free membrane. Mg-ATPase activity is localized between singlets of the cell body but not of the distal process. An hypothesis as to the mechanics of motility is formulated: The singlet sets undulate in the plane of the intermicrotubule axis to generate propulsive forces. Generated undulations are transmitted by microtubules into the distal process and are reflected as posteriorly propagated waves which pull the cell through fluid media.
A two-bag system for continuous measurement of oxygen uptake.

Collection of mixed expired gas in a bag has been a classic method for the estimation of V ˙ o 2 during the steady state but has not been employed during unsteady state exercise in part because there is a need for suspending the acquisition of data during the period of gas analysis unless many bags are used. In this study a two-bag system is described in which one bag fills while the other is analyzed. Bag volume is under the control of the operator, and we employed volumes of 30 to 50 L. Thirty-one subjects were studied with this circuit in a progressive treadmill test. Although V ˙ o 2 could be falsely elevated during periods of overbreathing, this source of error could be identified and its effect reduced if V ˙ o 2 was plotted against both ventilation and power requirement. Plateau values of V ˙ o 2 were identified only in six subjects and the ventilatory threshold in 16. (Chest 1992; 102:112–16)
An RNA Domain Imparts Specificity and Selectivity to a Viral DNA Packaging Motor.

UNLABELLED During assembly, double-stranded DNA viruses, including bacteriophages and herpesviruses, utilize a powerful molecular motor to package their genomic DNA into a preformed viral capsid. An integral component of the packaging motor in the Bacillus subtilis bacteriophage ϕ29 is a viral genome-encoded pentameric ring of RNA (prohead RNA [pRNA]). pRNA is a 174-base transcript comprised of two domains, domains I and II. Early studies initially isolated a 120-base form (domain I only) that retains high biological activity in vitro; hence, no function could be assigned to domain II. Here we define a role for this domain in the packaging process. DNA packaging using restriction digests of ϕ29 DNA showed that motors with the 174-base pRNA supported the correct polarity of DNA packaging, selectively packaging the DNA left end. In contrast, motors containing the 120-base pRNA had compromised specificity, packaging both left- and right-end fragments. The presence of domain II also provides selectivity in competition assays with genomes from related phages. Furthermore, motors with the 174-base pRNA were restrictive, in that they packaged only one DNA fragment into the head, whereas motors with the 120-base pRNA packaged several fragments into the head, indicating multiple initiation events. These results show that domain II imparts specificity and stringency to the motor during the packaging initiation events that precede DNA translocation. Heteromeric rings of pRNA demonstrated that one or two copies of domain II were sufficient to impart this selectivity/stringency. Although ϕ29 differs from other double-stranded DNA phages in having an RNA motor component, the function provided by pRNA is carried on the motor protein components in other phages. IMPORTANCE During virus assembly, genome packaging involves the delivery of newly synthesized viral nucleic acid into a protein shell. In the double-stranded DNA phages and herpesviruses, this is accomplished by a powerful molecular motor that translocates the viral DNA into a preformed viral shell. A key event in DNA packaging is recognition of the viral DNA among other nucleic acids in the host cell. Commonly, a DNA-binding protein mediates the interaction of viral DNA with the motor/head shell. Here we show that for the bacteriophage ϕ29, this essential step of genome recognition is mediated by a viral genome-encoded RNA rather than a protein. A domain of the prohead RNA (pRNA) imparts specificity and stringency to the motor by ensuring the correct orientation of DNA packaging and restricting initiation to a single event. Since this assembly step is unique to the virus, DNA packaging is a novel target for the development of antiviral drugs.
Coprophilous Arthropod Community from Argentina with Species of Potential Use as Biocontrol Agents Against Pest Flies

Dung-inhabiting pest flies are one of the main problems associated with the accumulation of cattle dung. This work analyzes the diversity and dynamics of a coprophilous community from northern Buenos Aires, Argentina, in a search for potential biocontrol agents. Thirty-six dung pads of 3 age categories and 4 microhabitats were collected on each sampling date and examined for their arthropod fauna. Some of the species with undefined feeding behavior were subjected to feeding trials in the laboratory. We found 34 coprophagous species, 47 predators, and 13 parasitoids. The combination of the results of the feeding trials, co-occurrence and abundance data of the prey and predator populations, and direct field observations were used to put together a trophic web and hypothesis on the dynamics of the community. Dung scarabs cause significant reductions in immature dung fly survival by burying and desiccating large amounts of dung. The Philonthini (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) are the most abundant and rich predator group, although they are slow to respond to variations in fly populations. However, predatory flies show the same abundance curves as their prey flies. Predatory beetles and flies, dung scarabs, and pupal parasitoids cause additive mortality to the fly population, whereas larval parasitoids cause some compensatory mortality. Four species of staphylinids, 1 predatory muscid, and a coprophagous scarab could have potential as biocontrol agents. The perspectives of success and convenience of a horn fly biocontrol scheme in southern South America are discussed.
Floodwater Farming, Discontinuous Ephemeral Streams, and Puebloan Abandonment in Southwestern Colorado

