cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Coping With Confinement: Adolescents’ Experiences With Parental Incarceration

Theory and research suggest that parental incarceration is often a significant source of stress for children and adolescents. Understanding how young people navigate the stressors of parental incarceration can shed important light on well-being and inform intervention efforts, but little research exists on the coping strategies that young people use during and after a parent’s incarceration. Through in-depth interviews, this study explores how adolescents (n = 10) cope with parental incarceration. Results suggest that most adolescents use some combination of three strategies: deidentification from the incarcerated parent, desensitization to incarceration, and strength through control. Results reveal variability in how young people cope with parental incarceration, and underscore the importance of future research on the implications of different strategies for well-being.
Synthesis of Angular Profiles for Bipedal Sit-to-Stand Movement

Human voluntary motion exhibits complex and nonlinear movement profiles. Many physiologists have studied human sit-to-stand (STS) task for healthy subjects and patients, and collected data for joints angular profiles. In this study, we synthesize some the data to a linear reference model. This reference model thus provides a basis to generate an ideal angular profile for sit to stand task. We use these reference angular profiles to simulate the STS movement with feedback controller. Our simulation shows that these reference angular profiles provide physiological relevant model to use with feedback controller design for analysis of STS movement.
R-Factor Parameterized Bridge Damage Fragility Curves

Damage fragilities describe the probability that a bridge will incur certain (discrete) damage states conditioned on the intensity of the earthquake it may experience. Reinforced concrete box girder highway overpass bridges are prevalent among the total inventory of bridges in California. For this class of bridges, a method for computing damage fragilities for three damage states (concrete cover spalling, longitudinal bar buckling, and column failure) based on the bridge force reduction factors ( R -factors) is derived in this paper. Bridge damage fragilities are described by equations relating the median intensity and uncertainty of ground motion to discrete damage states of column concrete cover spalling, column bar buckling, and column failure using the bridge R -factor as the principal parameter describing the bridge structure. Such damage fragility equations are furnished for earthquake intensities measured using pseudospectral acceleration (Sa) and cumulative absolute displacement (CAD) in both the ...
Distribution and Quantity of Leukocyte Antigens in the Formed Elements of the Blood

The capacity of platelets, lymphocytes, leukocytes (mixed lymphocytes and granulocytes) and erythrocytes to absorb 12 leukocyte agglutinins from multiparous women was investigated. Erythrocytes did not absorb these agglutinins. Platelets, lymphocytes and granulocytes appeared to share antigens identified by representative antisera belonging to the Group 4 and the LA antigen systems. Leukocyte antisera specific for a single blood cell line were not encountered. Approximately 20 times as many platelets as lymphocytes or leukocytes were required to absorb an aliquot of serum. The quantities necessary for absorption indicate that whole blood is an inefficient source of antigen for large scale production of monospecific from multi-specific leukocyte antisera.
Sorting on a parallel pointer machine with applications to set expression evaluation

Optimal algorithms for sorting on parallel CREW (concurrent read, exclusive write) and EREW (exclusive read, exclusive write) versions of the pointer machine model are presented. Intuitively, these methods can be viewed as being based on the use of linked lists rather than arrays (the usual parallel data structure). It is shown how to exploit the 'locality' of the approach to solve a problem with applications to database querying and logic programming (set-expression evaluation) in O(log n) time using O(n) processors. >
Development and validation of a Structured Telephone Interview for Dementia Assessment (STIDA): the NIMH Genetics Initiative.

As part of the NIMH Genetics Initiative Alzheimer's Disease (AD) Study Group, a brief structured telephone interview to distinguish individuals with normal cognitive functioning from those with changes in cognition and daily functioning suggestive of early AD was developed. The Structured Telephone Interview for Dementia Assessment (STIDA), yields a dementia score between 0 and 81 (higher scores indicating greater impairment). Subscales corresponding to the subscales of the Clinical Dementia Rating Scale (CDR) can be derived. The STIDA performed well as a screening instrument for mildly demented individuals. When a score of 10 or more (based on informant interview and subject testing) was used to identify mildly impaired individuals, the STIDA had a sensitivity of .93 and a specificity of .92 for a clinician-derived CDR of 0.5 or more. The STIDA was also capable of accurately assessing the level of dementia. STIDA-derived CDR ratings agreed with clinician-derived CDR scores in 23 of 28 cases, corresponding to an unweighted kappa of.71 and a weighted kappa of.81. A much-abbreviated short STIDA that could be administered directly to the subject was able to detect possible impairment with a sensitivity of .93 and a specificity of.77. These results suggest that the short STIDA provides a sensitive and fairly specific telephone screen for dementia, and that the full STIDA, consisting of an interview with a knowledgeable informant and subject testing, approximates the success of a face-to-face clinical interview, and provides reliable and valid screening and staging of dementia over the telephone.
Inhibition of myogenic differentiation in myoblasts expressing a truncated type II TGF-beta receptor

Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) is thought to play a role in mesenchymal cell development and, specifically, in muscle differentiation, yet its precise role in the latter process remains unclear. TGF-beta has been shown to both inhibit and induce myoblast maturation in vitro, depending on the culture conditions. Whether the type I or type II TGF-beta receptor mediates the various TGF-beta effects on myogenesis is not known. In the present study, C2C12 myoblasts were transfected with an expression vector for a truncated type II TGF-beta receptor, which has been shown to act as a dominant negative inhibitor of type II receptor signaling. In contrast to the parental cells, the transfected clones did not efficiently form myotubes or induce expression of MyoD, myogenin and several other differentiation markers following incubation in low serum media. However, some muscle differentiation markers continued to be expressed in the transfected cells suggesting that at least two pathways are involved in muscle cell differentiation. These cells could still growth arrest in low serum media, showing that decreased proliferation can be dissociated from differentiation. Unlike several oncogenes known to block myogenic differentiation, expression of the truncated TGF-beta receptor did not result in myoblast transformation. Injection of the parental or the transfected C2C12 cells into the limb muscle of nude mice revealed quantitative and qualitative differences in their behavior, and suggested that myoblasts expressing the truncated TGF-beta receptor cannot fuse in vivo. Finally, retrovirus-mediated expression of MyoD in the transfected cells restored their ability to form myotubes in vitro, indicating that inhibition of myoblast differentiation by the truncated TGF-beta receptor may depend on decreased MyoD expression. We propose that TGF-beta signaling through the type II receptor is required for several distinct aspects of myogenic differentiation and that TGF-beta acts as a competence factor in this multistep process.
The Primacy of Practice: Medicine and Postmodernism

A dozen years ago, in my essay, ‘How medicine saved the life of ethics’[3], I argued that the debate in ethics among analytical moral philosophers, in particular the approach to the subject known as “meta-ethics,” ran into the sand in the 1960s or 1970s, and that the coincidental revival of interest in the moral problems of medicine took place just in time to redirect moral philosophy into substantive new fields of discussion. Even then, I might have done more to place this shift from definitional issues about the meaning of terms like “right” and “good” to substantive ones about the termination of artificial life support and the like within a broader historical frame, as it was already becoming clear that at a deeper level, also, the philosophical tide was turning. More recently, however, the philosophical shift from formal definitional issues to matters of substance has been unmistakable. In one respect, the change of focus in philosophical ethics between the 1950s and the 1980s had an obvious context. From early in the twentieth century, one central strand in European philosophy had been a series of critiques of Cartesian rationalism. This was launched in Germany by Edmund Husserl and Gottlob Frege, in England by Bertrand Russell and G. E. Moore, and in the United States by William James and John Dewey. Other powerful figures involved in the critique were Lev Semenyovich Vygotsky and Mikhail Bakhtin in Russia, Ludwig Wittgenstein in Vienna, Cambridge, and Norway; while, at one stage, Martin Heidegger had a significant part to play. More recently, Richard Rorty reformulated the central themes and slogans of this critique to good effect; while, in the wings, a parallel movement in literary theory was developing under the slogan of “deconstruction.” This movement shared, at least, the conviction that all earlier quests for a comprehensive system of knowledge, based on permanent, universal systems of overarching principles, were misguided from the start, and are by now discredited. Claims to philo
Phonological difficulties in children with autism: An overview

The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview and update of speech sound production difficulties in children with autism. Historically, relatively little attention has been given to speech sound production abilities in these children. Several possible reasons for the paucity of research on this topic are offered in this paper, including methodological issues. Results of earlier research showed articulatory behavior to be delayed, resembling sound production of younger typically developing children. Findings of more recent studies have shown specific phonological patterns, including typical and atypical phonological processes in some of these children. Other findings suggest that the articulatory/phonological skills in these children are relatively intact. Thus, there are conflicting results in the literature, and at this time, the fundamental speech sound behavior in these children is still not fully understood. Recent preliminary findings suggest that some children with autism who present with more...
Tissue Cadmium and Water Content of Normal and Cadmium Hypertensive Rabbits

Cadmium concentrations in different-sized blood vessels, kidney, liver, and heart of cadmium hypertensive and control normotensive rabbits were determined by atomic absorption spectrophotometry. Normotensive kidney had a significantly higher cadmium level than that of any other normal tissue, while heart had the lowest concentration. All hypertensive tissues had significantly higher cadmium levels than the corresponding control tissues. Within the hypertensive group kidney and liver had the greatest cadmium deposition, mesenteric artery had significantly higher cadmium concentration than the aorta and heart had the lowest. There was no significant difference in the water content of normotensive and hypertensive tissues. It is suggested that the presence of cadmium ion in the blood vessels at concentration of about 1.0μg/gm wet tissue and in the kidney at a much higher concentration may have a role in the pathophysiology of cadmium hypertension.
Association of Picky Eating and Food Neophobia with Weight: A Systematic Review

