cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Glass Surfaces versus Paraffin Surfaces in Blood-Clotting Phenomena—A Hypothesis.

It is well known that when blood is drawn through a bare glass cannula or into a glass container, clotting occurs within a very short period of time. On the other hand, if the glass cannula and the container be coated with paraffin so that the blood does not come in contact with the bare glass, clotting may be delayed for hours, or completely inhibited.Briggs has shown in the preceding communication that a quartz diaphragm may be coated with protein so as to acquire the properties of a pure protein diaphragm. Undoubtedly this is due to the phenomenon of adsorption, possibly in accordance with the Gibbs principle that substances which decrease surface or interfacial tension tend to be adsorbed.It occurred to us that possibly blood-clotting was dependent upon the adsorption of some constituent from the serum onto a surface, thereby increasing the effective concentration of this constituent and initiating the clotting phenomenon.Streaming potential measurements showed that a bare glass capillary had a negati...
CORONARY COMPUTED TOMOGRAPHY ANGIOGRAPHY FOR THE DETECTION OF CHRONIC TOTAL OCCLUSION

Coronary computed angiography (CCTA) offers high-resolution anatomic characterization of the coronary vasculature but may be sub-optimal for lesions dependent on real-time visualization of flow - including chronic total occlusions (CTO). In CTO lesions, heavy calcification and distal vessel
Developments in the Archaeology of Nuclear America, 1935-60 *

Archaeological developments in the zone extending from Mesoamerica to the Andes are summarized in terms of the following topics: early man, the origins of agriculture, the interrelationships of the Nuclear American cultures, the ethnic identification of archaeological complexes, horizonal and tradition formulations, the place of Nuclear America in the hemisphere, relationships between the New World and the Old World, the rise of native American civilizations, and main trends since 1935. These trends include increasing chronological control, greater awareness of context, growing interest in culture process, and more clarity and precision in definitions.
Formulation of a Gradient Enhanced Coupled Damage-Plasticity Model

An overview of the formulation of a gradient enhanced continuum coupled damage-plasticity model as a constitutive framework to model the nonlocal response of materials is presented. The formulation uses a thermodynamically consistent framework to introduce material length scales through the gradients of the hardening variables. The development of evolution equations for plasticity and damage is treated in a similar mathematical approach and formulation since both address defects such as dislocations for the former and cracks/voids for the later. The gradient enhancements are investigated as powerful tools for modeling observations at the microscale that are not possible to interpret with classical deformation models. By the introduction of higher order gradients, this model is able to predict the size of localized zones based on material constants, as opposed to local models where the loss of ellipticity causes the localized zones to be mesh dependent. Justification for the gradient theory is given by approximating nonlocal theory through a truncated Taylor expansion.Copyright © 2004 by ASME
How the Ethiopian Changed His Skin

Aksumite elites electively identified themselves as “black” in relation to the paler integument of other Mediterranean peoples. Prior to the fourth century CE, the proper noun Aithiopia referred to the area of northern Sudan. Aksum, however, deliberately appropriated the Greek term for its own geopolitical purposes, partly as a way to write itself both into the grand narratives of Graeco-Roman history, where “Ethiopians” recurrently figure as morally “blameless,” as well as—with their conversion to Christianity—into Old and New Testamental eschatologies that consistently position “Ethiopians” as first in the sight of God. This process of self-definition—achieved under the formative gaze of Hellenic, Roman, and Levantine Others—ultimately allowed ‘Ityȯpyā to become a key, if nonetheless still liminal and rogue, player in the post-Constantinian politico-religious arena, in such a way that both economic and cultural capital accrued to the benefit of Aksum.
Analyzing the impact of bioactive compounds from muscadine grape skin extract on gene expression of Helicobacter pylori

Food consumption can affect the biodiversity of microbiota inside human gut. The human pathogen Helicobacter pylori infects > 50% of world population as a major causative agent of gastritis, peptic ulcers, and gastric carcinoma. In this study, the effects of sub-inhibitory concentrations of muscadine grape skin extract (MGSE) and constitutive polyphenols quercetin and resveratrol on H. pylori transcripts were determined by microarray analyses. Following 15 min exposure, 63, 39, and 29 genes were found to be differentially expressed in MGSE-, quercetin- and resveratrol-treated cells, respectively, with only one overlapping gene detected between resveratrol and quercetin treatments. Of the genes showing altered transcript amounts in response to each treatment, 22% encoded proteins involved in transcription/translation, 15% encoded proteins involved in energy production/metabolism, ~30% encoded hypothetical proteins, and ~34% genes related to other cellular processes, amino acid biosynthesis, etc. In addition, cagA and ureA were repressed in MGSE-treated cells whereas cagA, ureE and I, were repressed following quercetin and resveratrol treatment, respectively. Our results further support the potential use of bioactive plants for H. pylori prevention, and this microarray method may be useful for analyzing primary response mechanisms in H. pylori and/or microbiota upon exposure to bioactive food products.
Low-cycle Fatigue Life of 400t/h Boiler Drum

The boiler drum of a peaking unit was taken as research subject,and the stress state of the 400t/h boiler drum,under the boundary conditions of media pressure,work temperature load,etc.,was calculated and analyzed based on the three-dimensional finite element numerical calculation method.It is shown that stress is the most concentrated on the inner joint corner of the downtake connector along the longitudinal direction of the boiler drum.However,the mechanical stress produced by the work pressure is far more dominant than the thermal stress.With regard to this risk assessment point,the low-cycle fatigue life was studied on differential stress-cycle work conditions.
Rapid characterization of growth-arrest genes in transient transfection assays.

