cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
A multilevel approach to knowledge sharing: Improving health services for families and children

Improving health services for families and children requires a multilevel approach, involving engagement with government agencies, implementing partners, and service providers to ensure the success of health interventions. The Knowledge for Health (K4Health) project uses a knowledge sharing and capacity building approach to improving health services, including family planning and sexual and reproductive health (FP/SRH). In order for current technical information on FP/SRH to reach policy makers, program managers, and service providers—from doctors and nurses working in health facilities to community health workers making home visits—K4Health first uses participatory methods to assess the health information needs of these key stakeholders, to ensure that interventions meet their specific needs. Using the needs assessment results, FP/SRH information is then tailored and packaged for each audience to influence decision making at the policy level, or improve counseling at the point of care, so that community members are able to make informed health decisions for their families. K4Health collaborates with local government agencies, engaging them in designing, implementing, and evaluating interventions, in order to facilitate ownership and sustained interest in the program. Through an illustrative example from a field project in Malawi, this article examines how knowledge management projects can and should engage with all stakeholders involved in FP/SRH, as by doing so, the impact of these programs can enhance health services and health for families and children. [social knowledge management, digital health, community health workers, Malawi, sexual and reproductive health, social networks]
Trends in U.S. Climate Change Litigation (Japanese)

In this contribution to the Japanese Environmental Law Foundation’s newsletter, translated by Attorney Juta Wada, Professor Bach reviews the last five years of climate change litigation in the United States. Facing little legislative action at the federal level, a number of nongovernmental organizations, states and municipalities, and individuals have sought to apply existing federal and state laws to remedy specific climate change harms. Via these suits under the Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, and public nuisance, the litigants have asked judges to make climate change law in the absence legislative policymaking. Bach describes how procedural doctrines like preemption and separation of powers concerns have frequently kept the third branch from reaching the substantive issues.
The Yellowhammer War: The Civil War and Reconstruction in Alabama. Edited by Kenneth Noe. (Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press, 2013. Pp. 310. $49.95.)

A half century ago, historian Malcolm McMillan published The Alabama Confederate Reader. McMillan's collection paid no attention to race or gender and barely touched upon Reconstruction, focused as...
Ascus and Ascospore Development in Eleutherascus Peruvianus. I. Morphology and Orientation of the Ascospores

Hino, I. 1929. Microconidia in the genus Sclerotinia with special reference to the conidial forms in the genus. Bull. Miyazaki College Agric. For. 1: 67-90 [Japanese in Roman character]. Imai, S. 1941. Geoglossaceae Japonicae. J. Fac. Agric. Hokkaido Imp. Univ. 45(4) : 155-264. Mains, E. B. 1955. North American hyaline-spored species of the Geoglossaceae. Mycologia 47: 846-877. Redhead, S. A. 1974. Epistolae mycologicae IV. Valdensinia heterodoxa Peyr. (Sclerotiniaceae). Syesis 7: 235-238. 1975. The genus Cristulariclla. Canada J. Bot. 53: 700-707. 1977. The genus Neolccta (Neolectaceae fam. nov., Lecanorales, Ascomycetes) in Canada. Canad. J. Bot. 55: 301-306. , and P. W. Perrin. 1972a. Asterobolus: A new parasitic hyphomycete with a novel dispersal mechanism. Canad. J. Bot. 50: 409-412. , and . 1972b. Asterobolus: a synonym of Valdensia. Canad. J. Bot. 50: 2083-2084. Sawada, K. 1933. Taiwan Kinrui Chosa Hokoku (Descriptive catalogue of Formosan fungi), No. 6, Rept. Dept. Agric. Res. Inst. Formosa, 61: 1-117. Stafleu, F. K. et al. 1978. International code of botanical nomenclature. Leningrad, July 1975. Regnum Veget. 97: 1-457. Waterman, A. M., and R. P. Marshall. 1947. A new species of Cristulariclla associated with a leaf spot of maple. Mycologia 39: 690-698. Yamamoto, W. 1959. Species of the Sclerotiniaceae in Japan. Trans. Mycol. Soc. Japan 2(2) : 2-8. Yokoyama, T., and K. Tubaki. 1974. Materials for the fungus flora of Japan (16). Trans. Mycol. Soc. Japan 15: 189-195.
PEOPLES: A Framework for Evaluating Resilience

AbstractIn recent years, the concept of resilience has been introduced to the engineering field in particular related to disaster mitigation and management. However, the built environment is only part of the elements that support community functions. Maintaining community functionality during and after a disaster, defined as resilience, is influenced by multiple components. The paper is proposing a framework for measuring community resilience at different spatial and temporal scales. Seven dimensions are identified for measuring community resilience: population and demographics, environmental and ecosystem, organized governmental services, physical infrastructures, lifestyle and community competence, economic development, and social-cultural capital. They are summarized with the acronym PEOPLES. Each dimension is characterized by a corresponding performance metric that is combined with the other dimensions using a multilayered approach. Therefore, once a hybrid model of the community is defined, the propo...
Porphyrin Binding to Quadruplexed T4G4

