cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Local “On-Demand” Generation and Function of Antigen-Specific Foxp3 + Regulatory T Cells

Extrathymically derived regulatory T cells (iTregs) protect against autoimmunity to tissue-specific Ags. However, whether Ag-specific iTreg generation and function is limited to secondary lymphoid tissue or whether it can occur within the tissue-specific local environment of the cognate Ag remains unresolved. Mice expressing β-galactosidase (βgal) on a retina-specific promoter (βgal mice) in conjunction with mice expressing GFP and diphtheria toxin (DTx) receptor (DTR) under control of the Foxp3 promoter, and βgal-specific TCR transgenic (BG2) mice were used to examine this question. Local depletion (ocular DTx), but not systemic depletion (i.p. DTx), of βgal-specific iTregs enhanced experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis induced by activated βgal-specific effector T cells. Injections of small amounts of βgal into the anterior chamber of the eye produced similar numbers of βgal-specific iTregs in the retina whether the mouse was depleted of pre-existing, circulating Tregs. Taken together, these results suggest that protection from tissue-specific autoimmunity depends on the function of local Ag-specific iTregs and that the retina is capable of local, "on-demand" iTreg generation that is independent of circulating Tregs.
A Vector Model of Causal Meaning

This paper proposes a new model of causal meaning, the Vector Model, which formalizes a model of causation based on Talmy’s notions of force dynamics (Wolff, Song, & Driscoll, 2002). In the Vector Model, the concepts of CAUSE, ENABLE and PREVENT are distinguished from one another in terms of force vectors, their resultant and the relationship of each force vector to a target vector. The predictions of the model were tested in two experiments in which participants saw realistic 3D-animations of an inflatable boat moving through a pool of water. The boat’s movements were completely determined by the force vectors entered into a physics simulator. Participants’ linguistic descriptions of the animations were closely matched by those predicted by the model given the same force vectors as those used to produce the animations. Our model may have implications for the semantics of causal verbs as well as the perception of causal events.
A city-wide vehicular infrastructure for wide-area wireless experimentation

We describe our experiences in building a city-wide infrastructure for wide-area wireless experimentation. Our infrastructure has two components -(i) a vehicular testbed consisting of wireless nodes, each equipped with both cellular (EV-DO) and WiFi interfaces, and mounted on city buses plying in Madison, Wisconsin, and (ii) a software platform to utilize these testbed nodes to continuously monitor and characterize performance of large scale wireless networks, such as city-wide mesh networks, unplanned deployments of WiFi hotspots, and cellular networks. Beyond our initial efforts in building and deploying this infrastructure, we have also utilized it to gain some initial understanding of the diversity of user experience in large-scale wireless networks, especially under various mobility scenarios. Since our vehicle-mounted testbed nodes have fairly deterministic mobility patterns, they provide us with much needed performance data on parameters such as RF coverage and available bandwidth, as well as quantify the impact of mobility on performance. We use our initial measurements from this testbed to showcase its ability to provide an efficient, low-cost, and robust method to monitor our target wireless networks. These initial measurements also highlight the challenges we face as we continue to expand this infrastructure. We discuss what these challenges are and how we intend to address them.
Learning structured output representation using deep conditional generative models

Supervised deep learning has been successfully applied to many recognition problems. Although it can approximate a complex many-to-one function well when a large amount of training data is provided, it is still challenging to model complex structured output representations that effectively perform probabilistic inference and make diverse predictions. In this work, we develop a deep conditional generative model for structured output prediction using Gaussian latent variables. The model is trained efficiently in the framework of stochastic gradient variational Bayes, and allows for fast prediction using stochastic feed-forward inference. In addition, we provide novel strategies to build robust structured prediction algorithms, such as input noise-injection and multi-scale prediction objective at training. In experiments, we demonstrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm in comparison to the deterministic deep neural network counterparts in generating diverse but realistic structured output predictions using stochastic inference. Furthermore, the proposed training methods are complimentary, which leads to strong pixel-level object segmentation and semantic labeling performance on Caltech-UCSD Birds 200 and the subset of Labeled Faces in the Wild dataset.
Precis of the Argument of On the people’s terms

Philip Pettit:To enjoy a free choice, on the neo-republican approach, is to be able to select any of the options in that choice regardless both of what you prefer to do and of what anyone else pref...
Pathophysiology of facial nerve disorders.

