cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES DRIVING BIOTIC HOMOGENIZATION: TESTING A MECHANISTIC MODEL USING FISH FAUNAS

Biotic homogenization, the process of gradual replacement of native biotas by nonindigeous and locally expanding nonnative species, is rapidly diminishing the re- gional distinctiveness of global terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Although the empirical study of biotic homogenization is substantial and growing, the mechanisms underlying its dynamics remain poorly understood. We recently developed a theoretical model that predicts levels of biotic homogenization or differentiation (i.e., decreased community similarity) according to a series of distinct mechanisms that describe the outcomes of various inter- actions between native species, nonnative species, and the environment. Here, we test this model using empirical data for freshwater fish faunas in the United States at three spatial scales: the entire continent, zoogeographic provinces in California, and watersheds within these provinces. Our analysis reveals that, in general, mechanisms depicting widespread introductions of cosmopolitan species and either no or differential spatial patterns of native- species extirpations explain fish-community homogenization across multiple spatial scales. Our results also highlight the potential effect of spatial grain on the perceived importance of different invasion-extinction scenarios shaping patterns of homogenization and differ- entiation. Next, we discuss the utility of the model for providing insight into the dominant ecological processes likely driving the homogenization of other major taxonomic groups that currently lack quantitative estimates of community change. Our study is the first to quantitatively examine the relative importance of different ecological mechanisms that can generate observed patterns of biotic homogenization. Using this model may allow advance prediction of future patterns of homogenization by explicitly considering underlying eco- logical processes and mechanisms.
Digital Games: A Motivational Perspective

Information technologies have improved dramatically in the last decade, enhancing the potential of digital games to create realistic and engaging environments where players use different cognitive approaches to solve problems, such as, thinking outside of the box, collaborating in groups and searching for information. Unfortunately not all genres of digital games have taken advantage of the new technology and game design knowledge now available. Commercial and educational games have evolved in different ways. For instance, while the commercial game market has experienced continuous growth, the educational game market is almost non-existent. Users’ preference for commercial games indicates that people have different motivations for playing commercial games and for playing educational games. Motivation theories provide a framework to study how users engage with these games, so that designers can apply the best features of both computer applications to create powerful learning tools.
HL-A leukocyte antigen studies in women with gestational trophoblastic neoplasms.

Abstract HL-A histocompatibility antigen typing has been carried out in 31 women with gestational trophoblastic neoplasms, their husbands, and 50 of 62 offspring in the 26 families in which there are living offspring. In 15 families it was possible to study the child associated with the pregnancy giving rise to the gestational choriocarcinoma. Histocompatibility between the mother and fetus associated with choriocarcinoma, based on HL-A leukocyte antigen specificities, was found in 2 of the 15 families studied, and possible compatibility was found in one other such family. Possible histocompatible matings were found in 5 of the other 16 families studied. This incidence is higher than would be expected in random matings. There was no correlation between compatibility and presence of metastases. Cure by chemotherapy occurred in the presence of compatibility. Failure to respond to chemotherapy occurred in one incompatible mating.
Optimal zero-aliasing space compaction of test responses

Many built-in self-testing (BIST) schemes compress the test responses from a k-output circuit to q signature streams, where q/spl Lt/k, a process termed space compaction. The effectiveness of such a compaction method can be measured by its compaction ratio c=k/q. A high compaction ratio can introduce aliasing, which occurs when a faulty test response maps to the fault-free signature. We investigate the problem of designing zero-aliasing space compaction circuits with maximum compaction ratio c/sub max/. We introduce a graph representation of test responses to study the space compaction process and relate space compactor design to a graph coloring problem. Given a circuit under test, a fault model, and a test set, we determine q/sub min/, which yields c/sub max/=k/q/sub min/. This provides a fundamental bound on the cost of signature-based BIST. We show that q/sub min//spl les/2 for all the ISCAS 85 benchmark circuits. We develop a systematic design procedure for the synthesis of space compaction circuits and apply it to a number of ISCAS 85 circuits. Finally, we describe multistep compaction, which allows zero aliasing to be achieved with any q, even when q/sub min/>1.
Diagnostic and Possible Therapeutic Application of a Monoclonal Antibody (14G8) Directed Against botulinum Type C Neurotoxin

A monoclonal antibody, designated 14G8, detected Clostridium botulinum type C neurotoxin in immunoassays requiring native confirmation of the analyte. 14G8 bound to the light chain of the type C neurotoxin, which is conserved between strains of C. botulinum type C and C/d mosaic neurotoxins. 14G8 did not react to any other serotypes of C. botulinum neurotoxins. In mouse phrenic nerve-hemidiaphragm assays, 14G8, when combined with a second antibody (5D9-H9-A9, which reacts to epitopes on the carboxy terminus of the heavy chain), was able to protect the mouse myoneural junction from intoxication with C. botulinum type C neurotoxin. When used individually, both 14G8 and 5D9-H9-G9 antibodies slowed the loss of twitch tension in the mouse phrenic nerve-hemidiaphragm assays, but did not completely protect the phrenic nerve from paralysis. In in vivo mouse botulinum neurotoxin type C challenge studies, the combination of 14G8 and 5D9-H9-A9 significantly increased mean time-to-death and survival when compared to toxin controls and mice receiving only one of the monoclonal antibodies. These results suggest that the 14G8 monoclonal antibody could have useful therapeutic applications.
Fabrication and characterization of narrow-band Bragg-reflection filters in silicon-on-insulator ridge waveguides

