cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
The tensile and creep behavior of Mg–Zn Alloys with and without Y and Zr as ternary elements

Tensile–creep experiments were conducted in the temperature range 100–200 °C and stress range 20–83 MPa for a series of magnesium–zinc–yttrium (Mg-Zn-Y) and mangnesium-zinc–zirconium (Mg-Zn-Zr) alloys ranging from 0 to 5.4 wt% Zn, 0 to 3 wt% Y, and 0 to 0.6 wt.% Zr. The greatest tensile–creep resistance was exhibited by an Mg–4.1Zn–0.2Y alloy. The room-temperature yield strength increased with increasing Y content for Mg–1.6–2.0Zn alloys. The greatest tensile strength and elongation was exhibited by Mg–5.4Zn–0.6Zr. This alloy also exhibited the finest grain size and the poorest creep resistance. The measured creep exponents and activation energies suggested that the creep mechanisms were dependent on stress. For applied stresses greater than 40 MPa, the creep exponents were between 4 and 8. For applied stresses less than 40 MPa, the creep exponent was 2.2. The calculated activation energies (Qapp) were dependent on temperature where the Q app values between 100 and 150 °C (65 kJ/mol) were half those between 150 and 200 °C for the same applied stress value (30 MPa). Deformation observations indicated that the grain boundaries were susceptible to cracking in both tension and tension-creep, where at low applied stresses grain boundary sliding was suggested where strain accommodation occurred through grain boundary cracking. Thus grain size and grain boundaries appeared to be important microstructural parameters affecting the mechanical behavior. Microstructural effects on the tensile properties and creep behavior are discussed in comparison to other Mg-based alloy systems.
A Patient-Adaptive Profiling Scheme for ECG Beat Classification

Recent trends in clinical and telemedicine applications highly demand automation in electrocardiogram (ECG) signal processing and heart beat classification. A patient-adaptive cardiac profiling scheme using repetition-detection concept is proposed in this paper. We first employ an efficient wavelet-based beat-detection mechanism to extract precise fiducial ECG points. Then, we implement a novel local ECG beat classifier to profile each patient's normal cardiac behavior. ECG morphologies vary from person to person and even for each person, it can vary over time depending on the person's physical condition and/or environment. Having such profile is essential for various diagnosis (e.g., arrhythmia) purposes. One application of such profiling scheme is to automatically raise an early warning flag for the abnormal cardiac behavior of any individual. Our extensive experimental results on the MIT-BIH arrhythmia database show that our technique can detect the beats with 99.59% accuracy and can identify abnormalities with a high classification accuracy of 97.42%.
Predictability of PSA failure in prostate cancer by computerized cytometric assessment of tumoral cell proliferation

Objectives. To evaluate the relationship of DNA ploidy and cell proliferation (CP) with Gleason score (GS) and clinical outcome in prostate cancer. Methods. Sixteen patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and 65 patients with prostate cancer classified by GS (four groups: 2 to 4, 5 to 6, 7, and 8 to 10) were studied. All patients with carcinoma underwent prostatectomy and were separated into prostate-specific antigen (PSA) failure and nonfailure groups (failure if PSA 0.1 ng/mL or more three times after surgery). Tumoral CP (Ki-67 inmunostaining and SG2M phase) and DNA ploidy were evaluated by computerized cytometry. Results. BPH were diploid with low CP (8% SG2M cells or less). Carcinomas were either diploid with high CP (greater than 8% SG2M cells) or aneuploid. CP was significantly higher (P <0.001) in tumors with GS 7 or greater than in tumors with GS less than 7 (mean percent Ki-67 cells 18.3% versus 7.8%, respectively). PSA failure increased with GS (7.1% in GS 2 to 4, 21% in GS 5 to 6, 28.6% in GS 7, and 50% in GS 8 to 10), as well as with aneuploidy (18.5% in diploid tumors versus 72.7% in aneuploid tumors). Those experiencing PSA failure had significantly higher (P <0.001) CP than those not failing (mean percent Ki-67 cells 24% and mean percent SG2M 30.4% versus 8.7% and 13.5%, respectively). Cox regression analysis showed GS, DNA ploidy, Ki-67, and SG2M to each be univariately prognostic for time to PSA failure; however, Ki-67 and SG2M were more highly significant (P <0.0001 for both) than GS (P = 0.007) or DNA ploidy (P = 0.002). After adjusting for either SG2M or Ki-67 measures of CP, neither ploidy nor GS contained additional prognostic value. Conclusions. Tumor CP and DNA ploidy can be reliably determined in prostate cancer by computerized cytometry. On the basis of our preliminary results, CP correlates well with GS and predicts PSA failure better than DNA ploidy or GS.
Dynamic Resource Allocation for Optimizing Population Diffusion

This paper addresses adaptive conservation planning, where the objective is to maximize the population spread of a species by allocating limited resources over time to conserve land parcels. This problem is characterized by having highly stochastic exogenous events (population spread), a large action branching factor (number of allocation options) and state space, and the need to reason about numeric resources. Together these characteristics render most existing AI planning techniques ineective. The main contribution of this paper is to design and evaluate an online planner for this problem based on Hindsight Optimization (HOP), a technique that has shown promise in other stochastic planning problems. Unfortunately, standard implementations of HOP scale linearly with the number of actions in a domain, which is not feasible for conservation problems such as ours. Thus, we develop a new approach for computing HOP policies based on mixed-integer programming and dual decomposition. Our experiments on synthetic and real-world scenarios show that this approach is eective and scalable compared to existing alternatives.
Applications of direct numerical simulations to interfacial problems