We developed a rapid assay for identifying growth-arrest genes to facilitate studies of cell cycle regulation. A7r5 vascular smooth muscle cells were transiently transfected with two plasmids: (i) a pMSV beta Gal reporter construct expressing beta-galactosidase (beta-gal) under transcriptional control of the murine sarcoma virus long terminal repeat; and (ii) a eukaryotic expression vector driving transcription of a potential growth inhibitory c-DNA under control of the cytomegalovirus promoter/enhancer. Twenty-four hours after transfection, cellular DNA was labeled for an additional 24 h with 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine (BrdU) to label cellular DNA. After fixation, transfected cells were identified by histochemical staining with a beta-gal substrate, 6-chloro-3-indolyl-beta-D-galactopyranoside (i.e., Red-Gal). Transfected cells (beta-gal-positive) that traversed S phase (i.e., DNA synthesis) were quantified by indirect immunocytochemical staining for BrdU. Since autoradiography was not required to score for DNA synthesis, the length of experiments was much shorter than previously described growth-arrest assays performed with transiently transfected cells. Experiments with two growth-arrest genes, p53 and the p21 cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor, demonstrated the utility of this assay.
Efficient synthesis of stably adenylated DNA and RNA adapters for microRNA capture using T4 RNA ligase 1

MicroRNA profiling methods have become increasingly important due to the rapid rise of microRNA in both basic and translational sciences. A critical step in many microRNA profiling assays is adapter ligation using pre-adenylated adapters. While pre-adenylated adapters can be chemically or enzymatically prepared, enzymatic adenylation is preferred due to its ease and high yield. However, previously reported enzymatic methods either require tedious purification steps or use thermostable ligases that can generate side products during the subsequent ligation step. We have developed a highly efficient, template- and purification-free, adapter adenylation method using T4 RNA ligase 1. This method is capable of adenylating large amounts of adapter at ~100% efficiency and can efficiently adenylate both DNA and RNA bases. We find that the adenylation reaction speed can differ between DNA and RNA and between terminal nucleotides, leading to bias if reactions are not allowed to run to completion. We further find that the addition of high PEG levels can effectively suppress these differences.
A cross-sectional survey of occupational history as a wildland firefighter and health

Background Little is known regarding the impact of long-term wildland firefighting on health. Our objective was to investigate associations between duration of wildland firefighting experience and the prevalence of self-reported health outcomes. Methods We ascertained employment, health, and demographic information on 499 current wildland firefighters (WLFFs) via questionnaire. Results Relative to those with less than 10 years of experience as a WLFF, those with 10-19 years of experience had significantly greater odds of having ever been diagnosed with hypertension, as did those with 20 or more years of experience. Significant associations were observed for report of physician-diagnosed heart arrhythmia and previous knee surgery. Conclusions We observed significant links between a greater number of years as a WLFF and self-report of two subclinical cardiovascular risk factors as well as markers of musculoskeletal health. Additional studies are needed to determine if findings can be generalized to all WLFFs.
Moral and Other Realisms: Some Initial Difficulties

Some very similar problems and disputes arise in ethics, aesthetics, and the philosophy of perception. One of the most basic of these parallel controversies concerns the connection between certain features we attribute to objects and certain mental responses that somehow or other provide a basis for these attributions.1 Three examples of such feature-response pairs drawn from ethics, aesthetics, and philosophy of perception respectively are (a) moral goodness and moral approval, (b) funniness and amusement, and (c) something’s being red and its looking red. What makes these and many other examples controversial is the fact that one kind of philosopher (the realist) finds it plausible to claim first that whether an object possesses one or another of these features is independent of and prior to the question whether it provokes the correlative response and second that the response itself is a genuinely cognitive state of mind in some way directed to the feature as part of its object.2 While another kind of philosopher (the mentalist) finds it plausible to deny both these claims and to assert instead that the response has conceptual priority over the feature and that what the realist takes in the response as cognitive of the feature is really some noncognitive attitude, disposition, sensation, or act of will. In other words, the realist regards the response as a response to the feature while the mentalist sees the feature as some sort of construction out of the response. In considering the dispute it will be convenient to have a way of generalizing over all feature-response pairs that tend to generate this kind of controversy; thus I shall take the liberty of speaking of C-pairs (‘C’ for ‘Controversial’) and, in the context of discussing such pairs, C-features and C-responses.
Mississippian Connections with Mill Creek and Cambria