We describe the design, fabrication and measurement of an integrated-optical Bragg grating filter, operating at a freespace wavelength of 1543 nm, based upon a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) ridge waveguide. The measured spectral response for a 4-mm long grating has a bandwidth of 15 GHz (0.12 nm), and shows good agreement with theoretical predictions.
An Idealized Model Study Relevant to the Dynamics of the Midwinter Minimum of the Pacific Storm Track

The synoptic variability of a two-level quasigeostrophic flow in response to plausible changes in the forcing of a localized baroclinic jet is investigated in the context of the midwinter minimum of the Pacific storm track (MWM). The changes in the model forcing are introduced in terms of a reference potential vorticity field that is associated with plausible changes in the global baroclinicity, zonal variation of the baroclinicity, and horizontal deformation over the Pacific from early winter to midwinter conditions. It is found that the modal instability growth rate of perturbation in such a localized jet is significantly reduced in spite of an increase in the local baroclinicity. The dynamical nature of such an effect can be interpreted as a generalized barotropic governor effect on localized baroclinic instability. The existence of three instability regimes is established on the basis of energetics characteristics. The intensity of the nonlinear model storm track is reduced by about 30% in response to a change in the forcing condition from early to midwinter. The characteristics of the linear model storm track and nonlinear model storm track are compared. The overall results support a hypothesis that MWM could stem from a sufficiently large increase in the stabilizing influence of the local barotropic process in spite of a simultaneous increase in its local baroclinicity in the Pacific jet from early to midwinter.
Power analysis for clustered non-continuous responses in multicenter trials

Power analysis for multi-center randomized control trials is quite difficult to perform for non-continuous responses when site differences are modeled by random effects using the generalized linear mixed-effects model (GLMM). First, it is not possible to construct power functions analytically, because of the extreme complexity of the sampling distribution of parameter estimates. Second, Monte Carlo (MC) simulation, a popular option for estimating power for complex models, does not work within the current context because of a lack of methods and software packages that would provide reliable estimates for fitting such GLMMs. For example, even statistical packages from software giants like SAS do not provide reliable estimates at the time of writing. Another major limitation of MC simulation is the lengthy running time, especially for complex models such as GLMM, especially when estimating power for multiple scenarios of interest. We present a new approach to address such limitations. The proposed approach d...
The Pituitary-Gonadal Axis in Spinal Cord Injury

Our study documented that serum levels of luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, testosterone, and estradiol in 14 of 15 males with spinal cord injury (SCI) were within the normal range of those of age-matched controls. One patient had gynecomastia with compensated gonadal insufficiency of undetermined etiology. Five males with SCI showed a normal rise in serum testosterone levels following stimulation with human chorionic gonadotropin. Testicular biopsy in one of two males with SCI showed spermatogenic arrest. One of the biopsies showed immunoglobulin G immunofluorescence around the seminiferous tubule; the other demonstrated immunoglobulin A immunofluorescence in the spermatogonia. These findings suggest that, if a high incidence of impaired spermatogenesis does occur in spinal cord-injured patients, it is unlikely to be secondary to hormonal imbalance.
Competition and Innovation in Option Market Models

The equity options market has shown rapid growth and the competition among different options exchanges and trading platforms has intensified in recent years. As growth and competition in the U.S. options market continues, it becomes increasingly important for market participants to evaluate market quality in different options trading venues. A sound comparison of market quality among the competing trading markets requires a clear understanding of their specific market structures, since each venue attempts to differentiate itself with a unique value proposition. This article provides a review of the market microstructures of the major options exchanges and trading platforms in the United States. Using a sample period around the entry of the NASDAQ Options Market and the BATS Options Exchange, it analyzes the competition for trading volume in the options industry, investigates the characteristics of trades and execution costs in the major options exchanges and trading platforms, and examines the determinants of execution location for trades. It shows that during the first three months of their operations, the NASDAQ Options Market and BATS Options Exchange do not make a big impact on the trading volumes of the other options exchanges. It also finds that the NASDAQ Options Market has the smallest quoted spread and effective spread values for equity options among the seven exchanges during the first three months of its market entry. The BATS Options Exchange shows lower average trade size and average dollar trade size, and does not demonstrate competitive execution quality indicators or competitive execution costs in the earlier months of its operation. A probit analysis confirms that in spite of the increasingly complex and nuanced nature of options exchange competition, the main factors determining execution location for new market entrants are: i) posting quotes at the NBBO; and ii) being alone at the NBBO.
An Origami-Inspired Self-Deployable Array

