cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
TSH Receptor Signaling Abrogation by a Novel Small Molecule.

Pathological activation of the thyroid stimulating hormone receptor (TSHR) is caused by thyroid stimulating antibodies in patients with Graves’ disease or by somatic and rare genomic mutations that enhance constitutive activation of the receptor influencing both G protein and non-G protein signaling. Potential selective small molecule antagonists represent novel therapeutic compounds for abrogation of such abnormal TSHR signaling. In this study we describe the identification and in-vitro characterization of a novel small molecule antagonist by high-throughput screening (HTS). The identification of the TSHR antagonist was performed using a transcription-based TSH inhibition bioassay. TSHR expressing CHO cells which also expressed a luciferase tagged CRE response element were optimized using bovine TSH as the activator in a 384 well plate format which had a Z score of 0.3-0.6. Using this HTS assay we screened a diverse library of ~80,000 compounds at a final concentration of 16.7μM. The selection criteria for a positive hit were based on a mean signal threshold of 50% inhibition of control TSH stimulation. The screening resulted in 450 positive hits giving a hit ratio of 0.56%. A secondary confirmation screen against TSH and forskolin - a post receptor activator of adenylyl cyclase – confirmed one TSHR-specific candidate antagonist molecule (named VA-K-14). This lead molecule had an IC50 of 12.3µM and a unique chemical structure. A parallel analysis for cell viability indicated that the lead inhibitor was non-cytotoxic at its effective concentrations. In-silico docking studies performed using a TSHR transmembrane model showed the hydrophobic contact locations and the possible mode of inhibition of TSHR signaling. Furthermore, this molecule was capable of inhibiting TSHR stimulation by Graves’ disease patient sera and monoclonal stimulating TSHR antibodies. In conclusion, we report the identification of a novel small molecule TSHR inhibitor which has the potential to be developed as a therapeutic antagonist for abrogation of TSHR signaling by TSHR autoantibodies in Graves’ disease.
Semiparametric regression control charts

ABSTRACTControl charts are screening processes that have been widely used in many areas where monitoring product quality is required. Many methods have been proposed to construct charts with different types of data. A common point in most existing methods is to monitor the quality variable only. However, in many situations, the quality variable depends on other covariates, such as environmental factors. Thus, without adjusting charts by taking the effect of covariates into consideration, the traditional charts typically have a poor performance when the quality variable is highly dependent on covariates. To this point, we propose a new type of semiparametric regression control charts by integrating a regression model into a traditional control chart. The quality monitoring process stems from a newly developed nonparametric prior called the transformed Bernstein polynomial prior (TBPP), which provides a convenient and robust way to implement the pattern recognition by assuming the unknown pattern is centere...
Disparities in Hypertension Associated with Limited English Proficiency.

Background Limited English proficiency (LEP) is associated with poor health status and worse outcomes.
Noetherian rings and localization

Let A be a commutative ring. Then A is noetherian if any ideal I in A is finitely generated; i.e. I = (i1,..., i n ) where (i1,..., i n ) denotes the set of sums of the form Σ j n =1 a j i j where the a j are in A.
Active cocaine use does not increase the likelihood of hyperglycemic crisis.

Abstract Objective Hyperglycemic crisis encompasses a group of diabetes emergencies characterized by insulin deficiency with high morbidity and mortality. Cocaine use is increasingly prevalent in the United States and may be associated with increased risk of diabetic ketoacidosis. The objective was to determine if active cocaine use at hospital admission could be considered a risk factor for development of hyperglycemic crisis. Methods A retrospective case-control analysis was performed on 950 inpatients with hyperglycemia at an urban academic hospital. Patients admitted with non-emergent hyperglycemia were compared to patients who met criteria for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state (HHS), and hyperosmolar ketoacidosis (HK), based on the absence or presence of cocaine metabolites on urine toxicology screen. Outcomes included frequency of cocaine use in patients with DKA, HHS, HK, and non-emergent hyperglycemia; phenotypic characteristics of cocaine users vs. non-users with hyperglycemia; phenotypic characteristics of patients with hyperglycemic crisis vs. non-emergent hyperglycemia. Results 950 patients were admitted with hyperglycemia, 133 of which met criteria for hyperglycemic crisis. There was no significant difference in the frequency of cocaine use in individuals with non-emergent hyperglycemia compared to individuals with hyperglycemic crisis (16.9% vs. 17.2%, p = 0.90). 16.9% of patients with DKA, 16.4% of patients with HHS, and 6.4% of patients with HK were cocaine users. Conclusions We found no association between active cocaine use at the time of hospital admission and development of hyperglycemic crisis, when compared to non-emergent hyperglycemia. The role of routine screening for cocaine use in patients with hyperglycemic crisis is unclear.
A randomized phase II trial of fulvestrant with or without ribociclib after progression on aromatase inhibition plus cyclin-dependent kinase 4/6 inhibition in patients with unresectable or metastatic hormone receptor positive, HER2 negative breast cancer.