The fluid mechanics associated with the interface between two fluids, and in particular air and water, is of obvious importance in applications such as remote sensing, and the characterization of the environment. In remote sensing applications interfacial dynamics play a role in determining signatures in the radar, infrared, and visible wavelengths of the electromagnetic spectrum. These dynamics also play an important role in the determination of the interfacial flux of heat, mass, and momentum at the air-sea interface. In particular, accurate estimation of carbon dioxide flux and aerosol production has a direct bearing on our ability to predict climate change. Here we will discuss the current progress that has been made in applying direct numerical simulations (DNS) to some of these problems. We will illustrate the use of DNS to study the relatively simple case of a flat interface subject to shear and an outgoing heat flux.
Crystalline characteristics of ethylene/propylene/1,4‐hexadiene terpolymers and related ethylene copolymers

An improved differential thermal analytical technique which permits the rapid, convenient characterization of the thermal behavior of crystalline polymers free of any influence of prior thermal history is presented. Characterization of both crystallization and fusion phenomena is described for ethylene/propylene copolymers subjected to well-controlled thermal scanning techniques. Parameters describing these phenomena are derived. While they are nonequilibrium parameters, they are reproducible and capable of correlation with polymer composition. the crystallization onset temperature determined by this cooling technique was found to relate to the molar ethylene content of the copolymers by an equation similar to the one derived by Flory5 based on equilibrium melting point. The relationship was found to hold true for a number of ethylene copolymers, including samples of linear and branched polyethylene, commercial EPDM, and ethylene/vinyl acetate copolymers.
Spirituality-Enhanced Addiction Treatment Protocol: Conceptual and Operational Development

Spirituality has been increasingly seen as an aspect of human functioning that needs to be assessed as part of a holistic social work perspective. Research has demonstrated the role that spirituality has in promoting addiction recovery, yet there is a dearth of spirituality-focused interventions that treatment providers can use. The Spirituality Enhanced Addiction Treatment (SEAT) protocol is a social work–centered framework that can be used to augment and enhance other types of treatment approaches. The conceptual and operational basis for SEAT is discussed. Next steps for pilot testing SEAT are explored.
Learning Polylingual Topic Models from Code-Switched Social Media Documents

Code-switched documents are common in social media, providing evidence for polylingual topic models to infer aligned topics across languages. We present Code-Switched LDA (csLDA), which infers language specific topic distributions based on code-switched documents to facilitate multi-lingual corpus analysis. We experiment on two code-switching corpora (English-Spanish Twitter data and English-Chinese Weibo data) and show that csLDA improves perplexity over LDA, and learns semantically coherent aligned topics as judged by human annotators.
BRG1 Governs Nanog Transcription in Early Mouse Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cells via Antagonism of Histone H3 Lysine 9/14 Acetylation

During mouse preimplantation development, the generation of the inner cell mass (ICM) and trophoblast lineages comprises upregulation of Nanog expression in the ICM and its silencing in the trophoblast. However, the underlying epigenetic mechanisms that differentially regulate Nanog in the first cell lineages are poorly understood. Here, we report that BRG1 (Brahma-related gene 1) cooperates with histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1) to regulate Nanog expression. BRG1 depletion in preimplantation embryos and Cdx2-inducible embryonic stem cells (ESCs) revealed that BRG1 is necessary for Nanog silencing in the trophoblast lineage. Conversely, in undifferentiated ESCs, loss of BRG1 augmented Nanog expression. Analysis of histone H3 within the Nanog proximal enhancer revealed that H3 lysine 9/14 (H3K9/14) acetylation increased in BRG1-depleted embryos and ESCs. Biochemical studies demonstrated that HDAC1 was present in BRG1-BAF155 complexes and BRG1-HDAC1 interactions were enriched in the trophoblast lineage. HDAC1 inhibition triggered an increase in H3K9/14 acetylation and a corresponding rise in Nanog mRNA and protein, phenocopying BRG1 knockdown embryos and ESCs. Lastly, nucleosome-mapping experiments revealed that BRG1 is indispensable for nucleosome remodeling at the Nanog enhancer during trophoblast development. In summary, our data suggest that BRG1 governs Nanog expression via a dual mechanism involving histone deacetylation and nucleosome remodeling.
Effects of opiate withdrawal on MMPI profile scores.