The objective of this paper is to show the development of a compact, self-deploying array based on the tapered map fold. The tapered map fold was modified by applying an elastic membrane to one side of the array and adequately spacing the panels adjacent to valley folds. Through this approach, the array can be folded into a fully dense volume when stowed. The panels are dimensioned to account for the panel thickness when folded, which otherwise would prevent the model from reaching a fully dense form.The folding motion is achieved by creating a rigid-foldable model of the origami-inspired crease pattern. The paper discusses a variety of approaches for creating rigid origami from the map fold, including pleat hinges and spacer panels. The tapered map fold is rigid-foldable through the incorporation of tapered spacer panels. By choosing appropriate values for the angles and tapered spacer panel dimensions, the tapered map fold is fully dense when stowed. The tapered spacer panels also enable the model to have a single degree of freedom of actuation. Stored strain energy in the elastic membrane enables self-actuation of the model. Applying a membrane also simplifies fabrication of the array.Potential applications for the array include a collapsible solar array, or other military or backpacking applications.Copyright © 2013 by ASME
Halley's Methods for Solving Equations

(1938). Halley's Methods for Solving Equations. The American Mathematical Monthly: Vol. 45, No. 1, pp. 11-17.
Point-Counterpoint: is it ethical to give drugs covertly to people with dementia? No: Covert medication is paternalistic.

A recent study of covertly medicating patients who have dementia has exposed this form of deception as a fairly widespread phenomenon in the medical community.1 These findings may prompt an uncomfortable selfawareness in readers. A “pill in the sandwich” is not a benign gesture. It should never be undertaken without thoughtful consideration of the circumstances, the possible consequences, and the practice of good care. It is rarely ethically justifiable.
Effectiveness of crossover transseptal vasoepididymostomy in treating complex obstructive azoospermia

Objective To review the indications, surgical technique, and results of crossover transseptal vasoepididymostomies for treatment of complex obstructive azoospermia and oligospermia. Design Retrospective review of our experience with crossover transseptal end-to-side vasoepididymostomies in 10 men. Interventions Ten men underwent crossover transseptal end-to-side vasoepididymostomies. Nine men had primary and one had secondary infertility. Seven men were azoospermic, and the remaining 3 had severe oligospermia (sperm density 6 /mL). All had a combination of irreparable ipsilateral ductal obstruction or agenesis with a normal testis and a poorly functional or absent contralateral testis. Contralateral testicular atrophy was associated with a prior hernia repair in 3 men, varicocele-induced atrophy in 2, and severe orchitis in 2. Cryptorchidism, testicular torsion, and one unknown cause were reported for three others. Congenital absence of the vas deferens caused the ipsilateral ductal pathology in 5 men. Three men had a vas injury from pediatric inguinal surgery, and 2 had an idiopathic vas obstruction. Results Twelve microsurgical crossover transseptal vasoepididymostomies were performed (2 men had repeat procedures). Anastomosis was performed to the caput in five men, the corpus in two, and the cauda in three men. Eight of nine men followed for 6 months or more had sperm in their ejaculate. Two of seven couples have established pregnancies. Total sperm counts ranged from 18 to 201 × 10 6 (mean, 98.1 × 10 6 ) with motility of 5% to 37% (mean, 13%). Men with congenital absence of the vas deferens had significantly lower postoperative total sperm counts than men with all other causes of ductal pathology: 37.8 × 10 6 versus 135 × 10 6 . No other characteristics (type of infertility, preop semen analysis, cause of testicular pathology, site of epididymal anastomosis) were useful predictors of postoperative sperm counts. Conclusions If there is a solitary functioning testis with irreparable excurrent ductal obstruction or agenesis, a crossover transseptal vasoepididymostomy can restore patency in most men.
Wavelength independent normal incident quantum cascade detectors

We demonstrate a novel technique for normal-incident absorption in intersubband infrared detectors by taking advantage of light scattering from the side-walls of a wet-etched mesa. We fabricate 'spiral' and 'hairpin' shaped quantum cascade detector at a peak wavelength of 6.6 μm, and compare their performance with a standard rectangular mesa. We achieve a peak responsivity of 6 mA/W for the spiral and 12 mA/W for the hairpin detectors at normal incidence, comparable to the 8.8 mA/W obtained for the mesa at 45 degree incidence. We obtain a background limited detectivity of about 3×1010 cmHz/W for the spiral and hairpin detectors at 80 K, compared to 3×108 cmHz/W for the standard mesa. This method to achieve normal incidence absorption is wavelength independent, and does not involve complicated fabrication procedures, paving the way for widespread use of intersubband detectors in sensor applications.
Goethe, West-östlicher Divan. Kritische Ausgabe der Gedichte mit text geschichtlichem Kommentar von Hans Albert Maier: Tübingen: Max Niemeyer Verlag, 1965. Text. Pp. 251. Kommentar. Pp. viii, 445