Geoarchaeological study on the southern piedmont of Sleeping Ute Mountain in southwestern Colorado indicates the presence of discontinuous ephemeral streams that were the foci of episodic Puebloan occupation between A.D. 600s and 1280. Characterized by arroyos, discontinuous ephemeral streams contain alternating aggrading and degrading reaches and are well suited for ak chin floodwater agriculture. Episodic Puebloan abandonment of the southern piedmont correlates with periods of drought but does not appear to be linked to stream entrenchment. We question a priori assumptions of droughts correlated to stream entrenchment and urge caution in the use of drought-arroyo models for settlement shifts in alluvial flood plains without supporting stratigraphic or geomorphic evidence.
Templating Nanoporosity in Organosilicates Using Well-Defined Branched Macromolecules

A general route to organic-inorganic hybrids with nanophase morphologies has been elaborated with the objective of ultimately templating nanoporosity in organosilicates. A key feature of the hybrids is the preparation of well-defined macromolecules bearing significant functionality to interact with the organosilicates. The use of living polymerization methods allows the synthesis of polymers with accurate control of molecular weight, polydispersity, and chain ends. We have demonstrated living polymerizations from dendritic and hyperbranched initiators to produce controlled branched, star and hyperstar macromolecules. These polymers are used as structure directing agents to organize organosilicates into nanostructures. Once the macromolecular species has templated or organized the inorganic component, the organic polymer can be selectively removed by thermolysis to produce a nanoporous inorganic structure. The size and shape of the pores are similar to those of the initial hybrid morphology. A significant reduction in the dielectric constant of these insulating materials is achieved simply by replacing a portion of the glass matrix with air which has a dielectric constant of 1.
The effects of water on planar features in compound slopes

Plane failure in rock and soil slopes is usually caused by the intersection of a discontinuity plane with a slope face. Typically, discontinuities are weaker than the surrounding intact material and provide a surface along which movement can occur. When designing a stable slope, it is often desirable to find the most critical conditions for a particular slope configuration and base the final slope design around those conditions. The worst case for most dry slopes usually includes a tension crack at a location determined by the slope geometry. The worst case for saturated slopes typically has a tension crack at the slope crest, providing the deepest tension crack, and a fully or partially dammed discontinuity. This paper focuses on plane failure analyses of compound slopes using limit equilibrium techniques. It provides new equations to calculate the position of a tension crack, water forces, and stability factor in compound slopes. The results of a compound slope and water pressures are illustrated through several examples.
Cotton Leafperforator: Effect of a Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus on Field Populations

In field tests in 1974 and 1975 in Arizona, applications of 2.47–2.97×1012 polyhedral inclusion bodies/ha of the nuclear polyhedrosis virus isolated from the alfalfa looper, Autagrapha californica (Speyer), significantly reduced the population of Buccalatrix thurberiella Busck in cotton and infected 21–50% of the larvae examined. Economic control of large populations was not obtained, but the virus showed potential for use in an integrated control program.
Discontinuous Stable Elements for the Incompressible Flow

In this paper, we derive a discontinuous Galerkin finite element formulation for the Stokes equations and a group of stable elements associated with the formulation. We prove that these elements satisfy the new inf–sup condition and can be used to solve incompressible flow problems. Associated with these stable elements, optimal error estimates for the approximation of both velocity and pressure in L 2 norm are obtained for the Stokes problems, as well as an optimal error estimate for the approximation of velocity in a mesh dependent norm.
Example Analysis on Relationship between Changes of Agricultural Structure and Farmers' Income in Tianjin City

Criginal statistics of Tianjin's agriculture from 1980 to 2007 were chosen as the sample and the relationship between farmers' income in the city and agricultural structure was analyzed using Granger's causality test and co-integration analysis.The results showed that changes of agricultural structure were the Granger reason for fluctuation of farmers' incomes in Tianjin.The long-term positive correlation between farmers' income and agricultural structure meant that improper agricultural structure was the major reason for China's agriculture slowing down in recent years.Based on this,improvement of agricultural structure would help increase farmers' income and development of the agriculture,which could provide theoretical support to guarantee a long-term,rapid and steady development of the agriculture in China.
Predicted location and limited accessibility of protein kinase A phosphorylation site on Na-K-ATPase.