A sample of 200 opiate addicts were given the MMPI either during or after detoxification. Results showed decreases in K and in scores on the MacAndrews Alcoholism Scale; and increases in Hypocondriasis and Hypomania, and on the Wiggins Content Scales of Authority Conflicts, Psychoticism, Poor Health, and Hypomania during detoxification. When adjusted for age effects, 5s still showed significant elevations on Hypocondriasis, Hypomania, and Poor Health. Results are discussed in terms of documenting the specific effects of detox on MMPI profiles and may be construed as a construct validation report on the MMPI itself.
On Predictions for Dynamic, Self-Adaptive Techniques in DynDCSP's

In many situations, the distributed constraint satisfaction problem provides a useful way to model real-world problems and apply agent-based solutions. However, more often than not, the problems that we wish to model change over time, and as such map better to dynamic DCSP's than to static instances. Until recently, algorithms to solve dynamic DCSP's (DynDCSP) have been developed and evaluated purely on the basis of empirical testing, and environmental rates of change have only been addressed in an ad-hoc manner. In this study, we leverage a recent theoretical thermodynamic model for DynDCSP's to generate performance predictions that guide parameter choice in the Distributed Stochastic Algorithm (DSA) automatically. The technique is applicable to any algorithm, and allows it to adjust its parameters according to observed environmental characteristics with the goal of maximizing its solution quality over time. We examine the effectiveness of using predicted parameter values from static experimentation to choose appropriate parameters in dynamic scenarios, and consider the impact of different modes of environmental estimation on effective parameter choice.
Domestic Terror (The Sniper Suspect's Divorce Records Show Patterns of Power and Control and Missed Opportunities by the System to Intervene.)

Over the past few months, we have learned much about the violent, troubled life of sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad. Whether or not he pulled the trigger - some recent reports have pointed to his 17-year-old companion Lee Boyd Malvo as the main shooter - there is no doubt in the minds of domestic-violence experts that this adult is responsible for these deaths.While many pundits conclude that we will never know what motivated the sniper suspect, to domestic violence experts his is an all-too-familiar story of a man whose relationships with the women and children - possibly including Malvo - in his life fit the power-and-control dynamic so common to batterers.It is a story that includes regular contact with the legal system as Muhammad's marriages dissolved and issues about his children came before the courts, showing that authorities had the opportunity to intervene and perhaps prevent these multiple deaths and injuries.
Variations in Leaf Miner and Flea Beetle Injury in Tomato Varieties

As a result of a 3-fold experiment to evaluate damage by leaf miners and adult flea beetles, it was determined that the tomato ( Lycopersicon esculentum ) varieties Oxheart and Pearson A had the least tobacco flea beetle, Epitrix hirtipennis (Melsheimer), feeding scars and Purdue 1361 and Red Top V9 had the most. Clark’s Early Special, Rio Grande, and Pearson VF6 had the least larval mines of the leaf miner Liriomyza munda Frick, and Garden State Improved and Oxheart had the most. Varieties with genetic marker genes for jointless pedicels had the least flea beetle feeding scars and those with xanthophyllic foliage and bushy stem had the most. Plants with the genetic marker genes for tangerine-orange flesh-colored fruit had the least leaf miner counts and narrow cotyledon and trifoliate leaved plants had the most leaf miner mine infestations. Plants in genetic markers of linkage group III had the fewest flea beetle feeding scar counts and plants in genetic markers of VIII, I, and II had the most. Linkage groups I, II, III, and VII had the fewest leaf miner infestations while X, VIII, and VI had the most. Leaf miner mine and flea beetle feeding scar damage per plant is proposed for tomato varieties. The data were based on an average of 1.1 cm2 and 0.8 mm2 damage to each leaf by a leaf miner larval mine and an adult flea beetle feeding scar. Proposed number of leaf mines and flea beetle feeding scars to destroy 50% of the plant was 640 leaf mines and 8000 flea beetle feeding scars for plants averaging 40 leaves per plant.
Propagation of human hepatitis A virus in cell culture in vitro.

SummaryHuman hepatitis A virus was reliably and repeatedly propagated in primary explant cell cultures of marmoset livers and in the normal fetal rhesus kidney cell line (FRhK6). Identity of virus ...
Monolithic gyroidal mesoporous mixed titanium-niobium nitrides.

Mesoporous transition metal nitrides are interesting materials for energy conversion and storage applications due to their conductivity and durability. We present ordered mixed titanium–niobium (8:2, 1:1) nitrides with gyroidal network structures synthesized from triblock terpolymer structure-directed mixed oxides. The materials retain both macroscopic integrity and mesoscale ordering despite heat treatment up to 600 °C, without a rigid carbon framework as a support. Furthermore, the gyroidal lattice parameters were varied by changing polymer molar mass. This synthesis strategy may prove useful in generating a variety of monolithic ordered mesoporous mixed oxides and nitrides for electrode and catalyst materials.
Time-frequency Domain Characteristics of Electromagnetic Disturbance in Extra High Voltage System

In order to know the characteristics of the interference of switch operation in 500kV system,we discussed the electromagnetic disturbance in secondary circuit of isolating switch operation in different 500kV AC substations.The data show that the common signal of isolating switch close is of a damped oscillation wave although the common signal of isolating switch open is completely contrary.The values of the disturbance are different in various substations,the highest value is higher than 500V,and the longest duration is more than 4seconds.The analysis of time-frequency domain shows that the disturbance signal of the isolating switch operation is cycle signal,the spectrum of the signal is continuous,and the power focuses on points at 0.833MHz and 1.67MHz frequency which should be avoided in the design of the secondary system.The maximum frequency of interference is 2.5MHz,and the interference is non-periodic and continuous.
Biological Limit Value of Trichloroacetic Acid in Urines of Healthy Adults and Its Determination