TPS1112Background: CDK4/6i, including palbociclib and ribociclib (R), have demonstrated remarkable benefit in progression free survival (PFS) in patients (pts) with HR+, HER2- MBC with anti-estrogen therapy. Switching between anti-estrogen therapies at disease progression is standard of care in the treatment of HR+ MBC. We evaluate the strategy of switching anti-estrogen therapy to fulvestrant (F) and maintaining CDK4/6 inhibition with R in pts with HR+, HER2- MBC who have progressed on an AI + CDK4/6i. Methods: Trial Design Phase II, multi-center, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial to evaluate F +/- R in pts with HR+, HER2- MBC who have previously progressed on any AI + CDK4/6i: Screened at 2 different scenarios: Scenario 1: Before receiving any CDK4/6i Scenario 2: Time of progression of disease (POD) while being treated with an AI + CDK4/6i Intervention At randomization, pts assigned 1:1 to either a) F + R or b) F + placebo, with treatment given in 4-week cycles. Major Eligibility Criter...
Quantification of mold contamination in multi-level buildings using the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index.

ABSTRACTThe goal of this study was to evaluate the possible use of the Environmental Relative Moldiness Index (ERMI) to quantify mold contamination in multi-level, office buildings. Settled-dust samples were collected in multi-level, office buildings and the ERMI value for each sample determined. In the first study, a comparison was made between two identical four-story buildings. There were health complaints in one building but none in the other building. In the second study, mold contamination was evaluated on levels 6–19 of an office building with a history of water problems and health complaints. In the first study, the average ERMI value in the building with health complaints was 5.33 which was significantly greater than the average ERMI value, 0.55, in the non-complaint building. In the second study, the average ERMI values ranged from a low of −0.58 on level 8 to a high of 5.66 on level 17, one of the top five ranked levels for medical symptoms or medication use. The mold populations of ten (six Gr...
Imagining; The Invention of New Environments

From 1913 until his death in 1955 Ortega y Gasset was engaged in developing what he called a philosophy of vital reason. In this philosophy he presented “my life” as the fundamental reality. Life is, in Ortega’s view, from its beginning and fundamentally a “unitary duality,”1 it is “the mutual and reciprocal existing of man and world.”2 However, “my life” cannot be described just as the coexistence of human being and world. That is too static. Coexistence seems to imply that I and the world only stand beside one another. Rather, “my life” is “a dynamic dialogue between I and my circumstance.”3 “Things happen to me just as I happen to them, and neither has a primary reality other than that determined by this reciprocal event.”4
Caco3 precipitation kinetics in waters from the great Bahama bank:: Implications for the relationship between bank hydrochemistry and whitings

The source of whitings on the Great Bahama Bank and their relationship to major changes in the chemistry of Bank waters have been among the longest and most hotly debated topics in carbonate geochemistry. In this paper, we demonstrate that the reaction kinetics of calcite with Bank waters for a given saturation state are similar to, but somewhat slower (2 to 3 times) than with Gulf Stream water. The interpretation of the reaction kinetics of suspended Bank sediment with Bank water requires that the precipitating phase be about twice as soluble as aragonite. Good agreement at equivalent saturation states was found between experimental precipitation rates and those calculated for the rate of change of Bank water chemistry in the region of whitings. These results indicate that the dominant mode of carbonate removal is via precipitation on resuspended sediments rather than the rapid pseudo-homogeneous precipitation of calcium carbonate in the water column resulting in the formation of a whiting. Estimates indicate that single aragonite needles may be resuspended many times over a period of decades during which they experience repeated overgrowth. A major portion (>98%) of suspended calcium carbonate is outside the visually dramatic whitings. Thus, as visually spectacular as they are, whitings do not represent a short-term locally massive precipitation of carbonate on the Great Bahama Bank, nor are they even likely to be the dominant sites of carbonate removal in this region. Although future refinements are needed that include seafloor processes, we have at this point arrived at a mechanistic kinetic model that provides a reasonably quantitative explanation for the hydrochemistry of the carbonate system on the northern Great Bahama Bank.
Framing Children’s Theatre

Historiography, or the writing of history, has gained significant ground in theatre scholarship over the past few decades, but its impact on children’s theatre, or Theatre for Young Audiences (TYA) as it is now commonly referred to, has been generally ignored. Nonetheless, the way in which historians constructed a narrative based on the critical examination of their selection of facts, colored by their own ideological position and identity location, has greatly impacted theatre for young audiences. The field of TYA, that is professional theatre for young people by adults, is fraught with myths and axioms perpetuated through history in various cultural and sociological contexts. From Mark Twain in the United States (US) to Alexandra Gozenpud in Soviet Russia writers have claimed “firsts,” “most significants,” and “influentials,” constructing an image of the field that was at the very least incomplete, periodizing and situating it in a liminal and limiting frame of what Roger Bedard (2003) coined as “theatre-but-not-theatre” (p. 98).
The Fallibility of Reason in the Age of Reason: Lessing’s Miss Sara Sampson

