cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
One Stride Forward: Maturation and Scalable Production of Engineered Human Myocardium.

Article, see p 1832 The capability of obtaining human cardiomyocytes from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC-CM) opens up an array of medical possibilities from disease modeling, to drug screening, to heart regeneration. The hPSC-CM, however, are structurally and functionally immature relative to their adult counterparts.1 To achieve the full potential of hPSC-CM, one main challenge, and a field of intense research, is to drive the hPSC-CM into a phenotype reflecting the biology of the adult cardiomyocyte. Multiple approaches have been used, including long-term culture,2 electromechanical stimulation,3 hormonal treatment,4 microRNA,5 and tissue engineering.6 Although researchers are able to obtain hPSC-CM with increased cell size, decreased circularity index, increased contractile force, enhanced maximum mitochondrial respiratory capacity, and improved calcium dynamics, the achieved hPSC-CM maturation level, in every single aspect, is still far from complete. For example, the immature hPSC-CM typically has minimal phospholamban expression,7 which makes it impossible for hPSC-CM to respond to increased pacing frequency with enhanced contractile force or to inotropically and lusitropically respond to β-adrenergic stimulation (although the chronotropic response is present). In a study published in this issue of Circulation , Tiburcy and colleagues8 studied the maturation status of cardiomyocytes in engineered human myocardium (EHM). This impressive international collaboration involved 31 researchers from Germany, Canada, Israel, the Netherlands, and the United States. The EHM was generated by casting cardiomyocytes and nonmyocytes in a hydrogel based on type I collagen as described earlier,9 but the authors painstakingly optimized the cellular and chemical components for EHM generation and EHM culture medium to make the conditions readily adaptable to current good manufacturing practice, a requirement for clinical translation. Before this study, procedures to generate cardiac constructs had several aspects that needed refinement: (1) Although we know that …
Sex in the Media, Sex on the Mind: Linking Television Use, Sexual Permissiveness, and Sexual Concept Accessibility in Memory

The present study explores the interrelationships between emerging adults’ exposure to sexual depictions on mainstream television, their attitudes toward sexually permissive behaviors, and the salience (accessibility) of concepts related to sexual activity in their implicit memory. Findings indicate a small but significant relationship between increased exposure to sex on television and increased favoring of sexually permissive behaviors, when taking sexual concept accessibility into account. When taking television exposure into account, young adults who held stronger sexually permissive attitudes found it easier to access concepts of sexual activity in memory, suggesting these ideas were top-of-mind for these participants, compared to participants scoring lower on permissiveness. However, there was no direct connection between exposure to sex on television and accessibility of sexual activity in memory when accounting for permissive attitudes, suggesting that sexual permissiveness is at the center of any link between exposure and accessibility. Implications for examining sexual permissiveness as a lens for structuring sexual information in memory, as well as implications for designing sexual health messages are discussed in light of the findings.
Chapter Four – Brightness Analysis

Brightness analysis provides a powerful tool for the study of protein interactions both in solution and in living cells. We provide a brief survey of some widely used techniques for extracting brightness from fluorescent fluctuation spectroscopy experiments. While all the techniques are equivalent under ideal conditions, we touch upon their relative strengths and discuss in detail a specific scenario wherein the photon-counting histogram (PCH) separates the brightness of rare, bright particles from a dominant background. In a practical vein for ensuring quantitative and unbiased brightness data, we address a number of potential issues stemming from both theoretical assumptions and experimental realities. Two additional issues arising from geometry are examined in greater detail. An oil-immersion objective skews the geometry of the excitation volume as a function of penetration depth. The bias can be characterized and corrected or avoided through the use of a water-immersion objective. Brightness measurements in thin sample geometries, frequently encountered in cells, may be biased. We use z-scan FFS to characterize sample geometry and correct any resulting bias in the brightness.
Pediatric patients receiving naloxone within 48 h of anesthesia: a case–control study

Excessive narcotization in pediatric surgical patients has not been well characterized. This report describes the use of postoperative naloxone in pediatric patients. Pediatric surgical patients from January 1, 2010, through June 30, 2016, who underwent general anesthesia and received naloxone within 48 h postoperatively were identified and matched 1:1 with controls by age, sex, and procedure. Cases and controls underwent retrospective chart review. Forty-seven patients received naloxone, with a rate of 2.0 (95% CI 1.5–2.7) per 1000 anesthetics. Indications were respiratory depression (n = 19), facilitating extubation (n = 15), and reversing sedation (n = 13), and 44 cases received naloxone in a monitored environment. The median (interquartile range) naloxone dose was 4.0 (2.0–23.5) mcg/kg, and five patients (11%) later required subsequent naloxone treatments. Their characteristics were similar to controls, including opioid medications, except cases that had signs of respiratory depression before naloxone administration. The outcomes were similar, although more cases were admitted to the intensive care unit before naloxone administration. One patient died 13 days postoperatively of unrelated causes. Postoperative naloxone administration in pediatric patients is rare. The observation that most administrations occurred in a monitored setting implies that at-risk patients had been appropriately identified and kept under closer surveillance.
Does the Cognitive Reflection Test actually capture heuristic versus analytic reasoning styles in older adults