AbstractThis paper reviews the evidence for Mill Creek-Cambria interaction in the western Prairie Peninsula with various regional Mississippian polities. Limited evidence in the form of Cambria trade pottery has been reported from at least five Mill Creek sites. Of interest is the extensive presence of Mississippian-inspired pottery and decorative styles at both the Cambria site and many Mill Creek, Initial variant Middle Missouri sites, which suggests that all are examples of regional Stirling horizon activity. Models for Mill Creek-Mississippian contact during the Stirling horizon are reviewed with emphasis on possible roles of Cambria and Mill Creek with regard to Upper Mississippi Valley Mississippian sites. The conclusion reached is that some Initial Middle Missouri tradition-Mississippian contacts such as Mill Creek were substantial and directed by Cahokia elite, while others were developed regionally with specific Mississippian centers, such as Cambria with the Red Wing locality.
The association of vibratory perception and muscle strength with the incidence and worsening of knee instability: the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study

OBJECTIVE To examine neuromuscular factors that predict the incidence and progression of knee instability symptoms in older adults with or at high risk of knee osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS At the 60-month clinic visit, participants in the Multicenter Osteoarthritis Study underwent evaluation of quantitative vibratory sense at the knee and isokinetic quadriceps muscle strength. At this 60-month visit, participants were also asked about knee buckling and sensations of knee shifting or slipping without buckling in the past 3 months and then were asked the same questions at the 72- and 84-month follow-up visits. We performed a person-based analysis using Poisson regression analysis with robust error variance to estimate adjusted relative risks (RRs) for the association of vibratory sense and muscle strength with the incidence and worsening of knee slipping/shifting, buckling, and overall knee instability symptoms (either buckling or knee shifting/slipping), with adjustment for relevant confounders. RESULTS A total of 1,803 participants (61% women) were included. Approximately one-third of the participants reported incident or worsening of instability symptoms over the study period. After adjustment for relevant confounders, better vibratory acuity (adjusted RR 0.78, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 0.56-1.09), P = 0.020 for trend) and greater quadriceps strength (adjusted RR 0.53, 95% CI 0.38-0.75, P < 0.001) protected against incident knee instability symptoms. Greater quadriceps strength (adjusted RR 0.73, 95% CI 0.58-0.92, P = 0.008) also protected against worsening of knee instability symptoms. CONCLUSION Vibratory acuity and quadriceps muscle strength are important predictors of the incidence and worsening of knee instability over 2 years. These neuromuscular factors are potentially modifiable and should be considered in interventional studies of instability in persons with or at risk of knee OA.
Carl Sandburg: Reporting for the People

Abstract Well after Carl Sandburg the poet had been nationally recognized for his writing, Sandburg the journalist continued to work in relative obscurity in Chicago. Sandburg reported for The Day Book, a small experimental newspaper devoted to the working class and determined to turn a profit without advertising. Filling the role of senior reporter, Sandburg harshly criticized department stores over working conditions and wages, and faulted the mainstream Chicago press for its coverage, or lack of coverage, of such news. As a journalist, Sandburg offers a counterpoint to those who would advocate a passive approach in reporting and to those who would let entertainment and gossip masquerade as news worthy of being published.
Bribe-Taking and Bureaucratic Competition: A Search Cost Model of Corruption

Competition among bureaucrats for bribe revenue has often been viewed as a way to reduce the incidence and magnitude of bribe payments. This paper proposes a model where firms can search among multiple corrupt bureaucrats to find the cheapest bribe associated with obtaining a required service. Competition among bureaucrats can reduce the size of bribes only when all firms can search without cost. When search costs prohibit some firms from shopping around, competition actually increases the bribes that bureaucrats charge. This result is tested empirically using Russia as a case study. Using firm-level surveys and regional panel data I find evidence that more competition within the municipal administrative bureaucracy is associated with larger bribe payments made by firms. I conclude that bureaucratic competition for bribe revenue is not always a solution to the corruption problem.
Characterization of non-heme iron aliphatic halogenase WelO5* from Hapalosiphon welwitschii IC-52-3: Identification of a minimal protein sequence motif that confers enzymatic chlorination specificity in the biosynthesis of welwitindolelinones

The in vitro biochemical characterization revealed that iron/2-oxoglutarate (Fe/2OG)-dependent aliphatic halogenase WelO5* in Hapalosiphon welwitschii IC-52-3 has an enhanced substrate specificity towards 12-epi-hapalindole C (1) in comparison to WelO5 in H. welwitschii UTEX B1830. This allowed us to define the origin of the varied chlorinated versus dechlorinated alkaloid structural diversity between the two welwitindolinone producers. Furthermore, this study, along with the recent characterization of the AmbO5 protein, collectively confirmed the presence of a signature sequence motif in the C-terminus of this newly discovered halogenase enzyme family that confers substrate promiscuity and specificity. These observations may guide the rational engineering and evolution of these proteins for biocatalyst application.
Maternal Influence on Offspring Reproductive Behavior: Implications for Transgenerational Effects