During the Age of Reason, the process of individualization and selfrealization was understood in terms which appear to be compatible with Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka’s concept of unintentional creation of the seif.1 The self-guiding force balancing the plurality of powers and their teleological development was called reason, as in Tymieniecka. To be sure, this was not merely reason in the customary sense of intellect, but in the all-embracing sense of common sense. And it meant Reason in the metaphysical sense that each individual’s process as well as the concert of their totality was held to proceed in accordance with the Will, Intention and the Reason of the Almighty Creator and his Supreme Wisdom. With an eye to the history of the individual as well as of all mankind, the greatest German Aufklarer, Lessing, subscribed to Leibniz’ Prestabilized Harmony and Theodicy.
RuSentiment: An Enriched Sentiment Analysis Dataset for Social Media in Russian

This paper presents RuSentiment, a new dataset for sentiment analysis of social media posts in Russian, and a new set of comprehensive annotation guidelines that are extensible to other languages. RuSentiment is currently the largest in its class for Russian, with 31,185 posts annotated with Fleiss’ kappa of 0.58 (3 annotations per post). To diversify the dataset, 6,950 posts were pre-selected with an active learning-style strategy. We report baseline classification results, and we also release the best-performing embeddings trained on 3.2B tokens of Russian VKontakte posts.
Online control of stencil printing parameters using reinforcement learning approach

Abstract This research proposes a novel approach to control the stencil printing process (SPP) parameters online in surface mount technology (SMT) of printed circuit boards (PCBs). Several external variables induce variations in stencil printing quality including environment conditions, operator faults, and others. This research aims to build an optimal adaptive controller that captures these variations and consequently adjusts the controllable and significant printing parameters to enhance the solder paste volume transfer efficiency (TE) during actual production run. Q-learning which is a reinforcement learning (RL) approach is used to control the main printing parameters (printing speed and pressure, and the separation speed) online. The results show that Q-learning converges to the optimal policy for the SPP problem, and the optimal sets of actions for different states are retrieved using Q-table. Moreover, the developed controller is capable to reach the terminal state for several testing examples with taking few actions.
Trainee colonoscopy quality is influenced by the independent and unobserved performance characteristics of supervising physicians

Background Endoscopy training remains an apprenticeship, and the characteristics that facilitate transfer of high quality procedural skills from role models to trainees are unknown. We sought to determine whether unobserved supervisor performance influences the quality of colonoscopy performed by trainees, by studying how supervisors perform alone and how trainees perform while under those same supervisors. Methods This was a retrospective cross-sectional study conducted among ambulatory adults ≥ 50 years old who underwent colonoscopy for cancer screening or polyp surveillance from 2006 to 2015 at one academic medical center. The primary exposures were the colonoscopy withdrawal time (WT) and adenoma detection rate (ADR) of supervisors while performing colonoscopies alone. The primary outcomes were the WT and ADR of trainees performing colonoscopies under supervision. Results Data were included from 22 attending gastroenterologist supervisors, 56 gastroenterology fellow trainees, and 2777 adults undergoing 3094 colonoscopy procedures. Among all supervised colonoscopies, mean trainee WT was 12.7 minutes (SD 4.9) and trainee ADR was 33.5 %. The trainee WT was 0.42 minutes longer (standard error = 0.16, P = 0.01) per minute increase in supervisor WT. Similarly, trainee ADR was higher under a high ADR supervisor, and the odds ratio of high compared to low supervisor ADR category was 1.28 (95 %CI 1.01 – 1.62, P = 0.04) after adjusting for other factors. Conclusions The unobserved performance characteristics of supervising endoscopists may influence the quality of colonoscopy performed by trainees.
Perspectives of pain in patients with type 2 diabetes.

Introduction: Reducing symptom burden is often secondary to risk factor control in diabetes. Symptom burden with comorbid medical conditions and the need for symptom palliation are not well defined...
Longitudinal changes in brain function associated with symptom improvement in youth with PTSD.

Abstract Background Previous studies indicate that youth with posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) have abnormal activation in brain regions important for emotion processing. It is unknown whether symptom improvement is accompanied by normative changes in these regions. This study identified neural changes associated with symptom improvement with the long-term goal of identifying malleable targets for interventions. Methods A total of 80 functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scans were collected, including 20 adolescents with PTSD (ages 9–17) and 20 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects, each scanned before and after a 5-month period. Trauma-focused cognitive behavioral therapy was provided to the PTSD group to ensure improvement in symptoms. Whole brain voxel-wise activation and region of interest analyses of facial expression task data were conducted to identify abnormalities in the PTSD group versus HC at baseline (BL), and neural changes correlated with symptom improvement from BL to EOS of study (EOS). Results At BL, the PTSD group had abnormally elevated activation in the cingulate cortex, hippocampus, amygdala, and medial frontal cortex compared to HC. From BL to EOS, PTSD symptoms improved an average of 39%. Longitudinal improvement in symptoms of PTSD was associated with decreasing activation in posterior cingulate, mid-cingulate, and hippocampus, while improvement in dissociative symptoms was correlated with decreasing activation in the amygdala. Conclusions Abnormalities in emotion-processing brain networks in youth with PTSD normalize when symptoms improve, demonstrating neural plasticity of these regions in young patients and the importance of early intervention.
Semantic region of interest and species classification in the deep neural network feature domain