Abstract Background: Picky eating and food neophobia are common during childhood. Childhood eating behaviors are often predictive of adult eating behaviors. Objectives: Determine if childhood picky eating or food neophobia is associated with childhood weight status, or with becoming underweight, overweight, or obese later in childhood. Data Sources: We identified relevant studies from searches of PubMed, PsycINFO, and NEOHAL, as well as citations from identified studies. Study Eligibility Criteria and Participants: Inclusion criteria were original research articles examining a relationship between picky eating and/or food neophobia with childhood weight status. We summarized definitions and prevalence of picky eating or food neophobia and association with weight status. Study Appraisal: Two independent investigators assessed bias and confounding using the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's RTI Item Bank. Results: Forty-one studies met inclusion criteria. Picky eating was defined inconsistently, ...
Hydraulic Autonomous Soft Robotic Fish for 3D Swimming

This work presents an autonomous soft-bodied robotic fish that is hydraulically actuated and capable of sustained swimming in three dimensions. The design of a fish-like soft body has been extended to deform under hydraulic instead of pneumatic power. Moreover, a new closed-circuit drive system that uses water as a transmission fluid is used to actuate the soft body. Circulation of water through internal body channels provides control over the fish’s caudal fin propulsion and yaw motion. A new fabrication technique for the soft body is described, which allows for arbitrary internal fluidic channels, enabling a wide-range of continuous body deformations. Furthermore, dynamic diving capabilities are introduced through pectoral fins as dive planes. These innovations enable prolonged fish-like locomotion in three dimensions.
The Impact of National Culture on Retail Structure

In every country in the world, consumers rely on retailers to purchase the products they need for everyday survival and to satisfy their most specialized needs and wants. Retailers from tiny “mom-and-pop” stores to giant modern stores such as supermarkets, hypermarkets, and “big-box” stores provide the retail distributive institutions needed to make vast arrays of products conveniently available to millions of consumers when and where they desire to buy them. And despite the rapid penetration of online shopping in many countries around the world, brick-and-mortar stores still dominate retail structure because “Shoppers want to feel the fabrics, look at the colors, try out styles—all those things that can be lost online…” (2013 Interbrand Best Retail Brands Report, p. 4). Therefore, retail structure, which refers to the number, size, and type of physical retail stores in a given geographic area, will continue to play a crucial role in the everyday lives of millions of consumers around the globe.
Celastrol and Its Role in Controlling Chronic Diseases

Celastrol, a triterpenoid derived from traditional Chinese medicinal plants, has anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and anticancer activities. Celastrol has shown preventive/therapeutic effects in experimental models of several chronic diseases. These include, chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases (e.g., rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, inflammatory bowel disease, and psoriasis), neurodegenerative disorders (e.g., Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis), atherosclerosis, obesity, Type 2 diabetes, and cancer. Celastrol modulates intricate cellular pathways and networks associated with disease pathology, and it interrupts or redirects the aberrant cellular and molecular events so as to limit disease progression and facilitate recovery, where feasible. The major cell signaling pathways modulated by celastrol include the NF-kB pathway, MAPK pathway, JAK/STAT pathway, PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, and antioxidant defense mechanisms. Furthermore, celastrol modulates cell proliferation, apoptosis, proteasome activity, heat-shock protein response, innate and adaptive immune responses, angiogenesis, and bone remodeling. Current understanding of the mechanisms of action of celastrol and information about its disease-modulating activities in experimental models have set the stage for testing celastrol in clinical studies as a therapeutic agent for several chronic human diseases.
The Development of the Octane Number Tests and their Impact on Automotive Fuels and American Society

Modern automobiles and fuels were shaped heavily by the development of the octane number tests. These tests were developed between 1929 and 1932 to quantify a fuel’s anti-knock performance in spark...
Design and Characterization of High Efficiency Nanoantenna Couplers With Plasmonic Integrated Circuit

Four types of nanoantennas have been designed and characterized at 1.55 μ m wavelength: Dipole antenna, Yagi-Uda antenna, dipole antenna array and bowtie antenna. The spectra, coupling efficiency, and far field radiation patterns are also investigated. We also quantitatively characterized the relationship between the couple-in efficiency and the spot size of the incident light. For the three dipole-type antennas, the couple-in and couple-out efficiencies have been measured experimentally. A plasmonic integrated circuit has also been designed and fabricated with these four types of nanoantennas. Direct and efficient optical coupling from an optical fiber into the plasmonic integrated circuit is demonstrated as well, and the couple-out efficiencies for these four nanoantennas are.
Realization of Origami-Inspired Smart Structures Using Electroactive Polymer (EAP)