(1966). Goethe, West-ostlicher Divan. Kritische Ausgabe der Gedichte mit text geschichtlichem Kommentar von Hans Albert Maier. The Germanic Review: Literature, Culture, Theory: Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 304-305.
Arthropods and Fire: Previous Research Shaping Future Conservation☆

Abstract Fire is a natural process in grasslands that maintains an open canopy and creates variable vegetative structure and composition over time. Although there is a wealth of knowledge on plant and avian responses to fire in the Great Plains, there are few generalizations for arthropods. We conducted a literature review to synthesize research on arthropod responses to fire in the Great Plains to offer more insights to land managers, policy makers, and researchers. Overall, we found that there was variation in how arthropod communities responded to fire; metrics of both abundance and diversity were found to respond positively, negatively, or not at all. We then delved into two potential factors that might help us understand this important variation. First, we looked for effects from the amount of time since fire. Although much of the literature focused on arthropod responses to burning in the first 6 mo after fire, there were still both positive and negative results regardless of timeframe. We also hypothesized that taxonomy may provide insights and found that some orders tended to respond negatively (Araneae, Lepidoptera) or positively (Coleoptera, Orthoptera) to fire; however, responses were still variable and likely dependent on additional factors. To help enable managers to make better decisions about fire application, we used the literature to identify three traits—mobility, life stage, and feeding guild—that can predict responses to fire at a species level when research is lacking. Management recommendations vary on a species-by-species basis, but available research suggests that arthropod communities do not simply respond negatively to fire. Knowledge gaps remain concerning the origin of those community responses, particularly in terms of individual species’ responses and specific mechanisms that allow individuals to persist after fire. Future research should focus on theoretical and applied basis for arthropod conservation using prescribed fire.
Macro-Micro Modeling of Solidification of Some Commercial Alloys

Iron-base alloys, that include steel and cast iron, are some of the oldest man made materials. However, they have enjoyed a remarkable longevity because of their wide range of mechanical and physical properties, coupled with their competitive price. Today, iron-base alloys are by far the most widely used casting material (Figure 14.1). While their development has followed the classic path of perception followed by rationalization, it was only relatively recently that these materials have been studied as mathematical systems.
Honoring Richard Ruiz and his work on language planning and bilingual education, edited by Nancy Hornberger

When Richard Ruiz passed away suddenly in 2015, Nancy Hornberger turned the book project they had been working on into a tribute to Ruiz’ lasting contributions to the fields of language planning (L...
Physical and chemical properties of screened-flushed pig slurry waste

Abstract The properties of screened–flushed pig slurry waste using ASTM standard sieve numbers 5 (4·000 mm), 10 (2·000 mm), 18 (0·980 mm), 35 (0·500 mm), 60 (0·250 mm) and 140 (0·106 mm) are reported. Five replications of the flushed waste obtained at the Auburn University Swine Research Unit were used in the screening study. The analysis performed to determine the physical and chemical properties of the material retained on each sieve include total solids (TS), volatile solids (VS), fixed solids (FS), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN-N), total ammonia (NH 3 -N), organic nitrogen (ON-N), total carbon (TC), chemical oxygen demand (COD), total- and ortho-phosphate (TP and OP). A mass balance was calculated from the results of the analysis which showed that approximately 60% of the organic material (as measured by VS), 30% of TKN-N, 10% of NH 3 -N and 20% of ortho-PO 4 -P was retained on the No. 140 screen using multi-level screening. Separation of these components is useful when anaerobic digestion or single-cell protein production using algae are integrated into one waste utilization system. Nutrient retention in the solid fraction will also reduce the land area needed for liquid disposal and concentrate the material for reduced handling.
Cardiac Output: Theory, Technique, and Troubleshooting

Cardiac output is a hemodynamic parameter used by critical care nurses to guide and evaluate therapy. The thermodilution method of cardiac output measurement has allowed this parameter to be obtained at the bedside that is easily performed, timely, and reliable. Despite the relative simplicity in measuring cardiac output with the thermodilution method, it is not without problems. Potential physiologic and technical problems may yield erroneous cardiac output values. Critical care nurses must strive to maintain up-to-date knowledge and skill in performing thermodilution cardiac output measurements to ensure accurate and reliable values.
Retention of Graduate Students through Learning Communities.

This manuscript addresses learning communities (LCs) as a strategy to retain graduate students until program completion. Definitions of LCs and their early development are presented. The benefits of LCs to groups of students with common interests are discussed. In addition, reasons for early graduate student attrition are included. Common models of LCs and characteristics of effective LCs are elaborated. Finally, suggestions for further research are given.
“A Substance Consisting of an Infinity of Attributes”: Spinoza on the Infinity of Attributes