Abstract In this paper, we focus on animal object detection and species classification in camera-trap images collected in highly cluttered natural scenes. Using a deep neural network (DNN) model training for animal- background image classification, we analyze the input camera-trap images to generate a multi-level visual representation of the input image. We detect semantic regions of interest for animals from this representation using k-mean clustering and graph cut in the DNN feature domain. These animal regions are then classified into animal species using multi-class deep neural network model. According the experimental results, our method achieves 99.75% accuracy for classifying animals and background and 90.89% accuracy for classifying 26 animal species on the Snapshot Serengeti dataset, outperforming existing image classification methods.
A retrospective analysis of cisplatin dosing strategies when used with radiation on outcomes in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma of the oropharynx.

6079Background: Cis is the gold standard radiosensitizer for CRT to treat head and neck cancer. Prospective trials have required that cis be administered early in the week (Mon/Tues) to optimize ra...
Predictors of eustachian tube dysfunction improvement and normalization after endoscopic sinus surgery.

OBJECTIVE Studies have demonstrated improvement in Eustachian tube dysfunction (ETD) symptomatology after functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS); however, factors associated with ETD symptom alteration have not been elucidated. This study evaluated factors associated with improvement and normalization of ETD symptoms after FESS. METHODS A case-control study was performed of FESS patients who had clinically significant ETD symptoms based on the Eustachian Tube Dysfunction Questionnaire-7 (ETDQ-7 ≥ 2.1) without middle ear effusion (MEE) preoperatively. Study patients were identified as those with a normalized ETDQ-7 at 2 months postoperatively. Controls were patients whose ETDQ-7 did not normalize at 2 months. Demographics, surgery characteristics, chronic rhinosinusitis phenotype, Lund-Mackay score, temporomandibular joint dysfunction (TMJD), preoperative ETDQ-7 and SNOT-22 scores, and tympanograms were analyzed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were performed comparing study cases and controls. RESULTS Data were collected on 165 patients, with 46% patients having clinically significant preoperative ETD and 60 patients meeting final study inclusion/exclusion criteria. FESS was associated with both SNOT-22 and ETDQ-7 improvement (P < 0.001). Nasal polyposis was associated with a higher probability of ETDQ-7 normalization (OR 4.429, P = 0.035). Factors associated with failure of ETDQ-7 normalization included TMJD (OR 0.086, P < 0.001, 95% CI 0.019-0.391) and high preoperative ETDQ-7 (OR 0.140, P = 0.006, 95% CI 0.032-0.613). CONCLUSION In patients with clinically significant ETD symptoms without MEE, FESS was associated with ETDQ-7 improvement. Nasal polyposis was associated with an increased probability of normalization of ETD symptoms postoperatively, whereas TMJD had a negative association. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 3b Laryngoscope, 2019.
The Distribution and Prevalence of Macrophages in the Cochlea Following Cochlear Implantation in the Human: An Immunohistochemical Study Using Anti-Iba1 Antibody.

Hypothesis Cochlear implantation may cause an increase in the number of macrophages in the human cochlea similar to previous findings in the vestibular endorgans. Background Macrophages play a key role in both an inflammatory response and homeostatic maintenance. Recently, an increase in the prevalence of macrophages was demonstrated in the human vestibular endorgans after implantation. However, the prevalence of macrophages in the cochlea after implantation is unclear. The aim of this study was to compare the distribution and prevalence of macrophages in implanted human cochleae and the contralateral unimplanted ears. Methods The prevalence of macrophages in the cochlea in 10 human subjects who had undergone unilateral cochlear implantation was studied by light microscopy using anti-Iba1 immunostaining. The densities of macrophages in the osseous spiral lamina (OSL) and Rosenthal's canal (RC) in implanted cochleae were compared with the contralateral unimplanted ears. The distribution of macrophage morphology (amoeboid, transitional, and ramified) was also compared. Results There were activated and phagocytosing macrophages within the fibrotic sheath surrounding the electrode track and within fibrous tissue with lymphocytic infiltration in implanted ears. The densities of macrophages in OSL and RC in implanted ears were significantly greater than in unimplanted ears in some areas. There was also a difference in the prevalence of macrophage phenotype between the OSL and RC. Conclusion An increase in the density of macrophages in the cochlea after cochlear implantation was demonstrated. Both phagocytosis and anti-inflammatory activity of macrophages were suggested by the distribution and prevalence of macrophages in the implanted cochlea.
Randomized Controlled Trial of a Multilevel Intervention to Address Social Determinants of Refugee Mental Health

