cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Transition-state destabilization reveals how human DNA polymerase β proceeds across the chemically unstable lesion N7-methylguanine

N7-Methyl-2'-deoxyguanosine (m7dG) is the predominant lesion formed by methylating agents. A systematic investigation on the effect of m7dG on DNA replication has been difficult due to the chemical instability of m7dG. To gain insights into the m7dG effect, we employed a 2'-fluorine-mediated transition-state destabilzation strategy. Specifically, we determined kinetic parameters for dCTP insertion opposite a chemically stable m7dG analogue, 2'-fluoro-m7dG (Fm7dG), by human DNA polymerase β (polβ) and solved three X-ray structures of polβ in complex with the templating Fm7dG paired with incoming dCTP or dTTP analogues. The kinetic studies reveal that the templating Fm7dG slows polβ catalysis ∼ 300-fold, suggesting that m7dG in genomic DNA may impede replication by some DNA polymerases. The structural analysis reveals that Fm7dG forms a canonical Watson-Crick base pair with dCTP, but metal ion coordination is suboptimal for catalysis in the polβ-Fm7dG:dCTP complex, which partially explains the slow insertion of dCTP opposite Fm7dG by polβ. In addition, the polβ-Fm7dG:dTTP structure shows open protein conformations and staggered base pair conformations, indicating that N7-methylation of dG does not promote a promutagenic replication. Overall, the first systematic studies on the effect of m7dG on DNA replication reveal that polβ catalysis across m7dG is slow, yet highly accurate.
Correlations between Gingival Crevicular Fluid Enzymes and the Subgingival Microflora

Bacteroides gingivalis is a Gram-negative micro-organism implicated in the pathogenesis of adult periodontitis and producing relatively large amounts of specific enzymes. In the present study, subgingival samples taken from adults with moderate periodontitis were examined for the presence and relative amounts of enzymatic activity toward certain substrates. Enzyme levels were then correlated with clinical periodontal indices and microbiological analysis of subgingival plaque, including darkfield microscopy for bacterial morphotypes and immunofluorescence microscopy for B. gingivalis and Bacteroides intermedius.The results of this study indicate a significant positive correlation between levels of enzyme capable of degrading N-benzoyl-D,L-arginine-β-naphthylamide hydrochloride, and subgingival B. gingivalis (r = 0.55). There was a much lower correlation coefficient between this enzyme activity and subgingival B. intermedius (r = 0.26). Statistically significant (p < 0.01) positive correlations were also de...
Prenatal diagnosis of Sjögren-Larsson syndrome using enzymatic methods.

Sjogren—Larsson syndrome (SLS) is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by the presence of congenital ichthyosis, mental retardation, and spasticity. The primary biochemical defect in SLS has recently been identified to be a deficiency of fatty aldehyde dehydrogenase (FALDH), which is a component of fatty alcohol:NAD+ oxidoreductase (FAO). We monitored four pregnancies at risk for SLS by measuring FAO and FALDH in cultured amniocytes or cultured chorionic villus cells. The enzymatic results in one case using amniocytes obtained during the second trimester predicted an affected SLS fetus, which was confirmed at termination of the pregnancy. Another at-risk fetus was predicted to be affected with SLS using cultured chorionic villus cells obtained in the first trimester, and fetal skin fibroblasts confirmed a profound deficiency of FAO and FALDH. Two other fetuses were correctly predicted to be unaffected. These results demonstrate that SLS can be diagnosed prenatally using enzymatic methods.
Periodicity in spatial data and geostatistical models: autocorrelation between patches

Several recent studies in landscape ecology have found periodicity in correlograms or semi-variograms calculated, for instance, from spatial data of soils, forests, or animal populations. Some of the studies interpreted this as an indication of regular or periodic landscape patterns. This interpretation is in disagreement with other studies that doubt whether such analysis is valid. The objective of our study was to explore the relationship between periodicity in landscape patterns and geostatistical models. We were especially interested in the validity of the assumption that periodicity in geostatistical models indicates periodicity in landscape pattern, and whether the former can characterize frequency and magnitude of the latter. We created maps containing various periodic spatial patterns, derived correlograms from these, and examined periodicity in the correlograms. We also created non-regular maps that we suspected would cause periodicity in correlograms. Our results demonstrate that a) various periodic spatial patterns produce periodicity in correlograms derived from them, b) the distance-lags at which correlograms peak correspond to the average distances between patch centers, c) periodicity is strongest when the diameter of patches is equal to the distance between patch edges, d) periodicity in omni-directional correlograms of complex spatial patterns (such as checkerboards) are combinations of several waves because inter-patch distances differ with direction; multiple directional correlograms can decompose such complexity, and e) periodicity in correlograms can also be caused when the number of patches in a study site is small. These results highlight that correlograms can be used to detect and describe regular spatial patterns. However, it is crucial to ensure that the assumption of stationarity is not violated, i.e., that the study area contains a sufficiently large number of patches to avoid incorrect conclusions.
Master Equation Modeling of the Unimolecular Decompositions of α-Hydroxyethyl (CH3CHOH) and Ethoxy (CH3CH2O) Radicals