At the opening of the Ethics Spinoza defines God as a substance consisting of infinitely many attributes. Still, the reader of the Ethics will find only two of these attributes discussed in any detail in Parts Two through Five of the book. Addressing this intriguing gap between the infinity of attributes asserted in E1d6 and the discussion of merely the two attributes of Extension and Thought in the rest of the book, Jonathan Bennett writes: “Spinoza seems to imply that there are other [attributes] – he says indeed that God or Nature has “infinite attributes.” Surprising as it may seem, there are reasons to think that by this Spinoza did not mean anything entailing that there are more than two attributes.” In this paper I show that Bennett’s claim is fundamentally wrong and deeply misleading. I do think, however, that addressing Bennett’s challenge helps us better understand Spinoza’s notion of infinity. I begin by summarizing Bennett’s arguments and then turn to examine briefly the textual evidence for and against his reading. I respond to each of Bennett’s arguments, and conclude by pointing out some theoretical considerations that, I believe, simply refute his reading.
Functional and Radiographic Outcomes of the Sauvé-Kapandji and Darrach Procedures in Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Background Deterioration of the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) manifests as pain, weakness, and reduced range of motion. The Darrach and Sauve-Kapandji (S-K) procedures are used when medical management fails to control these symptoms. However, there is a paucity of literature comparing the outcomes of these procedures. The purpose of this study is to compare the clinical and radiographic outcomes of the Darrach and S-K procedures in RA patients. Materials and Methods This is a retrospective, single institution cohort study of RA patients who underwent the Darrach or S-K procedure between 2008 and 2016. Ulnar translation, range of motion, and functional improvement were compared. Results Nine patients (13 wrists) underwent the Darrach procedure, and nine patients (11 wrists) underwent the S-K procedure. The average length of follow-up was 1.3 years. Pain, function, and range of motion improved in both groups. The degree of ulnar translation did not significantly change after either procedure. Conclusion Given their similar outcomes, we found no evidence that the S-K procedure is superior to the Darrach procedure or vice versa. However, when surgery is indicated for younger RA patients with DRUJ disease and ulnar translation, the S-K may be better suited to prevent radiocarpal joint dislocation.
Abstract WMP120: Critical Role of RGS5 in Modulating Blood-Brain Barrier Integrity During Focal Cerebral Ischemia

Background: Recent studies suggest that regulator of G-protein signaling 5 (RGS5), a negative modulator of the G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) signaling pathways, may be an important modulator o...
Discussion of “Optimal trade policy with trade imbalances,” by Mostafa Beshkar and Ali Shourideh

Abstract This note discusses the article “Optimal Trade Policy with Trade Imbalances” by Mostafa Beshkar and Ali Shourideh.
Using Pre-trained Embeddings to Detect the Intent of an Email

This research studies the problem of email overload and proposes a system that automatically detects whether the email is "to read" or "to do". The goal of our research is to test if we could automate both the features extraction and sentence classification phases by using word embedding. We propose to achieve this goal using a simple feature-based adaptation approach, where email's sentences are represented as dense numeric vectors of reduced dimensionality using either word embeddings or sentence encodings. Given that several types of word embeddings and sentence encodings exist, we compare email's sentence representations corresponding to different word embeddings and sentence encodings with the goal of understanding what embeddings/encodings are more suitable for use in the task of detecting the intent of an email. Our experimental results using three different types of embeddings: context-free word embeddings (word2vec and GloVe), contextual word embeddings (ELMo and BERT), and sentence embeddings (DAN-based Universal Sentence Encoder and Transformer-based Universal Sentence Encoder) suggest that the email's sentences representations based on ELMo embeddings produce better results than the representations that use other embeddings. We achieved an accuracy of 90.10%, comparing with word2vec (82.02%), BERT (58.08%), DAN-based USE (86.66%), and Transformer-based USE (88.16%).
CNN based Multi-View Object Detection and Association

We present a system capable of detecting and associating traffic participants in camera images with different points of view to a street scene. Our system is based on a multitask CNN architecture and detection as well as association are performed within the network. The association between different images is estimated without explicit knowledge of scene geometry and camera calibration information.One of the main applications of our system are currently test areas for autonomous vehicles. For this use case ground truth information for testing the environment perception as well as external environment information sent to autonomous vehicles via car-to-infrastructure is of great importance. This is particularly interesting in complex scenarios like big intersections. Our system shows promising results on the association task of big intersections taken from 8 different points of view.
Case report: adult-onset manifesting heterozygous glycogen storage disease type IV with dilated cardiomyopathy and absent late gadolinium enhancement on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging.