Understanding processes that support the well-being of the unprecedented numbers of forcibly displaced people throughout the world is essential. Growing evidence documents post-migration stressors related to marginalization as key social determinants of refugee mental health. The goal of this RCT was to rigorously test a social justice approach to reducing high rates of distress among refugees in the United States. The 6-month multilevel, strengths-based Refugee Well-being Project (RWP) intervention brought together university students enrolled in a 2-semester course and recently resettled refugees to engage in mutual learning and collaborative efforts to mobilize community resources and improve community and systems responsiveness to refugees. Data collected from 290 Afghan, Great Lakes African, Iraqi, and Syrian refugees at four time points over 12 months were used to test the effectiveness of RWP to reduce distress (depression and anxiety symptoms) and increase protective factors (English proficiency, social support, connection to home and American cultures). Intention-to-treat analyses using multilevel modeling revealed significant intervention effects for all hypothesized outcomes. Results provide evidence to support social justice approaches to improving refugee mental health. Findings have implications for refugees worldwide, and for other immigrant and marginalized populations who experience inequities in resources and disproportionate exposure to trauma/stress.
Isolated severe blunt traumatic brain injury: effect of obesity on outcomes

Objective Obesity has been widely reported to confer significant morbidity and mortality in both medical and surgical patients. However, contemporary data indicate that obesity may confer protection after both critical illness and certain types of major surgery. The authors hypothesized that this "obesity paradox" may apply to patients with isolated severe blunt traumatic brain injuries (TBIs). Methods The Trauma Quality Improvement Program (TQIP) database was queried for patients with isolated severe blunt TBI (head Abbreviated Injury Scale [AIS] score 3-5, all other body areas AIS Results In total, 103,280 patients were identified with isolated severe blunt TBI. Data were excluded for patients aged 89 years or with BMI 55 kg/m2 and for patients who were transferred from another treatment center or who showed no signs of life upon presentation, leaving data from 38,446 patients for analysis. Obesity was not found to confer a survival advantage on univariate analysis. On multivariate analysis, underweight patients as well as obesity class 1 and 3 patients had a higher rate of mortality (OR 1.86, 95% CI 1.48-2.34; OR 1.18, 95% CI 1.01-1.37; and OR 1.41, 95% CI 1.03-1.93, respectively). Increased obesity class was associated with an increased risk of respiratory complications (obesity class 1: OR 1.19, 95% CI 1.03-1.37; obesity class 2: OR 1.30, 95% CI 1.05-1.62; obesity class 3: OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.18-2.05) and thromboembolic complications (overweight: OR 1.43, 95% CI 1.16-1.76; obesity class 1: OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.11-1.88; obesity class 2: OR 1.55, 95% CI 1.05-2.29) despite a decreased risk of overall complications (obesity class 2: OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.73-0.92; obesity class 3: OR 0.83, 95% CI 0.72-0.97). Underweight patients had a significantly increased risk of overall complications (OR 1.39, 95% CI 1.24-1.57). Conclusions Although there was an obesity-associated decrease in overall complications, the study data did not demonstrate a paradoxical protective effect of obesity on mortality after isolated severe blunt TBI. Obese patients with isolated severe blunt TBI are at increased risk of respiratory and venous thromboembolic complications. However, underweight patients appear to be at highest risk after severe blunt TBI, with significantly increased risks of morbidity and mortality.
Techno-economic assessment of bioactive compound recovery from potato peels with sequential hydrothermal extraction

Abstract The economic performance of Sequential Hydrothermal Extraction (SeqHTE) and subcritical water extraction (SWE) was evaluated in this study for recovering bioactive compounds from potato peels. The analysis included the cost estimation of additional units required for extract purification, such as polysaccharide separation, glycoalkaloid isolation, and two final product purification alternatives: filtration or adsorption. An annual plant capacity of 4540 tonne of dry peel and an on-stream factor of 300 days were considered as a basis for the study. The tecno-economic analysis showed that overall the capital investments and the costs of manufacture for SeqHTE were from 1.5 to 2 times greater than for SWE. However, the economic performance of the two-stage system compared favorably with the one-stage approach in terms of. unit production costs. For SeqHTE with filtration and adsorption, the lowest price of the polyphenol product was estimated to be $0.43/kg and $67.00/kg, respectively. In contrast, for SWE these costs were $0.74/kg and $70.00/kg, respectively. The results of the study also showed that although purification with adsorption was notably more costly (5–7 times higher), it provided a significantly more refined and presumably a superior quality final product. Moreover, the sensitivity analysis showed that operating costs, bioactive recovery and the potential to generate co-products were the most important factors that affect economic performance. Therefore, because SeqHTE allows a more complete utilization of the biomass and the recovery of possibly more valuable bioactives; the two-stage process may provide an economical alternative and for valorizing potato peels.
Hippocampal plasticity may drive cocaine relapse.