Background/Study Context: This study evaluated adult age differences in the original three-item Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT; Frederick, 2005, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19, 25–42) and an expanded seven-item version of that test (Toplak et al., 2013, Thinking and Reasoning, 20, 147–168). The CRT is a numerical problem-solving test thought to capture a disposition towards either rapid, intuition-based problem solving (Type I reasoning) or a more thoughtful, analytical problem-solving approach (Type II reasoning). Test items are designed to induce heuristically guided errors that can be avoided if using an appropriate numerical representation of the test problems.Methods: We evaluated differences between young adults and old adults in CRT performance and correlates of CRT performance. Older adults (ages 60 to 80) were paid volunteers who participated in experiments assessing age differences in self-regulated learning. Young adults (ages 17 to 35) were students participating for pay as p...
Nanofibrous Peptide Hydrogel Elicits Angiogenesis and Neurogenesis without Drugs, Proteins, or Cells

The design of materials for regenerative medicine has focused on delivery of small molecule drugs, proteins, and cells to help accelerate healing. Additionally, biomaterials have been designed with covalently attached mimics of growth factors, cytokines, or key extracellular matrix components allowing the biomaterial itself to drive biological response. While the approach may vary, the goal of biomaterial design has often centered on promoting either cellular infiltration, degradation, vascularization, or innervation of the scaffold. Numerous successful studies have utilized this complex, multicomponent approach; however, we demonstrate here that a simple nanofibrous peptide hydrogel unexpectedly and innately promotes all of these regenerative responses when subcutaneously implanted into the dorsal tissue of healthy rats. Despite containing no small molecule drugs, cells, proteins or protein mimics, the innate response to this material results in rapid cellular infiltration, production of a wide range of cytokines and growth factors by the infiltrating cells, and remodeling of the synthetic material to a natural collagen-containing ECM. During the remodeling process, a strong angiogenic response and an unprecedented degree of innervation is observed. Collectively, this simple peptide-based material provides an ideal foundational system for a variety of bioregenerative approaches.
Insignificant impact of freezing and compaction on iron solubility in natural snow

To explore the freezing effect on iron (Fe) solubility in natural environments, especially in Polar regions, event based freshly fallen snow samples were collected at Newark, New Jersey on the US East Coast for two consecutive winter seasons (2014–2015 and 2015–2016). These samples were analyzed for the concentrations of soluble iron (Fesol) using UV-Vis Spectroscopy and filterable iron (Fefil) and total iron (Fetot) using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The average fractional solubility of the Fesol (the portion that passes through a 0.22 μm pore-size filter) with respect to the total Fe in the samples was 23.3 ± 12.2%, with the majority of the soluble Fe being present as Fe(III). Approximately 48.5% of the total Fe existed as Fefil (the portion that passes through 0.45 μm pore size filter media). No significant correlation was found between the soluble ionic species and soluble Fe. Six snow events were kept frozen for 10 days, and analyzed in periodic intervals to study the post-freezing modification in Fe solubility. Events 1 and 2 showed increasing trend in the soluble Fe concentrations; however, the events 5, 6, 7, and 8 showed no noticeable increments. The pattern shown in Events 1 and 2 is associated with high fraction of Fefil and one unit pH drop, suggesting that the freeze-induced modification in Fe solubility could be linked with the amount of Fefil and the acidity change in the samples. To further investigate the freeze-induced compaction of particles, samples from three events 6, 7, and 10 were analyzed by SEM-STEM-EDS microscopy, and the results showed that due to freezing, in general, the particles in the ice-melt counterparts tend to compact and cluster and form larger aggregates compared to the particles in snow-melt. These results show, despite the freeze-induced compaction in snow was observed from STEM images, the snow freezing might not have significant effect in increasing Fe solubility from materials in the snow. These results further suggest that freezing process with fresh snow in high-latitude regions may not impose significant modification on Fe solubility in snow.
Determination of evapotranspiration for cotton in Alabama by the Penman method

Cotton irrigation is increasingly becoming a challenge because of climate change effects such as the variations in rainfall, temperature, and cloudiness during the growing season. Cotton crop characteristics, as well as the prevailing environmental conditions, are critical in determining cotton water use. An efficient method of scheduling irrigation to cotton crop is imperative for optimising time and amount of water to apply for achieving cotton yield potential. In this article, a reliable approach to determine crop water requirement for cotton cultivation is proposed using the Penman method for Gadsden, Alabama, located in the southern part of the USA.
Stewardship, the Common Good, and Resource Management: Socio-Economic, Legal, and Philosophical Challenges