We have recently reported the cation-induced self-assembly of DNA oligomers of the general sequence C4T4G4T1-4G4 into high-molecular weight multistranded structures [Marotta, S.P., Tamburri, P.A., and Sheardy, R.D. (1996) Biochemistry 35, 10484-10492]. The architecture of the proposed structure consists of a series of four leafed G4 tetrads tethered together via one or two T1-4 strands and thus resembles a long four-sided hollow tube with periodic "pockets". These pockets possess electrostatic, hydrogen bonding, and hydrophobic contact points and should be ideal candidates for the binding of small molecules. To assess the potential of using porphyrins as probes for these structures, we have investigated the interaction of tetrakis(4-N-methylpyridyl)porphine (H2TMPyP) with the simple quadruplex formed by T4G4 and with the duplex formed by CGCGATATCGCG. Visible absorption, circular dichroism, and fluorescent energy transfer studies indicate that H2TMPyP binds to both the duplex and quadruplex via intercalation at low [porphyrin]/[DNA molecule] ratios, i.e., in the presence of excess potential DNA binding sites. Analyses of Scatchard plots show that H2TMpyP binds with high affinity to both DNA secondary structures but binds to the quadruplex with an affinity 2 times greater than that of the duplex.
Correction of midfacial deformities.

The authors' personal experiences with defects secondary to cleft lip and palate, craniosynostosis, and congenital diastasis of the maxilla. The increasing role of maxillary osteotomies. A combined surgical and orthodontic approach.
The chronic idiopathic neutropenia syndrome: correlation of clinical features with in vitro parameters of granulocytopoiesis.

Abstract The natural history and possible pathogenetic mechanisms underlying the chronic idiopathic neutropenia syndrome (CINS) were evaluated in 41 prospectively studied adult patients. The low neutrophil counts in 90% of the patients remained stable during the 6.1-yr median period of observation. Infectious complications occurred in 27% of the patients, with an enhanced susceptibility to infection being found in individuals with ≤500 neutrophils/cu mm. Agar-medium marrow culture techniques were utilized to assess growth potential of granulocytopoietic precursors (granulocytic colony-forming cells, CFU-GM) and intramedullary cellular production of granulocytic colony-stimulating activity (CSABM). In patients with
Limbic System and the Temporal Lobe

The neurologist Paul Broca in the later half of the nineteenth century initially designated all of the structures on the medial surface of the cerebral hemisphere the “great limbic lobe.” This region, due to its strong olfactory input, was also designated the rhinencephalon. The olfactory portion of the brain (rhinencephalon, or archipallium) comprises much of the telencephalon in fish, amphibians, and most mammals. In mammals the presence of a large olfactory lobe adjacent to the hippocampus was once considered to be evidence of the important olfactory functions of these regions. However, when a comparative neuroanatomist examined the brains of sea mammals that had rudimentary olfactory apparatus, e.g., dolphins and whales, the presence of a large hippocampus suggested other than olfactory functions for this region.
Biological actions of estradiol-17β after prolonged ovarian hormonal deficits

Si dimostra che l'utero di ratta, sottoposta ad ablazione della ovaie 15 mesi e mezzo prima, risponde nettamente a tre iniezioni sottocutanee quotidiane di 17β-estradiolo: si ottennero aumenti di peso del 92, 207 e 231% al di sopra del peso degli uteri di controlli sottoposti ad ovariectomia e trattati con semplice olio di sesamo. Si conclude, percio, che l'utero di ratta esposta a deficienza ormonica ovarica di lunga durata e notevolmente sensibile a trattamento con estrogeni.
Hybrid High Voltage AC/DC system for interfacing off-shore power generations with on-shore grid

This paper discusses the advantage of Voltage Source Converter (VSC) based multi-terminal HVDC transmission system for integrating off-shore wind power generations with on-shore AC grid. A new hybrid protection and control scheme has been proposed which ensures robust performance during system disturbances, smooth operation and power sharing coordination between grid side converters.
SUPERCONDUCTING FILMS OF YBaCuO

The purpose of this article is to report on progress at our institution on the fabrication of thin films made from high transition temperature materials. Of particular interest was the effect of substrate material on the quality of the superconducting transition.
Efficacy of Sleep Tool Education During Hospitalization: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract Background Patients are commonly provided tools in the hospital to overcome poor sleep. Whether education on use of sleep tools can impact health outcomes from a patient perspective is not known. Methods We recruited 120 adults admitted to a nonintensive care unit cardiac-monitored floor. All patients received a set of sleep-enhancing tools (eye mask, ear plugs, and a white noise machine) and were randomized to receive direct education on use of and benefit of these sleep-enhancing tools (intervention), or an equal amount of time was spent discussing general benefits of sleep (control). Measurement of several symptom domains was assessed daily by health outcome survey responses, and change from baseline was assessed for differences between groups. Inpatient opioid use and length of stay were also measured. Results Participants randomized to receive the education intervention had a significantly greater decrease in fatigue scores over the 3 days, compared with controls (5.30 ± 6.93 vs 1.81 ± 6.96, t = 2.32, P = .028). There was a trend toward improvements in multiple other sleep-related domains, including sleep disturbance, sleep-related impairment, physical functioning, pain severity, or pain interference (all P >.140). There was no difference in length of stay between intervention and control groups (7.40 ± 7.29 vs 7.71 ± 6.06 days, P = .996). The change in number of opioid equivalents taken did not differ use between the groups ( P = .688). Conclusion In a randomized trial of education in the use of sleep-enhancing tools while hospitalized, patient fatigue was significantly improved, whereas several other patient-reported outcomes showed a trend toward improvements. Implementation of this very low-cost approach to improving sleep and well-being could substantially improve the patient care experience.
Improving the magnetoelectric performance of Metglas/PZT laminates by annealing in a magnetic field