In this chapter, the role of maternal effects in shaping offspring reproductive behavior in mammals is explored and the implications of these effects for subsequent generations are discussed. The role of epigenetic mechanisms in mediating these maternal effects are also explored. Maternal effects can occur across development and influence many aspects of offspring phenotype. When these effects alter reproductive behavior there can be consequences for subsequent generations of offspring. There is evidence for reproductive changes in offspring as a consequence of preconceptual, prenatal, and postnatal maternal environment. Traditional views on the mechanisms through which these effects occur have been limited to genetic germline perturbations resulting in transgenerational inheritance to subsequent generations. However, increasing understanding of the stable regulation of gene expression through DNA methylation in response to maternal cues presents a novel approach to the study of the nongenomic inheritance. From an evolutionary perspective, these effects may represent an adaptive response to changes in environmental conditions to which offspring will be exposed in adulthood. Environments may decrease fertility, sexual receptivity, and maternal care under conditions of severe threat or disruption such that females delay investment in reproduction until more favorable conditions arise. Conversely, when resources are plentiful and threat is low, mothers and offspring may increase the quantity and quality of reproductive investment.
Pervasive cracking of heterogeneous brittle materials using a multi-directional smeared crack band model☆

Abstract A numerical methodology is presented for the plane stress analysis of pervasive cracking in heterogeneous materials. The smeared crack band concept is used in conjunction with the multi-directional crack model to objectively model cracking in a finite element analysis while allowing cracks to form at different orientations. The multi-directional crack approach is able to reduce stress-locking behavior that plagues conventional fixed crack models. An advanced meshing technique is used to generate meshes with smooth grain boundaries and high-quality elements of uniform size. The sequentially linear analysis procedure is used in place of an iterative method to avoid instability issues and to capture the snap-type behavior of brittle materials. The implementation is generalized to allow for the analyses of heterogeneous materials composed of anisotropic constituents; furthermore, elastic stiffnesses and fracture parameters of the materials studied can vary with orientation. The proposed methodology is used to study cracking in a concrete microstructure obtained using X-ray computed tomography. Bulk constitutive behavior and crack patterns are compared with results of other crack methods in the literature. The proposed methodology is also used to analyze cracking within a computer-generated polycrystalline microstructure composed of Voronoi-like grains with the properties of alumina. Using the capabilities of the proposed methodology, a comparative study is performed by varying the tensile strengths along grain boundaries relative to their interiors.
Corporal Hitler and the Great War 1914-1918 : The List Regiment

Adolf Hitler enlisted in the Bavarian Army in august 1914 as a war volunteer. Fanatically devoted to the German cause, between 1914 and 1918 Hitler served with distinction and sometimes reckless bravery, winning both classes of Iron Cross. Using memoirs, military records, regimental, divisional and official war histories as well as (wherever possible) Hitler's own words, this book seeks to reconstruct a period in his life that has been neglected in the literature. It is also the story of a German regiment (16th Bavarian Reserve Infantry, or List Regiment), which fought in all the main battles on the Western Front. As a frontline soldier Hitler began his 'study' of the black art of propaganda; and, as he himself maintained, the List Regiment provided him with his 'university of life'. This is not only an account of the fighting, however. Some of the most profound influences on Hitler occurred on home leave or as a result of official wartime propaganda, which he devoured uncritically. His conversion from passive pathological anti-Semitism began while invalided in Germany in 1916-17. The language of anti-Bolshevik 'Jewish virus' propaganda became Hitler's language, confirmed, as he saw it, by the 'infected' recruits to the List Regiment in 1918.Hitler is here presented less as the product of high-cultural forces than as an avid reader and gullible consumer of state propaganda, which fed his prejudices. He was a 'good soldier' but also a 'true believer' in fact and practice. It is no exaggeration to say that every military decision made by Hitler between 1939 and 1945 was in some way influenced or coloured by his experiences with the List Regiment between 1914 and 1918.
A Data-Driven Reserve Response Set Policy for Power Systems With Stochastic Resources

This paper modifies the traditional security-constrained unit commitment (UC) model to include a reserve policy that aims to preemptively anticipate post-contingency congestion patterns and account for uncertainty, simultaneously. The policy uses post-contingency transmission constraints to predict the influence of recourse actions under critical generator contingencies and to cover a range of uncertain scenarios by defining reserve response factors, which are determined offline using a data-mining algorithm. The main motive is to address both the locational and the deliverability issues that are usually associated with reserve. The performance of the proposed data-driven reserve response set policy is compared against two sets of deterministic reserve policies and an extensive form stochastic UC model. All simulations are conducted on a modified 2383-bus Polish test system. Test results illustrate that the proposed model consistently outperforms the benchmark policies by improving the market efficiency and enhancing the reliability of the market solution while maintaining scalability and transparency. The proposed model can be employed by contemporary solvers with minimal disruption to existing market procedures.
Nonstandard hulls of Lebesgue-Bochner spaces