The unimolecular decomposition of two radical isomers of C2H5O (CH3CH2O/ethoxy, CH3CHOH/α-hydroxyethyl) are investigated by means of Rice–Ramsperger–Kassel–Marcus/master equation simulations in helium and nitrogen bath gases on an accurate one-dimensional potential energy surface. For ethoxy, simulations are carried out between temperatures of 406 and 1200 K and pressures of 0.001 and 100 atm. For CH3CHOH, simulations are carried out between temperatures of 800 and 1500 K and pressures of 0.001 and 100 atm. Results are compared with available experimental data, with good agreement. The dominant product of α-hydroxyethyl decomposition is CH3CHO + H, with C2H3OH + H and CH3 + CH2O, being minor channels. Rate coefficients are strongly dependent on temperature and pressure and are recommended with attendant uncertainty factor estimates. The relative roles of vinyl alcohol and acetaldehyde in the context of combustion chemistry are also discussed.
Development of a Simplified Mechanistic–Empirical Design Procedure for Low-Volume Flexible Roads:

Currently, most low-volume roads (LVRs) are designed on the basis of empirical experience or a loose implementation of some design procedure such as that found in the AASHTO guide. Procedures such as that of AASHTO were developed primarily for higher-volume roads and may not provide cost-effective designs for LVRs. A complicating factor in the AASHTO procedure is that it defines resilient modulus, an elastic material property that is expensive to measure, as the primary material property of interest for the design of pavements. This property is used despite the fact that many LVR pavement systems are subjected to nonelastic deformations. There is, therefore, a strong motivation to develop a sound design procedure applicable specifically to LVRs that uses simple soil properties. In this study, correlations to plastic deformation were made by using simple soil index properties. These correlations were based on measurements from more than 500 specimens of 20 Arkansas subgrade soils. Several finite element analyses were conducted to establish stress states in a pavement system from a variety of geometries and vehicle loads, and the information was tabulated. With this design procedure, a designer simply has to enter the design vehicle and some simple index properties to obtain rutting as a function of load repetitions. On the basis of this information, the user could specify a pavement configuration to carry a certain repetition of the design load or, given a pavement configuration, the model could evaluate damage from overloads or establish maximum loads during periods of poor subgrade performance.
Ionospheric D and E regions

Some areas of D and E region research are examined, with particular reference to the photochemistry and transport of minor neutral constitutents in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere. The review shows that the D and E regions become more complex physical and chemical systems as research progresses, so that some previous views on these regions have to be revised. In particular, the lower ionosphere appears to be hydrodynamically coupled to the lower atmosphere and electrodynamically coupled to the magnetosphere.
Performance-Based Engineering of Constructed Systems

During the 1999 SEI/ASCE Structures Congress, the Executive Committee of the Technical Activities Division of the Structural Engineering Institute approved a new technical committee for defining the “performance of a civil engineering facility.” The new committee’s purpose is as follows: “facilitating the development and adoption of realistic, effective, comprehensive and reliable performance-based design and evaluation techniques and procedures for civil engineering facilities, and helping to establish the foundations for specifications, model codes and commentaries for performance-based design and evaluation” ASCE 2000 . The Committee met four times from 2000 to 2003 and organized two technical sessions at the 2003 Structures Congress at Seattle. Its membership comprised approximately 30 individuals— representing academe, government and the consulting industry, and included individuals who are not engineers. The committee recognized that formulating and articulating a clear, comprehensive, and consistent consensus definition for the performance of a civil engineered facility is an important step and in fact a prerequisite for serving as an intellectual foundation before making any transition to a performance-based approach in civil engineering. This paper offers a synthesis of specification-based versus performance-based civil engineering and articulates the committee’s conclusions in framing and articulating the following questions: What is performance-based civil engineering? How can we objectively define performance? What are the issues that should be recognized along the way to performance-based engineering and their possible resolutions? While this report was being completed and circulated within the committee and Performance of Structures TAC members, steps were taken to merge the Performance-Based Design and Evaluation of Civil Engineering Facilities Committee with the Performance of Full-Scale Structures Committee. This merger took place during the 2004 Congress, and a critical mass of committee members from professional practice and academe continue
Franco of Cologne on the rhythm of organum purum

Thanks in part to a fine translation by Oliver Strunk, the Ars cantus mensurabilis of Franco of Cologne is a treatise we all think we know. It is perhaps for this reason that Franco's treatise has been all but ignored in most of the recent discussions of the rhythm of Notre Dame organum. The one noteworthy exception to this is Fritz Reckow's discussion of organum purum in his dissertation on Anonymous iv and in his various articles on organum and related topics in the Handworterbuch der musikalischen Terminologie, in the Schrade Gedenkschrift, and elsewhere. But for Reckow, and presumably for most other scholars as well, Franco's description of organum is strongly coloured by his theories of mensuration, appearing to place even organum purum under the heading of ‘mensurable music’. This in turn seems to distance Franco from the earliest layer of organum composition at Notre Dame, rendering his ideas of little value in arriving at an interpretation of the rhythmic character of this music.
EDUCATION, TASK MEANINGFULNESS, AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE IN YOUNG‐OLD AND OLD‐OLD ADULTS