A comprehensive investigation of magnetostriction optimization in Metglas 2605SA1 ribbons is performed to enhance magnetoelectric performance. We explore a range of annealing conditions to relieve remnant stress and align the magnetic domains in the Metglas, while minimizing unwanted crystallization. The magnetostriction coefficient, magnetoelectric coefficient, and magnetic domain alignment are correlated to optimize magnetoelectric performance. We report on direct magnetostriction observed by in-plane Doppler vibrometer and domain imagining using scanning electron microscopy with polarization analysis for a range of annealing conditions. We find that annealing in an oxygen-free environment at 400 °C for 30 min yields an optimal magnetoelectric coefficient, magnetostriction and magnetostriction coefficient. The optimized ribbons had a magnetostriction of 50.6 ± 0.2 μm m-1 and magnetoelectric coefficient of 79.3 ± 1.5 μm m-1 mT-1. The optimized Metglas 2605SA1 ribbons and PZT-5A (d31 mode) sensor achieves a magnetic noise floor of approximately 600 pT Hz-1/2 at 100 Hz and a magnetoelectric coefficient of 6.1 ± 0.03 MV m-1 T-1.
An Integrated Examination of AMSR2 Products Over Ocean

Integrated processing and analysis are presented for oceanic retrievals of precipitation, sea ice concentration, columnar water vapor and cloud water, sea surface temperature, and near-surface wind from the advanced microwave scanning radiometer-2 (AMSR2) sensor. By developing a common algorithmic framework and permitting iterative interaction between historically separate science algorithms, ambiguous and contradictory retrieval results are minimized. The integration also serves to improve each algorithm individually, decreasing reliance on ancillary datasets. Case studies are presented that exemplify both ongoing challenges for these retrievals and potential research uses of such an integrated satellite product. Two cases are presented each for precipitation at high latitudes and marginal sea ice detection, with analysis supplemented by satellite data from CloudSat profiles and Himawari-8 imagery. Detection and retrieval of snowfall remains a challenge, while light rainfall detection can be aided by a variational algorithm. Sea ice concentrations below 20% cause disagreements, but the algorithms otherwise agree well on the sea ice edge. Potential mitigation strategies for ambiguous areas of light rainfall and marginal sea ice are discussed. The analysis demonstrates potential avenues for future algorithm development, but also some physical limitations of remote sensing with the AMSR2 frequencies.
Renal Cell Carcinoma in Renal Transplantation: The Case for Surveillance.

Abstract Introduction Between January 2013 and September 2015, 135 consecutive renal transplant patients were screened prospectively with ultrasound for renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Results Eighteen ultrasound abnormalities were identified with 4 solid lesions detected. Fifty-six other patients were screened retrospectively by referring nephrology groups, with 6 additional malignancies found. Conclusion As a result of our data, we recommend and have instituted annual ultrasound screening of native kidneys in all renal transplant patients.
DFS-container: achieving containerized block I/O for distributed file systems

Today BigData systems commonly use resource management systems such as TORQUE, Mesos, and Google Borg to share the physical resources among users or applications. Enabled by virtualization, users can run their applications on the same node with low mutual interference. Container-based virtualizations (e.g., Docker and Linux Containers) offer a lightweight virtualization layer, which promises a near-native performance and is adopted by some Big-Data resource sharing platforms such as Mesos. Nevertheless, using containers to consolidate the I/O resources of shared storage systems is still at an early stage, especially in a distributed file system (DFS) such as Hadoop File System (HDFS). To overcome this issue, we propose a distributed middleware system, DFS-Container, by further containerizing DFS. We also evaluate and analyze the unfairness of using containers to proportionally allocate the I/O resource of DFS. Based on these analyses and evaluations, we propose and implement a new mechanism, IOPS-Regulator, which improve the fairness of proportional allocation by 74.4% on average.
Post-polymerization modification of styrene–maleic anhydride copolymer brushes

Post-polymerization modification (PPM) has been broadly employed to achieve functional polymer brush surfaces via immobilization of functional moieties on the brush using efficient organic tranformations. Here, we demonstrate the amine-anhydride reaction as a modular PPM route to functional brush surfaces using poly(styrene–maleic anhydride) (pSMA) copolymer brushes as a platform. The amine-anhydride reaction on pSMA surfaces proceeds to high conversions, with rapid kinetics, under ambient reaction conditions, and exploits a readily available library of functional amines. Using cystamine as a modifier, a convenient route to thiol-functionalized brushes was developed that enables sequential PPM modifications with a large library of alkenes using both base-catalyzed thiol-Michael and radical-mediated thiol–ene reactions. The high fidelity PPM reactions were demonstrated via the development of multifunctional, micropatterned brush surfaces.
MR brain volumetric measurements are predictive of neurobehavioral impairment in the HIV-1 transgenic rat