The Public Trust Doctrine, long acknowledged as an important legal tool in natural resource management, is shaped and directed by the public or common good. How inclusive or exclusive this good is acknowledged to be is determined legislatively or judicially and depends upon a complex utilitarian (cost/benefit) calculus which is underpinned by intricate socio-economic, legal, and philosophical vectors of force. A framework for determining the calculus is presented in this paper.
Journey Through the Groan Zone with Academics and Practitioners: Bridging Conflict and Difference to Strengthen Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery Work

Academic-practitioner divides in disaster management and research can be persistent and pernicious, bearing consequences for disaster survivors and future affected populations. The gap between disaster professionals and academic researchers is often treated as an unavoidable structural problem or a neutral accident of professional silos and circumstance. We suggest that these gaps are not neutral, and that they can and must be overcome. With hundreds of millions of people affected by disaster each year and recovery costs skyrocketing, there is urgency in connecting researcher and practitioner knowledges to avoid expensive mistakes and most importantly, to decrease human suffering. Yet the difficulties that US academic anthropologists and practitioners experienced in their efforts to collaborate became evident in a cross-sector National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded workshop on the relevance of culture in disaster work. We suggest and illustrate how more systematic cross-field communication can be operationalized through engaging in an ongoing and relational process of bridging. Such a process can offer long-term benefits to the people and institutions involved, dramatically enhance the science of disaster management, and help reduce the social and material costs of disaster impacts.
Trees and crime in urban areas: recommendations

The benefits of trees especially in urban settings are often limited to discussions centered on energy savings the removal of atmospheric carbon dioxide muting noise pollution and storm water control However several studies have examined the relationship between violence and vegetation in urban areas In fact the relationship between trees and crime was considered as early as by King Edward when he ordered property owners to clear highway edges of trees in an attempt to reduce robberies In this paper I will review studies on the relationship neighborhood trees have to crime and provide recommendations regarding how urban trees can assist to deter criminal activity Recommendations resulting from reviewing these studies are Enhancing the presence of current trees and green spaces in those areas Educating citizens on the need for trees and green spaces Creating incentives for homeowners and tenants to support efforts that increase the number of and condition trees and green spaces Finding partnerships with local businesses and industry to aid in tree plantings and greening efforts
Does Engagement Mediate Personality's Effect on Workplace Deviance? A Meta-Analytic Path Model

Using a social exchange theory perspective, we meta-analytically examine the relationship between engagement and counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). In addition, we meta-analytically examine the relationships between the Big Five and engagement. We then used structural equation modeling with a meta-analytically derived true-score correlation matrix to examine the extent to which engagement mediates the effects of the Big Five on CWBs. Our results indicate that engagement has a substantial dispositional component and that it mediates the effects of several of the Big Five on CWBs. A notable exception was Agreeableness, which maintained very strong, direct effects on CWBs in the presence of the Big Five and engagement. Implications and future directions for research are discussed.
Early evidence from South Carolina’s Medicare-Medicaid dual-eligible financial alignment initiative: an observational study to understand who enrolled, and whether the program improved health?

Individuals dually eligible for Medicare and Medicaid coverage are among the sickest patients in the United States. Prior literature has identified a lack of care coordination or even conflicts of interest between the two programs as barriers to more efficient care and better health outcomes among dual-eligibles. The purpose of this study is to assess characteristics of dual eligibles who participated in South Carolina’s 2015 voluntary Medicare-Medicaid financial alignment demonstration project, and to evaluate whether their participation led to better observable health outcomes. We obtained all inpatient and emergency department visits, and all Medicaid outpatient visits of individuals identified as Medicare-Medicaid dual eligibles from 2011 to 2016 from South Carolina’s Revenue and Fiscal Affairs Office. We employed logistic regressions to assess the characteristics of participants and quitters in the Medicare-Medicaid financial alignment demonstration project. To evaluate the impact of participation on health outcomes, we used an event study analysis that examines trends in outcomes over time, with participation in the demonstration project as the triggering event, and a difference-in-differences methodology that compares changes in health outcomes before and after participation in the demonstration project compared with a control group. Urban patients, female patients, and patients with heart problems, social and mental disorders, and importantly, patients with multiple comorbidities (as indicated by a higher Charlson comorbidity index) are less likely to join South Carolina’s demonstration project. Once having joined, female patients and patients with a higher Charlson index appear to be more likely to quit. Those who joined did not appear to enjoy better health outcomes in the short time frame. Policy makers should explore and address reasons why dual eligibles with complex health problems hesitate to join the alignment project, and continue to monitor whether such a program improves health given that a prolonged period of exposure to the program may be required to achieve better health among the nation’s most vulnerable patients.
PPARD and Interferon Gamma Promote Transformation of Gastric Progenitor Cells and Tumorigenesis in Mice

Background & Aims The peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (PPARD) regulates cell metabolism, proliferation, and inflammation and has been associated with gastric and other cancers. Villin-positive epithelial cells are a small population of quiescent gastric progenitor cells. We expressed PPARD from a villin promoter to investigate the role of these cells and PPARD in development of gastric cancer. Methods We analyzed gastric tissues from mice that express the Ppard (PPARD1 and PPARD2 mice) from a villin promoter, and mice that did not carry this transgene (controls), by histology and immunohistochemistry. We performed cell lineage-tracing experiments and analyzed the microbiomes, chemokine and cytokine production, and immune cells and transcriptomes of stomachs of these mice. We also performed immunohistochemical analysis of PPARD levels in 2 sets of human gastric tissue microarrays. Results Thirty-eight percent of PPARD mice developed spontaneous, invasive gastric adenocarcinomas, with severe chronic inflammation. Levels of PPARD were increased in human gastric cancer tissues, compared with nontumor tissues, and associated with gastric cancer stage and grade. We found an inverse correlation between level of PPARD in tumor tissue and patient survival time. Gastric microbiomes from PPARD and control mice did not differ significantly. Lineage-tracing experiments identified villin-expressing gastric progenitor cells (VGPCs) as the origin of gastric tumors in PPARD mice. In these mice, PPARD up-regulated CCL20 and CXCL1, which increased infiltration of the gastric mucosa by immune cells. Immune cell production of inflammatory cytokines promoted chronic gastric inflammation and expansion and transformation of VGPCs, leading to tumorigenesis. We identified a positive-feedback loop between PPARD and interferon gamma signaling that sustained gastric inflammation to induce VGPC transformation and gastric carcinogenesis. Conclusions We found PPARD overexpression in VPGCs to result in inflammation, dysplasia, and tumor formation. PPARD and VGPCs might be therapeutic targets for stomach cancer.
Multiscale Green’s functions for modeling of nanomaterials

Green’s function gives the response of a system to a probe and is a powerful technique for solving a variety of problems in science and engineering. We describe a multiscale Green’s function method for modeling nanomaterials at different length and time scales. In the static case, the method can seamlessly link the length scales from atomistic to continuum in an integrated formalism. In time-dependent problems, this method can simulate physical processes in a multiparticle system over a wide range extending from femtoseconds to microseconds within a reasonable CPU time. For illustration, the method is applied to simulate elastic deformation and propagation of elastic waves in two-dimensional graphene.
An Integrative and Mechanistic Model of Impaired Belief Updating in Schizophrenia.

Information about sensations, actions, outcomes, and their associations is often unknown, imprecise, or subject to change. Bayesian theories of learning suggest that to minimize uncertainty and maintain adaptive control, the brain optimally combines new sensory input with past experience, to infer (
A companion to cultural resource management

At the beginning of every historic preservation course I teach at Iowa State University, I include an image of an early-20th century commercial building in downtown Springer, New Mexico, a small to...
ETV7 represses a subset of interferon-stimulated genes that restrict influenza viruses

The type I interferon (IFN) response is an important component of the innate immune response to viral infection. Precise control of interferon responses is critical, as insufficient levels of interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs) can lead to a failure to restrict viral spread, while excessive ISG activation results in interferon-related pathologies. While both positive and negative regulatory factors can control the magnitude and duration of IFN signaling, it is also appreciated that a number of ISGs regulate aspects of the interferon response themselves. However, the mechanisms underlying complex ISG regulatory networks remain incompletely defined. In this study, we performed a CRISPR activation screen to identify new regulators of type I IFN responses. We identified ETS variant transcription factor 7 (ETV7), a strongly induced ISG, as a protein that acts as a negative regulator of the type I IFN response; however, ETV7 did not uniformly suppress ISG transcription. Instead, ETV7 specifically targeted a subset of ISGs for regulation based on their promoter sequences. We further showed the subset of ETV7-modulated ISGs is particularly important for control of influenza viruses. Together, our data demonstrate that ETV7 is a component of the complex ISG regulatory network by controlling the expression of a subset of ISGs with a potential role in directing the interferon response against specific viruses.
Peritoneal Carcinomatosis of Colorectal Origin in Cyclosporine Immunosuppressed Rats.

OBJECTIVE We evaluate the seeding step of peritoneal carcinomatosis cancer as a surrogate for the role of the omentum in colorectal tumors. METHODS The study included 5 groups of adult male Sprague Dawley rats: immunocompetent rats (group 1), immunosuppressed rats without omentectomy (group 2), immunosuppressed rats with omentectomy (group 3), immunosuppressed rats with omentectomy receiving NSAID (group 4), and immunosuppressed rats without omentectomy receiving NSAID (group 5). Except for group 1, the rats were immunosuppressed using cyclosporine orally at a dose of 25 mg/kg/day that was started 48 hours before tumor cell infiltration in the peritoneum. All the rats received an intraperitoneal suspension of 10 million Caco-2 cancer cells. Rats in groups 1, 2, and 3 were followed up without further interventions and rats in groups 4 and 5 received naproxen 180mg/kg until rat sacrifice. Cyclosporine and naproxen were continued in the corresponding groups until the killing after 21 days of tumor cell infiltration. RESULTS Fourteen rats survived the experiment during the observation period and remained in good clinical condition except for one rat (from group 4) that deceased at week 2. At day 21 before sacrifice, mean weight variations showed a +4% in group 0, -9% in group 1, -18% in group 2, -31% in group 3 and -36% in group 4. Light microscopy did not identify any tumor cells in the abdominal cavity or thorax solid organs but showed a granulomatous reaction that involved the majority of the organs. CONCLUSION The conclusions of this study are limited by the small number of rats as it is a pilot study to design an animal model with peritoneal carcinomatosis. Further steps in this study will include more aggressive cancer cell lines such as HT29 and more aggressive immunosuppression in a larger number of rats.
Black Drum (Pogonias cromis) Shelf Life Comparing Three Packaging Technologies

The shelf life of black drum was compared using three different packaging technologies: aerobic (AP), vacuum (VP), and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP). Tests included total volatile basic nitro...
Exploring the Impact of Using Code Genie to Enhance the Programming Knowledge of Students and Across Genders: Experimental Study

Statistics show that the computer science field is currently dominated by White and Asian males. This study aims to explore how to increase students’ interest in programming, especially females and underrepresented minorities, through the use of art and animation elements. Code Genie web-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE) was designed and developed for this study so that a student can write JavaScript code that produces artwork and share with other students through this environment. In this paper we explore gender differences in understanding computer programming concepts and whether the use of art has any effect on improving this understanding for both genders. Pretest-posttest experimental methodology was used to collect the data from 65 high school students before and after three coding workshops. The results show that the students’ programming knowledge increased in the posttest and their confidence in answering the programming questions increased for both genders as well. The results also show that females’ scores with more coding time were better than their males’ counterparts while males’ scores with less coding time were better than the females of the same group. However, there was not a big difference in understanding programming concepts between the two genders.
TENSCell: A 3D-Printed Device for High-Magnification Imaging of Stretch-Activated Cells Reveals Divergent Nuclear Behavior to Different Levels of Strain

ABSTRACT Mechanical cues from the environment influence cell behavior. Mechanisms of cellular mechanosensation are unclear, partially due to a lack of methods that can reveal dynamic processes. Here, we present a new concept for a low-cost, 3D-printed TENSCell (TENSion in Cells) device, that enables high-magnification imaging of cells during stretch. Using this device, we observed that nuclei of mouse embryonic skin fibroblasts underwent rapid and divergent responses, characterized by nuclear area expansion during 5% strain, but nuclear area shrinkage during 20% strain. Only responses to low strain were dependent on calcium signaling, while actin inhibition abrogated all nuclear responses and increased nuclear strain transfer and DNA damage. Imaging of actin dynamics during stretch revealed similar divergent trends, with F-actin shifting away from (5% strain) or towards (20% strain) the nuclear periphery. Our findings emphasize the importance of simultaneous stimulation and data acquisition to capture rapid mechanosensitive processes and suggest that mechanical confinement of nuclei through actin may be a protective mechanism during high strain loads. STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE Cells can sense and respond to mechanical cues in their environment. These responses can be rapid, on the time scale of seconds, and new methods are required for their acquisition and study. We introduce a new concept for a 3D-printed cell-stretch device that allows for simultaneous high-resolution imaging, while also being low-cost and easy to assemble to enable broad applicability. Using this device, we further demonstrated to importance of simultaneous stimulation and data acquisition to elicit mechanosensitive cell behavior as we observed rapid changes in nuclear size and reorganization of actin filaments around the nuclear border in skin cells. Overall, our results suggest that the rapid reorganization of actin during high loads might protect the genome from strain-induced damage.
Comprehensive serum proteomic analysis in early endometrial cancer

Abstract Objective Endometrial cancer is the most common gynecologic cancer and yet much is still unknown about this disease. Our goal was to identify unique biomarkers of disease by performing a comprehensive proteomic analysis of early stage, low-grade endometrial cancer through analysis of serum collected from patients pre- and post-definitive surgery. Methods We used mass spectrometry (MS)-based proteomics to identify serum proteins from these patients. Serum samples from women undergoing hysterectomy with bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy for benign reasons served as control samples for the correlative studies. We then correlated our findings with The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) database for additional confirmation. Results The Ingenuity Pathway Analysis of proteins that were differentially expressed in endometrial cancer showed increased cell survival and decreased organismal death, the most common hallmarks of cancer. We identified over expression of FAM83D (family with sequence similarity 83, member D) in the serum of patients with early stage low-grade endometrial cancer and verified the same in the endometrial cancer cell lines and patient tumors. We also confirmed our hypothesis that FAM83D may serve as a biomarker for endometrial cancer in a cohort of patients with endometrial cancer from The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) project. Conclusion Comprehensive proteomic analysis is a feasible strategy for potential biomarker identification. Using this technique, FAM83D was identified as a candidate biomarker in early endometrial cancer in our patient samples and was not present in benign control samples. FAM83D has been associated with poor clinical outcomes in several human malignancies. Significance Our manuscript describes an alternative approach to comprehensive protein analysis in a model pre and post tumor removal for a sample of patients with early endometrial cancer. The model is innovative and the findings of over expression FAM83D in this population of early cancer may be useful in the study of a disease where there are few biomarkers or targetable therapies.
Using Liquid Crystals for In Situ Optical Mapping of Interfacial Mobility and Surfactant Concentrations at Flowing Aqueous-Oil Interfaces.

Flow-induced states of fluid interfaces decorated with amphiphiles underlie phenomena such as emulsification, foaming, and spreading. While past studies have shown that interfacial mass transfer, the kinetics of surfactant adsorption and desorption, interfacial mobility, and surfactant reorganization regulate the dynamic properties of surfactant–laden interfaces, few simple methods permit simultaneous monitoring of this interplay. Here, we explore the optical responses of micrometer-thick films of oils (4-cyano-4′-pentylbiphenyl, 5CB) with a liquid crystalline order in contact with flowing aqueous phases of soluble [e.g., sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)] or insoluble (e.g., 1,2-dilauroyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine) amphiphiles. We observe the onset of flow of 0.5 mM SDS solutions within a millifluidic channel (area-average velocity of 200 mm/s) to transform a liquid crystal (LC) film with an alignment along the interface normal into a bright birefringent state (average LC tilt angle of 30°), consistent with an initially mobile interface that shears and thus tilts the LC along the flow direction. Subsequently, we observed the LC film to evolve to a steady state (over ∼10 s) with position-dependent optical retardance controlled by gradients in surfactant concentration and thus Marangoni stresses. For 0.5 mM SDS solutions, by using particle tracking and a simple hydrodynamic model, we reveal that the dominant role of the flow-induced interfacial surfactant concentration gradient is to change the mobility of the interface (and thus shear rate of LC) and not to change the easy axis (equilibrium orientation) or anchoring energy (orientation-dependent interfacial energy) of the LC. At lower surfactant concentrations (0.015 mM SDS), however, we show that the LC directly maps flow-induced interfacial surfactant concentration gradients via a change in the local easy axis of the LC. When combined with additional measurements obtained with simple salts and insoluble amphiphiles, these results hint that LC oils may offer the basis of general and facile methods that permit mapping of both interfacial mobilities and surfactant distributions at flowing interfaces.
Network radiofrequency ablation for drug resistant epilepsy.

Abstract Radiofrequency ablation (RFA) is a minimally invasive procedure for drug-resistant focal epilepsy. Although well tolerated, seizure outcomes are less favorable than standard resection. RFA is commonly performed following stereoencephalography (sEEG) identification of the seizure onset zone (SOZ). We hypothesized RFA outcomes can improve by adding RFA of seizure spread regions to the SOZ as identified by sEEG, an approach we term network RFA. Four patients underwent network RFA at our institution from 8/2017 to 9/2019. There were two Engel IB outcomes and two Engel III outcomes. The median follow-up length was 25.5 months (range 17–35). No permanent neurological deficits occurred. Etiologies consisted of polymicrogyria (1), mixed malformation of cortical development (MCD) (2), and cryptogenic (1). This study provides descriptive results regarding the efficacy and safety of network RFA. Network RFA can be considered in patients with focal epilepsies with large MCDs that may not be amenable to standard resection.
Anharmonic fundamental vibrational frequencies and spectroscopic constants of the potential HSO2 radical astromolecule.

The recent report that HSO2 is likely kinetically favored over the HOSO thermodynamic product in hydrogen addition to sulfur dioxide in simulated Venusian atmospheric conditions has led to the need for reference rotational, vibrational, and rovibrational spectral data for this molecule. While matrix-isolation spectroscopy has been able to produce vibrational frequencies for some of the vibrational modes, the full infrared to microwave spectrum of 1 2A′ HSO2 is yet to be generated. High-level quantum chemical computations show in this work that the >2.5 D dipole moment of this radical makes it a notable target for possible radioastronomical observation. Additionally, the high intensity antisymmetric S–O stretch is computed here to be 1298.3 cm−1, a 13.9 cm−1 blueshift up from H2 matrix analysis. In any case, the full set of rotational and spectroscopic constants and anharmonic fundamental vibrational frequencies is provided in this work in order to help characterize HSO2 and probe its kinetic favorability.
AGNATHA-Jawless Fishes