[Objective]To explore the biological limit value of trichloroacetic acid in urine of healthy adults in Shenzhen,and provide the reference for diagnosis of trichloroethylene poisoning for Shenzhen city and even China.[Methods]250 healthy adults without occupational contact history of trichloroacetic acid were divided into male group and female group,the specific gravity of urine samples was measured.After separating by FFAP chromatographic column,the samples were tested by flame ionization detector(FID).The retention time and peak area was used for the qualitative analysis the quantitative measurement respectively.[Results]The minimum detectable concentration of this method was 0.15 mg/L,with a good linear relationship at 0～80.0 mg/L range.The average recovery rate was 98.0%～100.7%.Among 250 healthy adults,the determine range of trichloroacetic acid in urine was 5.8～225.1 mg/L,the average concentration was 64.72 mg/L,the relative standard deviation was 1.80,95% upper limit value was 169.4 mg/L.There was no significant difference between male group and female group through t test(t =0.532,P 0.05).[Conclusion]It is suggested that the high biological limit value of trichloroacetic acid in urine of adults is 169.4 mg/L in Shenzhen.
The travelling-wave amplification as a parametric process

The Manley-Rowe relations [1] were originally developed in an analysis of a circuit containing nonlinear reactive elements. Since the original discovery of this important formula, it has been found that there are a number of other physical systems that obey the Manley-Rowe relations. Penfield [2] and Sturrock [3] have shown that any physical system that can be described by energy-state functions obeys the Manley-Rowe relations. Jaynes [4], Weiss [5] and others pointed out the similarity between the Manley-Rowe relations and the well known quantum mechanical expression W = ħω, and noted that the Manley-Rowe formula is indeed equivalent to the conservation of quanta. On this basis, Jaynes [4] was able to establish the similarity between masers and parametric amplifiers.
Potential beneficial role for endothelin in scleroderma vasculopathy: inhibition of endothelial apoptosis by type B endothelin-receptor signaling

ObjectivesMicrovascular endothelial cell (MVEC) apoptosis is considered to be a key event in the pathogenesis of systemic sclerosis (SSc), an increased expression of endothelin-1 (ET1) is also well recognized in the disease. ET1 is thought to exert deleterious effects on the vasculature by virtue of its known vasospastic, proliferative and fibrotic effects, yet ET1 can act as a survival factor for a variety of cells, including MVEC. The aim of this study is to investigate if ET1 signaling protects SSc-MVECs from apoptosis.MethodsThe expression levels of ET1-receptor genes: Endothelin Receptor Type A gene (EDNRA) and Endothelin Receptor Type B gene (EDNRB), and the effects of selective Endothelin Receptor Type A (ETA) antagonists, selective Endothelin Receptor Type B (ETB), and dual ETA/B antagonist in the presence and/or absence of ET1 on control and SSc-MVEC apoptosis were examined.ResultsSignificant increase in the expression of ETA and ETB was noted in SSc-MVECs. Growth factors withdrawal (GFW) resulte...
Example: End-of-Semester Poker Tournament

Prerequisites: Chapter 25 and all theory chapters, in particular Chapters 24, 27, and 32. Each semester my game theory class has a poker tournament, playing either a version of KUHN POKER or a version of VNM POKER. The assignment looks like this. Robot-KUHN POKER (3, 4, 2, 3) Tournament Every student will submit one poker-playing robot and will provide • A nice sounding name for the robot, • The three probabilities that dictate when the robot computer player, having the first move, should raise when facing the lowest value card jack J, the middle-valued card queen Q, and the highest value card king K. •The three probabilities that dictate when the robot should call when facing a jack, a queen, or a king, having checked in the first move and having seen the other player raise. •The three probabilities that dictate when the robot should call when facing a jack, a queen, or a king, having the second move and having seen the first player raise. •The three probabilities that dictate when the robot should raise when facing a jack, a queen, or a king, having the second move and having seen the first player check. Class Activity Create your own robot. What twelve numbers would you choose, and why? Discuss your choices with classmates.
Parsons, Kantian Structuralism, and Kantian Intuitionism

The question is how it is possible for a priori intuition to be “of” objects that are not given a priori. Kant’ own solution to the puzzle... appeals to the idea that a priori intuition contains only the form of our sensibility. This evidently removes the causal dependence of intuition on the object. It is a nice question what is left of the characterization of intuition that gives rise to the puzzle. Kant’ solution seems to allow the phenome- nological presence of an object to be preserved, but it is a further question whether what one has is a representation of a physical object, not individually identified and not really present, or a representation of a mathematical object. The former is not ruled out by the a priori character of pure intuition, as the “presence” might be that characteristic of imagination rather han sense. In fact, a number of passages in Kant indicate that just that is his position. Kant’ puzzle may have force for us, but we are not likely to accept the position that pure intuition contains only the form of sensibility, a central part of Kant’ transcendental idealism, at least not as Kant understood it.
Biofilm growth on polyvinylchloride surface incubated in suboptimal microbial warm water and effect of sanitizers on biofilm removal post biofilm formation