Previous research has indicated that when tasks are made more meaningful, the performance of the elderly generally improves. A closer look, however, reveals that improvement occurs mostly for educationally disadvantaged elderly, highly educated older adults not benefiting differentially from meaningful material. Consequently, the present study compared performance of high‐ and low‐education adults on traditional and meaningful space and reasoning measures. A total of 246 male and female volunteers were divided into subgroups by age (53‐65 and 70‐78 years) and by education (high and low). Separate analyses of variance for reasoning and space revealed main effects for education and age on both abilities. In addition, main effects for test and sex, and a significant age by test interaction were found for space, with the performance differential between the familiar and traditional tests being much greater for the young‐old group. A trend for an education X age X test X sex interaction was found for reasoning...
Estimation of elliptically contoured mixture models for hyperspectral imaging data

Gaussian mixture modeling (GMM) has become a popular method for representing the statistical variability of spectrally inhomogeneous hyperspectral imaging (HSI) data. Finite mixture models can be applied to image segmentation, which can be considered a sort of blind classification, which is useful when there is no a priori information available about the materials in the scene. However, the GMM approach can be insufficient for many HSI data sets since the Gaussian has fixed narrow tails, uncharacteristic of operational HSI data. Elliptically contoured distributions (ECDs), specifically the multivariate t, have been shown to better fit HSI data. In this paper we develop mixtures of ECDs for the task of robustly modeling hyperspectral image data. An approach based on the EM algorithm is developed for concurrently estimating all parameters in a t mixture, assuming nothing but that the number of components are known. Results from the automatic segmentation of AVIRIS data illustrate the utility of t mixture models using this EM approach for parameter estimation.
Spatio-temporal consistency in video disparity estimation

We present a novel stereo video disparity estimation method. The proposed method is a two-stage algorithm. During the first stage, initial disparity maps are computed in a frame-by-frame basis. In the second stage, the initial estimates are treated as a space-time volume. By setting up an l 1 -normed minimization problem with a novel three-dimensional total variation regularization, spatial smoothness and temporal consistency are handled simultaneously. Due to our unique formulation, any existing image disparity estimation technique may utilize our method as a post-processing step to refine noisy estimates or to be extended to videos. The proposed method shows superior speed, accuracy, and consistency compared to state-of-the-art algorithms.
Correction of periodic motion artifacts along the slice selection axis in MRI

The effect of periodic motion of a single magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) slice in the direction of the slice selection axis is modeled as amplitude modulation of the raw data with a motion kernel along the phase encoding direction in the Fourier domain. It is shown that this motion can be detected in 1-D projections of the raw data along the frequency encoding direction which in combination with appropriate filtering leads to the recovery of the motion kernel. It is demonstrated by means of simulation examples that significant reduction in the amplitude of ghost artifacts is obtained when the image is filtered by the inverse of the motion kernel. Some issues to be investigated before the technique can be used in a clinical environment are mentioned. >
Self-Reported Adherence in Patients with Asthma

Background:Not all patients with asthma adhere to their prescribed drug regimens. The Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization, organized as predisposing, enabling, and need variables, may be useful in identifying variables related to adherent medication-taking behavior.Objective:To examine the relationship between predisposing, enabling, and need variables and self-reported adherence with asthma controller drugs.Methods:A secondary analysis was conducted from a cross-sectional study using survey and claims data obtained from adults with asthma enrolled in a managed care organization. Independent variables included predisposing (age, gender, race, years with asthma, number of comorbidities, health beliefs), enabling (income, number of metered-dose inhaler [MDI] instructors, inhaler technique, perceived physician access), and need (patient-perceived severity, symptom-derived severity, health-related quality of life). Adherence was measured using a 4 item questionnaire scored as the mean of the respo...
Management of Atrial Fibrillation After Cardiac Surgery— Part I: Pathophysiology and Risks