The problem of finding a representation of the nonstandard hull of L p (μ, E) for 1 ≤ p ∞ (E a Banach space) was posed by Henson and Moore in 1983 (see [3]). A related question was, whether this nonstandard hull can be described in some smooth way in terms of only (Math) and E. We show that the answer to this question is negative.
How Wonder Woman is, and is Not, a Feminist Superheroine Movie

I went to see Wonder Woman in a quaint, small town cinema built in 1912, 30 years before Wonder Woman first appeared in her own comic book. The theater’s long history is analogous to Wonder Woman’s...
Au Nanoparticle Array Deposited Phase-Change Material for Optical Information Recording Using Field Enhancement Based on Localized Surface Plasmon Resonance

In this study, we present a description of an Au nanobead array-based optical recoding mechanism using the near-field strong enhancement induced by localized surface plasmon resonance. Through a numerical Finite-Difference Time-Domain simulation, we find that a strong field enhancement by originating from the coupled plasmon mode can be induced between closely spaced Au nanoparticles (NPs) arranged on the top surface of a recording medium. The calculated maximum power density inside the recording layer in the case of the Au NPs’ density = 55% (λ = 658 nm) is ~ 56% higher than that of the case without the Au NP array. Moreover, our phase-change recording experiment using an Au NP array verifies the functionality of localized surface plasmon resonance-based optical recording.
Sex club/party attendance and STI among men who have sex with men: results from an online survey in New York City

Objective Prior studies have shown that men who have sex with men (MSM) who attend sex clubs or parties are at higher risk for HIV and other STIs than those who do not. We sought to provide data about MSM who attend sex clubs/parties in New York City (NYC) in the era of biomedical HIV prevention. Methods: We conducted an online survey among MSM in NYC (n=766) in 2016–2017 and investigated differences between those who reported never attending a sex club/party (non-attendees 50.1%), those who had attended over a year ago (past attendees 18.0%) and those who attended in the prior year (recent attendees 30.1%). We also conducted multivariable analyses to explore associations with past-year STI diagnosis. Results: Recent attendees were not more likely to be HIV positive than non-attendees. Among participants never diagnosed with HIV, recent attendees were more likely to use pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP, 32.6%) than non-attendees (14.5%) and past attendees (18.8%; p Conclusions Compared with those who had not done so, MSM who attended sex clubs/parties in NYC in the prior year were not only more likely to report past-year STI diagnoses but also more likely to report PrEP use or recent HIV/STI testing. Sexual health promotion among MSM who attend sex clubs/parties should address STI risk and prevention.
Examination of errors of table integration in flamelet/progress variable modeling of a turbulent non-premixed jet flame

Abstract A flamelet model implementation consists of two steps: the generation of a set of laminar flamelet solutions and the integration of the laminar flamelet solutions with presumed shape probability density functions (PDFs) to produce a flamelet table for turbulent flame simulations. Many studies have been done in the past to examine the effect of different flamelet modeling strategies including the effect of employing different laminar flamelet solutions for the modeling. However, little work has been done to examine the effect of different presumed PDF table integration approaches on different flamelet model predictions. This work aims at investigating the source of errors arising from the flamelet table integration. The flamelet/progress variable model is chosen as a representative flamelet model, and three different presumed PDF table integration approaches are compared to examine the effect of table integration on flamelet model predictions. A laboratory-scale turbulent non-premixed jet flame (Sandia flame D) is chosen as a test case for the examination. In general, some evident sensitivity of the modeling results to the different flamelet table integration approaches is observed. The underlying reasons for the performance difference of different approaches are explored, and it is found that a model that preserves the one-dimensional laminar flamelet structure during the presumed-PDF table integration can improve the model prediction accuracy. Different sources of errors involved in flamelet model implementation are investigated, including numerical integration errors, flamelet table errors, and the errors in the predictions of the flamelet independent variables.
Turkish historical television series: public broadcasting of neo-Ottoman illusions

ABSTRACTTurkish television series gained their presence in the global entertainment market being dubbed as Turkey’s soft power asset. However, in more recent years, together with increasing governm...
Sex-biased gene expression in rhesus macaque and human brains

Abstract Sexually dimorphic traits (i.e. phenotypic differences between males and females) are largely produced by sex-biased gene expression (i.e. differential expression of genes present in both sexes). These expression differences may be the result of sexual selection, although other factors (e.g., relaxed purifying selection, pleiotropy, dosage compensation) also contribute. Given that humans and other primates exhibit sex differences in cognition and neuroanatomy, this implicates sex differences in brain gene expression. Here, we compare sex-biased gene expression in humans and rhesus macaques across 16 brain regions using published RNA-Seq datasets. Our results demonstrate that most sex-biased genes are differentially expressed between species, and that overlap across species is limited. Human brains are relatively more sexually dimorphic and exhibit more male-than female-biased genes. Across species, gene expression is biased in opposite directions in some regions and in the same direction in others, suggesting that the latter may be more relevant in nonhuman primate models of neurological disorders. Finally, the brains of both species exhibit positive correlations between sex effects across regions, higher tissue specificity among sex-biased genes, enrichment of extracellular matrix among male-biased genes, and regulation of sex-biased genes by sex hormones. Taken together, our results demonstrate some conserved mechanisms underlying sex-biased brain gene expression, while also suggesting that increased neurodevelopmental plasticity and/or strong sexual selection on cognitive abilities may have played a role in shaping sex-biased brain gene expression in the human lineage.
Angelman syndrome and melatonin: What can they teach us about sleep regulation.

In 1965, Dr Harry Angelman reported a neurodevelopmental disorder affecting three unrelated children who had similar symptoms: brachycephaly, mental retardation, ataxia, seizures, protruding tongues, and remarkable paroxysms of laughter. Over the past 50 years, the disorder became Angelman's namesake and symptomology was expanded to include hyper-activity, stereotypies, and severe sleep disturbances. The sleep disorders in many Angelman syndrome (AS) patients are broadly characterized by difficulty falling and staying asleep at night. Some of these patients sleep less than 4 hours a night and, in most cases, do not make up this lost sleep during the day-leading to the speculation that AS patients may "need" less sleep. Most AS patients also have severely reduced levels of melatonin, a hormone produced by the pineal gland exclusively at night. This nightly pattern of melatonin production is thought to help synchronize internal circadian rhythms and promote nighttime sleep in humans and other diurnal species. It has been proposed that reduced melatonin levels contribute to the sleep problems in AS patients. Indeed, emerging evidence suggests melatonin replacement therapy can improve sleep in many AS patients. However, AS mice show sleep problems that are arguably similar to those in humans despite being on genetic backgrounds that do not make melatonin. This suggests the hypothesis that the change in nighttime melatonin may be a secondary factor rather than the root cause of the sleeping disorder. The goals of this review article are to revisit the sleep and melatonin findings in both AS patients and animal models of AS and discuss what AS may tell us about the underlying mechanisms of, and interplay between, melatonin and sleep.
In vitro exposure of leukocytes to HIV preexposure prophylaxis decreases mitochondrial function and alters gene expression profiles

The use of antiretroviral therapy (ART) as preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is an effective strategy for preventing HIV acquisition. The cellular consequences of PrEP exposure, however, have not been sufficiently explored to determine potential effects on health in individuals without HIV. In this study, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from people without HIV were exposed to tenofovir disoproxil fumarate (TDF) or emtricitabine (FTC) overnight. Mitochondrial mass and function were measured by flow cytometry and an Agilent XFp analyzer. Monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) were differentiated in 20% autologous serum for 5 days in the presence or absence of TDF or FTC, and surface markers, lipid uptake, and efferocytosis were measured by flow cytometry. MDM gene expression was measured using transcriptome sequencing (RNA-seq). Plasma lipids were measured using mass spectrometry. PBMCs exposed to TDF or FTC had decreased maximal oxygen consumption rate (OCR) and reduced mitochondrial mass. Exposure to PrEP also increased reactive oxygen species (ROS) production from monocyte subsets. Compared to MDMs cultured in medium alone, cells differentiated in the presence of TDF (829 genes) or FTC (888 genes) had significant changes in gene expression. Further, PrEP-exposed MDMs had decreased mitochondrial mass and displayed increased lipid uptake and reduced efferocytosis. Plasma biomarkers and lipid levels were also altered in vivo in individuals receiving a PrEP regimen. In conclusion, exposure of leukocytes to TDF or FTC resulted in decreased mitochondrial function and altered functional and transcriptional profiles. These findings may have important implications for the metabolic and immunologic consequences of PrEP in populations at risk for HIV acquisition.
Race and Empire: Legal Theory Within, Through and Across National Borders

In January 2020, we convened the UCLA Law Review Symposium, entitled Transnational Legal Discourse on Race and Empire. In this Article, which also serves as an introduction to the issue that resulted from the symposium, we seek to do two things. Our first objective is to situate this Symposium Issue within its broader intellectual context: renewed momentum among Third World Approaches to International Law (TWAIL) scholars to engage Critical Race Theory (CRT) scholars in collaboration aimed at deeper understanding of issues of shared concern. Our second objective, is to offer a concrete example of the insights to be gained from TWAIL-CRT analysis through a brief consideration of the Libyan case, where humanitarian intervention, counter-terrorism, and migration control regimes in international law cannot be fully assessed absent engagement with empire and race. Mainstream and official analysis casts the international system and its hegemonic actors in the role of humanitarian responders to a Libyan crisis not of their making. Instead, we draw attention to the ways in which the racial framing of Libya—and its subordination to imperial prerogatives—proved critical to international governance regimes for managing the country—and the bodies and territory within it—from 2011 to the present.
Analyticity and integrability in the chiral Potts model