Regulation of Na-K-ATPase by cAMP-dependent protein kinase occurs in a variety of tissues. Phosphorylation of the enzyme's catalytic subunit at a classical phosphorylation consensus motif has been ...
Are current strategies for treating hypertension effective

The ultimate goal of hypertension management is to prevent or reverse target organ damage and thereby to reduce cardiovascular and renal morbidity and mortality. Over the past two decades, abundant data from population-based, randomized, controlled trials have demonstrated the clinical benefits of blood pressure reduction for individuals with hypertension. Yet a large majority of patients with high blood pressure fail to receive optimal medical management for their hypertension. It appears that a leading obstacle to achieving blood pressure control in the general population is the failure of health care providers to treat high blood pressure sufficiently early, intensively, and persistently. In the past decade, there have been several paradigm shifts in the management of high blood pressure, including: 1). actively intervening to encourage therapeutic lifestyle changes; 2). conducting more comprehensive cardiovascular risk assessments; 3). achieving and maintaining a target blood pressure that is determined by the individuals level of risk; 4). placing a greater emphasis on lowering systolic blood pressure, particularly in older adults; and 5). increasing the use of multidrug therapy, given either as separate components or in the form of a fixed-dose combination, to achieve blood pressure goals. Primary care providers need to heighten their awareness of factors contributing to cardiovascular risk, recognize the very early markers of target organ damage, and set blood pressure goals that are individualized to a patients unique risk profile.
Resveratrol inhibits plasma membrane Ca 2+ -ATPase inducing an increase in cytoplasmic calcium.

Plasma membrane Ca2+-ATPase (PMCA) plays a vital role in maintaining cytosolic calcium concentration ([Ca2+] i ). Given that many diseases have modified PMCA expression and activity, PMCA is an important potential target for therapeutic treatment. This study demonstrates that the non-toxic, naturally-occurring polyphenol resveratrol (RES) induces increases in [Ca2+] i via PMCA inhibition in primary dermal fibroblasts and MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells. Our results also illustrate that RES and the fluorescent intracellular calcium indicator Fura-2, are compatible for simultaneous use, in contrast to previous studies, which indicated that RES modulates the Fura-2 fluorescence independent of calcium concentration. Because RES has been identified as a PMCA inhibitor, further studies may be conducted to develop more specific PMCA inhibitors from RES derivatives for potential therapeutic use.
Biomimetic thin films

Publisher Summary This chapter describes films containing polymers, dyes, amphiphiles, inorganic compounds, colloids, and proteins and gives guidance on the preparation and characterization of PMFs. Biomimetics is defined as "the study of biological structures, their functions and their synthetic pathways in order to stimulate new ideas and to develop these ideas into synthetic systems similar to those found in biological systems". It is a strategy for designing complex, multifunctional materials with a capacity for supramolecular self-assembly and conversion between chemical, thermal, mechanical, electromagnetic, and electrical energy and the ability to sense and adapt to the environment. Synthetic materials with these characteristics are called "smart materials". Biomimetics can be applied to the development of unique thin films. A novel film formation technique has been described that mimics aspects of the sequential adsorption of materials onto a surface observed in biomineralization. The SA technique is a low-cost approach to the assembly of interesting thin films. Virtually any polyion can be incorporated into a film, including dyes, polymers, proteins, viruses, inorganic nanoparticles, and ceramic plates. The technique is simple to automate.
Moore, Rashdall and Ross

The present chapter will give some account of the development of axiological ethics in England. It is not possible to pass over the contributions of G. E. Moore, who, however much his discussions of the meaning of ‘good’, and his teachings concerning the ‘naturalistic fallacy’, may have made him the father of modern ‘meta—ethics’, was also one of the prime founders of axiology, concerned to construct an ordered map of the main ‘heads’ of value and disvalue, of the main sorts of things that are purely or admixedly good or bad. His contributions to this body of theory are mainly contained in the Principia Ethica of 1903; his later volume on Ethics (1912) and his various other writings on ethical and value-problems, including his very important ‘Reply to my Critics’ in the Schilpp volume on the Philosophy of G. E. Moore, do not discuss this kind of question to the same extent. Moore’s drawing up of such a map of values in the last chapter of Principia Ethica is not only an important philosophical effort — Principia Ethica together with Some Main Problems of Philosophy and Russell’s Principles of Mathematics are among the supreme products of British philosophising — it also set the tone for a most brilliant intellectual and aesthetic period, the true belle epoque of Bloomsbury, which, with its odd mixture of subtle sophistication and naive innocence, so much in key with the Art Nouveau and the Peace Palace and the other fantasies of the time, now appears, from the sad vista of our present debasements, as the last happy, lucid, hopeful breathing-space of civilised man.
An enhanced high-precision and time-saving jitter transfer measurement