TRIAL FIBRILLATION (AF) is the most prevalent cardiac arrhythmia in the general population, affecting 2.3% of individuals between ages 40 and 60 years and 5.9% of individuals 65 years.1,2 The prevalence of AF increases dramatically after cardiac surgery, occurring in patients who were in sinus rhythm before surgery. The absolute frequency of postoperative AF varies depending on demographic characteristics of the population, arrhythmia definitions (ie, paroxysmal and sustained v only sustained), methods of electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring (ie, daily 12-lead ECGs v Holter monitoring), and type of surgery. In most series that have employed continuous ECG monitoring methods, AF is reported in 30% to 40% of patients after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery, 40% to 50% after valvular surgery, and 60% of patients after combined CABG and valve surgery. 3-11 In light of the strong association between AF and advancing age, it is likely that the incidence of postoperative AF will continue to increase as the proportion of elderly cardiac surgical patients rises.3-11 Postoperative AF typically occurs 1 to 5 days after surgery, with a peak incidence on postoperative day 2. 3-6 In most patients, AF is well tolerated and self-limiting with 98% of affected patients returning to sinus rhythm 6 to 8 weeks after their operation. 9 In some patients, however, AF may lead to hemodynamic instability, particularly in patients with diastolic dysfunction, who may not tolerate the loss of a synchronous atrial contraction. The development of postoperative AF is associated with 2-fold higher risk of stroke compared with patients remaining in sinus rhythm. 3 Even in the absence of these complications, AF may contribute to higher morbidity and increased health resource usage because of longer hospitalization and other associated complications (eg, need for cardiac pacemakers, congestive heart failure). Patients who develop AF are hospitalized on average 2 to 4 days longer than patients who do not develop this arrhythmia. 3-6 Increased hospital length of stay conservatively contributes to $2,000 of added hospital cost. 4 AF is the leading cause of hospital readmission after discharge following cardiac surgery. 12 Considering the nearly 600,000 cardiac surgical procedures performed annually in the United States, the economic implications of postoperative AF are considerable.13 In this 2-part review, the pathophysiology of and risk factors associated with postoperative AF are discussed first. In the second part (to be published in the next issue), pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic therapies proposed for prevention and treatment of AF are discussed, with an emphasis on safety and efficacy.
The WarGames scenario: regulating teenagers and teenaged technology (1980-1984).

WarGames (1983), the first mass-consumed, visual representation of the internet, served as both a vehicle and framework for America's earliest discussion of the internet. WarGames presented the int...
Not What You Expected to Hear Accented Messages and Their Effect on Choice

In this article we address the increasingly important yet understudied phenomenon of nonnative accentedness on decision making. In three experimental studies, we investigated whether messages about a company delivered in nonstandard-American-accented speech influenced choice. In Study 1, we found that individuals were more likely to choose a company or a product when a message was read in a standard American English accent than when the message was delivered with a Mandarin Chinese or a French accent. In Study 2, we found that expectations regarding company messages are violated when speakers have accents and that, in turn, expectation violations mediated the relationship between accent and choice. In Study 3, we replicated the findings of the effect of accent on choice using Indian and British accents. We also hypothesized and found support for a conditional indirect effects model such that implicit pro-American bias moderated the indirect relationship between accent and choice as mediated by expectation...
Lessons Learned From a Black and Minority Health Fair's 15-Month Follow-up Counseling

Abstract Background Little is known about the impact of community health fairs on participants' health knowledge, literacy, attitudes, or behaviors. Few health fairs have provided follow-up services for participants. Objective To evaluate the short-term (baseline) and long-term (10-month follow-up) health effects of exposure to the Indiana Black and Minority Health Fair (BMHF) and to assess the impact of personalized 15-month follow-up health counseling sessions for the BMHF participants who agreed to the sessions. Methods A prospective panel study design was utilized with a pre-post test in addition to a cross-sectional survey design. Results Although few behavioral changes were observed between the baseline and the precounseling 10-month follow-up, more people perceived themselves as overweight (68.1 % vs 65.3%, p Conclusions A follow-up component to the health fair is not only necessary but also in demand for improving health literacy and healthy outcomes for participants. Efforts should be made to transform health fair encounters from episodic experiences to long-term educational experiences that spur individuals to make the necessary changes to enhance their health.
Water Oxidation with Mononuclear Ruthenium(II) Polypyridine Complexes Involving a Direct RuIV═O Pathway in Neutral and Alkaline Media

The catalytic water oxidation mechanism proposed for many single-site ruthenium complexes proceeds via the nucleophilic attack of a water molecule on the RuV═O species. In contrast, Ru(II) complexes containing 4-t-butyl-2,6-di-1′,8′-(naphthyrid-2′-yl)-pyridine (and its bisbenzo-derivative), an equatorial water, and two axial 4-picolines follow the thermodynamically more favorable “direct pathway” via [RuIV═O]2+, which avoids the higher oxidation state [RuV═O]3+ in neutral and basic media. Our experimental and theoretical results that focus on the pH-dependent onset catalytic potentials indicative of a PCET driven low-energy pathway for the formation of products with an O–O bond (such as [RuIII–OOH]2+ and [RuIV–OO]2+) at an applied potential below the RuV═O/RuIV═O couple clearly support such a mechanism. However, in the cases of [Ru(tpy)(bpy)(OH2)]2+ and [Ru(tpy)(bpm)(OH2)]2+, the formation of the RuV═O species appears to be required before O–O bond formation. The complexes under discussion provide a uniqu...
The Local Cut Lemma