We study the perturbation theory for the general nonintegrable chiral Potts model depending on two chiral angles and a strength parameter and show how the analyticity of the ground-state energy and correlation functions dramatically increases when the angles and the strength parameter satisfy the integrability condition. We further specialize to the superintegrable case and verify that a sum rule is obeyed.
Braided Waters: Environment and Society in Molokai, Hawaii: By Wade Graham. Oakland, University of California Press, 2018. 280 pp., illustrations, maps, notes, bibliography, index. ISBN 9780520298590 (hbk). US$70.00.

In the introduction to this rich, provocative book, historian Wade Graham claims that the small island of Molokai's marginality ‘gives it a focused explanatory power, like a small lens that refract...
The Epidemic Effect: Global Governance Institutions Mitigate the Effects of Epidemics

Epidemics can have deleterious effects on economic development except mitigated through global governance institutions. We examine the effects of sudden exposure to disease on economic outcomes using evidence from the African meningitis belt. Meningitis shocks reduce economic activity and child health outcomes in periods when the World Health Organization (WHO) does not declare an epidemic year. These effects are reversed when the WHO declares an epidemic. We find evidence that the influx of disaster aid in response to WHO declarations may partly explain the results. We document an increase in World Bank health projects approved and funded during epidemic years.
Impact of copper-based fungicides on the antioxidant quality of ethanolic hop extracts

Hops contain a variety of compounds possessing antioxidant capacity including phenolic and polyphenolic compounds as well as α- and β- acids. These compounds may contribute to the oxidative stability of beer during brewing and storage. Hop plants may be treated with copper-based fungicides (CBFs) which have been shown to increase the total copper content of harvested hop cones; however, copper ions are well known to catalyze the generation of reactive oxygen species production in beer and may negatively impact its oxidative stability. Increased copper content in CBF-treated hops has been previously shown to have deleterious effects on the aroma quality of hops and beer. The impact of CBFs on the antioxidant content and quality of hops has not been previously investigated. In this study, ethanolic extracts of CBF-treated hops are evaluated for their metal content and antioxidant quality in order to determine whether excess copper from CBF treatment negatively impacts their antioxidant capacity.
Hormonal manipulation in androgen signaling: a narrative review on using novel androgen therapy agents to optimize clinical outcomes and minimize side effects for prostate cancer patients

Prostate cancer is a significant public health burden and one of the most common cancers globally and in the United States. The current cornerstone of prostate cancer systemic treatment involves the suppression of androgen receptor (AR) signaling, either by reducing the body's testosterone production or inhibiting its binding to AR and its subsequent gene regulatory network driving carcinogenesis. This signaling pathway plays a central role in both hormone sensitive and castration resistant prostate cancer (CRPC), as evidenced by survival benefit when AR-targeted therapies are applied in the setting of CRPC. With the development of increasingly potent central and peripherally acting androgen targeting agents physicians treating prostate cancer can expect to treat their patients for a longer duration with a larger selection of effective agents. In this setting clinicians are now faced with questions of how to best tailor treatments for the prostate cancer patient to not only maximize overall survival but also optimize the quality of life and mitigate toxicity. In this manuscript we discuss the newer hormone therapy agents for prostate cancer and highlight what they indicate about optimizing medical castration, and the potential value of peripheral blockade.
The Effect of Scheduled Intravenous Acetaminophen in an Enhanced Recovery Protocol Pathway in Patients Undergoing Major Abdominal Procedures: A Prospective, Randomized, and Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.

Objective Enhanced recovery protocols (ERPs) utilize multi-modal analgesia regimens. Individual regimen components should be evaluated for their analgesic efficacy. We evaluated the effect of scheduled intravenous (IV) acetaminophen within an ERP on analgesia and recovery after a major abdominal surgery. Design This study is a prospective, randomized, double-blinded clinical trial. Setting The study setting was a tertiary care, academic medical center. Subjects Adult patients scheduled for elective major abdominal surgical procedures. Methods Patients in group A received 1g IV acetaminophen, while patients in group P received IV placebo every six hours for 48 hours postoperatively within an ERP. Pain scores, opioid requirements, nausea and vomiting, time to oral intake and mobilization, length of stay, and patient satisfaction scores were measured and compared. Results From 412 patients screened, 154 patients completed the study (Group A: 76, Group P: 78). Primary outcome was the number of patients with unsatisfactory pain relief, defined as a composite of average Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) scores above 5 and requirement of IV patient-controlled analgesia for pain relief during the first 48 hours postoperatively, and was not significantly different between the two groups (33 (43.4%) in group A versus 42 (53.8%) patients in group P, p=0.20). Opioid consumption was comparable between two groups. Group A utilized significantly less postoperative rescue antiemetics compared to group P (41% vs. 58%, p= 0.02). Conclusions Scheduled administration of IV acetaminophen did not improve postoperative analgesia or characteristics of postoperative recovery in patients undergoing major abdominal surgery within an ERP pathway.
Understanding the Role of Conformational Dynamics in Protein–Ligand Interactions Using NMR Relaxation Methods