Abstract An in vitro experiment was conducted to understand the nature of biofilm growth on polyvinyl chloride (PVC) surface when exposed to suboptimal-quality microbial water (>4 log10 cfu/mL) obtained from a poultry drinking water source mimicking water in waterlines during the first week of poultry brooding condition. PVC sections (internal surface area of 15.16 cm2) were utilized in the study to grow biofilm. After a 7-d test period, test coupons with 7-day-old biofilm were transferred into autoclaved municipal water and then treated with either chlorine-based or hydrogen peroxide-based sanitizer at bird drinking water rate, to see the impact on removal of biofilm formed on test coupons. Two trials (T1 and T2) were conducted. Test coupons used in T1 and T2 had the bacterial growth of 3.67 (SEM 0.04) and 3.97 (SEM 0.11) log10 cfu/cm2 on d 7. After sanitizer application, chlorine-based sanitizer removed bacteria in biofilm completely (0 cfu/cm2) within 24 h post treatment whereas hydrogen peroxide–based sanitizer reduced the counts to 1.68 log10 cfu/cm2 (P 0.05). Results indicated that biofilm formation can occur quickly under suboptimal water condition on PVC surface, and sanitizer application helped mitigate already formed biofilm, yet chlorine proved to be more effective than hydrogen peroxide.
A patient-centric decision guidance system for detecting glycemia of diabetes patients

We propose the development of a patient-centric decision guidance system for detecting glycemia of diabetes patients. The proposed approach combines the strengths of both domain-knowledge-based and machine-learning-based approaches to learn the detection parameters. The contributions of this work are four-fold: 1) develop the new extended glycemic expert query parametric estimation (G-EQPE) model and the sequential-parallel-modularised (SPM) architecture to learn the optimal hypo- and hyperglycemic detection parameters simultaneously with a lower computational cost; 2) provide the user-friendly GUI tools and the well-defined JavaScript object notation (JSON) schemas for healthcare system specialists to maintain the system operations; 3) enable the specialists to construct the customised JSONiq queries for data manipulation, data monitoring, parameter learning, and report generation; 4) conduct the experimental study and present the superior detection results in terms of accuracy, sensitivity, and specificity by using the learned detection parameters (i.e., 99 mg/dL and 172 mg/dL).
28.2 An 11.4mW 80.4dB-SNDR 15MHz-BW CT delta-sigma modulator using 6b double-noise-shaped quantizer

Quantizers are key building blocks in both continuous-time (CT) and discrete-time (DT) delta-sigma modulators (DSMs). Among various types of quantizers, noise-shaping quantizers such as VCO-based quantizers and noise-shaped integrating quantizers (NSIQ) [1] are attractive solutions since they provide an additional order of quantization noise shaping. On one hand, VCO-based quantizers are relatively fast, but are often non-linear. On the other hand, NSIQs suffer from a tradeoff between the counting clock speed and resolution, but can be very linear. Nevertheless, the NSIQ offers an interesting benefit that the quantization error is inherently available in both time and voltage domains. Thus, the NSIQ can be easily extended to provide an additional order of noise shaping. In this paper, we propose a double noise-shaping quantizer (DNSQ) incorporating an NSIQ and a gated-ring-oscillator-based (GRO-based) quantizer [2] that not only provides 6b quantization levels with a back-end digital integrator [3], but also offers two extra orders of noise-shaping.
The Drivers of the Life Satisfaction of Pro-environment and Non-pro-environment People

Happiness or life satisfaction tends to be the ultimate goal of human beings. It is the intention of this study to investigate the factors influencing the life satisfaction of pro-environment and non-pro-environment people. The data were collected from interviews with 320 adults, who were equally divided into pro-environment and non-pro-environment adults of at least 18 years of age and that had come to the randomly-selected shopping centers in Bangkok. The life satisfaction of the people, regardless of their environmentally-friendly attitude, was assumed to be driven by the personal characteristics of optimism and internal locus of control, and the domains of life of family, personal health, self-actualization, and material possessions, as well as the altruistic and biospheric values of being nature lovers. The results from the t-test suggested that pro-environment people are likely to be more satisfied with their lives than non-pro-environment people. Moreover, the multiple regression analysis indicated that the life satisfaction of the pro-environment people was positively influenced by the biospheric value of being a nature lover, self-actualization, and age, and was negatively influenced by education. The pro-environment people that were never married were more satisfied with their lives than those that were married. Finally, the life satisfaction of the non-pro-environment people was positively triggered by the personal characteristics of optimism and having an internal locus of control, as well as the domain of life of personal health and age.
Inflammatory Changes in Bone Marrow Microenvironment Associated with Declining B Lymphopoiesis