As data rates increase and jitter margins decrease, the need to precisely attain the performance of a PLL block becomes increasingly important. A PLL block's performance is reflected by its jitter transfer function, which is the ratio of output jitter to input jitter. A precise jitter transfer function requires a considerably large number of measurement points for the jitter transfer plot. The trade-off is an increase in measurement time. This paper presents a time-saving and cost effective jitter transfer measurement methodology that produces a precise jitter transfer function. This methodology extracts jitter transfer from the PLL output clock signal's power spectrum variation. The power spectrum varies according to controlled noise injected into the PLL input clock signal. Jitter transfer experimental data show significant increase in precision and reduction in measurement time compared to the conventional methodology. This new methodology enables efficient characterization of PLL block behaviour across different loop parameters and consequently, improves time-to-market of a new device or electronic system introduction.
Magnesium Sulfate Prevents Placental Ischemia-Induced Increases in Brain Water Content and Cerebrospinal Fluid Cytokines in Pregnant Rats.

Magnesium sulfate (MgSO4) is the most widely used therapy in the clinic to prevent the progression of preeclampsia, a hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, to eclampsia. Eclampsia, manifested as unexplained seizures and/or coma during pregnancy or postpartum, accounts for ~13% of maternal deaths worldwide. While MgSO4 continues to be used in the clinic, the mechanisms by which it exerts its protective actions are not well understood. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that MgSO4 protects against placental ischemia-induced increases in brain water content and cerebrospinal fluid cytokines. To test this hypothesis, MgSO4 was administered via mini-osmotic pump (60 mg/day, i.p.) to pregnant and placental ischemic rats, induced by mechanical reduction of uterine perfusion pressure, from gestational day 14-19. This treatment regimen of MgSO4 led to therapeutic level of 2.8±0.6 mmol/L Mg in plasma. MgSO4 had no effect on improving placental ischemia-induced changes in mean arterial pressure, number of live fetuses, or fetal and placental weight. Placental ischemia increased, while MgSO4 prevented the increase in water content in the anterior cerebrum. Cytokine and chemokine levels were measured in the cerebrospinal fluid using a multi-plex assay. Results demonstrate that cerebrospinal fluid, obtained via the cisterna magna, had reduced protein, albumin, interleukin (IL)-17A, IL-18, IL-2, eotaxin, fractalkine, interferon gamma, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-2 following MgSO4 treatment. These data support the hypothesis that MgSO4 offers neuroprotection by preventing placental ischemia-induced cerebral edema and reducing levels of cytokines/chemokines in the cerebrospinal fluid.
MISSA 2.0: an updated synthetic biology toolbox for assembly of orthogonal CRISPR/Cas systems

Efficient generation of plants carrying mutations in multiple genes remains a challenge. Using two or more orthogonal CRISPR/Cas systems can generate plants with multi-gene mutations, but assembly of these systems requires a robust, high-capacity toolkit. Here, we describe MISSA 2.0 (multiple-round in vivo site-specific assembly 2.0), an extensively updated toolkit for assembly of two or more CRISPR/Cas systems. We developed a novel suicide donor vector system based on plasmid RK2, which has much higher cloning capacity than the original, plasmid R6K-based system. We validated the utility of MISSA 2.0 by assembling multiple DNA fragments into the E. coli chromosome, and by creating transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana that constitutively or inducibly overexpress multiple genes. We then demonstrated that the higher cloning capacity of the RK2-derived MISSA 2.0 donor vectors facilitated the assembly of two orthogonal CRISPR/Cas systems including SpCas9 and SaCas9, and thus facilitated the creation of transgenic lines harboring these systems. We anticipate that MISSA 2.0 will enable substantial advancements in multiplex genome editing based on two or more orthogonal CRISPR/Cas9 systems, as well as in plant synthetic biology.
FcRγ-Dependent Facilitating Cells Are Direct Inducers of Regulatory T Cells.