The Lovsz Local Lemma is a very powerful tool in probabilistic combinatorics, that is often used to prove existence of combinatorial objects satisfying certain constraints. Moser and Tardos (2010) have shown that the LLL gives more than just pure existence results: there is an effective randomized algorithm that can be used to find a desired object. In order to analyze this algorithm, Moser and Tardos developed the so-called entropy compression method. It turned out that one could obtain better combinatorial results by a direct application of the entropy compression method rather than simply appealing to the LLL. The aim of this paper is to provide a generalization of the LLL which implies these new combinatorial results. This generalization, which we call the Local Cut Lemma, concerns a random cut in a directed graph with certain properties. Note that our result has a short probabilistic proof that does not use entropy compression. As a consequence, it not only shows that a certain probability is positive, but also gives an explicit lower bound for this probability. As an illustration, we present a new application (an improved lower bound on the number of edges in color-critical hypergraphs) as well as explain how to use the Local Cut Lemma to derive some of the results obtained previously using the entropy compression method.
Retinoic Acid and Pitx2 Regulate Early Neural Crest Survival and Migration in Craniofacial and Ocular Development

Congenital eye and craniofacial anomalies are associated with the dysregulation of retinoic acid (RA) levels during embryogenesis. In the present study, we observed that RA and pitx2a cooperatively regulate early cranial neural crest migration from the rhombencephalon to the pharyngeal arches and from the mesencephalon and prosencephalon to the periocular mesenchyme and frontonasal processes. The cranial neural crest tracked toward areas of high RA activity (i.e., developing eye) and circumvented areas of low RA activity (i.e., mesencephalon). Although previous studies have shown that RA increased pitx2a expression at later stages of cranial neural crest development, in these studies we found that RA inhibited pitx2a expression in the early migrating ventral cranial neural crest. Increased RA or decreased Pitx2a expression decreased cell survival and inhibited ventral neural crest migration. Decreased RA or increased pitx2a expression markedly disrupted both dorsal and ventral neural crest migration. The tight control of RA and subsequent regulation of pitx2 were required for precise cranial neural crest survival and migration. These alterations in the neural crest in the periocular mesenchyme and frontonasal processes may reflect the craniofacial dysmorphism and microphthalmia observed in cases of increased (i.e., as resulting from isoretinoin exposure) or decreased (i.e., as may occur in fetal alcohol syndrome) RA signaling during pregnancy
Analysis on Immunization Eligible Coverage Rate and Missing Reason Among Children in FuNing County

Objective Study the immunization eligible coverage rate and analyze the missing reason among children so as to increase the immunization coverage rate in Fu Ning County.Methods A random-cluster sampling process was used.Results The eligible coverage rate of TD vaccination was significantly lower than other kinds of bacterins.The eligible coverage rate in city was higher than in town.And it was higher in town than in village. There were a lot of reasons to make the unqualified vaccination take place.On one hand,it had relationship with the center for disease control and prevention did not give the information or vaccination on time because of long distance. On the other hand,it was because of the illness of the children,or the ignoring of their parents.Conclusions In- creasing the eligible coverage rate among rural children is still an important work in our county.
Bicuspid Aortic Insufficiency With Aortic Root Aneurysm: Root Reimplantation Versus Bentall Root Replacement

Background In patients with a bicuspid aortic valve presenting with aortic insufficiency (AI) and root aneurysm, we assessed whether outcomes with primary cusp repair with root reimplantation were equivalent to the gold standard Bentall procedures. Methods From 2002 to 2014, 710 patients with bicuspid aortic valve underwent aortic root procedures. Of these, only patients presenting with noncalcified type I bicuspid aortic valve with AI (n = 165) were included to maintain anatomic and physiologic homogeneity between the groups. Aortic stenosis, endocarditis, redo root, and emergency cases were excluded. Patients undergoing valve-sparing root reimplantation (VSRR group, n = 45) were retrospectively compared with those undergoing Bentall root replacement (Bentall group, n = 120). Results Patients in the Bentall group were older (52 ± 13 vs 46 ± 12 years; p ≤ 0.01) and had a lower ejection fraction (0.53 ± 0.12 versus 0.58 ± 0.08; p p = 0.5). Thirty-day and in-hospital mortality was zero; in-hospital stroke rate was 0.8% (n = 1) in the Bentall group (0 in the VSRR group; p = 0.54). Permanent pacemaker rate was 6% (n = 7) in the Bentall group (0 in the VSRR group; p = 0.2). On discharge echocardiography, AI grade ≤ 1+ (100%; p = 1) and transvalvular gradients (mean gradient 7 ± 3 versus 6 ± 3 mm Hg; p = 0.14) were similar. Mean follow-up was 7.5 ± 3.2 and 3.4 ± 2.9 years ( p p = 0.8) and freedom from aortic reoperation (98% ± 2% versus 100%; p = 0.8) were similar. Conclusions In patients with bicuspid aortic valve AI with root aneurysm, primary cusp repair with root reimplantation achieves equivalent midterm outcomes compared with Bentall root replacement.
Upper-Extremity Therapy with Spring Orthoses

We describe the development of the spring-based orthosis approach (as exemplified by T-WREX and ArmeoSpring) to enhance upper-extremity movement therapy after neurologic injury. This approach is based around the concept of using springs to assist a patient in moving his or her weakened arm as he or she practices computerized movement tasks. This chapter first traces the development of spring orthoses for arm therapy within the context of the development of robot-assisted therapy. Then, this chapter evaluates the spring orthosis approach in light of recent evidence concerning the role of mechanical assistance, functional exercise, and computer gaming in promoting upper-extremity movement recovery after stroke. This evidence suggests a path forward toward simplified spring-based orthoses for home use. As an example, we discuss the design and initial testing of a simple lever-based spring orthosis, the Resonating Arm Exerciser.
Crossborder Infrastructure of the Cosmonation