Premature deaths related to illicit drug use are at an all-time high in the United States (1). Over 72,000 people died from drug overdose in 2019, and this number is expected to increase dramatically in 2020, in no small part because of the COVID-19 pandemic (2). Indeed, March through May of 2020 saw a sharp increase in overdose deaths, which coincided with state-mandated lockdown orders. Numbers of individuals testing positive for cocaine also increased dramatically over this same period. This is important because one-third of overdose deaths involve the use of cocaine or other psychostimulant drugs. Undoubtedly, drug addiction is one of the foremost public health crises of our times. Nevertheless, there are currently no therapeutics approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of cocaine addiction. This dearth of medications reflects, in part, an imperfect understanding of the brain mechanisms responsible for the remarkable persistence of cocaine use despite the strenuous efforts by users to quit the habit. Perhaps the greatest challenge in overcoming cocaine addiction is avoiding relapse during periods of attempted sobriety. This challenge is exacerbated by the fact that craving for cocaine can progressively intensify as periods of abstinence become more extended, a phenomenon termed “incubation of craving” (3). In PNAS, Werner et al. (4) uncover a molecular mechanism in the hippocampus that may contribute to relapse vulnerability during periods of extended abstinence. The dorsal hippocampus (DH) is thought to encode information important for learning about, and successfully navigating, your environment, especially the ability to recognize objects and their location in specific contexts. Emerging evidence has implicated the DH in relapse to cocaine seeking during abstinence. Specifically, the DH is thought … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence may be addressed. Email: paul.kenny{at}mssm.edu. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1
Visualizing Italy Through a Militant Lens: F.T. Marinetti and Italy’s Military Experience

Futurist leader Filippo Tommaso Marinetti is the focus of Ernest Ialongo’s study of the impact of the military on art. Ialongo argues that another way of looking at Marinetti’s works is to focus on his vision of Italy as depicted in the person of the soldier and Italian society at war. He draws our attention to the fact that a recurring theme in Marinetti’s work is the soldier as the uncomplicated and dutiful citizen who answers the call of the state to defend the nation and puts aside whatever differences separated him from his fellow Italians in civilian life, most specifically class and region. When Marinetti writes about society more generally, he similarly focuses on the issue of duty and sacrifice. Consequently, such themes bind Marinetti’s work from the Liberal to the Fascist era.
SynCells: A 60 × 60 μm2 Electronic Platform with Remote Actuation for Sensing Applications in Constrained Environments.

The authors acknowledge financial support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under the MURI-FATE programs (Grant Nos. FA9550-15-1-0514 and FA9550-16-1-0031) as well as partial support by the ARO project W911NF-19-10372 (award title: Optical Communication with Synthetic Cells). V.S. was supported by the KAUST sensor project CRF2015-SENSORS-2719. This work was carried out in part using MIT’s Microsystems Technology Laboratories and MIT.nano
Comparative analysis of selected African natural gas markets and related policies

Abstract The discovery of natural gas resources across the African continent has inspired debate on how such resources should be developed and best utilized. In several African countries, the discovery of commercial quantities of natural gas reserves has led governments to explore a number of strategies, investments, and policy directions. Two contrasting cases are that of Nigeria, which has pursued policies promoting domestic natural gas consumption and export, and Ghana, which has focused on encouraging sectoral-level domestic consumption. These divergent approaches have had immensely different impacts on the sector. This paper uses a case study methodology to identify and assess existing national approaches toward governance and market development. We consider the complex landscape for natural gas in Nigeria, Egypt, and Ghana and offer insights for other similar emerging economies. The results provide a comparative framework to aid understanding of natural gas development in emerging economies. We conclude by highlighting areas of further work.
Noncollapsibility, confounding, and sparse-data bias. Part 2: What should researchers make of persistent controversies about the odds ratio?

A previous note illustrated how the odds of an outcome has an undesirable property for risk summarization and communication: Noncollapsibility, defined as a failure of a group measure to represent a simple average of the measure over individuals or subgroups. The present sequel discusses how odds ratios amplify odds noncollapsibility and provides a basic numeric illustration of how noncollapsibility differs from confounding of effects (with which it is often confused). It also draws a connection of noncollapsibility to sparse-data bias in logistic, log-linear, and proportional-hazards regression.
Determinism as a statistical metric for ecologically important recurrent behaviors with trapline foraging as a case study

Patterns of discrete behaviors tied together in specific sequences are essential for the formation of complex behavioral phenomena. Such behavioral sequences can be of critical ecological importance, for example relating to resource acquisition, predator evasion, and sexual selection. The role of sequential behaviors in ecology, however, is understudied, in substantial part due to the difficulty of quantifying complex sequences. Here, we present a modified version of determinism (DET) from recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) as a standard metric for quantifying sequential behaviors. We focus on a case study of trapline foraging, a taxonomically widespread behavioral strategy in which animals repeatedly visit spatially fixed resources in a predictable order. Using a bumble bee movement dataset, we demonstrate how to calculate DET and create and interpret recurrence plots, which visually demonstrate patterns in foraging sequences. We show a new method for statistical comparisons of DET scores and assess the sensitivity of DET to resource density using simulated foraging sequences. We find that DET complements and offers distinct advantages over previously available methods for many questions and datasets since it does not depend on any particular resource arrangement or experimental setup and is relatively insensitive to resource density. These features make DET a powerful tool for comparing sequential behaviors between differing environments in a range of ecologically important contexts.
A mixture approach to investigate interstitial growth in engineering scaffolds

Controlling biological growth within a cell-laden polymeric scaffold is a critical challenge in the tissue engineering community. Indeed, construct growth must often be balanced with scaffold degradation and is often coupled to varying degrees of deformation that originate from swelling, external forces and the effects of confinement. These factors have been shown to affect growth in many ways, but to date, our understanding is mostly qualitative. While cell sensing, molecular transport and scaffold/tissue interactions are believed to be important players, it will be critical to quantify, predict and control these effects in order to eventually optimize tissue growth in the laboratory. The aim of this paper was thus to provide a theoretical framework to better understand how the scaffold-mediated mechanisms of transport, deposition (and possibly degradation) and elasticity affect the overall growth of a tissue subjected to finite deformations. We propose a formulation in which the macroscopic evolutions in tissue size, density as well as the appearance of residual stresses can be directly related to changes in internal composition by considering three fundamental principles: mechanical equilibrium, chemical equilibrium and molecular incompressibility. The resulting model allows us to pay particular attention to features that are critical to the interaction between growth and deformation: osmotic pressure and swelling, the strain mismatch between old and newly deposited material as well as the mechano-sensitive cell-mediated production. We show that all of these phenomena may indeed strongly affect the overall growth of a construct under finite deformations.
Historical perspectives on ambient ozone and its effects on the Sierra Nevada

Abstract An overview of summer wind flow climatology as it relates to the transport of ozone (O 3 ) to the Sierra Nevada is presented. We also review a representative sample of studies documenting the occurrence of ozone injury symptoms in the forests of the western Sierra and in the Lake Tahoe Basin. We conclude that ozone is negatively impacting existing forest flora and that current trends in regional O 3 concentrations imply continued and possibly increasing injury to these plants. All field studies to date examine the relationships between exposure and injury, not dose. The lack of concurrent stomatal conductance and ozone concentration measurements precludes determination of dose, adding considerable uncertainty to determination of ozone injury thresholds. Given the diurnal variation in stomatal conductance and the frequent diurnal variation in local ozone concentrations, monitoring systems need temporal resolutions not greater than several hours.
Biosynthesis of Heparin III. FORMATION OF A SULFATED GLYCOSAMINOGLYCAN WITH A MICROSOMAL PREPARATION FROM MAST CELL TUMORS

A microsomal preparation from heparin-synthesizing mouse mast cell tumors was previously shown to catalyze incorporation of sulfate-35S into endogenous material identified as heparin, and to catalyze the formation of an N-acetylated glycosaminoglycan related to heparin. This same preparation has now been shown to catalyze the incorporation of sulfate-35S into the newly formed glycosaminoglycan. The over-all degree of sulfation of this glycosaminoglycan is greater than 1 sulfate for each disaccharide repeating unit. Some of the glycosaminoglycan appears by its anionic nature to have a sulfate content similar to heparin, while some remains relatively nonsulfated. The incorporation of sulfate into the glycosaminoglycan can take place to the same degree both during polymerization or subsequent to the formation of the complete polysaccharide chain. Glycosaminoglycan polymerization thus appears to take place in close proximity to sulfation. The resulting sulfated glycosaminoglycan remains bound to the same particulate preparation that catalyzes the glycosaminoglycan formation.
Advances in many-body valence-bond theory

The area of valence-bond theory as advocated by Linus Pauling has come to be more widely accepted as encompassing interesting novel many-body characteristics, and several many-body techniques have been apparently successfully developed to greatly enhance the theory's computational amenability.
Late-Glacial and Postglacial Vegetation and Climate of Jackson Hole and the Pinyon Peak Highlands, Wyoming

The late-Quaternary vegetation history of the northern Rocky Mountains has thus far been inferred largely from isolated records. These data suggest that conifer forests were established early in postglacial time and were little modified thereafter. The similarity of early postglacial vegetation to modern communities over broad areas gives rise to two hypotheses: (1) that glacial refugia were close to the ice margin, and (2) that vegetation soon colonized the deglaciated areas and has been only subtly affected by climatic perturbations since that time. It is the goal of this project to test these two hypotheses in the region of Grand Teton National Park.
Is Russia Still a BRIC

Can Russia break its dependence on oil and diversify its economy (its so-called resource curse)? Aleksandr Gevorkyan argues that it has the potential and may be well on the way to doing so—that is, beating the curse and becoming a full-fledged global player again.
Fuzzy speech recognition

Speech recognition is a major topic in speech signal processing. Many algorithms based on results of speech analysis, among which dynamic time warping) and hidden Markov models are the most important, have been advanced. However, these algorithms generally turn out to be too complicated to be implemented in real time systems. The proposed algorithm in this paper, which uses a fuzzy logic recognition approach based on the power distribution pattern of a segment of a speech, allows the implementation of real-time speech recognition.
Silylated 1,1‘-Diaminoferrocene: Ti and Zr Complexes of a New Chelating Diamide Ligand

Silylation of 1,1‘-diaminoferrocene afforded 1,1‘-Fc(NHSiMe3)2 (LH2) as red air-sensitive crystals. Reaction with M(CH2Ph)4 (M = Ti, Zr) afforded the corresponding LM(CH2Ph)2 (M = Zr; Ti), where the Fc(NSiMe3)22- group serves as a diamide ligand. Alternatively, the magnesium salt LMg(THF)2 was reacted with TiCl4(THF)2 to give LTiCl2 as purple air-sensitive crystals. Methylation of the latter with MeLi affords LTiMe2.
An ethnographic exploration of science in American life

L'A. porte son attention sur l'exposition intitulee «Science in American Life» qui vise a faire connaitre au public americain le role de la science en ce qui concerne l'amelioration de la vie quotidienne. Il decrit les differentes activites et programmes proposes dans ce cadre. Il met en garde contre ce type de manifestation. Il estime que les visiteurs ne sont pas avertis de certaines consequences liees au developpement de la recherche scientifique notamment sur le plan militaire ou de la pollution
Ethical considerations in neuroclinical trials.

Ethical decision making in clinical trials has become increasingly emphasized at many levels of the review process.
What's driving the price of PV?

IN ORDER to understand growth trajectories in US photovoltaic markets, it is critical to benchmark and analyse non-hardware costs — also referred to as “non-hardware balance of system (BOS),” “business process” or “soft” costs.
Preferences among four combination nicotine treatments

Acute nicotine replacement treatments (NRTs) are disliked or misused, leading to insufficient nicotine intake and poor outcome. Patches provide steady nicotine but are slow and passive. Combining systems may improve efficacy with acute NRTs tailored for compliance. To test initial reactions to and use preferences among combinations of NRTs. Smokers (n=27) tested four combination NRTs in a 5-day crossover trial: 2/4-mg gum + 15-mg patch (G/P), 2/4-mg lozenges + 15-mg patch (L/P), inhaler + 15-mg patch (I/P), and 10 mg + 15-mg patches (P/P). Subjects rated an NRT combination each day after 5–6 h of use and ranked among the NRTs after testing all treatments. Double-patches (P/P) were ranked highest for “ease of use”, “safety”, and “use in public”. However, for “help to quit”, 70% preferred some form of acute-patch combination (A/P) compared to 30% choosing P/P. For “use under stress” (an immediate need), 93% preferred A/P systems compared to 7% choosing P/P. L/P ranked lowest for “ease of use”, I/P and L/P were lowest on “safety”, and I/P ranked lowest for “use in public”. Expectations of NRTs changed with test experience for patches (better) and lozenges (worse). In brief testing, all combinations were acceptable. P/P was favored for ease, safety, and public use, but a majority chose A/P systems for help in quitting and use under stress. Combined use is viable and needs to be made known and accessible to smokers.
Studies on the bacterial flora of tubificid worms

Study of the bacterial flora of the gut of the turbificid worms has shown that u. v. starilization, serial culturing, and standard bacterial identification procedures can be employed successfully. Eighteen species of bacteria were isolated and identified from the gut of tubificid worms. Eleven of the species were Gram negative which may be reflected in their possible association with chlorogonal cell metabolism in tubificid worms. Of the eighteen species identified our genera and two species are on a similar list produced by Brinkhurst & Chua in an earlier study (1969) of worms from the Great Lakes. None of the organisms identified were other than common to fresh water, organic decay processes or animal digestive systems. Their role in tubificid nutrition is now under study.
An improved comparison of atmospheric Ar/N2 time series and paired ocean‐atmosphere model predictions

[1] Ar/N 2 Variations in the atmosphere reflect ocean heat fluxes, air-sea gas exchange, and atmospheric dynamics. Here atmospheric Ar/N 2 time series are compared to paired ocean-atmosphere model predictions. Agreement between Ar/N 2 observations and simulations has improved in comparison to a previous study because of longer time series and the introduction of automated samplers at several of the atmospheric stations, as well as the refinement of the paired ocean-atmosphere models by inclusion of Ar and N 2 as active tracers in the ocean component. Although analytical uncertainties and collection artifacts are likely to be mainly responsible for observed Ar/N 2 outliers, air parcel back-trajectory analysis suggests that some of the variability in Ar/N 2 measurements could be due to the low-altitude history of the air mass collected and, by extension, the local oceanic Ar/N 2 signal. Although the simulated climatological seasonal cycle can currently be evaluated with Ar/N 2 observations, longer time series and additional improvements in the signal-to-noise ratio will be required to test other model predictions such as interannual variability, latitudinal gradients, and the secular increase in atmospheric Ar/N 2 expected to result from ocean warming.