Robert Lang has brought functionality to origami, the art of paper folding, by developing an extensive series of “action origami” figures. As the name suggests, these figures can perform actions and produce an output motion with the help of manual actuation, unlike traditional origami. For instance, different figures can bite, row, and fly. The goal of this research study is to adapt a few of these action origami figures put forth by Robert Lang to create ‘active’ action origami; these systems, instead of relying on manual actuation for motion, will rely on electro-mechanical actuation. This electro-mechanical actuation will be achieved through the judicious use of an electroactive polymer known as P (VDF-TrFE-CTFE) terpolymer. The terpolymer’s in-plane motion in response to an electric field is converted into bending using a unimorph configuration. This bending motion is exploited to actuate three so-called “action origami” structures: the flapping butterfly, the catapult, and the barking dog. Based on knowledge of the kinematics of the origami structures, multilayered terpolymer actuator is placed strategically on the origami figures with an aim to maximize the resulting actuation motion. In order to understand the behavior, capabilities, and limitations of the terpolymer as an active material, both qualitative and quantitative data are collected from the actuation of these three different action origami structures as a function of number of terpolymer layers, applied electric field and frequency of the applied field. The goal is to find the suitable shapes and crease patterns of the structures as well as the configurations with the terpolymer film to maximize the actuation. These three structures are tested and results show that PVDF-terpolymer is an effective actuator with ability to deform a substrate to a desired shape in the presence of an electric field: the butterfly was able to flap, the mouth of the dog was able to “bark,” and the catapult was able to launch a small ball of paper. Through experimentation, it was determined what parameters affect actuation and furthermore what values of those parameters will maximize the actuation.Copyright © 2016 by ASME
PENDEKATAN SOSIAL DALAM PENELITIAN KESEHATAN REPRODUKSI

Population problems, particularly fertility and family planning program, used to be approached from a clinical instead of socio-culture perspectives. A clinical point of view never involves through aspect of reproductive right thought; which includes the right of any individuals (men and women) and couples (husband-wife) in making decisions in terms of reproductive behaviour along their reproductive ages. In this regard, this paper states that reproductive healthproblems should be understood from a social perspective. This is because reproductive health problems is cause and influence social, political,and economic system as well as gender relation. Therefore, the selection of the appropriate social - cultural research methods/approaches is undoubtedly needed. Methodology should be developed appropriately to meet the research goals and objectives.
Analytical transfer function for the nonlinear response of a resonant medium in the spatio-temporal Fourier-transform domain

The nonlinear response of a resonant medium has many applications. To model and find the response of such a medium requires solving the Schrodinger equation (SE), which is a computationally extensive task. In this paper, we develop an analytical model to find the response of a resonant medium due to an applied field by employing the spatio-temporal Fourier-transform (STFT)–domain-based transfer function. A key feature of this approach is the use of the resonant excitation approximation (REA), which amounts to assuming that a group of atoms (or other quantum systems) within a volume element in the STFT domain are excited by only the corresponding volume element in the STFT domain of the field. We first derive the one-dimensional transfer function using an inhomogeneously broadened atomic medium under the REA. Then, we develop the three-dimensional transfer function and show that the analytical model agrees closely with the results obtained via an explicit simulation of the atomic response. As a practical example of the analytical model, we show that it can be used to model a spatio-temporal-correlator-based automatic event recognition system at a speed that is many orders of magnitude faster than solving the SE.
Vindicating the Absent Qualia Objection

Metaphysical functionalism holds that the nature of the mental is its functional role. Proponents of the absent qualia objection to functionalism assert that mental states with essential phenomenal qualities might have had functional duplicates without qualia. Michael Tye has argued that this purported possibility is incoherent. Robert van Gulick has criticized Tye's argument. It is contended here that although van Gulick's criticism does not refute the argument, Tye's argument is unsuccessful. It is also contended that our evidence very strongly supports the possibility of absent qualia.
The influence of bed friction variability due to land cover on storm-driven barrier island morphodynamics

Abstract Variations in bed friction due to land cover type have the potential to influence morphologic change during storm events; the importance of these variations can be studied through numerical simulation and experimentation at locations with sufficient observational data to initialize realistic scenarios, evaluate model accuracy and guide interpretations. Two-dimensional in the horizontal plane (2DH) morphodynamic (XBeach) simulations were conducted to assess morphodynamic sensitivity to spatially varying bed friction at Dauphin Island, AL using hurricanes Ivan (2004) and Katrina (2005) as experimental test cases. For each storm, three bed friction scenarios were simulated: (1) a constant Chezy coefficient across land and water, (2) a constant Chezy coefficient across land and depth-dependent Chezy coefficients across water, and (3) spatially varying Chezy coefficients across land based on land use/land cover (LULC) data and depth-dependent Chezy coefficients across water. Modeled post-storm bed elevations were compared qualitatively and quantitatively with post-storm lidar data. Results showed that implementing spatially varying bed friction influenced the ability of XBeach to accurately simulate morphologic change during both storms. Accounting for frictional effects due to large-scale variations in vegetation and development reduced cross-barrier sediment transport and captured overwash and breaching more accurately. Model output from the spatially varying friction scenarios was used to examine the need for an existing sediment transport limiter, the influence of pre-storm topography and the effects of water level gradients on storm-driven morphodynamics.
Burkholderia pseudomallei natural competency and DNA catabolism: Identification and characterization of relevant genes from a constructed fosmid library