Facilitating cells (FC) are CD8 + /αβγδTCR − bone marrow-derived cells that promote allogeneic stem cell (SC) engraftment without graft vs. host disease (GVHD) and induce donor-specific transplantation tolerance. However, the mechanism of FC-mediated allogeneic SC engraftment is not known. We have previously demonstrated that allogeneic SC engraftment promoted by FC result in no clinical evidence of GVHD and is associated with increased number of CD4 + 25 + regulatory T cells post transplant compared to recipients of bone marrow T cells that develop severe GVHD. This is consistent with the hypothesis that FC facilitate allogeneic SC engraftment and induce tolerance through the induction of a regulatory T cell network. Here we report that CpG activation of toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) on FC induce CD4 + 25 − naive T cell differentiation into CD4 + 25 + regulatory T cells. CpG stimulated and unstimulated CD8 + αβγδTCR − FC isolated from bone marrow of C57/BL6 mice by flow cytometric cell sorting FC were co-cultured with splenic CD4 + 25 − T cells for 5 days. CpG stimulated FC co-culture gave rise to CD4 + 25 + T cells as determined by mRNA expression of the CD4 + 25 + regulatory T cell marker, FoxP3. In contrast, unstimulated FC in co-culture did not induce regulatory T cells. Because FcRγ is the dominant ITAM receptor (immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activating motif), on FC and given that in vivo studies have demonstrated a requirement for FcRγ expression on FC, we hypothesized that FcRγ gene expression is increased within activated FC. FcRγ gene expression in CpG stimulated and unstimulated FC were compared by real-time PCR analysis. CpG-mediated TLR signaling within FC result in increased gene expression of FcRγ. Taken together, these studies demonstrate that CpG stimulated FC induce the generation of CD4 + 25 + regulatory T cells in vitro and CpG activation results in increased gene expression of FcRγ, suggesting a requirement for FcRγ signaling in FC-mediated induction of regulatory T cells. These findings provide the first mechanistic evidence that FC are direct inducers of regulatory T cells. Further characterization of cooperative TLR and FcRγ signaling pathways in FC will be critical to defining the mechanism of FC-mediated SC engraftment and the identification of potential therapeutic targets for the clinical induction of tolerance in the future.
Thyroid cancer is more likely to be detected incidentally on imaging in private hospital patients.

Abstract Background The incidence of well-differentiated thyroid cancer (WDTC) is increasing. Patients with higher socioeconomic status have higher rates of WDTC, possibly due to increased imaging and overdiagnosis. We compared methods of WDTC diagnosis in patients treated at a public and an adjacent private university hospital. Materials and methods Patients with WDTC at the two hospitals between 2004 and 2010 were included. Patients were categorized into having their WDTC discovered on physical examination or on unrelated imaging. Demographic and pathologic data were collected. T-test was used for quantitative variables, and chi-squared test was used for categorical values. Binomial logistic regression was used to asses for confounding. Results Among 473 patients, 402 (85%) were from the university hospital, and 71 (15%) were from the public hospital. Patients from the university hospital were older (mean age: 49 versus 44, P = 0.02) and had a different racial composition compared to those from the public hospital. The patients at the public hospital had larger tumors (23 versus 18 mm, P = 0.04). Patients from the university hospital were more likely to have WDTC detected by imaging than patients in the public hospital (46% versus 28%, P Conclusions This study demonstrates that patients with WDTC treated at a university hospital are more likely to have their tumor detected on unrelated imaging than those treated at a public hospital. These data may support the hypothesis that patients with improved insurance are more likely to have WDTC detected by imaging.
The Effects of Videomodeling on Fundamental Motor Skill Performance of Middle School Children with Intellectual Disabilities

Proficiency in fundamental motor skills (FMS) is important for the health and overall development of children. Using a multiple-baseline-across-participants single-subject design, this study provided preliminary data on the effectiveness of videomodeling (VM) displayed via an iPad on the acquisition and maintenance of the standing long jump (SLJ) by six middle school children with moderate intellectual disabilities (ID). The study also explored whether the participant’s initial gross-motor development and off-task behaviors while watching instructional videos affected the acquisition of SLJ. Results demonstrated an increase in the number of correctly performed SLJ critical elements during the implementation of VM for all participants with higher and one participant with lower initial scores on the Test of Gross Motor Development-2 (TGMD). The increased performance was maintained two weeks after withdrawal of the intervention. The intervention had no effect on the acquisition of SLJ critical elements of two participants with lower TGMD initial scores. Participants who demonstrated off-task behaviors while watching the SLJ video demonstrated lower levels of SLJ acquisition. The preliminary data from this study suggest that the eventual use of VM as an additional and alternate type of instruction can lead to improved acquisition and maintenance of FMS by children with moderate ID.
A Report on Service-Learning and Engineering Design: Service-Learning's Effect on Students Learning Engineering Design in 'Introduction to Mechanical Engineering'

Service-learning is a form of experiential education in which students apply the knowledge andskills they learn in the classroom to carry out projects that meet a human or community need.Service-learning has been integrated into an `Introduction to Mechanical Engineering' course toenhance learning of first-year engineering students and to meet the need for more resources in localmiddle-schools to promote active, hands-on learning of mathematics and science. Student assess-ment results over a three-year period demonstrate that service-learning is an effective strategy forfirst-year mechanical engineering students to learn and practice engineering design and teamwork,and to become aware of civic responsibility. Service-learning provides engineering students theopportunity and motivation to develop the `softer' skills described in Engineering Criteria 2000 andcomplements the traditional approach to design projects, in which students interact primarily withtechnical personnel
Do learners lighten up? Phonetic and allophonic acquisition of Spanish /l/ by English-speaking learners

This study explores the second language (L2) acquisition of a segment that exists in learners’ first language (L1) and in their L2 but that differs in its phonetic realization and allophonic patterning in the two languages. Specifically, this research tracks development in one aspect of the production of the alveolar lateral /l/ in the L2 Spanish of 85 native English speakers from various levels of study and compares L2 productions to those of native Spanish speakers as well as to learners’ L1 English. Additionally, laterals produced in specific contexts are compared to examine learners’ acquisition of L2 allophonic patterning, as Spanish contains a subset of the lateral allophones that exist in English. Results suggest development toward nativelike norms in the phonetic details of Spanish /l/ and in allophonic patterning. These findings have implications for existing theoretical accounts of L2 speech learning, which cannot adequately account for the learning situation examined.
An unsolved problem for Slote's agent-based virtue ethics

According to Slote's ``agent-based'' virtue ethics, the rightness orwrongness of an act is determined by the motive it expresses. Thistheory has a problem with cases where an agent can do her duty onlyby expressing some vicious motive and thereby acting wrongly. In sucha situation, an agent can only act wrongly; hence, the theory seemsincompatible with the maxim that `ought' implies `can'. I argue thatSlote's attempt to circumvent this problem by appealing to compatibilism is inadequate. In a wide range of psychologically realistic cases, an agent's effective choice will be between failingto do her duty and doing it from inferior motives. Then anythingshe can do will be wrong, according to the agent-based theory,contrary to the maxim Slote wishes to preserve.
Spectral quantification of a tidal plume from an autonomous underwater vehicle

Buoyant plumes are ubiquitous in estuarine environments, yet their frontal structure and dynamics are not fully understood. Tidal plumes are dynamic over a broad range of temporal and spatial scales, and are characterized by strongly stratified turbulence and frontal instabilities. Observations from autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) with a suite of sensors, including temperature, salinity, and acoustic backscatter, provide a useful complement to ship-board sampling to characterize the frontal structure and dynamics at high resolution. Results are presented from an experiment in which a broadband acoustic backscattering system (160–410 kHz) was integrated onto a REMUS-100 AUV and used to sample the near-field ebb tide plume at the mouth of the Connecticut River. Scattering mechanisms are determined from the frequency-dependent acoustic spectra, and acoustic measurements of the frontal structure are compared to data collected with a towed CTD array. Data are also presented that illustrate the challenges...
Unusual Neoplasms of the Head and Neck

This chapter will discuss unusual neoplasms of the head and neck. General principles regarding workup and management paradigms are discussed for a subset of these diseases.
Endocrine rhythms associated with pineal gland function.

The endocrine system exhibits a gamut of rhythms. Many of these have a duration of roughly 24 hours (circadian) while some are approximately 12 months (circannual) in length. All of the rhythms are probably advantageous to the individual animals or to the species as a whole. The factors controlling many of these hormonal fluctuations are likely numerous; and, in many cases, the governing mechanisms remain unknown. Some of the rhythms are undoubtedly related to the activity of the pineal gland, an organ which itself exhibits remarkable variations in its biosynthetic and presumably in its secretory activity. In the pineal gland, the primary impeller of these changes is ostensibly the photoperiodic environment (Quay, 1963a; Axelrod, Wurtman, and Snyder, 1965; Snyder, Axelrod, and Zweig, 1967) and to somewhat lesser extent locomotor activity (Ralph, Mull, Lynch, and Hedlund, 1971; Reiter, Sorrentino, Ralph, Lynch, Mull, and Jarrow, 1971) and hormonal feedback influences (Quay, 1964; Wurtman, Axelrod, Snyder, and Chu, 1965; Houssay and Barcello, 1972).
40 – Indoor Air Quality

This chapter summarizes indoor environmental health. Diseases related to indoor environments do not differ from those same diseases related to other factors. Therefore, documentation of disease, per se, is no different. Such diseases do differ from non occupational and environmental forms in that their etiology is related to an exposure that is remediable. Identification of the cause, based on a specific linkage strategy, is, therefore, of paramount importance. Such linkages are far more persuasive to both the professional and regulatory community and more clearly define economic implications than the complex of symptoms commonly labeled sick building syndrome. Eye irritation is a common complaint among office workers and is widely thought by some to be the primary driver for the widespread interest in indoor environmental health effects. A wide range of frequencies of work-related mucosal irritation has been reported, ranging from 8% to well over 30% in randomly selected buildings. In buildings with known problems, this frequency is even higher. Additional individuals have persistent eye irritation without relief on weekends. These symptoms may be due to factors other than external exposures, or these individuals may have similar exposure problems at home. Epidemiologic data have long suggested that atopic individuals describe more mucosal irritation than nonatopic individuals.
Nutritional Standards and Guidelines

An appropriate nutritional standard is needed to use a nutrient approach in diet evaluation. The Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Sciences has published recommended dietary allowances (RDA) for key nutrients. This chapter presents the report on Dietary Goals for the United States by the United States Senate Select Committee on Nutrition and Human Needs that focuses on the role of nutrition in health promotion and disease prevention. It explains the role of all nutrients in growth and good health and the role of such nutrients as fat, cholesterol, carbohydrate, and dietary fiber in chronic diseases such as obesity, heart disease, diabetes, and cancer. Both quantitative and non-quantitative approaches are applied to dietary guidance to reduce risk of chronic disease. The Dietary Guidelines recommend less consumption of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, refined sugar, and salt, in the context of a varied diet balanced among the four food groups. It emphasizes on whole grain cereals, legumes, fruits, and vegetables in order to provide more dietary fiber. However, these guidelines do not indicate how much less fat or how much more fiber is desirable.
The Engineering of Climate Engineering

While reducing anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions remains the most essential element of any strategy to manage climate change risk, it is also in principle possible to directly cool the climate...
Understanding the underutilization of cervical brachytherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer.

Abstract Purpose To understand the reasons behind current low utilization of brachytherapy for locally advanced cervical cancer in the United States. Methods and Materials A 17-item survey was e-mailed to the American Brachytherapy Society (ABS) listserv of active members in 2018. Responses of attending physicians in the United States were included in the analysis. Results Among a total of 135 respondents, 81 completed the survey. Eighty-four percent agree/strongly agree that cervical brachytherapy is underutilized, and 46.9% disagree/strongly disagree that residents are receiving adequate training for brachytherapy; 75.3% agree/strongly agree that inadequate maintenance of brachytherapy skills is a major obstacle to brachytherapy use; and 71.6% agree/strongly agree that increased time requirement constitutes a major obstacle. Over 97% will recommend brachytherapy for most patients with cervical cancer if given access/time; 72.8% always perform their own brachytherapy, whereas 29.6% reported some type of barrier exists in performing brachytherapy themselves, with time required to perform brachytherapy (9.9%) being a leading factor. A quarter (24.7%) routinely refer to other radiation oncologists for brachytherapy. Even among ABS members, 37.0% reported that they would perform an intensity-modulated radiation therapy or stereotactic body radiation therapy boost in specific scenarios in potentially curable patients. The most common scenario is inability to place a uterine tandem (56.7%). Conclusions The underutilization of brachytherapy in cervical cancer is widely recognized by ABS members with inadequate training during residency and inadequate maintenance of skills being possible major contributing factors. Even among ABS members, there are identifiable barriers. Continued advocacy and future initiatives in enhancing access to brachytherapy training and efficiency are needed.
Analysis of Chaperone-Mediated Autophagy

Chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) is a selective type of autophagy whereby a specific subset of intracellular proteins is targeted to the lysosome for degradation. These proteins are identified by a chaperone that targets them to lysosomes. There, they are translocated into the organelle lumen through a lysosomal membrane receptor/translocation complex. CMA plays an important role in maintaining cellular proteostasis by eliminating damaged and altered proteins. CMA also participates in the control of the cellular energetic balance through recycling of amino acids resulting from lysosomal proteolysis of the substrate proteins. Lastly, due to the intrinsic protein selectivity of CMA, this type of autophagy exerts regulatory functions by mediating timely degradation of key cellular proteins that participate in processes such as lipid and glucose metabolism, cell cycle, DNA repair, and cellular reprogramming, among others. Dysfunctional CMA occurs with age and has now been described in a growing list of human pathologies such as metabolic disorders, neurodegeneration, cancer, immunodeficiency, and diabetes. In this chapter, we describe current methodologies to quantitatively analyze CMA activity in different experimental models.
Classification of Parasomnias

Parasomnias are undesirable events or experiences occurring in sleep or during transitions to and from sleep. This category of disorders includes a varied set of disorders that can be classified based upon the sleep stage in which they predominantly occur. The non-REM parasomnias include disorders of arousal and sleep–wake transition. These are confusional arousals, sleepwalking (including sleep sex), and sleep terrors. Parasomnias occurring predominantly during REM sleep include REM sleep behavior disorder, recurrent isolated sleep paralysis, and nightmare disorder. The third category, parasomnias that occur independent of sleep stage, includes sleep related dissociative disorder, sleep related groaning (catathrenia), exploding head syndrome, sleep related hallucinations, sleep related eating disorder, and sleep enuresis, as well as parasomnias due to drugs or substances and parasomnias due to a medical condition. As further research clarifies the pathophysiology of these highly varied disorders, it is likely this scheme for classifying parasomnias will continue to evolve.
Geometric Arveson–Douglas Conjecture-Decomposition of Varieties