Abstract This issue of The American Journal of Otology includes the last of a series of articles on facial nerve disorders, which collectively are known as the "Facial Nerve Manual." In the early 1980s, Dr. Mark May chaired the AAO-HNS Facial Nerve Committee. One of the tasks he initiated was the creation of a Facial Nerve Manual, assigned to a small group of clinicians at the COSM Meeting in the spring of 1984. The purpose of this work was to disseminate practical information on the management of selected facial nerve problems, one of the primary charges of the Committee. Work began slowly, but surely. During Dr. Gale Gardner's tenure as Committee chairman, manuscripts were reviewed and edited by Dr. Nels Olson, and The American Journal of Otology agreed to publish the manual. Perhaps more than anyone else, Dr. Olson worked tirelessly to create a finished product of consistent style and content. Ever since the original writing and editing, controversial topics continue to emerge. As each chapter is published individually over this year, concepts may change, and the reader is encouraged to explore these issues in more depth. Drs. May, Gardner, Olson, and all the individual authors are to be congratulated for their efforts. The Committee sincerely thanks The American Journal of Otology for supporting this work.
Extended selections for pyrethroid resistance in the German cockroach (Dictyoptera: Blattellidae)

Selection experiments with a pyrethrins-susceptible and a pyrethrins-resistant strain of German cockroaches, Blattella germanica (L.), were conducted for 17 generations with either permethrin or fenvalerate as the selecting agent. Large nymphs were left on treated glass surfaces for extended periods of time each generation. Mortality was assessed at 24 h. The level of resistance was determined periodically by time-mortality testing. The VPI-susceptible strain served as the basis for comparison. The pyrethrins-susceptible strain developed resistance to pyrethrins early in the selection process; this strain ultimately became resistant to allethrin, phenothrin, permethrin, fenvalerate, cyfluthrin, and cypermethrin. Fenvalerate caused faster development of resistance than did permethrin. The pyrethrins-resistant strain, selected with fenvalerate, quickly became resistant to allethrin, permethrin, phenothrin, and fenvalerate. Ultimately, it developed resistance to all nine pyrethroids tested.
Effects of Various Passivation Dielectrics and Via Reservoir Lengths on Stress and Electromigration Reliability of Metal Interconnects

Reservoir length dependencies of electromigration lifetime in multilevel interconnect were compared for two passivation dielectrics, that is, FOX (Flowable Oxide) and HDP FSG (High Density Plasma Fluorinated Silicate Glass). The higher electromigration resistance of interconnects passivated by FOX can be best explained by their lower stress and vacancy concentration levels than the case for FSG. It was also proposed that lower levels of stress and vacancy concentration in the longer reservoir could partially contribute to the better electromigration reliability of interconnect with the longer reservoir.
The surface antigens and phage receptors in Escherichia coli B.

SummaryTwo types of phage-receptor substances were isolated from the cell wall of E. coli B. The receptors for T3 and T7 were closely related to the somatic antigen. Antibacterial antiserum prevented adsorption of all four phages of the receptor sites. Antibodies which prevented adsorption of phages T3 and T7 were directed against the somatic antigen of the bacterium. Antibodies which prevented adsorption of phages T2 and T6 were directed against the lipoprotein moiety of the cell wall.
The ecological costs to females in a system with allied sexual coercion

Sexual coercion results from extreme conflict over mating. As a male strategy to overcome female resistance, coercion can impose fitness costs on females. Among mammals, most cases involve single males or temporary coalitions, with allied aggression towards females being rare. Among Shark Bay bottlenose dolphins, Tursiops cf. aduncus, male alliances harass, guard and consort with females to obtain mating access, which has known physical costs to females. However, the behavioural and ecological costs of sexual coercion to females remain largely unexplored. Given the importance of individual differences in ranging and habitat use for dolphin foraging ecology, social networks and fitness, we hypothesized that male coercion also imposes ecological costs on females. Using 25 years of longitudinal data, we examined how adult male presence relates to female space use, and we found that females (N = 32) altered their ranging when associating with adult males but also when they were cycling. Additionally, females reduced the use of their primary (preferred) habitat when with males, but cycling had no effect. Ranging shifts were slightly greater for males than for females when they were together, but only for females did this alter their spatial ecology. While it is also possible that males follow fertile females and/or that females move to avoid males, the well-documented coercive mating system suggests that males, as part of their coercive mating tactics, sequester females to areas that females would not otherwise occupy. Our results show that in a coercive mating system, males can alter females' basic behavioural ecology, and suggest that males spatially sequester individual females via allied consortships.
Using cooperative learning in clinical laboratory science education.

OBJECTIVE: To compare performance of students instructed by cooperative learning (CL) activities with those taught by lecture. A secondary objective was to assess students9 perceptions about their ability to work in teams before and after their exposure to these instructional approaches. DESIGN/SETTING/PARTICIPANTS: CL was incorporated into the immunology/serology course of a university-based clinical laboratory science (CLS) program. Twenty-two students participated in a 4-week study and were randomly assigned to one of two study groups. INTERVENTION: One group received the course material by CL activities, and the other group was exposed to the material through lecture. MAIN OUTCOMES MEASURE: Mean examination scores for CL and lecture groups were compared using an independent samples t-test. Teamwork knowledge, skills, and attitude (KSA) assessment rated students9 perceptions of their ability to work in a team environment pre and post tests were compared using a 2x2 repeated measures ANOVA. RESULTS: No significant difference was found between mean examination scores of students who acquired their knowledge by CL activities (85.09%) and those taught by lecture (82.18%). Teamwork KSA means scores pre and post tests (22.5, 22.6 CL; 22.7, 21.6 lecture) were not significantly different. CONCLUSION: Results suggest that the incorporation of CL activities did not reduce the students9 academic perfor mance or self-perceptions of their ability to work in teams. The use of CL in the classroom, student laboratory, or clinical setting may help prepare students for the role they will be expected to perform as laboratory professionals. ABBREVIATIONS: CL = cooperative learning; CLS = clinical laboratory science; KSA = knowledge, skills, and attitude.
Effect of Cation on Physical Properties and CO2 Solubility for Phosphonium-Based Ionic Liquids with 2-Cyanopyrrolide Anions.

A series of tetraalkylphosphonium 2-cyanopyrrolide ([Pnnnn][2-CNPyr]) ionic liquids (ILs) were prepared to investigate the effect of cation size on physical properties and CO2 solubility. Each IL was synthesized in our laboratory and characterized by NMR spectroscopy. Their physical properties, including density, viscosity, and ionic conductivity, were determined as a function of temperature and fit to empirical equations. The density gradually increased with decreasing cation size, while the viscosity decreased noticeably. In addition, the [Pnnnn][2-CNPyr] ILs with large cations exhibited relatively low degrees of ionicity based on analysis of the Walden plots. This implies the presence of extensive ion pairing or formation of aggregates resulting from van der Waals interactions between the long hydrocarbon substituents. The CO2 solubility in each IL was measured at 22 °C using a volumetric method. While the anion is typically known to be predominantly responsible for the CO2 capture reaction, the [Pnnnn...
Universal Fluctuations and Conductance Asymmetry in Mesoscopic Silicon MOSFETs

The conductance of very small silicon metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors (MOSFETs) contains aperiodic structure known as universal conductance fluctuations. Fluctuations of nearly the same amplitude are observed when either the magnetic field or the gate voltage is varied. Structure in the magnetoconductance of inversion and accumulation layers is correlated for closely spaced values of the Fermi energy. The period of magnetoconductance fluctuations for samples tilted in a magnetic field is dependent on the perpendicular component of the applied field. When the source-drain voltage across the device is increased, the conductance becomes increasingly asymmetric until the fluctuation amplitude is decreased by electron heating. The role of quantum interference and disorder in causing these phenomena will be discussed.
Development of A Teen-Focused Exergame.

Abstract Introduction: Exergames require body movement to play and may be an effective method for enhancing teen physical activity (PA). However, results have been mixed. Innovative methods are needed to develop Exergames that increase and maintain PA. Self-representational avatars, or avatars created from a digital image of an individual, may increase PA (e.g., intensity, duration) during Exergame play. This article addresses this novel idea by describing the development of an Exergame played with a self-representational avatar. Materials and Methods: Twelve- to 14-year-olds, stratified by gender, body mass index, and PA, were invited to participate in two rounds of data collection. Each round consisted of an online survey, followed by a telephone interview to ensure comprehension of survey responses. After the first round, an Exergame prototype and the system for creating the self-representational avatar were created. A second round of data was collected to obtain information with which to create a full...
Validation of the spatially variant probability density functions for the HRRT

The probability density function (PDF) is a new concept of modeling the spatial dependence of the system response. In iterative reconstruction algorithms, the PDF plays the same important role as the point spread function in recovering images of high resolution. For the HRRT with a large number of lines of response, Monte Carlo simulation, along with an effective parameterization strategy, provides a practical solution to generating the PDFs that can be used in our listmode reconstruction algorithm (MOLAR). However, the PDF's accuracy, which depends on the accuracy of the simulated HRRT scanner, is still unverified. This study aims to validate the PDFs derived from simulation for the HRRT, by comparison to binned point source data. It is shown that the shape and width of the PDFs vary as a function of the incident angles to the detectors, and depth along each LOR, consistent with simulation results. However, the variability by detector layer for the HRRT phoswich is found to be significant in the experimental results, with roughly 20–40% degradations in FWHM and FWTM between the front-layer and back-layer PDFs, as compare to simulated results. On the other hand, all experimentally derived PDFs have larger spread than the simulated PDFs. The differences in FWHM, which are layer-dependent, range from 0.5mm to 1.5mm. We conclude that corrections of simulated PDF are required in order to achieve accurate resolution modeling.
PSM and Sense of Community and Responsibility as Predictors of Employee Well-Being and Engagement

Public management scholars have suggested that employee motivation can be accentuated by organizational cultures and contexts. One of the most researched topics in this regard is the concept of Pub...
Local Environment of Terbium(III) Ions in Layered Nanocrystalline Zirconium(IV) Phosphonate–Phosphate Ion Exchange Materials

The structures of Zr(IV) phosphonate-phosphate based, unconventional metal organic framework materials have been determined using atomic pair distribution function analysis of high energy, X-ray total scattering diffraction data. They are found to form as nanocrystalline layers of Zr phosphate, similar to the bulk, but with a high degree of interlayer disorder and intermediate intralayer order extending around 5 nm. These materials are of interest for their high selectivity for 3+ lanthanide ions. To investigate the mechanism of the selectivity, we utilize difference pair distribution function analysis to extract the local structural environment of Tb3+ ions loaded into the framework. The ions are found to sit between the layers in a manner resembling the local environment of Tb in Scheelite-type terbium phosphate. By mapping this local structure onto that of the refined structure for zirconium-phenyl-phosphonate, we show how dangling oxygens from the phosphate groups, acting like nose hairs, are able to ...
Pedagogical and Professional Development Resources

In this chapter, we offer several resources. First, our “Top” entrepreneurial book picks for engineers—which could be passed along to students and/or read by you, the engineering educator, to get up to speed on what it means to be entrepreneurial. Second, we provide a number of journals that have emerged with a focus on aiding entrepreneurship educators, which serve as a useful database to peruse and also contribute to. Third, we suggest a mixture of workshops that specifically target entrepreneurial education (sometimes from an engineering viewpoint) as well as workshops that help advance entrepreneurial tools that are useful in the classroom. Lastly, we offer up a list of recommendations for the organizations, initiatives and movements that you want to keep a pulse on, as you strive to nurture the entrepreneurial mindset of your students.
Data Flow Analysis for Software Dependability: The Very Idea

Data flow analysis was developed as a means for enabling the optimization of code generated by source language compilers. Over the past decade the majority of new applications of data flow analysis in published research and in tools for practicing developers have focused on software quality. The roots of the shift from optimization to quality are, perhaps surprisingly, not recent. The very idea of applying data flow analysis to detect potential errors in programs can be traced back to the work of Osterweil and Fosdick (Chapter 5) in the mid-70s. Remarkably, their work outlined the conceptual architecture of nearly all subsequent static analysis techniques targeting software quality, and the application of their approach revealed the key challenges that drive research in practical static software quality tools even today. In this paper, we identify the key insights behind their approach, relate those insights to subsequent approaches, and trace several lines of research that generalized, extended, and refined those insights.
Biomass—The Agricultural Perspective

In considering the interest that the agricultural industry might have in biomass production for energy, it is important to consider the motivation for this activity. It is also appropriate to ask why an energy user would want to use biomass and why a government would want to encourage the production and consumption of biomass energy. Without trying to exhaust all the possible reasons, three come to mind quickly: to make or save money to solve a problem to decrease risk.
Endoscopic Treatment of Vesicoureteral Reflux with a Chondrocyte-Alginate Suspension

AbstractInjection of polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon) or collagen has been used in the endoscopic treatment of vesicoureteral reflux. Although the principle of an endoscopic treatment is valid, there are concerns regarding the long-term safety and effectiveness of these substances. In search of a different injectable material we conducted experiments using chondrocytes in a biodegradable polymer solution for the treatment of vesicoureteral reflux in an animal model.Reflux was created in 4 mini-pigs and confirmed with a cystogram. Cartilage was obtained from the auricular surface of each animal. Chondrocytes were harvested and expanded in vitro. The cells were individually quantitated and concentrated to 40 million cells per cc. The cell suspensions were mixed with a sodium alginate and calcium sulfate solution. Each pig was injected unilaterally in the subureteral region with the autologous chondrocyte suspension. The opposite ureter served as an internal control in all animals. Cystograms showed resoluti...
Tubular epithelial cell and podocyte apoptosis with de novo sirolimus based immunosuppression in renal allograft recipients with DGF.

Sirolimus is associated with prolonged delayed graft function (DGF) following renal transplantation and exacerbation of proteinuria. We assessed renal allograft biopsies from DGF patients treated with de novo sirolimus (n = 10) for renal tubular cell and podocyte apoptosis and expression of activated caspase-3, Bcl-2, and mTOR and compared them to biopsies from DGF patients not receiving sirolimus (n = 15). Both groups received mycophenolate mofetil, prednisone and antibody induction. Apoptosis was assessed using terminal deoxynucleodidyl transferase mediated dUTP nick end labeling (TUNEL) staining. Caspase-3, Bcl-2, and mTOR expression were assessed by immunohistochemistry. Sirolimus treated patients had 334±69 TUNEL positive cells per 5 high power fields compared to 5.5±2.9 TUNEL positive cells in control patients (p<0.001). The number of TUNEL positive cells correlated with tubular architectural disruption. Expression of activated caspase-3, Bcl-2, or activated mTOR did not differ between groups. 60% of biopsies from sirolimus treated patients compared to 7% of biopsies from controls showed diffuse podocyte apoptosis (p = 0.007). There was no podocyte expression of activated mTOR, activated caspase-3, or Bcl-2 in either group. These data suggest that DGF patients treated with sirolimus have increased renal tubular cell apoptosis and podocyte apoptosis.
From 3 to 20: The early training project: By S. W. Gray, B. K. Ramsey, and R. A. Klaus. Baltimore: Univ. Park Press, 1982. xi + 344 pp., $27.95

Abstract A perspective on the controversy over the effects of early childhood intervention is provided. Gray, Ramsey, and Klaus' book is reviewed. The results of the study are commented upon, and implications for the continuing controversy about the effects of early childhood intervention are suggested.
The Calvinist Couplet: Ralph Erskine’s Gospel Sonnets and Espousal Poetics in Early Evangelicalism

The article provides the first modern analysis of one of the bestselling transatlantic evangelical poems of the eighteenth century, the Scottish minister Ralph Erskine’s Gospel Sonnets. The article...
Implementing a Co-Teaching Model in Music Student Teaching: A Literature Review.

The purpose of this literature review is to examine music education research concerning the emerging practice of co-teaching between cooperating music teachers and student teachers, and to understa...
Development of Zinc‐Specific iCEST MRI as an Imaging Biomarker for Prostate Cancer

The healthy prostate contains the highest concentration of mobile zinc in the body. As this level decreases dramatically during the initial development of prostate cancer, in vivo detection of prostate zinc content may be applied for diagnosis of prostate cancer. Using 19 F ion chemical exchange saturation transfer magnetic resonance imaging (iCEST MRI) and TF-BAPTA as a fluorinated Zn-binding probe with micromolar sensitivity, we show that iCEST MRI is able to differentiate between normal and malignant prostate cells with a 10-fold difference in contrast following glucose-stimulated zinc secretion in vitro. The iCEST signal decreased in normal prostate cells upon downregulation of the ZIP1 zinc transporter. In vivo, using an orthotopic prostate cancer mouse model and a transgenic adenocarcinoma of the mouse prostate (TRAMP) model, a gradual decrease of >300 % in iCEST contrast following the transition of normal prostate epithelial cells to cancer cells was detected.
A flexible and nearly optimal sequential testing approach to randomized testing: QUICK‐STOP

In the analysis of current life science datasets, we often encounter scenarios in which the application of asymptotic theory to hypothesis testing can be problematic. Besides improved asymptotic results, permutation/simulation-based tests are a general approach to address this issue. However, these randomized tests can impose a massive computational burden, for example, in scenarios in which large numbers of statistical tests are computed, and the specified significance level is very small. Stopping rules aim to assess significance with the smallest possible number of draws while controlling the probabilities of errors due to statistical uncertainty. In this communication, we derive a general stopping rule, QUICK-STOP, based on the sequential testing theory that is easy to implement, controls the error probabilities rigorously, and is nearly optimal in terms of expected draws. In a simulation study, we show that our approach outperforms current stopping approaches for general randomized tests by factor 10 and does not impose an additional computational burden. We illustrate our approach by applying our stopping rule to a single-variant analysis of a whole-genome sequencing study for lung function.
Personalizing Medical Treatment Decisions: Integrating Meta-Analytic Treatment Comparisons with Patient-Specific Risks and Preferences

Background. Network meta-analyses (NMAs) that compare treatments for a given condition allow physicians to identify which treatments have higher or lower probabilities of reducing the risks of dise...
Multirate: A Flexible MPI Benchmark for Fast Assessment of Multithreaded Communication Performance

As the modern hardware landscape continues to drastically change, the degree of parallelism required to maintain a high occupancy of resources has substantially increased. These hardware changes have highlighted the limitations of the traditional method of using one process per processing unit, which indicates that a more flexible programming paradigm is necessary. In the context of the message passing paradigm, MPI needs a significant improvement in threaded performance in order to fully utilize all hardware capabilities. However, for developers to know what needs to be improved, and for users to know what performance to expect, benchmarks are needed to quickly assess the capabilities and performance of MPI implementations. This paper introduces a new communication benchmark designed to replicate typical application communication patterns and assess their performance with a varied amount of resources. We evaluate three MPI implementations with our benchmark suite and assess their strengths and weaknesses.
Integration of mass spectral fingerprinting analysis with precursor ion (MS1) quantification for the characterisation of botanical extracts: application to extracts of Centella asiatica (L.) Urban.

Introduction The phytochemical composition of plant material governs the bioactivity and potential health benefits as well as the outcomes and reproducibility of laboratory studies and clinical trials. Objective The objective of this work was to develop an efficient method for the in-depth characterisation of plant extracts and quantification of marker compounds that can be potentially used for subsequent product integrity studies. Centella asiatica (L.) Urb., an Ayurvedic herb with potential applications in enhancing mental health and cognitive function, was used as a case study. Methods A quadrupole time-of-flight analyser in conjunction with an optimised high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) separation was used for in-depth untargeted fingerprinting and post-acquisition precursor ion quantification to determine levels of distinct phytochemicals in various C. asiatica extracts. Results We demonstrate the utility of this workflow for the characterisation of extracts of C. asiatica. This integrated workflow allowed the identification or tentative identification of 117 compounds, chemically interconnected based on Tanimoto chemical similarity, and the accurate quantification of 24 phytochemicals commonly found in C. asiatica extracts. Conclusion We report a phytochemical analysis method combining liquid chromatography, high resolution mass spectral data acquisition, and post-acquisition interrogation that allows chemical fingerprints of botanicals to be obtained in conjunction with accurate quantification of distinct phytochemicals. The variability in the composition of specialised metabolites across different C. asiatica accessions was substantial, demonstrating that detailed characterisation of plant extracts is a prerequisite for reproducible use in laboratory studies, clinical trials and safe consumption. The methodological approach is generally applicable to other botanical products.
Transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy in women: frequency, characteristics, and diagnostic challenges.

Transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) is a progressive, life-threatening disease characterized by deposition of insoluble amyloid fibrils in the myocardium, resulting in cardiac structural and functional abnormalities and ultimately heart failure. Disease frequency is reportedly lower in women than men, but sex-related differences have not been well established. We conducted a systematic literature review (SLR), based on PRISMA-P guidelines and registered with PROSPERO, to assess whether the epidemiology and clinical presentation of ATTR-CM differ between women and men. MEDLINE, Embase, and Cochrane databases and selected conference proceedings were searched (August 16, 2019) to identify observational and clinical studies reporting sex-specific data for patients with wild-type or hereditary ATTR-CM. Of 193 publications satisfying final eligibility criteria, 69 studies were included in our pooled analysis. Among the 4669 patients with ATTR-CM analyzed, 791 (17%) were women, including 174 (9%), 366 (29%), and 251 (18%) in studies of wild-type, hereditary, and undefined ATTR-CM, respectively. Data available on disease characteristics were limited and very heterogeneous, but trends suggested some cardiac structural/functional differences, i.e., lower interventricular septal and posterior wall thickness and left ventricular (LV) end diastolic diameter, and higher LV ejection fractions, in women versus men across ATTR-CM subtypes. Because LV wall thickness > 12 mm is generally the suggested threshold for ATTR-CM diagnosis in both sexes, smaller cardiac anatomy in women with the disease may lead to underdiagnosis. Additional research and studies are needed to elucidate potential disparities between sexes in ATTR-CM frequency, clinical characteristics, and underlying biological mechanisms. This study was registered within the International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) database of the University of York (CRD42019146995).
Impact of Nutrition-Based Interventions on Athletic Performance during Menstrual Cycle Phases: A Review

Despite the steady increase in female participation in sport over the last two decades, comprehensive research on interventions attenuating the influence of female menstrual physiology on performance remains scarce. Studies involving eumenorrheic women often only test in one menstrual phase to limit sex hormone variance, which may restrict the application of these findings to the rest of the menstrual cycle. The impacts of nutrition-based interventions on athletic performance throughout the menstrual cycle have not been fully elucidated. We addressed this gap by conducting a focused critical review of clinical studies that reported athletic outcomes as well as menstrual status for healthy eumenorrheic female participants. In total, 1443 articles were identified, and 23 articles were included. These articles were published between 2011 and 2021, and were retrieved from Google Scholar, Medline, and PubMed. Our literature search revealed that hydration-, micronutrient-, and phytochemical-based interventions can improve athletic performance (measured by aerobic capacity, anaerobic power, and strength performance) or attenuate exercise-induced damage (measured by dehydration biomarkers, muscle soreness, and bone resorption biomarkers). Most performance trials, however, only assessed these interventions in one menstrual phase, limiting the application throughout the entire menstrual cycle. Improvements in athletic performance through nutrition-based interventions may be contingent upon female sex hormone variation in eumenorrheic women.
Complex Acculturation – The Hidden Cultural Challenge in United Nations Police Missions

United Nations Police (UNPOL) officers who are deployed to United Nations Peacekeeping Missions worldwide must first undergo pre-deployment training. After arrival in the mission area, UNPOL officers go through another week of induction training. Both pre-deployment and induction training provide training and insight into the cultural paradigms of the population of the mission area. The idea being that the UNPOL officers must be prepared to work with host country nationals. The problem is that UNPOL missions are comprised of police officers from dozens of different nationalities. The hyper-diversity of an UNPOL organization means that UNPOL officer will encounter significant cross-cultural challenges simply working with each other. UNPOL officers never receive cultural training to facilitate their ability to work with people from all over the world. This chapter covers the newly identified and described concept of complex acculturation, which is the cultural phenomenon of having to adjust to multiple new cultures simultaneously. An understanding of complex acculturation could be a significant element in the improvement of UNPOL efficiency in peacekeeping missions around the world.
IMPROVED ELETROCHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SURFACE-COATED Li(Ni,Co,Mn)O2 CATHODE MATERIAL FOR Li SECONDARY BATTERIES

The surface of Li(Ni{sub 0.4}Co{sub 0.2}Mn{sub 0.4})O{sub 2} was coated with amorphous aluminum oxide using Al-isopropoxide. The effect of the surface coating on the cycling performance and high-temperature storage characteristics was investigated using coin-type cells. The surface-coated materials showed superior capacity retention at 55C as well as at room temperature and limited impedance rise during high-temperature storage compared with the uncoated material. From the a.c. impedance measurement, it was found that the uncoated material exhibited very large increase in the cathode/electrolyte interfacial impedance during cycling whereas the surface-coated materials showed a limited increase in the interfacial impedance.
The Absence of Muslim Women in Shaping and Developing Islamic Thought

It is fair to claim that the true message of Islam concerning women has rarely been practiced throughout Islamic history and for the past 14 centuries. Muslim women have remained a passive force in changing the prevailing unjust practices of Islamic thoughts concerning women, and the reality of the 700 million Muslim women. This is the case today despite what we read in the UN Development Agency reports — that the majority of university students in most Muslim countries are females. Recently, during the past two decades, North American Muslim female scholars, for example, have significantly contributed to the reinterpretation of the Qur’an and particularly to the study of Muslim women. Yet, rarely does an American or any Western educational institution, including the Muslim Umma, acknowledge and mainstream such contributions for the reconstruction of new knowledge of Islam (that is, what is known as shari`a or `urf), or in rethinking Islam. In this article I will discuss why these negative images and practices, as well as the sad reality in keeping women away from Islamic thought and the decision- making process, and how to rethink the future of Muslim women that is fundamental to rethinking of Islam.
A Review of “Developing Minority Language Resources: The Case of Spanish in California”

Developing Minority Language Resources builds a powerful argument for rethinking and restructuring the current practices and discourses of heritage language instruction in the United States. The pr...
The Copernican Revelation

“Judged purely on practical grounds”, Thomas Kuhn has written,1 “Copernicus’ new planetary theory was a failure; it was neither more accurate nor significantly simpler than its Ptolemaic predecessors”. Although Kuhn undertakes no detailed comparison of either theory with actual planetary positions, his claim about accuracy seems essentially correct (see the appendix). Nor can it be doubted that the theory of Copernicus was complicated. Some of the complications were forced on him by bad data; no reasonably simple theory could have fitted both the ancient and more recent observations Copernicus had at his disposal. On the other hand, at least some of the complications were unnecessary and can be charged to Copernicus himself. Those who maintain that the simplicity of the Copernican theory is a myth — what Robert Palter has aptly dubbed the ‘80–34 myth’, referring to the number of circles each theory supposedly requires — have so much truth on their side. Neither could the ‘novel’ predictions of the new theory, stellar parallax and the motion of the earth, be directly confirmed. If Galileo set out to demonstrate the motion of the earth in his Dialogue, his attempt must be judged a failure. (True, he was able to detect the phases of Venus, but that observation is compatible with the Tychonic version of geocentrism.) Indeed, it is frequently urged that, from a relativistic standpoint, it makes no difference whether we refer the motions of the planets to the earth or the sun. Not only were objective grounds for preferring the hemostatic theory lacking at the time, no such grounds exist — or so it is claimed.
New generation smallpox vaccines: a review of preclinical and clinical data

The recognition that smallpox is a potential threat agent of bioterrorism has engendered renewed interest in the development of improved vaccines against this pathogen. The purpose of this paper is to review current data regarding novel approaches to smallpox vaccines in comparison with traditional vaccine strategies. The method used is a literature search using overlapping search terms and citations from the relevant, published literature. Substantial animal and limited human data suggest that selected second and third generation smallpox vaccines, specifically tissue-cultured vaccinia virus and replication-competent, highly attenuated vaccinia virus possess immunogenicity and surrogate efficacy profiles similar to those of first generation New York City Board of Health and Lister vaccines. Replication-defective, attenuated vaccinia appears to be less immunogenic in both animals and humans but may have utility as a priming agent in those with contraindications to live vaccinia. There is a clear risk of myopericarditis with first and second generation products, but the relative risk of this complication among various vaccine approaches cannot as yet be determined. The incidence of other serious, albeit uncommon, adverse events of smallpox vaccines cannot be determined for newer vaccine approaches because these agents have not yet been deployed on a scale large enough to discern rare events. Since 2001, progress towards improved smallpox vaccines has been accelerated, spurred on by the threat of bioterrorism. Among newer vaccine candidates, replication-competent, highly attenuated vaccinia and tissue culture-derived live vaccinia appear to offer the greatest potential for efficacy, although it is unclear whether these products offer a safer alternative to existing first generation vaccines.
Agricultural risk factors for t(14;18) subtypes of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

The t(14;18) translocation is a common somatic mutation in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) that is associated with bcl-2 activation and inhibition of apoptosis. We hypothesized that some risk factors might act specifically along t(14;18)-dependent pathways, leading to stronger associations with t(14;18)-positive than t(14;18)-negative non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Archival biopsies from 182 non-Hodgkin's lymphoma cases included in a case-control study of men in Iowa and Minnesota (the Factors Affecting Rural Men, or FARM study) were assayed for t(14;18) using polymerase chain reaction amplification; 68 (37%) were t(14;18)-positive. We estimated adjusted odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) for various agricultural risk factors and t(14;18)-positive and -negative cases of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, based on polytomous logistic regression models fit using the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm. T(14;18)-positive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma was associated with farming (OR 1.4, 95% CI = 0.9-2.3), dieldrin (OR 3.7, 95% CI = 1.9-7.0), toxaphene (OR 3.0, 95% CI = 1.5-6.1), lindane (OR 2.3, 95% CI = 1.3-3.9), atrazine (OR 1.7, 95% CI = 1.0-2.8), and fungicides (OR 1.8, 95% CI = 0.9-3.6), in marked contrast to null or negative associations for the same self-reported exposures and t(14;18)-negative non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. Causal relations between agricultural exposures and t(14;18)-positive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma are plausible, but associations should be confirmed in a larger study. Results suggest that non-Hodgkin's lymphoma classification based on the t(14;18) translocation is of value in etiologic research.
Stereotypes and Statistics: An Essay on Public Opinion and Poverty Measurement

Both the public perception of poverty and the measurement of poverty intersect in ways in which neither area of study is fully aware. That is, some research focuses on the public's opinion of the poor and of welfare recipients, and other research examines poverty measurement and how its variants determine whom we consider to be poor in the U.S.; but relatively little work has explored, either conceptually or empirically, the intersection of these two fields. This essay aims to do just that. After presenting a general summary of these two topics, I propose how each offers new perspectives for the other.
The effect of temperature on the primary reaction of chloroplast photosystem II. Evidence for a temperature-dependent back reaction.

Abstract The primary reaction of Photosystem II has been studied over the temperature range from −196 to −20 °C. The photooxidation of the reaction-center chlorophyll (P680) was followed by the free-radical electron paramagnetic resonance signal of P680+, and the photoreduction of the Photosystem II primary electron acceptor was monitored by the C-550 absorbance change. At temperatures below −100 °C, the primary reaction of Photosystem II is irreversible. However, at temperatures between −100 and −20 °C a back reaction that is insensitive to 3-(3′,4′-dichlorophenyl)-1,1′-dimethylurea (DCMU) occurs between P680+ and the reduced acceptor. The amount of reduced acceptor and P680+ present under steady-state illumination at temperatures between −100 and −20 °C is small unless high light intensity is used to overcome the competing back reaction. The amount of reduced acceptor present at low light intensity can be increased by adjusting the oxidation-reduction potential so that P680+ is reduced by a secondary electron donor (cytochrome b559) before P680+ can reoxidize the reduced primary acceptor. The photooxidation of cytochrome b559 and the accompanying photoreduction of C-550 are inhibited by DCMU. The inhibition of C-550 photoreduction by DCMU, the dependence of P680 photooxidation and C-550 photoreduction on light intensity, and the effect of the availability of reduced cytochrome b559 on C-550 photoreduction are unique to the temperature range where the Photosystem II primary reaction is reversible and are not observed at lower temperatures.
Mechanistic diversity in a metalloenzyme superfamily.

It is now appreciated that the relationships of proteins, particularly enzymes, within a protein superfamily can be understood not only in terms of their sequence similarities and three-dimensional...
Primary succession of coral-reef algae : differing patterns on fished versus unfished reefs

Abstract Experimental coral plates were placed on four coral reefs to determine the effect that sea urchin and herbivorous fish grazing, and river sediments have on successional changes in algae. Algal functional-group composition, standing crop and chlorophyll concentrations were made eight times over a 450 day period. Despite large differences in the species composition of the grazing community, algal development and composition were distinct depending on whether the dominant grazers were sea urchins or herbivorous fishes. In the two reefs dominated by sea urchin grazers, the plates were colonized by filamentous algal turfs and the full succession was complete in less than 50 days. Algal wet weight and functional group composition were stable over the entire period despite strong seasonality in environmental conditions. In contrast, coral plates established on reefs dominated by herbivorous fishes did not complete their successional development for about 120 days, passed through more successional stages, and when fully developed had a greater diversity of functional groups, standing crop and chlorophyll concentrations. Seasonal changes on the plates were also more pronounced in the fish-dominated reefs and the highest standing crops were found during the southeast monsoon when solar radiation is low, and waters are cool and low in nitrogen. River discharge onto one of the fish-dominated sites reversed the algal succession from dominance by crustose coralline algae to filamentous turfs rather than accelerating the succession towards brown macroalgae—the expected climax. Metabolic effects of fish grazers can modify the effects of environmental conditions on algal community structure and succession. Beyond simply cropping algae, grazers can influence sedimentation and nutrient concentrations and ratios, which makes the specific mechanisms responsible for these observations difficult to determine. Grazing habits that increase nutrient concentrations, sedimentation and disturbance appear to arrest succession in the turf stage. A general conceptual model of successional development under different grazer functional groups is presented.