Burkholderia spp. are genetically and physiologically diverse. Some strains are naturally transformable and capable of DNA catabolism. Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bp) strains 1026b and K96243 and B. thailandensis strain E264 are able to utilize DNA as a sole carbon source for growth, while only strains 1026b and E264 are naturally transformable. In this study, we constructed low-copy broad-host-range fosmid library, containing Bp strain 1026b chromosomal DNA fragments, and employed a novel positive selection approach to identify genes responsible for DNA uptake and DNA catabolism. The library was transferred to non-competent Bp K96243 and B. cenocepacia (Bc) K56-2, harboring chromosomally-inserted FRT-flanked sacB and pheS counter-selection markers. The library was incubated with DNA encoding Flp recombinase, followed by counter-selection on sucrose and chlorinated phenylalanine, to select for clones that took up flp-DNA, transiently expressed Flp, and excised the sacB-pheS cassette. Putative clones that survived the counter-selection were subsequently incubated with gfp-DNA and bacteria were visualized via fluorescent microscopy to confirm natural competency. Fosmid sequencing identified several 1026b genes implicated in DNA uptake, which were validated using chromosomal mutants. One of the naturally competent clones selected in Bc K56-2 enabled Bc, Bp and B. mallei to utilize DNA as a sole carbon source, and all fosmids were used to successfully create mutations in non-naturally-competent B. mallei and Bp strains.
A Wrist for Fine-Motion Tasks

When humans perform manufacturing tasks requiring both large and fine motions, for example when using a large wrench to tighten a bolt, they use arm muscles for achieving the required speed and power, but use wrist muscles for the fine accommodations needed to slip the wrench over the head of the bolt. During the fine motions, the arm serves as a stable support for the wrist and hand. Lighter tasks, such as writing with a pencil or assembling small parts, may use finger manipulation. However, in a metal working cell, tools and parts are often too heavy for humans to manipulate with their fingers. Instead, people grasp the parts with a passive grip in which the fingers conform to the tool or object, and they make motions with the wrist and arm. Likewise, an active wrist may be combined with a conventional, passive gripper in many manufacturing tasks.
Reducing Polyunsaturation in Oils of Transgenic Canola and Soybean

A key goal in improving the quality of vegetable oil is reducing its level of polyunsaturated fatty acids, linoleic (18:2) and linolenic (18:3), to result in an oxidatively-stable oil not requiring hydrogenation. This will result in reduced processing cost and the absense of trans fatty acids, by-products of hydrogenation believed to be unhealthy. Since canola and soybean germplasms with the desired low level of polyunsaturation are not currently available, at least, without an agronomic penalty, a transgenic approach was used.
Comparison of intrathecal levobupivacaine with and without fentanyl in combined spinal epidural for labor analgesia

BACKGROUND The initiation of epidural infusion immediately after intrathecal (IT) injection to prolong labor analgesia has gained increasing popularity. The effect of additional intrathecal fentanyl on levobupivacaine for labor analgesia has not been fully investigated. We wished to determine if addition of IT fentanyl to IT levobupivacaine in combined spinal epidural (CSE) could prolong obstetric analgesia when epidural infusion is initiated promptly. MATERIAL/METHODS In this randomized controlled trial, 40 nulliparous parturients in labor were recruited to receive either IT 2.5 mg levobupivacaine (L) or IT 2.5 mg levobupivacaine + 25 microg fentanyl (LF). A 10 ml/h epidural infusion of 0.125% levobupivacaine and 2 microg/ml fentanyl was immediately started. The proportion of parturients who delivered without breakthrough pain and the duration of analgesia were analyzed with the x2 test and Kaplan-Meier technique (using a log-rank test), respectively. Sensory block, motor block, pain scores, and post-block side effects were also evaluated. RESULTS The percentage of parturients with "successful" blocks, i.e. parturients not requiring further analgesic supplementation, was significantly higher in LF (87.5% vs. 44%, p<0.05). The duration of analgesia was also significantly longer in group LF (mean 530 min +/- SE65 vs. 361 +/- 66, p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS The addition of 25 microg intrathecal fentanyl to 2.5 mg levobupivacaine as part of CSE for labor analgesia decreased the incidence of labor breakthrough pain and resulted in a longer duration of labor pain relief. This may decrease the need for supplemental labor pain relief and the anesthetists' workload in the delivery suite.
Adaptable Decentralized Task Allocation of Swarm Agents

Scalable task allocation in dynamic real-world domains often requires efficient, robust, decentralized, and adaptable approaches. Response threshold reinforcement is a biologically-inspired model of probabilistic action that has been shown to lead to efficient task allocation among swarm agents that do not reason or communicate, making it a highly scalable and low cost solution. The model leads agents to specialize, resulting in reduced costs of interference and task switching, as well as to improved efficiency and adaptability to initially unknown environments. While initial specialization of this and other models is investigated in much of existing literature, subsequent re-adaptation to domain changes is seldom verified. Our goal is to investigate the robustness of response threshold reinforcement to various environmental changes, as well as to compare this model to other decentralized approaches.
313 Modulation of Ca125 expression by htert in ovarian cancer: possible implication of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway

Objectives To investigate the possible inter-relationship between Ca125 secretion and telomerase activity, and the possible implication of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway in this modulation. Methods Ovarian cancer cell lines OVCAR-3, SK-OV-3 and IGROV-1 were treated with three different telomerase inhibitors, BIBR-1532, Costunolide and MST-312, one activator, LPS, and various inhibitors of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway, PI828, wortmanin, GSK692690 and rapamycin. Ca125 expression was quantified by Q-PCR and its secretion by ELISA. Results The three telomerase inhibitors decreased the Ca125 mRNA expression and protein secretion by the three cell lines. The same pattern was obtained when cells were treated with hTERT siRNA. The activation of hTERT lead to an increase in Ca125 expression and secretion, and to an increase in cell migration and motility. Interestingly, inhibition of PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway by PI828, wortmanin, GSK692690 and rapamycin lead to a decrease in Ca125 concentration suggesting the involvement of this pathway in Ca125 regulation. Moreover, an additive effect was shown when costunolide and BIBR 1532 were combined with the previous inhibitors. A decrease in telomerase expression and activity was obtained after gene silencing of Ca125 by the three cell lines, along with a decrease in PI3k, Akt and mTOR gene expression, which may explain the possible implication of this signaling pathway in the modulation of hTERT by Ca125. Conclusions Both inhibition of telomerase and PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway decreased the Ca125 secretion, while inhibition of Ca125 decreased hTERT expression and activity suggesting a mutual modulation and a substantial role of Ca125 in cancer initiation and progression.
Continuous Stirred Tank Reactors: Modeling and Simulation for CPS Security Assessment

The Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor (CSTR) is an essential process component in a variety of industries. Accurate modeling and simulation of the CSTR is crucial for efficient control and safety system design. In this paper, we present a novel hybrid dynamical model for the CSTR that supports accurate model-based design for CSTR safety and security systems. We first derive the system model then show how both the safety and security systems could be formally designed from the hybrid automaton. Finally, we discuss the generalization of the approach to other cyber physical systems.
Analysis of human-factor-caused freight train accidents in the United States

Human factors are major causes of train accidents in the United States. Understanding the safety risk of these accidents can provide insights into safety evaluation and improvement. This paper focu...
Regional Anaesthesia Alone is Reasonable for Major Lower Extremity Amputation in High Risk Patients and May Initiate a More Efficacious Enhanced Recovery Programme.

Objective Major limb amputations are physiologically stressful and subject patients to peri-operative cardiovascular risk. Up to 90% of major lower extremity amputations (LEAMP) are being performed under general anaesthesia, despite regional anaesthesia being an acceptable option in most cases. Obtaining a better understanding of who would benefit from regional vs. general anaesthesia could reduce complications and help establish best evidence based practice. It was hypothesised that patients undergoing LEAMP with regional anaesthesia would have better post-operative outcomes than patients receiving general anaesthesia. Methods This retrospective cohort study used the U.S. Vascular Quality Initiative lower extremity amputation module to identify patients (≥18 years) who underwent LEAMP from 2013 to 2018. Outcomes included 30 day incidence of major adverse cardiac events (MACE) and all cause mortality. Multivariable logistic regression models were used to compute odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). Time to death was analysed using standard survival analysis. Results The final sample included 5 567 patients (median age: 65 years, 67% white, 65% male). Only 719 (13%) of patients received regional anaesthesia. Compared with patients undergoing general anaesthesia, patients in the regional group were older (67 vs. 65 years, p Conclusion There was no difference in outcomes between regional or general anaesthesia techniques in patients undergoing LEAMP, despite the regional group having more comorbidities. Regional anaesthesia may be under used for high risk patients undergoing LEAMP. Further studies are needed to establish best practices in LEAMP procedures.
High-Ratio Lossy Compression: Exploring the Autoencoder to Compress Scientific Data

Scientific simulations on high-performance computing (HPC) systems can generate large amounts of floating-point data per run. As compared to lossless compressors, lossy compressors, such as SZ and ZFP, can reduce data volume more aggressively while maintaining the usefulness of the data. However, a reduction ratio of more than two orders of magnitude is almost impossible without seriously distorting the data. In deep learning, the autoencoder has shown potential for data compression. Whether the autoencoder can deliver similar performance on scientific data, however, is unknown. In this paper, we for the first time conduct a comprehensive study on the use of autoencoders to compress real-world scientific data and illustrate several key findings on using autoencoders for scientific data reduction. We implement an autoencoder-based compression prototype to reduce floating-point data. Our study shows that the out-of-the-box implementation needs to be further tuned in order to achieve high compression ratios and satisfactory error bounds. Our evaluation results show that, for most test datasets, the tuned autoencoder outperforms SZ by 2 to 4X, and ZFP by 10 to 50X in compression ratios, respectively. Our practices and lessons learned in this work can direct future optimizations for using autoencoders to compress scientific data.
Analysis of mutations in cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma reveals novel genes and mutations associated with patient-specific characteristics and metastasis: a systematic review.

Cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) causes approximately 1,000,000 cases and 9000 deaths each year in the United States. While individual tumor sequencing studies have discovered driver mutations in SCC, there has yet to be a review and subsequent analysis synthesizing current studies. To conduct a comprehensive synthesis and analysis of SCC sequencing studies with individual patient-level data, a comprehensive literature search was performed. Statistical analyses were performed to identify trends. Studies meeting inclusion criteria included a total of 279 patients (189 localized SCCs, 90 metastatic SCCs). Several mutations were correlated with demographic characteristics (TP53, MLL4, BRCA2, COL4A1). TP53, TERT, SPEN, MLL3, and NOTCH2 mutations were significantly more likely to be found in metastatic versus localized SCCs even after the Bonferroni correction for multiple comparisons. Silent mutations were found more in localized SCCs than metastatic SCCs, and nonsense mutations were found more in metastatic SCCs than localized SCCs (p = 0.0003 and p = 0.04, respectively). Additional mutations were identified that have not yet been explored in SCC including AHNAK2, LRP1B, TRIO, MDN1, COL4A2, SVIL, VPS13C, DST, DMD, and DYSF. Overall, novel mutations were identified and differences between mutation patterns in localized and metastatic SCCs were found. These findings may have clinical applications.
Unique Short-Faced Miocene Seal Discovered in Grytsiv (Ukraine)

Numerous Miocene fossil terrestrial mammals have been discovered at the Gritsev locality of Ukraine, but this is the first record of a fossil marine mammal found at this site. Dental morphology and morphometric analysis of the rostral portion of this middle-late Miocene (12.3-11.8 mya) partial skull suggests that it belongs to the subfamily Phocinae. The small size and cranial morphology of this partial skull is compared to Recent and fossil representatives of the extant subfamily Phocinae and the extinct subfamily Devinophocinae. Fossil and modern representatives of the extant subfamilies Cystophorinae and Monachinae were not incorporated in this study due to their extremely large size in comparison to this new finding. This newly described skull is a small-sized seal (likely similar in size to the modern sea otter based on the width of the rostrum) with an extremely short rostrum and several diagnostic characters that differ from all other fossil and extant phocines. Due to the lack of preservation and fragility of fossil seal skulls, less than 20 have been described so far. This new skull is yet another example of a small-sized ancestral seal, supporting the suggestion that modern seals have gotten larger over evolutionary history. Overall, any cranial information on fossil true seals is extremely vital to help resolve contentious phylogenetic relationships.
Deficits in socialization and daily living skills associated with gastrointestinal symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder

Recent research has demonstrated greater prevalence of gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) as compared to their typically developing peers. While there is...
Contribution Evenness: A functional redundancy metric for microbially-mediated biogeochemical rates and processes

Abstract The concept of functional redundancy has received considerable attention in both the macroecology and microbial ecology literature. As a result, multiple metrics of functional redundancy have been proposed. These vary in how they weight trait levels, species abundance, functional richness, and species richness. Trait-based models are also increasingly popular ways to represent the function of microbial ecosystems. Here we present a new functional redundancy measurement tailored to be useful for community-aggregated parameters, which are summed ecosystem processes contributed by species, such as rates of chemical transformations. We focus in particular on community-aggregated parameters mediated by microbial communities. We call this approach contribution evenness (CE). CE measures how evenly species contribute to a community-aggregated parameter based on species contribution levels and abundances. As CE is an evenness measurement, quantitative representation of functional redundancy spans between 0 and 1, where 0 corresponds to a single species contributing and 1 corresponds to all species contributing equally to a community-aggregated parameter. CE is sensitive to the resilience of an ecosystem function to species extinction—an ecological consequence of functional redundancy. To illustrate how CE can be used, we analyzed the functional redundancy of eight nitrogen-transforming pathways using 2,631 metagenome-assembled genomes from 47 marine sites. We found that, on average, NH4+ assimilation pathway was the most functionally redundant (0.44 ± 0.08) while dissimilatory nitrate reduction had the lowest functional redundancy (0.005 ± 0.005). As demonstrated here, CE is a metric that is sensitive to trait resilience and allows for comparative analysis of functional redundancy for different traits.
Temporal Scale Estimation for Oversampled Network Cascades: Theory, Algorithms, and Experiment.

Spreading processes on graphs arise in a host of application domains, from the study of online social networks to viral marketing to epidemiology. Various discrete-time probabilistic models for spreading processes have been proposed. These are used for downstream statistical estimation and prediction problems, often involving messages or other information that is transmitted along with infections caused by the process. It is thus important to design models of cascade observation that take into account phenomena that lead to uncertainty about the process state at any given time. We highlight one such phenomenon -- temporal distortion -- caused by a misalignment between the rate at which observations of a cascade process are made and the rate at which the process itself operates, and argue that failure to correct for it results in degradation of performance on downstream statistical tasks. To address these issues, we formulate the clock estimation problem in terms of a natural distortion measure. We give a clock estimation algorithm, which we call FastClock, that runs in linear time in the size of its input and is provably statistically accurate for a broad range of model parameters when cascades are generated from the independent cascade process with known parameters and when the underlying graph is Erdős-Renyi. We further give empirical results on the performance of our algorithm in comparison to the state of the art estimator, a likelihood proxy maximization-based estimator implemented via dynamic programming. We find that, in a broad parameter regime, our algorithm substantially outperforms the dynamic programming algorithm in terms of both running time and accuracy.
WHOLE GENOME SCANNING FOR ECONOMIC TRAIT LOCI IN THE U. S. HOLSTEIN POPULATION

The greening of genomics has come upon us with astounding speed. In a time span of just a few years, new institutes have been created and companies have been reengineered to capitalize on the scientific and commercial opportunities at the interface of agriculture and genomics. I have termed this new interdisciplinary science agrigenomics. This article will explore agrigenomics as applied to animal agriculture. In addition, an example and potential applications of a genome scan for quantitative trait loci (QTL) affecting economically important traits (ETL) in dairy cattle will be described.
Riemannian and Totally Geodesic Foliations

The transversal geometry of a foliation is the geometry infinitesimally modeled by Q, while the tangential geometry is infinitesimally modeled by L. A key fact is the existence of the Bott connection in Q defined by $$ {\mathop{\nabla }\limits^{^\circ }_{{{X^S}}}} = \pi [X,{Y_S}]\,{\text{for}}\,X \in \Gamma L,\,s \in \Gamma Q $$ (5.1) where YS ∈ ΓTM is any vectorfield projecting to s under π : TM → Q. It is a partial connection along L (only defined for X ∈ ΓL), but otherwise satisfies the usual connection properties. First we observe that the RHS in (5.1) is independent of the choice of YS. Namely the difference of two such choices is a vector field X′ ∈ ΓL, and [X,X′] ∈ ΓL so that π[X,X′] = 0.
Hygroscopic properties of volcanic ash

[1] Limited observational data exists on the physical interactions between volcanic ash particles and water vapor; yet it is thought that these interactions can strongly impact the microphysical evolution of ash, with implications for its atmospheric lifetime and transport, as well as formation of water and ice clouds. In this study, we investigate for the first time, the hygroscopic properties of ultra-fine volcanic ash (<125 μm diameter) from the eruptions of Mt. St. Helens in 1980, El Chichon in 1982, Tungurahua in 2006, Chaiten in 2008, Mt. Redoubt in 2009, and Eyjafjallajokull in 2010. The hygroscopicity of the ash particles is quantified by their ability to uptake water and nucleate into cloud drops under controlled levels of water vapor supersaturation. Evidence presented strongly suggests that ash uptakes water efficiently via adsorption and a simple parameterization of ash hygroscopicity is developed for use in ash plume and atmospheric models.
Endomyces tetrasperma, sp. n

A new fungal species has been described and placed in the genus Endomyces. Endomyces tetrasperma forms a true septate, multinucleate mycelium which breaks up into arthrospores. Ascus formation occurs after isogamous copulation between sexual protuberances which develop at the ends of arthrospores or between two cells, adjacent mycelial cells, or arthrospores. The asci which dehisce at maturity release two to four smooth, ovoid, thick-walled spores, each containing two oil droplets. The proposed life cycle is based on morphological and cytological observations.
DOES RISK OF NEST FAILURE OR ADULT PREDATION INFLUENCE HATCHING PATTERNS OF THE GREEN-RUMPED PARROTLET?

Abstract Parent birds may adjust the onset of incubation to minimize periods of high risk of nest failure due to predation (the Nest Failure Hypothesis) or of mortality to adult birds (the Adult Predation Hypothesis). We examine temporal patterns of risk of nest failure and predation on adult females in a population of Green-rumped Parrotlets (Forpus passerinus) to determine whether those patterns explain observed patterns of incubation. Over one-third of nests (38.6%) failed completely, and an additional 2.2% failed after fledging one or more young. Most nests failed due to predation and infanticide. Because parrotlets begin incubation on the first egg, we examined a range of hypothetical failure rates for the period prior to the onset of incubation. Daily survival probabilities for nests were higher during the nestling stage than during incubation or fledging. Survival of adult females varied little through the nesting cycle, but was highest while attending nestlings. Model predictions were highly depen...