In this paper, we prove the Geometric Arveson–Douglas Conjecture for a special case that allows some singularity on $$\partial {\mathbb {B}_n}$$ . More precisely, we show that if a variety can be decomposed into two varieties, each having nice properties and intersecting nicely with $$\partial \mathbb {B}_n$$ , then the Geometric Arveson–Douglas Conjecture holds on this variety. We obtain this result by applying a result by Suarez, which allows us to “localize” the problem. Our result then follows from the simple case when the two varieties are intersection of linear subspaces with $$\mathbb {B}_n$$ .
The CEO Problem with rth Power of Difference Distortion

The CEO problem has received a lot of attention since Berger et al. first investigated it, however, there are limited results on non-Gaussian models with non-quadratic distortion measures. In this work, we extend the CEO problem to two continuous-alphabet settings with general rth power of difference distortion, and study asymptotics of distortion as the number of agents and sum rate grow without bound. The first setting is a regular source-observation model, such as jointly Gaussian, with difference distortion and we show that the distortion decays at $R_{{\text{sum}}}^{ - r/2}$ up to a multiplicative constant. The other setting is a non-regular source-observation model, such as copula or uniform additive noise models, for which estimation-theoretic regularity conditions do not hold. The optimal decay R−rsum is obtained for the non-regular model.
Parallel Glyco-SPOT Synthesis of Glycopeptide Libraries

Glycan recognition is typically studied using free glycans, but glycopeptide presentations represent more physiological conditions for glycoproteins. To facilitate studies of glycopeptide recognition, we developed Glyco-SPOT synthesis, which enables the parallel production of diverse glycopeptide libraries at microgram scales. The method uses a closed system for prolonged reactions required for coupling Fmoc-protected glycoamino acids, including O-, N-, and S-linked glycosides, and release conditions to prevent side reactions. To optimize reaction conditions and sample reaction progress, we devised a biopsy testing method. We demonstrate the efficient utilization of such microscale glycopeptide libraries to determine the specificity of glycan-recognizing antibodies (e.g., CTD110.6) using microarrays, enzyme specificity on-array and in-solution (e.g., ST6GalNAc1, GCNT1, and T-synthase), and binding kinetics using fluorescence polarization. We demonstrated that the glycosylation on these peptides can be expanded using glycosyltransferases both in-solution and on-array. This technology will promote the discovery of biological functions of peptide modifications by glycans.
In Situ Thermal Runaway Detection in Lithium-Ion Batteries with an Integrated Internal Sensor

Thermal safety is of prime importance for any energy-storage system. For lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), numerous safety incidences have been roadblocks on the path toward realizing high-energy-densi...
Up-operators and congruences for Shimura images

Abstract Recent works [2] , [5] , [13] , [14] studied how Hecke operators map between subspaces of modular forms of the type A r , s = { η ( δ z ) r F ( δ z ) : F ( z ) ∈ M s } for suitable δ. For primes p ≥ 5 , we give results on how U p maps between subspaces of these spaces with p-integral coefficients modulo powers of p. As a corollary, we prove congruences between Shimura images of a natural family of half-integral weight eigenforms modulo p. Specifically, we classify all congruences of the type Shim r ( η ( 24 z ) r E s ( 24 z ) ) ≡ Shim r ′ ( η ( 24 z ) r ′ E s ′ ( 24 z ) ) ( mod p ) for 1 ≤ r , r ′ ≤ 23 with gcd ⁡ ( r r ′ , 6 ) = 1 , 5 ≤ p ≤ 23 , and s , s ′ ∈ { 0 , 4 , 6 , 8 , 10 , 14 } . Congruences of this type were used in [7] , [8] to extend Ramanujan's congruences for p ( n ) modulo powers of 5, 7, and 11.
Implementation of a community grant program to address community-driven environmental health concerns

Community-engaged approaches to research can increase trust, enhance the relevance and use of research, address issues of equity and justice, and increase community knowledge and capacity. The HERCULES Exposome Research Center sought to engage local Atlanta communities to learn about and address their self-identified environmental health concerns. To do this, HERCULES and their stakeholder partners collaboratively developed a community grant program. The program was evaluated using mixed qualitative methods that included document review and semi-structured interviews. This paper presents the development, implementation, and evaluation of the grant program. HERCULES awarded one-year grants of $2,500 to 12 organizations within the Atlanta region, for a total 13 grants and $32,500 in funding. Grantees reported accomplishments related to community knowledge, awareness, and engagement in addition to material accomplishments. All grantees planned to sustain their programs, and some received additional funding to do so. Some grantees remained actively involved with HERCULES beyond the grant program. The HERCULES Community Grant Program was able to increase awareness of HERCULES among applicant communities, establish or enhance relationships with community-based organizations, and identify local environmental health concerns while providing tangible results for grantees and the communities they serve. Mini-grant programs are a feasible approach to address community environmental health and establish new relationships. This model may benefit others who aim to establish community-academic relationships while addressing community health concerns.