B lymphopoiesis arrests precipitously in rabbits such that by 2-4 mo of age, before sexual maturity, little to no B lymphopoiesis occurs in the bone marrow (BM). Previously, we showed that in mice, adipocytes inhibit B lymphopoiesis in vitro by inducing inflammatory myeloid cells, which produce IL-1β. In this study, we characterized rabbit BM after the arrest of B lymphopoiesis and found a dramatic increase in fat, increased CD11b+ myeloid cells, and upregulated expression of the inflammatory molecules, IL-1β and S100A9, by the myeloid cells. We added BM fat, CD11b+ myeloid cells, and recombinant S100A9 to B lymphopoiesis cultures and found that they inhibited B lymphopoiesis and enhanced myelopoiesis. Unlike IL-1β, which inhibits B lymphopoiesis by acting on early lymphoid progenitors, S100A9 inhibits B lymphopoiesis by acting on myeloid cells and promoting the release of inflammatory molecules, including IL-1β. Many molecules produced by adipocytes activate the NLRP3 inflammasome, and the NLRP3 inhibitor, glibenclamide, restored B lymphopoiesis and minimized induction of myeloid cells induced by adipocyte-conditioned medium in vitro. We suggest that fat provides an inflammatory microenvironment in the BM and promotes/activates myeloid cells to produce inflammatory molecules such as IL-1β and S100A9, which negatively regulate B lymphopoiesis.
Two steps forward, one step back

As the global community moves forward in implementing the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, it is important that we learn from past challenges, especially those related to effectively reaching the people who are furthest behind
Bataille and the Homology of Heterology

‘Definition of Heterology’ illuminates sacred, heterogeneous experiences Bataille never stopped interrogating, in their throbbing movement of emergence. Furthering orthodox disciplines in the sciences of man, Bataille accounts for the ambivalent feelings of ‘attraction and repulsion’ at the heart of inner experiences that constitute the heart of his thought. In this paper, I further a mimetic line of inquiry in Bataille studies and argue that the laws of attraction and repulsion that animate heterology find their polarized foundations in the laws of the socius, which are also the laws of imitation understood in its heterogeneous – anthropological, ontological and psychological – manifestations. Paradoxically, heterology, while being the ‘science’ (logos) of the ‘totally other’ (hetero), may point toward an abyssal experience of a communicative homology that has the power to transform impure matters into pure spirits, angelic souls into material bodies.
Spatial and Temporal Variation in Brackish Wetland Seedbanks: Implications for Wetland Restoration Following Phragmites Control

Chesapeake Bay tidal wetlands are experiencing a broad-scale, aggressive invasion by the non-native, clonal grass Phragmites australis. The grass is often managed with herbicides in efforts to restore native plant communities and wildlife habitat. Management efforts, however, can act as a disturbance, resulting in increased light availability, potentially fostering reinvasion from soil seedbanks. If native vegetation establishes quickly from seedbanks, the site should have greater resiliency against invasion, while disturbed sites where native plants do not rapidly establish may be rapidly colonized by P. australis. We surveyed the soil seedbank of three vegetation cover types in five Chesapeake Bay subestuaries: areas where P. australis had been removed, where P. australis was left intact, and with native, reference vegetation. We determined the total germination, the proportion of the seedbank that was attributable to invasive species, the richness, the functional diversity, and the overall composition of the seedbanks in each of the cover types (i.e., plots). After 2 years of herbicide treatment in the P. australis removal plots, vegetation cover type impacted the total germination or the proportion of invasive species in the seedbank. In contrast, we also found that seedbank functional composition in tidal brackish wetlands was not influenced by vegetation cover type in most cases. Instead, plots within a subestuary had similar seedbank functional composition across the years and were composed of diverse functional groups. Based on these findings, we conclude that plant community recovery following P. australis removal is not seed-limited, and any lack of native vegetation recruitment is likely the result of yet-to-be-determined abiotic factors. These diverse seedbanks could lead to resilient wetland communities that could resist invasions. However, due to the prevalence of undesirable species in the seedbank, passive revegetation following invasive plant removal may speed up their re-establishment. The need for active revegetation will need to be assessed on a case-by-case basis to ensure restoration goals are achieved.
Comparison of Recent Oil and Gas, Wind Energy, and Other Anthropogenic Landscape Alteration Factors in Texas Through 2014.

Recent research assessed how hydrocarbon and wind energy expansion has altered the North American landscape. Less understood, however, is how this energy development compares to other anthropogenic land use changes. Texas leads U.S. hydrocarbon production and wind power generation and has a rapidly expanding population. Thus, for ~47% of Texas (~324,000 km2), we mapped the 2014 footprint of energy activities (~665,000 oil and gas wells, ~5700 wind turbines, ~237,000 km oil and gas pipelines, and ~2000 km electrical transmission lines). We compared the footprint of energy development to non-energy-related activities (agriculture, roads, urbanization) and found direct landscape alteration from all factors affects ~23% of the study area (~76,000 km2), led by agriculture (~16%; ~52,882 km2). Oil and gas activities altered <1% of the study area (2081 km2), with 838 km2 from pipelines and 1242 km2 from well pad construction—and that the median Eagle Ford well pad is 7.7 times larger than that in the Permian Basin (16,200 vs. 2100 m2). Wind energy occupied <0.01% (~24 km2), with ~14 km2 from turbine pads and ~10 km2 from power transmission lines. We found that edge effects of widely-distributed energy infrastructure caused more indirect landscape alteration than larger, more concentrated urbanization and agriculture. This study presents a novel technique to quantify and compare anthropogenic activities causing both direct and indirect landscape alteration. We illustrate this landscape-mapping framework in Texas for the Spot-tailed Earless Lizard (Holbrookia lacerata); however, the approach can be applied to a range of species in developing regions globally.
Morsi’s Dilemma: The Shifting Sands Between Shar’iyyah and Shari’a

This chapter examines President Muhammad Morsi’s tenure in Egypt. It argues that his problem was in his failure to reconcile two conceptions of legitimacy. One conception of legitimacy was championed by liberal-democracy-seeking Egyptians, who associated his legitimacy with the allowance of substantive political freedom, and yearned for individual liberties, political pluralism, and the right to recall the government’s political mandate, as allowed in liberal democracies. The other conception of legitimacy lay in Morsi’s literal justice politics, in which his legitimacy was the result of a formal procedure of elections that could only be (legitimately) undone if he broke the religious contract that mandates obedience to his just authority. As such, Morsi publicly garnered the image of a just leader, portraying himself in public as a righteous Muslim, who enforced public morality, and therefore deserved to be judged on those moral grounds. Although not stated, this conception of righteous leadership as the basis for his legitimacy was principally rooted in Islamist political imagination, rather than in the concrete reality of post-revolutionary Egypt.
Omadacycline: A New Tetracycline Antibiotic:

Objective: To review the chemistry, pharmacology, microbiology, pharmacokinetics, pharmacodynamics, clinical efficacy, tolerability, dosage, and administration of omadacycline, a new tetracycline a...
Cellular therapy: Immune‐related complications

The advent of chimeric antigen receptor T (CAR-T) and the burgeoning field of cellular therapy has revolutionized the treatment of relapsed/refractory leukemia and lymphoma. This personalized "living therapy" is highly effective against a number of malignancies, but this efficacy is tempered by side effects relatively unique to immunotherapies, including CAR-T. The overwhelming release of cytokines and chemokines by activated CAR-T and other secondarily activated immune effector cells can lead to cytokine release syndrome (CRS), which can have clinical and pathophysiology similarities to systemic inflammatory response syndrome and macrophage activating syndrome/hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis. Tocilizumab, an anti-IL6 receptor antibody, was recently FDA approved for treatment of CRS after CAR-T based on its ability to mitigate CRS in many patients. Unfortunately, some patients are refractory and additional therapies are needed. Patients treated with CAR-T can also develop neurotoxicity and, as the biology is poorly understood, current therapeutic interventions are limited to supportive care. Nevertheless, a number of recent studies have shed new light on the pathophysiology of CAR-T-related neurotoxicity, which will hopefully lead to effective treatments. In this review we discuss some of the mechanistic contributions intrinsic to the CAR-T construct, the tumor being treated, and the individual patient that impact the development and severity of CRS and neurotoxicity. As CAR-T and cellular therapy have redefined the concept of personalized medicine, so too will personalization be necessary in managing the unique side effects of these therapies.
Advanced Concepts in Rough Set Theory

In the last chapter, we discussed some basic concepts of Rough Set Theory. In this chapter, we will present some advanced concepts including some improved definitions, their examples and hybridization of RST with fuzzy set theory.
Pain-Related Limitations in Daily Activities Following Thoracic Surgery in a United States Population.

BACKGROUND Ringsted et al created a statistically validated questionnaire to assess pain-related limitations in daily activities following thoracic surgery and translated it to English. We utilized the questionnaire to assess the impact of pain impairing certain daily activities in a United States thoracic surgery population. OBJECTIVES Examine if the questionnaire developed and translated to English by Ringsted et al to assess the effects of chronic pain after thoracic surgery on daily activities would be applicable in a sample of thoracic surgery patients in the United States. STUDY DESIGN Cross-sectional study by mailed questionnaire. SETTING All patients who had thoracic surgery between 6 months and 3 years ago at a university hospital. METHODS We sent questionnaires to patients who had undergone thoracic surgery between 6 months and 3 years ago, yielding a sample of 349 eligible patients. Questionnaire results were statistically assessed for item fit, dimensionality, and internal reliability. RESULTS The response rate was 26.4%. Of the responders, 36% (95% CI: 26.1% to 46.5%) identified themselves as having chronic pain related to their thoracic surgery. Activities such as lying on the operated side, coughing, and carrying groceries were impaired in more than 50% of the patients who had thoracic surgery related pain (P < 0.05). Patients with chronic pain were more likely to report pain in other body locations. Few activities were limited in the patients identifying themselves as not having chronic pain. Statistical measures indicate high internal reliability. LIMITATIONS This was a retrospective questionnaire with 26.4% response rate. CONCLUSIONS Pain continues to impair the daily activities of a significant proportion of patients after thoracic surgery in a sample from the United States. Despite cultural differences, the Danish procedure-specific questionnaire provides an applicable and similar assessment of functional impairment after thoracic surgery in American patients.Key words: Thoracic surgery, chronic pain, impairment, daily life, questionnaire.
Electronic structure and vibrational spectra of C 2 B 10 -based clusters and films

The electronic structure, total energy, and vibrational properties of ${\mathrm{C}}_{2}{\mathrm{B}}_{10}{\mathrm{H}}_{12}$ (carborane) molecules and ${\mathrm{C}}_{2}{\mathrm{B}}_{10}$ clusters formed when the hydrogen atoms are removed from carborane molecules are studied using density functional methods and a semiempirical model. Computed vibrational spectra for carborane molecules are shown to be in close agreement with previously published measured spectra taken on carborane solids. Semiconducting boron carbide films are prepared by removing hydrogen from the three polytypes of ${\mathrm{C}}_{2}{\mathrm{B}}_{10}{\mathrm{H}}_{12}$ deposited on various surfaces. Results from x-ray and Raman scattering measurements on these films are reported. Eleven vibrationally stable structures for ${\mathrm{C}}_{2}{\mathrm{B}}_{10}$ clusters are described and their energies and highest occupied and lowest unoccupied molecular orbital gaps tabulated. Calculated Raman and infrared spectra are reported for the six lowest-energy clusters. Good agreement with the experimental Raman spectra is achieved from theoretical spectra computed using a Boltzmann distribution of the six lowest-energy free clusters. The agreement is further improved if the computed frequencies are scaled by a factor of 0.94, a descrepancy which could easily arise from comparing results of two different systems: zero-temperature free clusters and room-temperature films. Calculated energies for removal of hydrogen pairs from carborane molecules are reported.
Advancing scientific knowledge in times of pandemics.

Researchers at the Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine (PrIISM), New York, describe their contribution to the global research effort against COVID-19 by trying to separate signal from noise in the preprint arena. This Comment article from the Precision Immunology Institute at the Icahn School of Medicine (PrIISM), New York, describes their efforts to provide critical reviews of COVID-19 articles posted daily on the preprint servers bioRxiv and medRxiv.
Real-Time Series Resistance Monitoring in PV Systems Without the Need for I–V Curves

We apply the physical principles of a familiar method, suns– $V_\text{oc}$ , to a new application: the real-time detection of series resistance changes in modules and systems operating outside. The real-time series resistance (RTSR) method that we describe avoids the need for collecting I–V curves or constructing full series-resistance-free I–V curves. RTSR is most readily deployable at the module level on microinverters or module-integrated electronics, but it can also be extended to full strings. Automated detection of series resistance increases can provide early warnings of some of the most common reliability issues, which also pose fire risks, including broken ribbons, broken solder bonds, and contact problems in the junction or combiner box. We describe the method in detail and describe a sample application to data collected from modules operating in the field.
An interpretable bimodal neural network characterizes the sequence and preexisting chromatin predictors of induced TF binding

Background: The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) currently recommends consideration of genetic testing for appropriate, high risk individuals when it will impact medical management of the individual or at-risk family members. Established NCCN testing criteria are based on family history, the presence of multiple primary cancers, and age of diagnosis. For breast cancer, women diagnosed before age 50 are eligible for genetic testing with limited family history; however, these criteria were developed based on high-risk breast cancer genes, such as BRCA1 and BRCA2. The growing use of gene panels has extended testing to include genes associated with a 2- to 4-fold increased risk for breast cancer. Although NCCN guidelines now include medical management recommendations for these genes, it is unclear whether current criteria appropriately identify candidates for testing who have pathogenic variants (PVs) in genes with moderate breast cancer risk. Here, we investigated the age of breast cancer diagnosis in women carrying PVs in genes with high or moderate breast cancer risk. Methods: Clinical testing was performed for 68,239 women with a personal diagnosis of breast cancer using a 25-gene hereditary cancer panel that includes genes with a high (BRCA1, BRCA2, PTEN, TP53) or moderate (PALB2, CHEK2, ATM, STK11, CDH1, NBN, BARD1) risk of breast cancer. The majority of women tested met current NCCN criteria for testing based on their personal and/or family cancer history. The proportion of women with a PV who were diagnosed Results: Overall, 5,231 women diagnosed with breast cancer were found to carry a PV in a gene with high or moderate breast cancer risk. 70.2% of women with PVs in genes with a high breast cancer risk were diagnosed with breast cancer before age 50, compared to only 55.5% of patients with PVs in genes with moderate breast cancer risk (see Table). However, similar proportions of women with PVs in genes with a high (89.3%) and moderate (80.2%) breast cancer risk were diagnosed before age 60 (see Table). Conclusions: Approximately half of the women with a PV in a moderate breast cancer risk gene identified here were diagnosed before age 50. This likely overestimates the proportion of moderate-risk PV carriers with early onset breast cancers, as current testing criteria are weighted towards diagnoses at young ages. Given that there are now medical management guidelines for patients who carry PVs in most of the moderate-risk breast cancer genes, it is important to consider whether current testing criteria developed for genes with a high breast cancer risk effectively identify women with PVs in moderate-risk genes. Citation Format: Gorringe H, Rosenthal E, Kidd J, Brown K, Manley S. Trends in age of breast cancer diagnosis for women with pathogenic variants in genes associated with increased breast cancer risk [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium; 2016 Dec 6-10; San Antonio, TX. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2017;77(4 Suppl):Abstract nr P3-08-04.
From Drag Queens to Leathermen: Language, Gender, and Gay Male Subcultures Rusty Barrett (2017)

From Drag Queens to Leathermen: Language, Gender, and Gay Male Subcultures Rusty Barrett (2017) New York: Oxford University Press, 268 pp.