Protein conformational dynamics is a central component of ligand-binding processes because it affects the thermodynamics and the kinetics of binding. The difference in flexibility of the protein between the free and bound states makes a significant contribution to the free energy of ligand binding. In addition, conformational transitions are often necessary to allow binding of a ligand and can determine the kinetics of binding. For these reasons, characterization of protein dynamics is essential to understanding ligand-binding processes. NMR spectroscopy allows protein motions to be characterized over a broad range of time scales with atomic resolution. In this review, we survey NMR spin relaxation methods and discuss their application to the study of ligand-binding processes. Keywords: protein dynamics; conformational entropy; induced fit; conformational selection; extended conformational selection; NMR relaxation
Motor units of extraocular muscles: recent findings.

Publisher Summary The eye movement motor control system is characterized by exquisite precision and coordinated synchrony as the eyes acquire, pursue, and fixate visual targets. It is logical to think that the brain stem motoneurons and the muscle fibers that they innervate exhibit comparable precision and predictability. Consequently, the manner in which the final common path extraocular motor units are activated and their contractile forces assemble to produce these quick, stable, and repetitive movements is a significant research and clinical problem. This chapter discusses some of the progress made toward understanding the mammalian extraocular motor units. The principal goals of the studies over the past ten years have been to (1) compare and contrast extraocular motor unit types to spinal cord innervated units, (2) examine how single motor units are distributed within a particular muscle, (3) describe the motor unit forces when driven by stimulation paradigms that attempt to mimic motoneuron firing patterns observed during the eye movements in alert, behaving animals, and (4) determine how single motor unit forces summate as they contract in unison. Most of the findings over this period have been collected from deeply anesthetized, in vivo preparations involving the lateral rectus muscle in adult cats and monkeys.
When to recommend group treatment: a review of the clinical and the research literature.

Practitioners are often faced with the decision about when to recommend individual or group treatment for clients. By reviewing the clinical and the research literature, this article examines the i...
The Effect of Dialect on Phonological AnalysisEvidence From Spanish-Speaking Children

This study examines the effect of dialect on phonological analyses in Spanish-speaking children. Phonological analyses were completed for fifty-four 3- and 4-year-old typically developing Spanish s...
A lattice theory of morphic effects in crystals of the diamond structure

Abstract A microscopic theory of the electric field induced infrared absorption by crystals of the diamond structure is presented in this paper, together with a determination of the modifications in the first-order Raman spectra of such crystals induced by externally applied electric fields and stresses. In connection with this, the shifts and splittings of the triply degenerate k = 0 optical mode frequencies in crystals of the diamond structure in the presence of a static electric field or a strain are determined. It is shown that the shifts in frequencies are of second order in the electric field and are of first order in the strain. In both cases the frequency shifts can be expressed in terms of three parameters. Expressions for these parameters are obtained in terms of atomic force constants and derivatives of the electronic polarizability. The magnitudes and signs of the frequency shifts are estimated on the basis of a simple model of diamond-type crystals.
Astrocytes derived from long-term primary cultures recapitulate features of astrogliosis as they re-enter the cell division cycle

Abstract We investigated whether the initiation of cell cycling by astrocytes prolonged quiescence in long-term primary cultures is associated with immunocytochemical changes that characterize reactive astrogliosis. Primary cultures of newborn rat brain were maintained for >2 months in a stable quiescent state. Partially synchronous transition through a single cell cycle was achieved by trypsinization and replating, and then after 2–3 days, by 48 h of serum depletion and serum shift-up to 10% (time 0). At time 0, the percentages of cells decorated by monoclonal antibodies specific for bromodeoxyuridine (BrDU) after a 2.5 h pulse, and for glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) and vimentin (VIM) were respectively8 ± 2, 15 ± 4and10 ± 3. By 24 h (S phase), 64 ± 7% of nuclei were (BrDU+), and percentages of (GFAP+) and (VIM+) cells were19 ± 4and87 ± 12, respectively. Dual label immunofluorescence showed that >75% of (GFAP+) cells were indeed (VIM+/GFAP+) at 24 h, and that the percentages of (VIM+), (BrDU+) and (VIM+/BrDU+) cells were equivalent for the duration of the first cell cycle (36–48 h). By 72–96 h, (VIM+) cells decreased to