Background Glycogen storage disease type IV (GSD IV; Andersen's disease) is a rare autosomal recessive disease caused by mutation in the GBE1 gene. Presentation of GSD IV varies on a continuum of severity and symptomatology ranging from neonatal death to mild adult-onset disease with variable involvement of hepatic, muscular, neurologic, dermatologic, and cardiac systems. Cardiomyopathy seen in GSD IV is also heterogeneous and its appearance on cardiac magnetic resonance imaging (CMR) is rarely described. Case summary A 29-year-old man without previous medical history was admitted to our facility multiple times over 2 years for focal sensorimotor deficits, gout arthropathy, chronic hyperlactataemia and hyperuricaemia, and severe decompensated non-ischaemic cardiomyopathy complicated by episodes of thromboembolic organ infarction. Echocardiography and CMR showed severe biventricular failure with the presence of intraventricular thrombi with increased right ventricular trabeculation and absent late gadolinium enhancement. He underwent muscle biopsy which showed prominent glycogen in skeletal muscle followed by genetic testing showing a single heterozygous splicing mutation c.993-1G>T found at the junction of intron 7 and exon 8 of the GBE1 gene which had not previously been reported and was predicted to be pathologic. He was referred to a tertiary care centre with glycogen storage disease specialists but expired prior to establishing care at that facility. Discussion Discovery of GSD IV in our patient was unexpected due to a highly variant clinical presentation. Our case stresses the clinical heterogeneity of GSD IV and the importance of genetic sequencing studies in the evaluation of potential glycogen storage disease.
Would adopting a revised landmark rule for the spinal level of the iliac crests improve the accuracy of lumbar level identification

This is a secondary analysis of two previous systematic reviews demonstrating cephalad bias in using palpation to enumerate lumbopelvic levels, based on the conventional landmark rule that the spinal level of the palpated iliac crests=L4. Our study included 7 articles which enumerated lumbopelvic levels based on this rule, and furthermore reported data such that the direction and magnitude of errors could be abstracted from the article. The primary goal was to determine if enumeration accuracy would have improved had examiners known that the spinal level of palpated crests was closer to the L3-4 or L3 spinal level, as shown in our previous review. For the articles included, the mean error in spinal level enumeration diminished from 0.79 to -0.21 spinal levels, while accuracy increased from 26.3% to 46.9%. Since accuracy remained <50%, further refinements in iliac crest palpation are unlikely to improve enumeration accuracy, suggesting another method might best be sought.
Side-chain thioamides as fluorescence quenching probes.

Thioamides, single atom oxygen-to-sulfur substitutions of canonical amide bonds, can be valuable probes for protein folding and protease studies. Here, we investigate the fluorescence quenching properties of thioamides incorporated into the side-chains of amino acids. We synthesize and incorporate Fmoc-protected, solid-phase peptide synthesis building blocks for introducing Ne -thioacetyl-lysine and γ-thioasparagine. Using rigid model peptides, we demonstrate the distance-dependent fluorescence quenching of these thioamides. Furthermore, we describe attempts to incorporate of Ne -thioacetyl-lysine into proteins expressed in Escherichia coli using amber codon suppression.
Deletion of ubiquitin ligase Nedd4l exacerbates ischemic brain damage

Ubiquitination by Nedd4 (neuronally expressed developmentally downregulated 4) family of HECT type E3 ligases plays a key role in degrading misfolded and damaged proteins, and its disruption leads ...
Suspected Lower Extremity Ischemia After End-to-Side Femoral Arterial Grafting for VA-ECMO

Lower extremity ischemic complications are frequently encountered after femoral cannulation for venoarterial extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (VA-ECMO). Many are attributed to mechanical obstruction of distal arterial blood flow related to intraluminal positioning of the arterial cannula. Routine use of distal perfusion catheters is ineffective at eliminating the development of these serious complications. Side- arm grafting instead of direct arterial cannulation is suggested as an alternative. Here, the authors present a case wherein a patient developed suspected lower extremity ischemia from hyperperfusion after femoral VA-ECMO cannulation during use of an arterial side- arm graft, calling into question the benefits of this cannulation strategy.
Flow Table Security in SDN: Adversarial Reconnaissance and Intelligent Attacks

The performance-driven design of SDN architectures leaves many security vulnerabilities, a notable one being the communication bottleneck between the controller and the switches. Functioning as a cache between the controller and the switches, the flow table mitigates this bottleneck by caching flow rules received from the controller at each switch, but is very limited in size due to the high cost and power consumption of the underlying storage medium. It thus presents an easy target for attacks. Observing that many existing defenses are based on simplistic attack models, we develop a model of intelligent attacks that exploit specific cache-like behaviors of the flow table to infer its internal configuration and state, and then design attack parameters accordingly. Our evaluations show that such attacks can accurately expose the internal parameters of the target flow table and cause measurable damage with the minimum effort.
Discrete element modeling of bonded soil mixtures under uniaxial compression and indirect tension test

Abstract In this study, a discrete element model was developed for cemented soil mixtures using random irregular particle assembly having different micro bond intensities. Micro-scale model parameters were determined from macro properties obtained from laboratory compression test and calibrated based on the actual stress-strain behavior. Calibrated micro properties were used to simulate the indirect tension test of the mixtures. The simulations of DEM presented the defined distribution of tensile, compressive, and shear forces as well as microdamage at different stages of loading. It was found that the prediction of indirect tension test simulation agreed well with the actual stress-strain behavior of soil mixtures.
Nonlinear net ankle quasi-stiffness reduces error and changes with speed but not load carried.