Abstract Introduction HIV infection is known to be associated with brain volume loss, even in optimally treated patients. In this study, we assessed whether dynamic brain volume changes over time are predictive of neurobehavorial performance in the HIV-1 transgenic (Tg) rat, a model of treated HIV-positive patients. Materials and methods Cross-sectional brain MRI imaging was first performed comparing Tg and wild type (WT) rats at 3 and 19 months of age. Longitudinal MRI and neurobehavioral testing of another group of Tg and WT rats was then performed from 5 to 23 weeks of age. Whole brain and subregional image segmentation was used to assess the rate of brain growth over time. We used repeated-measures mixed models to assess differences in brain volumes and to establish how predictive the volume differences are of specific neurobehavioral deficits. Results Cross-sectional imaging showed smaller whole brain volumes in Tg compared to WT rats at 3 and at 19 months of age. Longitudinally, Tg brain volumes were smaller than age-matched WT rats at all time points, starting as early as 5 weeks of age. The Tg striatal growth rate delay between 5 and 9 weeks of age was greater than that of the whole brain. Striatal volume in combination with genotype was the most predictive of rota-rod scores and in combination with genotype and age was the most predictive of total exploratory activity scores in the Tg rats. Conclusion The disproportionately delayed striatal growth compared to whole brain between 5 and 9 weeks of age and the role of striatal volume in predicting neurobehavioral deficits suggest an important role of the dopaminergic system in HIV associated neuropathology. This might explain problems with motor coordination and executive decisions in this animal model. Smaller brain and subregional volumes and neurobehavioral deficits were seen as early as 5 weeks of age, suggesting an early brain insult in the Tg rat. Neuroprotective therapy testing in this model should thus target this early stage of development, before brain damage becomes irreversible.
Using Experimental Research to Test Instructional Effectiveness: A Case Study

Cross-cultural competence is now regarded as a critical student learning outcome by many U.S. higher educational institutions. It requires in part that students be able to empathize with people who...
MORP: Data-Driven Multi-Objective Route Planning and Optimization for Electric Vehicles

The Wireless Power Transfer (WPT) system that enables in-motion charging (or wireless charging) for Electric Vehicles (EVs) has been introduced to resolve battery-related issues (such as long charging time, high cost, and short driving range) and increase the wide-acceptance of EVs. In this paper, we study the WPT system with the objectives of minimizing energy consumption, travel time, charging monetary cost on the way, and range anxiety for online EVs. Specifically, we propose the Multi-Objective Route Planner system (MORP) to guide EVs for the multi-objective routing. MORP incorporates two components: traffic state prediction and optimal route determination. For the traffic state prediction, we conducted analysis on a traffic dataset and observed spatial-temporal features of traffic patterns. Accordingly, we introduce the horizontal space-time Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average (ARIMA) model to predict vehicle counts (i.e., traffic volume) for locations with available historical traffic data. And, we use the spatial-temporal ordinary kriging method to predict vehicle counts for locations without historical traffic data. Based on vehicle counts, we use the non-parametric kernel regression method to predict velocity of road sections, which is used to predict travel time and then, energy consumption of a route of an EV with the help of the proposed energy consumption model. We also estimate charging monetary cost and EV related range anxiety based on unit energy cost, predicted travel time and energy consumption, and current onboard energy. We design four different cost functions (travel time, energy consumption, charging monetary cost, and range anxiety) of routing and formulate a multi-objective routing optimization problem. We use the predicted parameters as inputs of the optimization problem and find the optimal route using the adaptive epsilon constraint method. We evaluate our proposed MORP system in four different aspects (including traffic prediction, velocity prediction, energy consumption prediction, and EV routing). From the experimental studies, we find the effectiveness of the proposed MORP system in different aspects of the online EV routing system.
Evolution of a level I pediatric trauma center: Changes in injury mechanisms and improved outcomes

Abstract Background Trauma is the leading cause of mortality among children, underscoring the need for specialized child-centered care. The impact on presenting mechanisms of injury and outcomes during the evolution of independent pediatric trauma centers is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of our single center transition from an adult to American College of Surgeons–verified pediatric trauma center. Methods A retrospective analysis was performed of 1,190 children who presented as level I trauma activations between 2005 and 2016. Patients were divided into 3 chronological treatment eras: adult trauma center, early pediatric trauma center, and late pediatric trauma center after American College of Surgeons verification review. Comparisons were made using Pearson χ2, Wilcoxon rank sum, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Results The predominant mechanism of injury was motor vehicle crash, with increases noted in assault/abuse (2% adult trauma center, 11% late pediatric trauma center). A decrease in intensive care admissions was identified during late pediatric trauma center compared with early pediatric trauma center and adult trauma center (51% vs 62.4% vs 67%, P Conclusion Transition to a verified pediatric trauma center maintains the safety expected of the American College of Surgeons certification, but with notable changes identified in mechanism of injury and improvements in resource utilization.
Hypothalamic redox balance and leptin signaling - Emerging role of selenoproteins