This chapter positions infrastructure as a central theme in a discussion of cosmonationalization for the support mechanisms it provides that sustain crossborder relations and operations. The chapter then proceeds to present the research setting for this specific investigation and the population examined, showing especially how crossborder infrastructure plays out in the daily routine of the American city. The literature review on infrastructure allows one to conceptualize and operationalize crossborder infrastructure and its contribution in understanding critical aspects of the cosmonation. Three cases are examined to explain various facets of the technology of crossborder infrastructure—crossborder media, diaspora banking, and municipal expansion. These cases provide an empirical basis for the discussion and consolidate the validity of the approach. This chapter further discusses what is meant by the concept of cosmonational urbanism, which explicates how cities are entangled in crossborder expansion, interaction, mobility, and shared public sphere.
Exploring second coordination sphere effects in nitric oxide synthase.

Second coordination sphere (SCS) effects in proteins are modulated by active site residues and include hydrogen bonding, electrostatic/dipole interactions, steric interactions, and π-stacking of aromatic residues. In Cyt P450s, extended H-bonding networks are located around the proximal cysteinate ligand of the heme, referred to as the 'Cys pocket'. These hydrogen bonding networks are generally believed to regulate the Fe-S interaction. Previous work identified the S(Cys) → Fe σ CT transition in the high-spin (hs) ferric form of Cyt P450cam and corresponding Cys pocket mutants by low-temperature (LT) MCD spectroscopy [Biochemistry 50:1053, 2011]. In this work, we have investigated the effect of the hydrogen bond from W409 to the axial Cys ligand of the heme in the hs ferric state (with H4B and L-Arg bound) of rat neuronal nitric oxide synthase oxygenase construct (nNOSoxy) using MCD spectroscopy. For this purpose, wt enzyme and W409 mutants were investigated where the H-bonding network with the axial Cys ligand is perturbed. Overall, the results are similar to Cyt P450cam and show the intense S(Cys) → Fe σ CT band in the LT MCD spectrum at about 27,800 cm-1, indicating that this feature is a hallmark of {heme-thiolate} active sites. The discovery of this MCD feature could constitute a new approach to classify {heme-thiolate} sites in hs ferric proteins. Finally, the W409 mutants show that the hydrogen bond from this group only has a small effect on the Fe-S(Cys) bond strength, at least in the hs ferric form of the protein studied here. Low-temperature MCD spectroscopy is used to investigate the effect of the hydrogen bond from W409 to the axial Cys ligand of the heme in neuronal nitric oxide synthase. The intense S(Cys) → Fe σ-CT band is monitored to identify changes in the Fe-S(Cys) bond in wild-type protein and W409 mutants.
NMR metabolomics as a tool for biomarker discovery: Hype, limitations, and hope

M technologies have recently come to the fore in the context of biomarker discovery. Metabolic dysfunction is a noted hallmark in numerous disease states, and thus multivariate measurement and analysis of metabolite parameters provides a potential window into both diagnostic as well as prognostic realms. In this presentation, the advantages and disadvantages of biomarker discovery by NMR metabolomics methods will be discussed. In particular, the use of quantitative methods for metabolite analysis will be contextulized against other tools such as mass spectrometry based metabolite discovery. A biological context will be provided in our clinical oncology studies in the areas of pancreatic, colorectal, lung and brain cancer.
Blueberry Consumption Affects Serum Uric Acid Concentrations in Older Adults in a Sex-Specific Manner.

Blueberries are rich in antioxidants and may protect against disease. Uric acid accounts for about 50% of the antioxidant properties in humans. Elevated levels of serum uric acid (SUA) or hyperuricemia is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD). The aim was to determine the effect of blueberries on SUA in older adults. Participants (n = 133, 65–80 years) experiencing mild cognitive impairment (MCI) were randomized in a double-blind 6-month clinical trial to either blueberry or placebo. A reference group with no MCI received no treatment. The mean (SD) SUA at baseline were 5.45 (0.9), 6.4 (1.3) and 5.8 (1.4) mg/dL in reference, placebo, and treatment groups, respectively. Baseline SUA was different in men and women (6.25 (1.1) vs. 5.35 (1.1), p = 0.001). During the first three months, SUA decreased in the blueberry group and was significantly different from the placebo group in both men and women (p < 0.0003). Sex-specific differences became apparent after 3 months, when only men showed an increase in SUA in the blueberry group and not in the placebo (p = 0.0006) between 3 and 6 months. At 6 months SUA had rebounded in both men and women and returned to baseline levels. Baseline SUA was correlated with CVD risk factors, waist circumference and triglycerides (p < 0.05), but differed by sex. Overall, 6 m SUA changes were negatively associated with triglycerides in men, but not in women. Group-wise association between 6 m SUA changes and CVD risk factors showed associations with diastolic blood pressure, triglycerides and high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol in women of the Blueberry group but not in men or any sex in the placebo group. In summary, blueberries may affect SUA and its relationship with CVD risk in a sex-specific manner.
Welcoming Spaces: Supporting Parenting Students at the Academic Library