Abstract Background Natural ankle quasi-stiffness (NAS) is a key metric used to personalize orthotic and prosthetic ankle-foot devices. NAS has traditionally been defined as the average slope (i.e. linear regression) of the net ankle moment vs. ankle angle curve during stance. However, NAS appears to have nonlinear characteristics. Characterizing nonlinear NAS across a wide range of tasks will enable us to incorporate these attributes into future orthotic and prosthetic ankle-foot device designs. Research question Does nonlinear NAS change across multiple intensities of walking, running, and load carriage tasks? Methods This observational study examined 22 young, healthy individuals as they walked, ran, and walked while carrying a load at three intensities (speed or load). Linear, quadratic, and cubic regressions were done on the net ankle moment vs. ankle angle curve over three phases of stance: impact, loading, and push-off. RMSE between regressions and measured data were computed to determine regression accuracy, and multilevel linear models (MLMs) were used to determine significant differences between coefficients across intensities. Results Quadratic and cubic regressions of NAS had significantly lower RMSE than linear NAS for all phases of stance. Because of diminishing reductions in RMSE between quadratic and cubic regressions, only quadratic regression coefficients were further analyzed. Most first (linear) and second (nonlinear) order coefficients of quadratic regressions exhibited clear trends with respect to changes in walking or running speed, but not to increases in load. Significance This was the first study to our knowledge to thoroughly characterize nonlinear NAS across multiple gait tasks and intensities. This study provides an advanced understanding of the characteristics of nonlinear NAS for the design of future prosthetic and orthotic ankle-foot devices.
GRDN-1/Girdin regulates dendrite morphogenesis and cilium position in two specialized sensory neuron types in C. elegans.

Abstract Primary cilia are located at the dendritic tips of sensory neurons and house the molecular machinery necessary for detection and transduction of sensory stimuli. The mechanisms that coordinate dendrite extension with cilium position during sensory neuron development are not well understood. Here, we show that GRDN-1, the Caenorhabditis elegans ortholog of the highly conserved scaffold and signaling protein Girdin/GIV, regulates both cilium position and dendrite extension in the postembryonic AQR and PQR gas-sensing neurons. Mutations in grdn-1 disrupt dendrite outgrowth and mislocalize cilia to the soma or proximal axonal segments in AQR, and to a lesser extent, in PQR. GRDN-1 is localized to the basal body and regulates localization of HMR-1/Cadherin to the distal AQR dendrite. However, knockdown of HMR-1 and/or loss of SAX-7/LICAM, molecules previously implicated in sensory dendrite development in C. elegans, do not alter AQR dendrite morphology or cilium position. We find that GRDN-1 localization in AQR is regulated by UNC-116/Kinesin-1, and that correspondingly, unc-116 mutants exhibit severe AQR dendrite outgrowth and cilium positioning defects. In contrast, GRDN-1 and cilium localization in PQR is modulated by LIN-44/Wnt signaling. Together, these findings identify upstream regulators of GRDN-1, and describe new cell-specific roles for this multifunctional protein in sensory neuron development.
Comparison of freshness prediction method for salmon fillet during different storage temperatures

BACKGROUND Many new forecasting models have been applied to fish freshness prediction like support vector regression (SVR) and radial basis function neural network (RBFNN). In this study, RBFNN, SVR, and Arrhenius models were established and compared for predicting and evaluating the quality of salmon fillets during storage at different temperatures, based on thiobarbituric acid (TBA), total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N), total viable counts (TVCs), K value, and sensory assessment (SA). RESULTS The TBA, TVB-N, TVC, and K values increased during storage whereas SA decreased. Residuals of the three models are random and irregular, indicating that these models were suitable for predicting the freshness of salmon fillets. The RBFNN predicted quality of salmon fillets stored at different temperatures with relative errors all within ±5% (except for the TVC value at day 6). Relative errors of the SVR model for predicting TVB-N and K value were within 10%, while the relative errors of the Arrhenius model fluctuated greatly (ranging from ±0.46 to ±38.29%) and most of it exceeded 10%. RBFNN model had the best predictive performance by comparing the residual and relative errors of the three models. CONCLUSION RBFNN is a promising method for predicting the freshness of salmon fillets stored at -2 to 10 °C in the cold chain. © 2021 Society of Chemical Industry.
Do coronavirus vaccine challenge trials have a distinctive generalisability problem

Notwithstanding the success of conventional field trials for vaccines against COVID-19, human challenge trials (HCTs) that could obtain more information about these and about other vaccines and further strategies against it are about to start in the UK. One critique of COVID-19 HCTs is their distinct paucity of information on crucial population groups. For safety reasons, these HCTs will exclude candidate participants of advanced age or with comorbidities that worsen COVID-19, yet a vaccine should (perhaps especially) protect such populations. We turn this cliche on its head. The truth is that either an HCT or a field trial has intrinsic generalisability limitations, that an HCT can expedite protection of high-risk participants even without challenging them with the virus, and that an important route to obtaining results generalisable to high-risk groups under either strategy is facilitated by HCTs.
Membrane distillation provides a dual barrier for coronavirus and bacteriophage removal

The persistence of pathogenic microorganisms in treated wastewater effluent makes disinfection crucial to achieve wastewater reuse. Membrane processes such as ultrafiltration and reverse osmosis (RO) have shown promising results for virus and other contaminant removal from treated wastewater effluents for reuse application. However, RO produces a concentrate stream which contains high concentrations of pathogens and contaminants that often requires treatment and volume reduction before disposal. Membrane distillation (MD) is a treatment process that can reduce RO concentrate volume while augmenting the potable water supply. MD is also a dual barrier approach for virus removal as it operates at a high temperature and permeates only the vapor phase through the membrane interface. The effects of temperature on viable virus concentration and membrane rejection of viruses in MD are investigated in this study using two nonenveloped phages frequently used as enteric virus surrogates (MS2 and PhiX174) and an enveloped pathogenic virus (HCoV-229E). At typical MD operating temperatures (greater than 65 °C), viable concentrations of all three viruses were reduced by thermal inactivation by more than 6-log10 for MS2 and PhiX174 and more than 3-log10 for HCoV-229E. Also, membrane rejection was greater than 6-log10 for MS2 and PhiX174 and greater than 2.5-log10 for HCoV-229E. © 2021 American Chemical Society.
Open-Loop Distributed Beamforming Using Wireless Phase and Frequency Synchronization

Coordinating the operations of separate wireless systems at the wavelength level can lead to significant improvements in wireless capabilities. We address a fundamental challenge in distributed radio frequency system cooperation--inter-node phase alignment--which must be accomplished wirelessly and is particularly challenging when the nodes are in relative motion. We present a solution to this problem that is based on a novel technique combining high-accuracy ranging and frequency transfer. We demonstrate the system in the first fully wireless open-loop coherent distributed beamforming experiment. Inter-node range estimation to support phase alignment was performed using a two-tone stepped frequency waveform (TTSFW) with a single pulse, while a two-tone waveform was used for frequency synchronization. The approach was implemented on a two-node dynamic system using Ettus X310 software-defined radios (SDRs), with coherent beamforming at 1.5 GHz.
Preoperative risk factors for lower physical therapy compliance rates after shoulder arthroplasty

Abstract Background Participation in postoperative rehabilitation is thought to be an important step in achieving a good outcome after total shoulder arthroplasty. The effects of common preoperative risk factors on physical therapy compliance are not well defined. This study compared physical therapy compliance rates in patients with and without a history of smoking, mood disorders, and preoperative opioid pain medication use. Methods A retrospective chart review of primary anatomic total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA) and reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (RTSA) completed at a single institution from 2010 to 2015 was carried out. Postoperative physical therapy was conducted using a standardized 12-week shoulder arthroplasty program. Preoperative risk factors captured in the electronic medical record were a history of mood disorder, chronic preoperative opioid use, and tobacco use. Compliance rates in the 90-day global period after surgery were calculated by identifying attendance at physical therapy appointments. Compliance rates were then compared by the presence or absence of these risk factors. Two-tailed t-tests and analysis of variance were used to determine the significance of any differences in compliance between groups. Results A total of 214 shoulder arthroplasties (92 RTSAs, 122 TSAs) performed by a single surgeon were identified. In the global period after surgery, 82% of all physical therapy visits were attended. There were no statistically significant differences between groups regarding laterality. The overall compliance rates for the RTSA and TSA groups were similar at 83% and 82%, respectively, (P = .66). Patients with a history of mood disorder had a significantly lower compliance rate (76%) than those without (85%, P = .004), patients with a history of smoking had significantly lower compliance rates at 79% vs. 83% (P = .05), and patients with a history of chronic preoperative opioid use showed a statistically insignificant trend toward lower compliance at 78% vs. 84% (P = .06). Forty-two patients had multiple concurrent comorbidities, with a compliance rate of 72%. Patients with multiple comorbidities were significantly less compliant than patients with a single comorbidity (82%, P = .017) or patients with no comorbidities (85% P = .001). Conclusion Patients with mood disorders and a history of tobacco use were significantly less compliant with postoperative physical therapy programs after shoulder arthroplasty. Our data also suggest that the effects of these risk factors may be additive, with patients diagnosed with multiple comorbid conditions having the lowest therapy compliance rate of any group. Patients with the identified comorbidities may benefit from preoperative counseling and management of these risk factors to achieve optimal results after shoulder arthroplasty. Level of evidence Level III
Social Movements: White Responses to Racist and Anti-Racist Movements

Pamela Oliver provides a big picture to understand White American’s unprecedented involvement in recent #Black Lives Matter demonstrations. She shows that the struggle for racial equality in the United States has never been Black versus White or a straight line of victories or defeats. A careful look reveals that Whites have been on both sides of the struggle against slavery and Jim Crow, and racism today. They have never been united in oppressing people of color or in enjoying White racial privilege. In reviewing the history of social movements, we should not be surprised that there is active White support for racial justice today. What is unprecedented is the scale of that support. This realization has profound implications for how we view social change and the likelihood that a reduction, if not elimination of racial inequality is possible.