Abstract The hypothalamus is the central neural site governing food intake and energy expenditure. During the past 25 years, understanding of the hypothalamic cell types, hormones, and circuitry involved in the regulation of energy metabolism has dramatically increased. It is now well established that the adipocyte-derived hormone, leptin, acts upon two distinct groups of hypothalamic neurons that comprise opposing arms of the central melanocortin system. These two cell populations are anorexigenic neurons expressing proopiomelanocortin (POMC) and orexigenic neurons that express agouti-related peptide (AGRP). Several important studies have demonstrated that reactive oxygen species and endoplasmic reticulum stress significantly impact these hypothalamic neuronal populations that regulate global energy metabolism. Reactive oxygen species and redox homeostasis are influenced by selenoproteins, an essential class of proteins that incorporate selenium co-translationally in the form of the 21st amino acid, selenocysteine. Levels of these proteins are regulated by dietary selenium intake and they are widely expressed in the brain. Of additional relevance, selenium supplementation has been linked to metabolic alterations in both animal and human studies. Recent evidence also indicates that hypothalamic selenoproteins are significant modulators of energy metabolism in both neurons and tanycytes, a population of glial-like cells lining the floor of the 3rd ventricle within the hypothalamus. This review article will summarize current understanding of the regulatory influence of redox status on hypothalamic nutrient sensing and highlight recent work revealing the importance of selenoproteins in the hypothalamus.
Relationships between CO2, thermodynamic limits on silicate weathering, and the strength of the silicate weathering feedback

Abstract Recent studies have suggested that thermodynamic limitations on chemical weathering rates exert a first-order control on riverine solute fluxes and by extension, global chemical weathering rates. As such, these limitations may play a prominent role in the regulation of carbon dioxide levels (pCO2) over geologic timescales by constraining the maximum global weathering flux. In this study, we develop a theoretical scaling relationship between equilibrium solute concentrations and pCO2 based on equilibrium constants and reaction stoichiometry relating primary mineral dissolution and secondary mineral precipitation. We test this theoretical scaling relationship against reactive transport simulations of chemical weathering profiles under open- and closed-system conditions, representing partially and fully water-saturated regolith, respectively. Under open-system conditions, equilibrium bicarbonate concentrations vary as a power-law function of pCO2 ( y = k x n ) where n is dependent on reaction stoichiometry and k is dependent on both reaction stoichiometry and the equilibrium constant. Under closed-system conditions, bicarbonate concentrations vary linearly with pCO2 at low values and approach open-system scaling at high pCO2. To describe the potential role of thermodynamic limitations in the global silicate weathering feedback, we develop a new mathematical framework to assess weathering feedback strength in terms of both (1) steady-state atmospheric pCO2 concentrations, and (2) susceptibility to secular changes in degassing rates and transient carbon cycle perturbations, which we term 1st and 2nd order feedback strength, respectively. Finally, we discuss the implications of these results for the effects of vascular land plant evolution on feedback strength, the potential role of vegetation in controlling modern solute fluxes, and the application of these frameworks to a more complete functional description of the silicate weathering feedback. Most notably, the dependence of equilibrium solute concentrations on pCO2 may represent a direct weathering feedback largely independent of climate and modulated by belowground organic carbon respiration.
Truncated Normal Spread Ratio

A new statistic, called the spread ratio, is introduced that allows the analyst to identify which distribution best fits sample data, where the choice of distributions are the normal, left-truncated normal (LTN), and right-truncated normal (RTN). When the choice is the LTN or RTN, the location parameter, k, is also identified. The spread ratio for each distribution is computed using percent-points, t0.01, t0.99, and the mean of the distribution, and is a positive number. Using sample data, an estimate of the spread ratio is easily measured, and when the ratio is near one, the normal distribution fits the data best; when below one, the LTN is chosen; and when above one, the RTN is selected. For LTN, the low limit of the population data, γ, is estimated with use of the sample data and the tables provided on LTN. In the same way, if the RTN is chosen as the distribution, the high limit, δ, of the population data is easily estimated using sample data and the tables on RTN. Further, in either event, LTN or RTN, the analysis allows the researcher to estimate a value xα, where P(x ≤ xα) = α. Also when LTN or RTN, the analysis shows how to estimate the value of α for a given x` where P(x ≤ x`) = α.
ESR Studies of Molecular Dynamics at Phase Transitions in Liquid Crystals

Order parameter fluctuations at mesomorphic phase transitions modulate the molecular dynamics of spin probes, thereby affecting spin relaxation. The anomalous relaxation rates at the phase transitions (T*) often diverge as |T - T*| γ, where γ is a critical exponent, and has been noted to be universal. For N-I transitions, γ = -½, and for SA−N transitions, γ = −1/3. Theoretical models are discussed that provide a unified framework for rationalising the experimental results.
Affinity labeling of the 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor

Genomic actions of the calciotropic hormone 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1,25(OH)2D3) involves a multistep process that is triggered by the highly specific binding of 1,25(OH)2D3 to 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor, VDR. In order to study this key step in the cascade, we synthesized 1α,25-dihydroxy[26(27)-3H]vitamin D3-3-deoxy-3β-bromoacetate (1,25(OH)2[3H]D3-BE) and 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3-3β-[1-14C]bromoacetate (1,25(OH)2D3-[14C]BE), binding-site directed analogs of 1,25(OH)2D3, and affinity-labeled baculovirus-expressed recombinant human VDR (with 1,25(OH)2[3H]D3-BE), and naturally occurring VDRs in cytosols from calf thymus homogenate and rat osteosarcoma (ROS 17/2.8) cells (with 1, 25(OH)2D3-[14C]BE). In each case, specificity of labeling was demonstrated by the drastic reduction in labeling when the incubation was carried out in the presence of an excess of nonradioactive 1α,25(OH)2D3. These results strongly suggested that 1,25(OH)2[3H]D3-BE and 1,25(OH)2D3-[14C]BE covalently modified the 1,25(OH)2D3-binding sites in baculovirus-expressed recombinant human VDR and naturally occurring calf thymus VDR and rat osteosarcoma VDR, respectively.
Evaluating rheological models for human blood using steady state, transient, and oscillatory shear predictions

The rheological characterization of human blood, through modeling and analysis of steady state, transient, and oscillatory shear flows, has made tremendous progress recently. Due to the aggregation of red blood cells at low shear rates, many recent models for blood rheology include a structural, thixotropic component with one of the most recent attempts unifying this approach with a viscoelastic formulation. We will show how these models, along with proposed modifications to another recent structural, kinetic thixotropy model, can improve modeling predictions. Results are compared to the Maxwell-like Bautista-Manero-Puig model, the Oldroyd-8 inspired viscoelastic Anand-Kwack-Masud model, a viscoelastic-thixotropic model from Blackwell and Ewoldt, and the Herschel-Bulkley model. We explore the weaknesses of the legacy blood models and then demonstrate the efficacy of the newly improved models for modeling human blood steady state and transient shear rheology to predict oscillatory shear flow.
Simplified Mitral Valve Repair in Pediatric Patients With Connective Tissue Disorders

Severe mitral valve regurgitation in children can stem from various congenital anomalies that involve the valvar and sub-valvar apparatus. In the rare subgroup of pediatric patients with connective tissue disorders, severe mitral regurgitation is typically associated with massive annular enlargement and severe bi-leaflet prolapse. We present our experience with a simplified form of repair that can result in mitral valve competency and low incidence of stenosis. This repair can be accomplished expeditiously in a group of patients who often present with compensated or decompensated heart failure or who might also need intervention on the aortic root.
Vortices in a Bose-Einstein Condensate

We have created vortices in two-component Bose-Einstein condensates. The vortex state was created through a coherent process involving the spatial and temporal control of interconversion between the two components. Using an interference technique, we map the phase of the vortex state to confirm that it possesses angular momentum. We can create vortices in either of the two components and have observed differences in the dynamics and stability.
Robotic bronchoscopy for pulmonary lesions: a review of existing technologies and clinical data

Bronchoscopic interventions are preferred for sampling suspicious pulmonary lesions as they have lower complications and can achieve diagnosis and staging in one single procedure. Limitations in existing guided bronchoscopy platforms has led to developments in robotic assisted technologies. These devices may allow the bronchoscopist to more precisely maneuver the scope and instruments into the periphery of the lungs under direct visualization while also ensuring stability during sampling of the target lesions. These devices have the potential to improve the diagnostic yield in sampling peripheral lung lesions and may play a role in the treatment of non-operable or oligometastatic peripheral tumors using bronchoscopic ablative therapies. In this article, we review the existing robotic bronchoscopy technologies and summarize the available pre-clinical and clinical data supporting their use.
Contribution Evenness: A functional redundancy metric sensitive to trait stability in microbial communities

Abstract The concept of functional redundancy has received considerable attention in both the macroecology and microbial ecology literature. As a result, multiple metrics of functional redundancy have been proposed. These vary in how they weight trait levels, species abundance, functional richness, and species richness. Here we present a new functional redundancy metric tailored for community-aggregated traits, which are traits that are quantified at the community level and can be quantitatively partitioned among species. We call this metric Contribution Evenness (CE) because it measures how evenly species contribute to a community-aggregated trait. As CE is an evenness measurement, it ranges from 0 and 1, where 0 corresponds to a single species contributing to a community-aggregated trait and 1 corresponds to all species contributing equally. Using in silico simulations of species extinctions, we demonstrate that CE reflects the stability of an ecosystem function to species extinction, a hypothesized ecological consequence of functional redundancy. As a positive control and to illustrate how CE can be used with sequence data, we analyzed the functional redundancy of eight nitrogen-transforming pathways using 2,631 metagenome-assembled genomes from 47 marine sites. CE for marine nitrogen cycle marker genes was consistent with our qualitative understanding of which nitrogen pathways are most functionally redundant in the ocean. We found that, on average, the NH4+ assimilation pathway was the most functionally redundant (0.44 ± 0.08) while dissimilatory nitrate reduction was the least redundant (0.005 ± 0.005). As demonstrated here, CE provides a promising framework for measuring trait stability in microbiomes.
Residue Trp-48 of Tva is critical for viral entry but not for high-affinity binding to the SU glycoprotein of subgroup A avian leukosis and sarcoma viruses.