Abstract Academic libraries serve many student constituents, but one often overlooked group is students who are parenting children. Students who, by necessity or volition, bring their children with them to the library have specific needs. Serving these students, who often have difficulty succeeding and graduating at college, should be a priority for academic libraries. Offering assistance can help this group focus on their studies, achieve their academic goals, and thus decrease universities' attrition rates. This article begins by drawing on anecdotal evidence, then reviews existing literature on parenting students. Next, it examines and analyzes policies on children in academic libraries at large American universities. Half of all academic libraries don't have clearly accessible policies, and some have policies that discourage bringing supervised children to libraries, while a few have welcoming policies and facilities. This research shows that academic libraries can still make progress to serve a key constituency. Finally, it offers solutions for how academic libraries can serve parenting students, given varying spatial and financial constraints, as well as diffusing potential concerns that might hold academic libraries back from serving this part of the academic community. This analysis could be supplemented by further inquiry and interviews with libraries on how their policies were developed and are being implemented or with parenting students on what they desire and need from the academic library.
Advances in BCI: A Neural Bypass Technology to Reconnect the Brain to the Body

Millions of people worldwide suffer from diseases that lead to paralysis through disruption of signal pathways between the brain and the muscles. It has previously been shown that intracortically-recorded signals can be decoded to extract information related to movement, allowing non-human primates and paralyzed humans to control computers, wheelchairs and robotic arms through imagined movements. In non-human primates, these types of signals have also been used to drive activation of chemically paralyzed arm muscles. In an entirely novel application of brain computer interface (BCI) technology, we show that intracortically-recorded signals can be linked in real-time to muscle activation to restore functional wrist and finger movement in a paralyzed human. Our technology is designed to restore lost function and could be used to form an electronic ‘neural bypass’ to circumvent disconnected pathways in the nervous system.
Overcoming barriers to monitoring patients taking second-generation antipsychotics.

Abstract Introduction: Patients taking second-generation antipsychotics (SGAs) are at increased risk of developing metabolic syndrome because of the side effect profiles of these medications. A med...
Diverse scaling relationships of tree height and diameter in five tree species

Background: Allometric scaling relationships are important in ecology and forestry. The metabolic scaling theory (MST) predicts a universal invariant scaling relationship for tree growth, relating ...
Chronicity in Mental Disorders: Evolution of a Concept:

The author traces the historical evolution of the concept of chronicity of mental disorders. She suggests that belief in chronicity is a social construction that developed as psychiatry moved towar...
Comparative Study on Three-Dimensional Crack Tip Modeling Methodology

A comparative study of three-dimensional stress intensity factor solutions is made for through cracks in finite thickness isotropic elastic plates. A wider range of thicknesses than previously studied are investigated. Both singular and non-singular elements are employed to investigate thickness dependencies and variations. Grid characteristics yielding optimal solutions with minimal necessary degrees of freedom for convergence are discussed.
Galacto-oligosaccharides: Prebiotic Effects on Calcium Absorption and Bone Health

Adolescence presents an opportune time to influence peak bone mass with prebiotic agents like galacto-oligosaccharides (GOS) that increase calcium absorption in the large intestine. Previous literature has helped elucidate the mechanisms by which prebiotics elicit their response which involves decreased luminal pH following bacterial fermentation. In addition to improved mineral absorption, dietary supplementation with GOS in rats has been associated with improved bone mineral content (BMC) during growth, reduced losses of BMC and bone mineral density (BMD) after ovariectomy, and increased cecal content weight. Similar bone-sparing results have been seen in postmenopausal women, while preliminary results in adolescents show that GOS increases fractional calcium absorption. This effect may be mediated by bacterial fermentation in the colon as bifidobacteria content of the feces was increased after GOS consumption. Further work is needed to fully elucidate the intestinal mechanism and understand the long-term effects of GOS consumption.
The Provirus of Rous Sarcoma Virus: Synthesis, Integration and Transcription

RNA-directed DNA synthesis by detergent-disrupted virions of Rous sarcoma virus initiates by the covalent attachment of pdA to the 3′-terminal rA of a 4S RNA hydrogen-bonded to the 70S RNA template. This 4S “primer” has structural features of tRNA and can be aminoacylated with methionine. Synthesis and integration of provirus DNA can be monitored in both permissive (duck) and non-permissive (mouse) cells acutely infected with Rous sarcoma virus. Synthesis of provirus is a prerequisite for both viral replication and cellular transformation by the virus. However, neither integration of viral genes into the host chromosome nor transcription from these genes is necessarily followed by transformation.
Active Learning Through The Use Of Virtual Environments