The purpose of this chapter is to provide information on jawless fishes and their features. Lampreys, a family of superclass agnatha, lack paired fins, scales, and bones. They have an elongated body with seven pairs of external gill openings and dorsal and caudal fins. The mouth is a circular disc. The skull and gill region are cartilaginous, as are the vertebrae, which lack centra. Lampreys present a good representation of what the earliest vertebrates were like: unarmored and lacking mineralized skeletons. There is a single nasal opening between the eyes. Chromosomes are mainly acrocentric and the diploid number of 164–168 in several different species is higher than that of any other vertebrate group except the Southern Hemisphere lamprey, Geotria australia . Some lampreys are parasitic, whereas others are free living. The non-parasitic lampreys are derived from parasitic ancestors. Lampreys have an extended larval life. The female deposits small eggs in gravel nests in stream bottoms in late winter-early spring. The eggs hatch in 2–4 weeks depending on water temperature. The larvae are known as ammocoetes. Ammocoetes have a very small dorsal fin fold, skin-covered eyes, and a well-developed pharynx.
Utility of PET CT in management of pediatric lymphomas

1673 Objectives Utility of PET CT in staging and restaging of lymphomas in adults is well established. The aim of this study was to analyze the utility of PET CT in pediatric lymphomas. Methods Retrospective analysis from computerized medical records on 31 pediatric patients (age less than 18) with lymphoma referred to our center for PET CT imaging. The mean age at diagnosis was 12.45 years (19 males 12 females).The PET CT findings were correlated with diagnostic CT and clinical follow-up. The histology was 16 cases of Non Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) and 15 cases of Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (HL).There were a total of 23 initial stage and 8 restaging scans. Results For 16 scans done on the NHL subset, 11 scans were done for initial staging and 5 for restaging .10 of 11(91%) initial staging cases were concordant on both PET CT AND diagnostic CT. In 1 case PET identified disease which was not identified on the diagnostic CT.Among the 5 cases of NHL for restaging 4 of 5 showed concordance (80%).Among the 15 cases of Hodgkin’s lymphoma, there were 12 cases for initial staging and 3 cases of restaging. All these 15 cases (100%) were concordant on both PET CT and diagnostic CT. Conclusions PET CT and diagnostic CT showed high concordance in both initial staging and restaging of pediatric lymphoma. This suggests that PET CT can be used as a single imaging modality. This high concordance suggests that the diagnostic CT can be avoided in most pediatric patients with lymphoma and thus minimizes the risk of the of radiation exposure and contrast side effects.
Modeling the Transport and Retention of Inorganics in Soils

Publisher Summary The interactions of dissolved chemicals and their transport in the soil profile play a significant role in their leaching losses beyond the root zone, availability for uptake by plants, and the potential contamination of groundwater supplies. To predict the transport of reactive solutes in the soil, models that include retention and release reactions of solutes with the soil matrix are needed. This chapter discusses the major features of retention models that govern retention reactions of solutes in the soil. Single-reaction models of the equilibrium type and kinetic type are discussed. Retention models of the multiple-reaction type, including the two-site equilibrium-kinetic models, the concurrent- and consecutive-multireaction models, and the second-order approach are presented. This is followed by multicomponent or competitive-type models wherein ion exchange is considered the dominant retention mechanism. Selected experimental data sets are described for the purpose of model evaluation and validation and necessary (input) parameters are also discussed. The chapter presents the formulations of the transport equations that govern the transport of solutes in a water-saturated and water-unsaturated porous medium. Retention reactions of the reversible and irreversible types are incorporated into the transport formulation. Boundary and initial conditions commonly encountered under field conditions are also presented.
History of the international embryo transfer society

Abstract During 1979, service to members, including publication of abstracts of articles pertinent to interests of members, publication of bibliographies covering topics of embryo transfer, publication of the proceedings of the owners-managers workshop, service as a source of information and contacts for members, and updating members through publication of a newsletter, has been maintained and increased in scope. Membership has been growing steadily throughout the year and, at this writing, the membership has exceeded 200 from 22 countries. Thus, as the Society approaches the 1980 decade, it can do so with an optimism of not just survival but of continued growth in size, breadth of service to members, and range of species and topic interests. There is a good mix in the Society between the commercial and university research sectors interested in embryo transfer. Also, there is a good mix between animal scientists, veterinarians, physiologists, and others interested in this specialty interest area. It is expected that these factors will contributeto a healthy future for the Society.
MACBETH: a multi-agent constraint-based planner [autonomous agent tactical planner]

MACBETH is a constraint-based tactical planning engine for multi-agent teams. MACBETH is designed for domains in which a human user must quickly specify a mission to a team of autonomous agents. In these domains, it is more important to rapidly and accurately tailor existing plans to novel situations than to devise totally new plans. To this end, MACBETH combines hierarchical task network planning with modem constraint reasoning techniques, into a mixed-initiative planning system. This mixed-initiative planning system is driven by a graphical user interface inspired by a "playbook" metaphor, to generate, check and modify plans for teams of heterogeneous agents. MACBETH has been tested in two robotics domains: unmanned combat aerial vehicles (UCAV) sorties and tactical mobile robotics (TMR).
Online biomedical publication classification using Multi-Instance Multi-Label algorithms with feature reduction

Text annotation, the assignment of metadata to documents, requires significant time and effort when performed by humans. A variety of text mining methods have been used to automate this process, many of them based on either keyword extraction or word counts. However, when using keywords as text classification features, it is common to find that (1) the number of training instances is much less than the number of features extracted. This complexity affects text classification performance. Another challenge is (2) the assignment of multiple, non-exclusive labels to the documents (multi-label classification). This problem makes text classification more complicated when compared with single label classification. We use, as an example, a set of expertly labeled documents from the human functional neuroimaging literature, and we apply a Multi-instance Multi-label (MIML) classification algorithm to the problem. To address (1), we apply a feature reduction approach to reduce the feature dimension. For (2) we use an MIML algorithm called MIMLfast to implement the multi-label classification.
The Phylogeny of a Dataset

The field of evolutionary biology offers many approaches to study the changes that occur between and within generations of species; these methods have recently been adopted by cultural anthropologists, linguists and archaeologists to study the evolution of physical artifacts. In this paper, we further extend these approaches by using phylogenetic methods to model and visualize the evolution of a long-standing, widely used digital dataset in climate science. Our case study shows that clustering algorithms developed specifically for phylogenetic studies in evolutionary biology can be successfully adapted to the study of digital objects, and their known offspring. Although we note a number of limitations with our initial effort, we argue that a quantitative approach to studying how digital objects evolve, are reused, and spawn new digital objects represents an important direction for the future of Information Science.
Non-Responsive! On Professor Lindgren's Reply to Saks and Vidmar

This paper responds to James Lindgren's defense of his research which purported to find that differences between ABA ratings of prospective judicial nominees were attributable to political bias. Saks & Vidmar explain (again) why Lindgren's conclusions are unsupported by the data. (For example, the data show that using Lindgren's own criteria, of those nominees with the weakest qualifications, 56% were proposed by the Bush compared to 29% from Clinton. Of those with the strongest qualifications, only 28% were Bush nominees compared to 42% Clinton nominees.) Moreover, Saks & Vidmar explain why, even if Lindgren's data did support his claim of bias, his proposed solutions misconceive the judicial "hiring" process.
Determination of the elastic moduli of a directionally solidified nickel-based TaC eutectic

Measurements of ultrasonic wave velocities in a polycrystalline directionally solidified nickel based eutectic alloy are used to evaluate the three independent single crystal elastic moduli at temperatures between 298 to 925 K. The Cu and C44 moduli are obtained directly from high frequency wave propagation along the D.S. axis, corresponding to . Evaluation of C12 requires measurements at lower frequencies to obtain (C11 −E ). The elastic anisotropy and temperature dependence of the elastic moduli are almost identical to those reported for pure Ni, indicating that neither TaC fiber reinforcement nor γ′ precipitate have strong effects on elastic properties of Ni based turbine blade alloys.
Plasmodesmata: Plant Channels for Molecules on the Move

Plant cells communicate with one another through plasmodesmata, cytoplasmic bridges that can carry metabolites and proteins. P. Zambryski discusses two papers in this week9s issue of Science (pp. 1980 and 1983), which show that plasmodesmata are inherently dynamic, altering their dimensions to increase their transport capability in response to viral or endogenous proteins, and that proteins travel to plasmodesmata on the cytoskeleton.
Amino Acid Supplementation for Reversing Bed Rest and Steroid Myopathies

Muscular inactivity is inherent in many circumstances, including convalescence from serious illness or injury, spaceflight, and the progression of aging. Inactivity in a healthy individual leads to a decrease in whole-body protein turnover composed primarily of a decrease in muscle protein synthesis. The decrease in muscle protein synthesis leads to a substantial loss of lean body mass. We have demonstrated that this loss of lean mass is greater when inactivity is accompanied by stress, specifically hypercortisolemia. During convalescence from trauma or injury, the anabolic stimulus provided by nutrient ingestion represents a primary means of ameliorating the loss of muscle protein. We have previously demonstrated that ingestion of essential amino acids (EAAs), formulated to mimic the proportion of EAAs in muscle, provides a potent anabolic stimulus for muscle protein. Recently, we demonstrated that EAA supplementation throughout 28 d of bed rest stimulated net muscle protein synthesis. The repeated stimulation translated to maintenance of lean body mass and an amelioration of functional decrement compared to a placebo treatment. We have also demonstrated that this EAA supplement stimulates net protein synthesis during acute hypercortisolemia and are currently testing the effects during prolonged inactivity. Although EAAs promote muscle anabolism during hypercortisolemia, it is unlikely that a nutritional intervention alone would be effective in maintaining lean body mass during severe stress. It may be necessary to concomitantly reduce the catabolic influence of cortisol or provide another anabolic stimulus.