Previously, mutant Tva receptors were classified as either partially or completely defective in mediating subgroup A avian leukosis and sarcoma virus (ALSV-A) entry (C. Belanger, K. Zingler, and J. A. T. Young, J. Virol. 69:1019-1024, 1995; K. Zingler, C. Belanger, R. Peters, D. Agard, and J. A. T. Young, J. Virol. 69:4261-4266, 1995). To specifically test the abilities of these mutant Tva proteins to bind ALSV-A surface (SU) protein, binding studies were performed with a subgroup A SU-immunoadhesin. This fusion protein is composed of the subgroup A Schmidt-Ruppin SU protein fused in frame to a rabbit immunoglobulin constant region. This reagent was conjugated to fluorescein isothiocyanate and used for flow cytometric analysis with transfected human 293 cells expressing different forms of Tva. The SU-immunoadhesin bound the wild-type Tva protein with a KD of approximately 1.5 nM. Amino acid substitutions that reduced viral entry at Asp-46 and at Cys-35 and Cys-50, which are predicted to form an intrachain disulfide bond in Tva, drastically reduced the binding affinity for the SU-immunoadhesin. Thus, the effects on viral entry of some mutations could be explained solely by changes in the binding affinity for ALSV-A SU. However, this was not true for other mutations tested, especially those with amino acid substitutions that replaced Trp-48. Compared with the wild-type receptor, these latter mutations led to approximately 43- to 200-fold reductions in viral infectivity but only to approximately 2.5- to 3.4-fold reductions in the binding affinity for the SU-immunoadhesin. These results support a role for Trp-48 of Tva in mediating steps of viral entry subsequent to binding ALSV-A SU.
Nuclear particle spectroscopy: applications of neutron activation analysis and gamma-ray spectroscopy in biomedicine

Nuclear Particle Spectroscopy embodies a large variety of physical methods for measuring the energy or time distribution of sub-atomic particles or gamma-ray photons associated with the decay of radionuclides. The principles of nuclear particle spectroscopy are materialized as selective radiation detection instruments which may be employed as refinements to radioisotope and radioactivation methods. This paper briefly reviews some biomedical applications of analytical techniques utilizing gamma-ray spectroscopy; however, rather than attempt an overview of their extensive applications, emphasis is given mainly to some general aspects of the impact of these techniques upon biomedical research that have been heightened by developments in gamma-ray spectroscopy.
Lost and Found: Immigrant Conversion Stories, the New Evangelization, and Parish Life

The author reflects on a conversion narrative that emerged in the context of a yearlong ethnographic study of a Catholic parish in the Midwest. The study was intended to uncover the practices and understandings of parish life in a shared parish, that is, a parish with two or more distinct cultural communities with their own masses and ministries but sharing the same parish facilities. The “lost and found” narrative of conversion that emerged in the parish’s Latino/a community has roots in Latin American manifestations of the new evangelization but has taken particular form here in the United States. It frames conversion as the outcome of religious education, and it offers both gifts and limitations. On the one hand, immigrant parishioners receive a rich template for articulating their own stories of faith, especially in the midst of the dramatic change associated with migration to a new country. On the other hand, that same template has some polemical and reductionist themes that will trouble pastoral leaders and that may not serve the second generation well. Pastoral leaders and theologians do well to note both the advantages and ambiguities of this faith narrative as Latino/a Catholics move toward becoming the majority of U.S. Catholics.
Flag Wars & Stone Saints: How the Bohemian Lands Became Czech, by Wingfield, Nancy M.

A visitor to Prague in late 1968 found a monolingual city. Foreigners who did not speak Czech found that people age 40 and above could easily carry on conversations in German. Many Czechs recoiled ...
Behavioral Medicine in Primary Care: A Practical Guide

The leading book on the full range of behavioral issues confronting primary care clinicians. This book covers the psychosocial problems commonly seen in primary care practice and presents clinically relevant approaches to their solution. With clinical vignettes included throughout, this text features strategies for building a strong physician-patient relationship and coverage of commonly encountered psychiatric illnesses.
Justification and Implementation of an Operating Room Pharmacy Satellite

Many pharmacy departments today are expanding the services they provide to the operating room (OR) through establishment of operating room pharmacy satellites (ORPSs). This article discusses two key steps in this process: justification and implementation of the satellite. The ability to justify an ORPS is key to its establishment. If justification is not successful, the process ends. The justification process consists of four major steps: (1) familiarization with the ORPS concept, (2) performance of an initial assessment of the OR complex, (3) obtaining support for the ORPS from all key departments affected by its establishment, and (4) development of a formal proposal for the ORPS, including a financial analysis. Justification can be greatly facilitated by obtaining support for the satellite from the anesthesiology and nursing departments and by the ability to demonstrate a favorable financial analysis for the ORPS. Implementation should begin once administrative approval for the satellite has been recei...
The human cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor. Cloning and sequence of the full-length cDNA and expression of functional receptor in COS cells.

We have cloned and sequenced the full-length cDNA for the human cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor from four overlapping clones. The 9104-nucleotide sequence contains 7473 nucleotides which encode a protein of 2491 amino acids. The amino acid sequence includes a putative signal sequence of 40 amino acids, an extracytoplasmic domain consisting of 15 homologous repeat sequences of 134-167 amino acids, a transmembrane region of 23 amino acids, and a cytoplasmic domain of 164 amino acids. The predicted molecular size is greater than 270 kDa. Repeats 7-15 of the extracytoplasmic domain of the human receptor are highly homologous with the sequence recently reported for the partial cDNA for the bovine receptor (Lobel, P., Dahms, N. M., Breitmeyer, J., Chirgwin, J. M., and Kornfeld, S. (1987) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 84, 2233-2237). The nucleotide sequence for the full-length cDNA and the deduced amino acid sequence for the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor, which are reported here, are strikingly similar (99.8% identical at the nucleotide level and 99.4% identical at the amino acid level) to those recently reported for the human insulin-like growth factor II receptor from HepG2 hepatoma cells (Morgan, D. O., Edman, J.D., Standring, D. N., Fried, V. A., Smith, M. C., Roth, R. A., and Rutter, W. J. (1987) Nature 329, 301-307). These findings support the suggestion that the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor for lysosomal enzymes is a multifunctional binding protein which is identical with the insulin-like growth factor II receptor. A cDNA construct containing the full coding sequence for the cation-independent mannose 6-phosphate receptor in the expression vector pSVL was used to transfect COS cells. Expression of the cDNA in transfected COS cells produced a cell-surface protein which co-migrated on sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis with authentic human receptor, bound to an affinity column and was specifically eluted with mannose 6-phosphate, mediated cell-surface binding and endocytosis of beta-glucuronidase, and targeted the endocytosed enzyme to lysosomes.
3-D calculations of field distribution in the MEBT quad and effect of the fringe field on beam dynamics

Quadrupole magnets in the SNS Medium Energy Beam Transfer line (MEBT) are in close proximity to each other. The distance between iron cores of is comparable to the magnet aperture and therefore fringe fields of the magnets overlap. The magnetic field distribution of the SNS MEBT quadrupole magnets has been calculated using the 3-D MAFIA code. The effect of fringe field on beam dynamics is studied and corrections to quad settings are calculated.
Reproducing Labor Inequalities Challenges for Feminists Conceptualizing Care at the Intersections of Gender, Race, and Class

The author uses census data to assess the consequences of two alternative theoretical formulations of care work for understanding the intersections of gender, race, and economic inequalities in paid care. The nurturance conceptualization focuses on care as relationship while the reproductive labor framework includes both relational and nonrelational jobs that maintain and reproduce the labor force. An empirical application of both models to the labor market shows that placing increasing theoretical emphasis on nurturant care privileges the experiences of white women and excludes large numbers of very-low-wage workers from consideration.
Applying the Multilevel Framework of Discourse Comprehension To Evaluate the Text Characteristics of General Chemistry Textbooks

Prior chemistry education research has demonstrated a relationship between student reading skill and general chemistry course performance. In addition to student characteristics, however, the qualities of the learning materials with which students interact also impact student learning. For example, low-knowledge students benefit from texts that explicitly state relationships between ideas, namely, those that possess high cohesion. Such texts limit the number of inferences a student must draw: a practice crucial for students lacking the requisite prior knowledge to fill in conceptual gaps. In this study, five best-selling general chemistry texts were analyzed using Coh-Metrix, a tool created to measure the linguistic characteristics of discourse and text. Our results constitute a survey of five measures of text difficulty: narrativity, syntactic simplicity, word concreteness, referential cohesion, and deep cohesion. Statistically significant differences were found when comparing the cohesion of the chemist...
Stable extreme damping in viscoelastic two-phase composites with non-positive-definite phases close to the loss of stability

By investigating the effective response of linear viscoelastic composites, we demonstrate that stiff systems can exhibit stable extreme increases in overall damping if one of the composite phases loses positive-definiteness of its elasticities. While non-positive-definite elastic moduli (often referred to as negative stiffness) are thermodynamically unstable in unconstrained homogeneous solids, the geometric constraints among constituents in a composite can provide sufficient stabilization. Allowing for negative-stiffness phases in principle expands the range of attainable composite properties and promises extremely high composite stiffness and damping (significantly beyond those of the composite base materials) if the composite is appropriately tuned. This, however, raises questions of stability. In particular, the resulting high damping in stiff composites so far has only been shown to be stable in simple structural and elementary spring-dashpot systems, and therefore has remained a key open question for general composite materials. Studying successively the examples of a spring-dashpot model, a two-phase solid, and a general particle–matrix composite, we demonstrate that a non-positive-definite phase may indeed result in stable extreme damping, which is in line with recent experimental findings.