Immersive Virtual Reality (VR) has seen explosive growth over the last decade. Immersive VR attempts to give users the sensation of being fully immersed in a synthetic environment by providing them with 3D hardware, and allowing them to interact with objects in virtual worlds. The technology is extremely effective for learning and exploration, and has been widely adopted by the military, industry and academia. This current study set out to study the effectiveness of 3D interactive environments on learning, engagement, and preference. A total of 180 students took part in the study where significant results were found regarding preference for this new technology over standard educational practices. Students were more motivated when using the immersive environment than with traditional methods which may translate into greater learning and retention. Larger studies will need to be performed in order to quantify the benefits of this new, cutting edge technology, as it relates to understanding and retention of educational content.
Promotion of Pd nanoparticles by Fe and formation of a Pd3Fe intermetallic alloy for propane dehydrogenation

Abstract Silica supported Pd (∼2 nm), Pd3Fe (∼2 nm) and Pd3Fe_large (∼12 nm) catalysts were synthesized and tested for propane dehydrogenation at 510 °C. At the 10% conversion, Pd and Pd3Fe catalysts exhibited propylene selectivity of 45% and 94%, respectively. Moreover, the latter showed a turnover rate (TOR) of 0.2 s−1, which is five times higher than that of the Pd catalyst (0.04 s−1). Pd K edge XAS, XRD, and CO adsorbed IR were used to characterize the geometric structure of the catalysts. By combined comparison of XRD and XAS spectra of Pd3Fe and Pd3Fe_large catalysts, we successfully identified the crystalline phase in the 2 nm Pd3Fe catalyst. The CO adsorbed IR suggests that the formation of Pd3Fe breaks the ensemble of Pd, which is responsible for the increase of selectivity. The Pd L edge XAS was used to characterize the electronic structure of the catalysts. The Pd3Fe catalyst exhibits an increase of the edge energy compared with the Pd catalyst, which indicates the change of d-band structure in the bimetallic catalyst. The change in the electronic structure is likely the reason for the increase in TOR.
Clinical Metagenomic Next-Generation Sequencing for Pathogen Detection.

Nearly all infectious agents contain DNA or RNA genomes, making sequencing an attractive approach for pathogen detection. The cost of high-throughput or next-generation sequencing has been reduced ...
Predicting bioretention pollutant removal efficiency with design features: A data-driven approach

Abstract The objective of this study is to synthesize previous research findings from bioretention experiments and identify design features that lead to the best performance of bioretention pollutant removal with a data-driven approach. A bioretention database was built from 79 bioretention publications, composed of 182 records of bioretention cells with their design features and the corresponding pollutant removal efficiency data. Non-parametric correlation analysis, multiple linear regression (MLR), and decision tree classifiers were applied to investigate the relationships between bioretention design features and pollutant removal efficiencies. Non-parametric statistics and MLR results indicated that bioretention surface area, media depth, the presence of an internal water storage (IWS) layer, soil composition, and vegetation cover are all significantly correlated with pollutant removal efficiencies. The impacts of design features are significantly different under different climate and inflow conditions. Decision tree classifiers showed that non-vegetated bioretention cells with sand filter media generally have higher than 80% total suspended solid (TSS) mass removal efficiencies; bioretention cells with minimum organic matter and greater than 0.58 m soil media depth tend to remove more than 51% of total nitrogen (TN); and vegetated bioretention cells with minimum organic matter remove more than 67% of total phosphorus (TP). The overall accuracy of decision tree classifiers in the test set is around 70% to predict TSS, TN, and TP mass removal efficiency classes. This study suggests that the data-driven approach provides insights into understanding the complex relationship between bioretention design features and pollutant removal performance.
Full-core analysis for FeCrAl enhanced accident tolerant fuel in boiling water reactors

Abstract The impact of replacing Zircaloy with FeCrAl, a candidate enhanced accident-tolerant fuel cladding material, was evaluated for 10 × 10 boiling water reactor fuel bundles. Results from a series of full-core parametric studies estimated that replacing UO2/Zircaloy with UO2/FeCrAl would require an average enrichment increase of 0.6% 235U throughout the fuel lattice with the cladding and channel box thicknesses halved and fuel pellet diameter increased. Full-core results indicated that UO2/FeCrAl models with these geometric/enrichment specifications matched the base UO2/Zircaloy cycle length of 527 effective full power days. Optimization studies of the full-core design established loading and control blade patterns for both Zircaloy and FeCrAl models. A side study was conducted modeling a hybrid fuel bundle consisting of FeCrAl cladding and a SiC/Ni/Cr channel box. By halving the cladding thickness, the enrichment level required was less than that of the Zircaloy base case design after performing loading pattern optimization of the hybrid bundle core. Lastly, the thermomechanical performance of a Zircaloy-cladded fuel rod was compared to that of a FeCrAl system. Results from this analysis show that, if starting from the same fuel-cladding gap thickness, a FeCrAl-clad fuel rod operates with a greater average fuel centerline temperature, comparable axial elongation and radial displacement, and longer time to gap closure compared to a Zircaloy-clad fuel rod. This fuel performance analysis was primarily based on the commercial Kanthal APMT FeCrAl alloy but also used available data for the C35M FeCrAl alloy developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory.