cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
Convergence analysis of a heuristic collective sphere packing algorithm

Computer simulation of random sphere packing is important for the study of densely packed particulate systems. In previous work, quasi dynamics method (QDM), a heuristic collective random sphere packing algorithm was developed to effectively handle large numbers of densely packed spheres in complex geometries. In this work, a theoretical analysis of the convergence of QDM is performed and the impact of algorithm step size on the convergence is discussed. System potential functions that measure the overall system overlaps are introduced and defined. By using different system potentials, the convergence/stability of QDM for a sphere packing domain with and without active boundary conditions is investigated. QDM is proved to be strictly convergent with small step size when no active boundary constraint exists. When active boundary constraint is imposed, the upper limit of step size for convergence and the criteria for step size selection are theoretically analysed and obtained. Our analyses focus on systems packed with mono-dispersed spheres. The mathematical approaches for the analysis, however, can be easily modified for poly-dispersed sphere systems and extended to analyse other collective packing algorithms.
Exciting estimated clean spectra for speech resynthesis

Spectral masking techniques are prevalent for noise suppression but they damage speech in regions of the spectrum where both noise and speech are present. This paper instead utilizes a recently introduced analysis-by-synthesis technique to estimate the spectral envelope of the speech at all frequencies, and adds to it a model of the speech excitation necessary to fully resynthesize a clean speech signal. Such a resynthesis should have little noise and high quality compared to mask-based approaches. We compare several different excitation signals on the Aurora4 corpus, including those derived from the high quefrency components of the noisy mixture and from the combination of a noise robust pitch tracker and a voiced/unvoiced classifier. Preliminary subjective evaluations suggest that the speech synthesized using our approach has higher voice quality and noise suppression than spectral masking.
Black-hole normal modes: A WKB approach. II. Schwarzschild black holes

We employ a semianalytic technique, based on a modified WKB approach, to determine the complex normal-mode frequencies of Schwarzschild black holes. It yields a simple analytic formula that gives the real and imaginary parts of the frequency in terms of the parameters of the black hole and of the field whose perturbation is under study, and in terms of the quantity (n+(1/2)), where n=0,\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}1,\ifmmode\pm\else\textpm\fi{}2,..., and labels the fundamental mode, first overtone mode, and so on. In the case of the fundamental gravitational normal modes of the Schwarzschild black hole, the WKB estimates agree with numerical results to better than 0.13% in the real part of the frequency and 0.22% in the imaginary part. The agreement for both the real and imaginary parts of the low overtones is better than 0.5%. The relative agreement improves with increasing angular harmonic.
Color Doppler imaging of retrobulbar hemodynamics in Sturge-Weber syndrome-associated glaucoma.

PURPOSE. Sturge-Weber syndrome (SWS) is frequently associated with early onset glaucoma in the eye on the same side as the facial angioma. The exact cause of glaucoma in SWS is poorly understood and difficult to treat. The purpose of this study is to investigate the ocular hemodynamics of children with SWS-associated glaucoma using color Doppler imaging techniques. METHODS. This is a prospective study of 10 pediatric patients with unilateral SWS-associated glaucoma. Color Doppler imaging was used to measure the peak systolic velocity and the end diastolic velocity of both the ophthalmic and central retinal arteries in the glaucomatous eye compared to the fellow healthy eye. RESULTS. Twenty eyes of 10 children with SWS (6 boys) with unilateral glaucoma were included in the prospective study. The mean age of the 10 participants was 5.5 years. When compared to their contralateral normal eyes, the glaucomatous eyes had greater CDR (p<0.001) and a myopic shift (p=0.04). No significant differences were found in the measurements of ocular blood flow velocities of the ophthalmic and central retinal arteries. CONCLUSIONS. Vascular pathology has been proposed to play a role in SWS glaucoma etiology. The authors did not find arterial retrobulbar blood flow differences between the glaucomatous and the fellow normal eye. Since the primary vascular anomaly in patients with SWS is in the venous plexus, a bigger prospective trial is warranted in order to better understand and treat children with SWS glaucoma.
New Functional Methacrylate Polymers by Anionic Polymerization

In the early 1960’s, subsequent to the pioneering work of M. Szwarc on the living anionic polymerization of styrene and butadiene, extensive research on the anionic polymerization of methacrylate esters was undertaken by D. L. Glusker, W. E. Goode, R. K. Graham and co-workers of the Rohm and Haas Company laboratories. Their work was augmented by that of D. M. Wiles and S. Bywater of the National Research Council of Canada during the same era, and related studies subsequently issued from many laboratories. (For leading references see Ref. 1.)
Heat-Transfer Studies of Water Flow in Thin Rectangular Channels: Part II - Boiling Burnout Heat Flux for Low-Pressure Water in Natural Circulation

Twenty-nine experimental determinations of burnout heat flux were made with water flowing by natural circulation through electrically heated vertical tubes with and without internal twisted tapes a...
Redox Regulation of Ischemic Angiogenesis – Another Aspect of Reactive Oxygen Species –

Antioxidants are expected to improve cardiovascular disease (CVD) by eliminating oxidative stress, but clinical trials have not shown promising results in chronic CVD. Animal studies have revealed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) exacerbate acute CVDs in which high levels of ROS are observed. However, ROS are also necessary for angiogenesis after ischemia, because ROS not only damage cells but also stimulate the cell signaling required for angiogenesis. ROS affect signaling by protein modifications, especially of cysteine amino acid thiols. Although there are several cysteine modifications, S-glutathionylation (GSH adducts; -SSG), a reversible cysteine modification by glutathione (GSH), plays an important role in angiogenic signal transduction by ROS. Glutaredoxin-1 (Glrx) is an enzyme that specifically removes GSH adducts in vivo. Overexpression of Glrx inhibits, whereas deletion of Glrx improves revascularization after mouse hindlimb ischemia. These studies indicate that increased levels of GSH adducts in ischemic muscle are beneficial in promoting angiogenesis. The underlying mechanism can be explained by multiple targets of S-gluathionylation, which mediate the angiogenic effects in ischemia. Increments in the master angiogenic transcriptional factor, HIF-1α, reduction of the anti-angiogenic factor sFlt1, activation of the endoplasmic reticulum Ca(2+)pump, SERCA, and inhibition of phosphatases may occur as a consequence of enhanced S-glutathionylation in ischemic tissue. In summary, inducing S-glutathionylation by inhibiting Glrx may be a therapeutic strategy to improve ischemic angiogenesis in CVD. (Circ J 2016; 80: 1278-1284).
Uncommon Applications for Continuous Spinal Anesthesia

The role that uncommon agents of antinociception, placed intrathecally, play in the control of nociceptive signal transmission in the spinal cord is described. Three specific agents are discussed in detail: baclofen, a gamma aminobutyric acid mimetic agent; clonidine, an alpha-2 agonist; and somatostatin, a neuroinhibitory peptide. In addition, the efficacy of using an implanted pump-catheter system for the long-term infusion of baclofen and octreotide, a somatostatin-like analog, is reviewed.
Serious Games - Creating an Ecosystem for Success

Serious games have been steadily increasing their use in many sectors of society, yet it seems that a true killer app remains elusive. This paper will review some existing game based efforts and explore what the research and development community is doing to bring game use and game engines more into the mainstream of society. It is the authors'' view that three major impediments that must be worked on in creating the ''killer app'' are related to culture, validity, and business models. Culture is meant to encompass generational issues between users and decision makers as well as organizational inertia. Validity includes a statistically valid methodology that the game performs as intended. The business model entails intellectual property, development costs, and pricing. Each of these items is discussed individually and collectively with respect to creating an ''ecosystem'' of furthering the use of serious games in society. This paper reflects on these aforementioned items through a review of the literature and through selective discussions with experts in gaming education and use. Suggestions are made throughout the paper on ways to continue to accelerate adoption of serious games.
Ligand and base additive effects on the reversibility of nucleophilic addition in palladium-catalyzed allylic aminations monitored by nucleophile crossover

Abstract A nucleophile crossover experiment was used to monitor the reversibility of nucleophilic addition of benzylamine to π-allylpalladium complexes. Dppe, dppp, dppb, and PHOX showed more crossover than PPh 3 and dppm in both DMF and dichloromethane. Crossover was inhibited by the addition of DBU or Cs 2 CO 3 , but much less elimination to diene side products was observed with Cs 2 CO 3 . Analysis of percent crossover vs. percent reaction completion using the PHOX ligand revealed that with added DBU or Cs 2 CO 3 crossover only began occurring after 100% completion had been reached.
ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL SURGERY

Objectives. Arthrocentesis of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) is purported to be an effective modality in the treatment of patients with closed-lock symptoms. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the clinical findings of disk displacement without reduction associated with pain in the TMJ are related to the discovery of TMJ osteoarthrosis (OA) through the use of magnetic resonance (MR) imaging and whether the presence of OA affects the treatment outcome of patients who undergo arthrocentesis of the TMJ. Study design. The study population consisted of 38 patients with TMJ pain who were assigned a clinical diagnosis of unilateral internal derangement (ID) of the TMJ, type III (disk displacement without reduction), in combination with capsulitis/synovitis (C/S) and an MR imaging diagnosis of disk displacement without reduction in the painful TMJ only. Before the patients underwent arthrocentesis, bilateral sagittal and coronal MR images were obtained to confirm the presence or absence of ID and OA. The preoperative and postoperative levels of TMJ function with respect to pain and mandibular range of motion were evaluated and compared. Multiple logistic regression analysis was used to compute the odds ratios for successful outcomes for OA (n 24) versus unsuccessful outcomes for TMJs (n 14). Results. The preoperative data revealed a significant relationship between the clinical diagnosis of TMJ ID type III with C/S and the discovery of OA on MR images (P .048). At the 2-month follow-up, a clinical evaluation revealed a significant reduction in TMJ pain during function (P .000); a significant reduction in the clinical diagnoses of ID type III (P .000), and C/S (P .000); and a significant increase in the mandibular range of motion (P .000). The patients with successful outcomes were more likely to be associated with an MR imaging finding of OA than were the patients with unsuccessful outcomes. (10.4 odds ratio; P .016). Conclusions. Our preliminary findings suggest that the presence of OA revealed on MR images is related to clinical pain; furthermore, OA proved to be an important prognostic determinant of successful arthrocentesis. (Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod 2003;96:12-8)
Binary Compressive Tracking

This paper presents a compressive tracking framework using distributed binary sensors. The goal of this research is to achieve the minimum data throughput for an accurate multitarget tracking system through novel spatial sampling schemes. The framework consists of two main components: space encoding and measurement decoding. The space encoding scheme is based on the low-density parity-check matrix, which converts $k$ -sparse target position vectors into different codewords. The measurement decoding scheme contains linear-programming-based localization and graphical-model-based tracking algorithms, which converts codewords into the states of multiple targets. A posterior Cramer–Rao bound analysis is utilized to achieve the tradeoff between the compression ratio of measurements and the accuracy of the tracking system. Simulation and experimental results are provided to validate the proposed framework.
URETEROPELVIC JUNCTION OBSTRUCTION : Open Operative Intervention

The indications to intervene for ureteropelvic junction (UPJ) obstruction have not changed despite the introduction of newer, less invasive techniques for definitive management. In contemporary practice, open operative intervention is still appropriate for those patients in whom alternative management has failed or is contraindicated, or for those in whom an unobstructed UPJ needs to be assured with the highest certainty--both immediately and with long-term follow-up. Although several techniques have been described for open operative reconstruction of an obstructed UPJ, a dismembered pyeloplasty has proven to be the most versatile, and should be a part of every urologist's treatment armamentarium. Alternative primary and salvage techniques for open operative reconstruction of the UPJ are also described in this article.
Electronic Cigarette Use Among Counseled Tobacco Users Hospitalized in 2015.

Objectives:Few studies have examined the prevalence of electronic cigarette use among the inpatient population regardless of the patients’ cessation goals. The objectives of this study were to examine the prevalence of electronic cigarette use among counseled tobacco users admitted to 2 academic hos
God’s Giving Me Words for You/Bless This Research: When Prayer Meets Qualitative Inquiry

In a study of the writing practices of Christian pastors, interviewees would often pray with and for me. In this essay, I narrate three such instances in which prayer became provocative. Participants’ prayers for me inspired—literally, breathed into—my writing processes in transformative ways. Specifically, these experiences with prayer altered my conceptions of what counts as data, practices of reflexivity, and the relationships between intellectual and spiritual activities. They also changed the way I pray.
Research Is… Results From a National Survey

Answering the question “What is research?” comes at a pivotal time for art educators. The word research encapsulates the “data driven” culture present in many states and schools. As the National Ar...
Improved Model for Excess Base Current in Irradiated Lateral p-n-p Bipolar Junction Transistors

An improved total ionizing dose model for lateral p-n-p bipolar junction transistors is described. The model captures the impact of charged defects on radiation-induced excess base current. Failure to incorporate this mechanism in model underestimates gain degradation.
The role of depressive symptoms in treatment of adolescent cannabis use disorder with N-Acetylcysteine

Abstract Relative to adults, adolescents are at greater risk of developing a cannabis use disorder (CUD) and risk may be exacerbated by co-occurring depressive symptoms. N-Acetylcysteine (NAC), an over-the-counter antioxidant, is thought to normalize glutamate transmission. Oxidative stress and glutamate transmission are disrupted in both depression and CUD. Thus, NAC may be particularly effective at promoting cannabis abstinence among adolescents with elevated depressive symptoms. Secondary analyses were conducted using a sub-sample of adolescents with CUD (N = 74) who participated in an 8-week randomized placebo-controlled clinical trial examining the efficacy of NAC for cannabis cessation. It was hypothesized that NAC would reduce severity of depressive symptoms, and that decreases depressive symptom severity would mediate decreases in positive weekly urine cannabinoid tests (11-nor-9-carboxy-Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol). Additionally, it was expected that adolescents with greater severity of baseline depressive symptoms would be more likely to become abstinent when assigned NAC relative to placebo. Results from linear mixed models and generalized estimating equations did not suggest that NAC reduced severity of depressive symptoms, and the hypothesis that NAC's effect on cannabis cessation would be mediated by reduced depressive symptoms was not supported. However, an interaction between treatment condition and baseline severity of depressive symptoms as a predictor of weekly urine cannabinoid tests was significant, suggesting that NAC was more effective at promoting abstinence among adolescents with heightened baseline depressive symptoms. These secondary findings, though preliminary, suggest a need for further examination of the role of depressive symptoms in treatment of adolescent CUD with NAC.
The Use of Projective Techniques in Personality Assessment of the Aged

The classical problem confronting personality assessment in the elderly as well as in other groups has been that of surveying the gestalt of personality using indices which are both valid and reliable and yet which allow an overall understanding of the person (Chown, 1967). Hacker, Gaitz, and Hacker (1972, p, 94) argue that a humanistic view of mental health dictates a reevaluation of our orientation to diagnostic assessment. “In the pressure to quantify certain aspects of human behavior for scientific investigation, the essential human or spiritual qualities of the person are de-emphasized, and at times forgotten.” Behavioral scientists increasingly have been using standardized, closed-ended indices of mental health or illness. Data obtained through such measures are easily scored, processed, and quantified. Research on older persons has shown, however, that such indices may not capture the complexities of behavior and may even encourage a dehumanizing orientation toward older mental patients. Clinical assessment of the aged must go beyond an attempt to characterize mental impairment and illness and serve to uncover the potential of the aging individual (Oberleder, 1967).
Genetic Abnormalities of Surfactant Metabolism

Pulmonary surfactant is the complex mixture of lipids and proteins needed to reduce alveolar surface tension at the air-liquid interface and prevent alveolar collapse at the end of expiration. It has been recognized for almost 50 years that a deficiency in surfactant production due to pulmonary immaturity is the principal cause of the respiratory distress syndrome (RDS) observed in prematurely born infants.1 Secondary surfactant deficiency due to injury to the cells involved in its production and functional inactivation of surfactant is also important in the pathophysiology of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) observed in older children and adults.2,3 In the past 15 years, it has been recognized that surfactant deficiency may result from genetic mechanisms involving mutations in genes encoding critical components of the surfactant system or proteins involved in surfactant metabolism.4,5 Although rare, these single gene disorders provide important insights into normal surfactant metabolism and into the genes in which frequently occurring allelic variants may be important in more common pulmonary diseases.
Time and Space: An Economic Model

Technology enables us to assemble ever and ever larger quantities of data and ever deepening data structures. These developments are not sufficient. Humans must have stories, images, habits and rules-of-thumb to live by and with in complex environments and they are just not available as they relate to the globe which is shared by all. Simply browsing through a world atlas or looking at a globe is an exercise in looking at more information than it is possible to handle at once. The remote sensing and geographic information system communities have the opportunity to engage in the construction of tools which, in their maturity, will enable new ways of comprehending our global state of affairs. The purpose of the paper which follows is to contribute to a framework for such an undertaking.
Information Theory in Physiology

Publisher Summary This chapter discusses the use of information theory in physiology. Information, as first defined by Shannon, is a physical quantity associated with systems that can be in a number of different states. All functions associated with the phenomenon of life can be described in physical terms as the processing of information. The sensory organs of higher organisms perceive information from the environment and feed it into the nervous system for further processing. The neural network performs the task of transmitting information from various parts of the organism to the central part of the nervous system and vice versa. The organized structure of living organisms can only be maintained through the steady intake of information that they continuously process. In the absence of this flow of information associated with their diverse functions, the structured organization of living organisms would gradually disintegrate as their constituent materials undergo irreversibilities, changing toward the highest probability state of randomness and disorganization. Living organisms can, thus, be described as a pool of the physical quantity of information whose function is to maintain and process itself continuously.
Lower GI Bleeds

Lower gastrointestinal bleeding remains a common and frequent cause of hospitalizations across the United States. Diagnostic and therapeutic strategies include colonoscopy, scintigraphy, compute tomographic angiography, angiography, and segmental versus total colectomy. These strategies can be employed based on severity and location of bleeding, as well as based on the availability of interventions at one’s surgical facility. The goal of this chapter is to review causes of lower gastrointestinal bleeding and subsequent management.
Measuring CEO personality: Developing, validating, and testing a linguistic tool

Research Summary We introduce to the upper echelons literature a novel, linguistic measure of CEOs' Big Five personality traits that we specifically developed and validated using a sample of CEOs. We then provide a predictive test of the measure by applying it to a sample of more than 3,000 CEOs of S&P 1500 firms to explore the direct and interactive effects of CEOs' Big Five personality traits and firm performance on strategic change. Our validated, unobtrusive measure of CEOs' Big Five traits provides a strong foundation for future theory development on the firm‐level effects of CEOs' personality traits. Our specific findings also extend our understanding of how CEO personality influences firm‐level change and how both person and situation‐based factors interact to jointly influence firm strategy. Managerial Summary This paper introduces a language‐based tool we developed to measure the Big Five personality traits (i.e., openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism) of more than 3,000 CEOs of S&P 1500 firms. After describing our process to develop and validate the tool, we test it by examining how CEOs' Big Five traits influence strategic change, both in isolation and in combination with recent firm performance. Our results suggest that CEOs' personality traits have a meaningful impact on strategic change, but that the nature of these effects differs based on their firms' recent performance. Our tool also provides a strong basis for scholars seeking to measure the personality traits of large samples of public‐company executives.
Preparing for the Outbreak

Preparing for an incoming outbreak involves the preparation of healthcare resources to address the increased burden of the advancing disease. It also involves preparing measures to care for vulnerable populations, including patients with pre-existing mental health issues. During and after the outbreak, survivors, families of survivors and victims, and healthcare providers will likely be the populations most exposed to psychosocial and traumatic stress and adding to the pre-existing patient load of patients with mental health illnesses. Patients with serious mental health illnesses, particularly in residential settings, are considered very vulnerable and require additional attention during the process of preparation for an outbreak, including possible evacuation. At the community level, the preparation will focus on managing the emotional contagion, addressing the concerns of the public while providing accurate information and reducing the gap between public attitudes and epidemiological facts. Preparation for public mental health approach to the aftermath should include measures to address the stigma that may arise surrounding survivors and their families, as well as the families of those who succumbed to the illness.
Progress and Outlook on Few Component Composite Solid State Electrolytes

Lithium solid-state composite electrolytes (LiSCEs) provide the opportunity for long life spans, low self-discharge, high reliability, high energy density, and safety. Additionally, this class of electrolytes can be used in electrolytically formed solid-state batteries (EFBs), which may promote reductions in cell manufacturing costs due to their simplicity of design and permit the formation of batteries with diverse architectures. Herein, we provide a discussion of LiSCEs, highlight some of the recent progress in EFB development, and present a forward outlook.
Defects in Piwi or germ granules trigger a common program of sterility that is independent of transposon activation

Abstract Defective Piwi/piRNA genome silencing leads to heterochromatin dysfunction and immediate sterility in many species. Sterile Piwi mutants experience transposon expression and transposon-induced genomic instability, although the cause of Piwi mutant sterility remains uncertain. C. elegans germ cells deficient for Piwi pathway genome silencing factors transmit a form of heritable stress that induces sterility after growth for several generations, allowing comparisons of animals that are close to sterility but fertile with sterile siblings. Sterile Piwi pathway mutants displayed inconsistent increases in DNA damage signaling but consistently altered perinuclear liquid droplets termed germ granules. Germ granule dysfunction did not elicit significant levels of transposon expression but was sufficient to induce a range of idiosyncratic phenotypes associated with sterile Piwi pathway genome silencing mutants, including germline atrophy, reproductive arrest and univalents in oocytes. Expression of genes that perturb germ granule structure was not compromised in sterile Piwi pathway mutants, suggesting that a post-transcriptional mechanism regulates the stability of Piwi mutant germ granules. We propose that sterility in response to transgenerational deficiency for Piwi and in response to acute dysfunction of germ granules occur as a consequence of a common reproductive arrest mechanism. The germ granule abnormalities of sterile Piwi pathway mutants therefore suggest germ granule dysfunction as a cause of Piwi mutant sterility.
Supporting Case-Based Reasoning in Pharmacy Through Case Sequencing

Pharmacists are often required to solve ill-structured problems aimed at achieving optimal health outcomes at the patient, population, and institutional levels. Given the complexity of pharmacists’ clinical decisions, educators are exploring ways to foster complex problem-solving and higher order thinking in the classroom. One emerging strategy includes problem-based learning (PBL), which asks learners to collaboratively solve ill-structured cases that are representative of the types of problems faced by practitioners. Case-based reasoning argues that understanding and interpretation of a case is incremental and dynamic; that is, the lessons learned from one case might change in view of new experiences and across a case-based curriculum. While much of the literature is focused on how learners solve a single problem, it is unclear how learners construct their knowledge across multiple cases presented in PBL. To address this gap, this study focused on learners’ perception of case sequencing and how that design influenced the development of their internal case library. Because we are focused on formative assessment, we used qualitative analysis to understand the nuances of our design and explored its implications for programmatic changes. The feedback from the participants focused on index generation, index prioritization, alignment with prior knowledge, and reflection. Implications for theory and practice are discussed.
MAGNETIC FLUX THROUGH A SUPERCONDUCTING RING

The observed quantization of magnetic flux enclosed in a superconducting annulus is discussed. It is shown that the size of the quantum unit (hc/2e) implies a pairing effect between the electrons. The suggestion that flux quantization is an intrinsic property of electromagnetic fields is analyzed. The effect of flux quantization on the observed fact, that the magnetic field in a superconductor = 0, is discussed. (T.F.H.)
Aluminum Metal Digestion as a Demonstration of an Oscillating Voltage Reaction: An Application Beyond the Textbook

The oscillating open-circuit voltage generated by the digestion of aluminum rods, catalyzed by copper(II) chloride in 3 M nitric acid at 90 °C, is presented as a demonstration appropriate for a general chemistry or advanced laboratory. This demonstration encourages discussion of the possible kinetic mechanism as well as the general electrochemical half-reactions involved and the limited conditions under which oscillations occur. The objective is to provide general chemistry students with an interesting reaction beyond typical kinetics or electrochemistry. Apart from 1100-alloy aluminum rods and a recording voltmeter, the demonstration uses standard lab equipment, and the materials for the solutions are those typically found in a general lab setting.
Water insecurity and urban poverty in the Global South: Implications for health and human biology.

Objectives Over half of the world's population (4 billion people) experience severe water scarcity at least one month per year, while half a billion people experience severe water scarcity throughout the year. Despite progress from national and global interventions, a staggering proportion of the Global South remains water insecure. Rapid urban growth and associated demographic changes, climate change, and governance failure have also fostered the growth and expansion of urban informal settlements and slums where widespread poverty and environmental hazards exacerbate the impact of water insecurity on health. This article reflects on the interactions between water insecurity and urban poverty in the Global South across four categories of health outcomes: gastrointestinal diseases, mosquito-borne diseases, injuries, and mental illness. These examples highlight the mechanisms through which urban poverty exacerbates the adverse health effects of water insecurity. Methods The four selected health outcomes were chosen a priori to represent two communicable conditions with well-developed literatures, and two noncommunicable conditions with newer literatures that have emerged over the last decade. We conducted a narrative literature review of scholarly and gray literature appearing between January 2000 and April 2019 using several online scholarly databases. Results Gastrointestinal diseases, mosquito-borne diseases, injuries, and mental illness all exemplified the relationship between water insecurity and urban poverty through human biological pathways. For each of the four health categories, we identified frontiers for human biology research contributions to the water-poverty-health nexus. Conclusions We discuss our findings in the context of three crosscutting themes that merit innovative research approaches: stressor interactions and trade-offs, exposure thresholds, and intervention efficacy. We reiterate that the global burden of disease associated with water insecurity cannot be addressed in isolation from efforts to alleviate extreme poverty.
Analysis of Abdominal Dermal-Fat Grafting to Repair Parotidectomy Defects: An 18-Year Cohort Study.

OBJECTIVES To assess the outcomes of abdominal dermal-fat grafting following superficial and total parotidectomy. METHODS A retrospective chart review of parotidectomy patients was performed. Patients were divided into four groups based on surgical extent and grafting status: superficial parotidectomy (SP), superficial parotidectomy with grafting (SPg), total parotidectomy (TP), and total parotidectomy with grafting (TPg). Complication rates and operative times were then compared between surgically matched groups (SP vs. SPg, TP vs. TPg). Complications included graft necrosis, gustatory sweating, first-bite syndrome, infection, hematoma, sialocele, and seroma. Data was analyzed via chi-square and two-sample t testing, logistic regression, and one-way analysis of variance. RESULTS The cohort consisted of 330 patients: 106 SP (32.12%), 61 SPg (18.48%), 82 TP (24.85%), and 81 TPg (24.55%). No donor site complications occurred. TPg resulted in seven graft necroses (8.64%), and 22 reported gustatory sweating (27.20% vs. 10 TP patients (12.2%), P = 0.016); SPg resulted in two necroses (3.28%). There were no other statistically significant differences in complication rates. Graft recipients receiving adjuvant radiation were more likely to develop necrosis (odds ratio [OR] 4.60, 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.16-18.27, P = .0194). Patients who developed gustatory sweating were 8.38 years younger (95% CI 2.66-14.10, P = 0.002, follow-up time > 48 days). Grafting did not increase operative times (TP/TPg: mean = 275.91/263.65 minutes, standard error of the mean = 41.96/33.75, P = 0.822). CONCLUSION An abdominal dermal-fat graft is an excellent reconstructive choice for a parotidectomy defect and is not associated with increased complication rates or prolonged operative time. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE 4 Laryngoscope, 130:2144-2147, 2020.
Testosterone treatment attenuates the effects of facial nerve transection on glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) levels in the hamster facial motor nucleus.

Testosterone propionate (TP) administration coincident with facial nerve injury accelerates the recovery rate from facial muscle paralysis in the hamster. One mechanism by which TP could augment peripheral nerve regeneration is through glial fibrillary acidic protein the facial motor nucleus. In a previous study, axotomy alone induces increases in GFAP mRNA, with TP significantly attenuating the axotomy-induced increases in GFAP mRNA. In the present study, immunoblotting techniques were used to extend our previous GFAP mRNA studies to the protein level. Castrated male hamsters were subjected to a right facial nerve transection, with half of the animals receiving subcutaneous implants of 100% crystalline TP. The left facial motor nucleus of each animal served as an internal control. Postoperative survival times include Days 4, 7, and 14. In non–TP-treated animals, facial nerve transections alone increased GFAP levels at all time points, relative to internal controls. As previously observed at the mRNA level, TP treatment attenuated but did not eliminate the axotomy-induced increase in GFAP levels at all time points tested. These results suggest that the regulatory actions of gonadal steroids on GFAP expression manifested in parallel at the mRNA/protein levels.
Introducing Chemistry Students to Emerging Technologies in Gene Editing, Their Applications, and Ethical Considerations

Genome editing has widespread influence in many fields, including medicine, biotechnology, and agriculture. Despite their origins in chemistry laboratories, these techniques are currently under utilized in chemistry curricula. Introducing future generations of chemists to these emerging technologies is essential in chemistry classrooms. The purpose of this tutorial review is to introduce chemistry audiences—particularly undergraduate chemistry students and educators—to the emerging field of genome editing. Indeed, as the applications of genome editing technologies continue to grow, it will be important for chemistry students to gain a working knowledge of their underlying principles as well as some of their limitations. Here, we aim to provide a general overview of genome editing technologies and highlight some practical ways in which these technologies can be integrated into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. In the overview, we describe the key players in—and the modes of action of—the three major genome editing technologies, namely, (1) zinc finger nucleases (ZFNs), (2) transcription activator-like effector nucleases (TALENs) and (3) the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats/CRISPR-associated system (CRISPR/Cas) system. We then highlight several applications of genome editing technologies, particularly the CRISPR/Cas system, and their potential impact on various fields, including basic research, medicine, biotechnology, and the food industry. In this context, we present potential ethical issues associated with the application of genome editing technologies. Finally, by presenting a case study, we highlight the ways that genome editing technologies can be integrated into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum. This review can be added to biochemistry or organic chemistry courses as reading material.
TLR2 as a Therapeutic Target in Bacterial Infection

Toll-like receptor (TLR) 2 recognizes and responds to threats early in bacterial infections and can influence the downstream immune response to the host's benefit or detriment. Therapeutic modulation of TLR2 signaling represents an underutilized opportunity to moderate the immune response to infection to promote an improved outcome for the host.
America’s Marine Highway stakeholders: a system-scale analysis of influence in decision making

This work surveys stakeholders of America’s Marine Highway to identify their perceived influence on each other’s resource allocation decision making. The value/criticality of the resource held by the stakeholder group can be indirectly measured by the influence exerted by the group on its peers and its external stakeholders. The stakeholder map visualizes how the various stakeholder groups influence each other. Survey of the US Marine Highway stakeholders reveals peers as the most dominant influence among shippers, environmental advocates, and regulators. Results suggest that only suppliers and transportation providers exhibit distinct dominance of customer-supplier influence over that of their peers. This snapshot of stakeholder relationships is a powerful tool for both businesses as well as regulators in their pursuit of shared objectives in a network-centric environment. Stakeholder relationship influence results, and their graphical illustration, contribute to understanding the underlying dynamics of a changing value advantage in the current and coming decades of shipping.
Poster Abstract: A Computational Model-Driven Hybrid Social Media and Drone-Based Wildfire Monitoring Framework

While computational model-based wildfire prediction provides reasonable accuracy in predicting wildfire behaviour, they are often limited due to lack of constant availability of real-time data. By contrast, social sensing is an emerging sensing paradigm able to obtain early signs of forest fires from online social media users (e.g. smoke in nearby cities), but suffers from inconsistent reliability due to unreliable social signals. Meanwhile, UAV-based physical sensing utilizes onboard physical sensors to perform reliable wildfire sensing, but requires manual efforts to be narrowed down to fire infested regions. In this poster, we present CompDrone, a novel computational model-driven social media and drone-based wildfire monitoring framework that exploits the collective strengths of computational modeling, social sensing, and drone-based physical sensing for reliable wildfire monitoring. In particular, the CompDrone framework leverages techniques from cellular automata, constrained optimization, and bottom-up game theory to solve a few technical challenges involved in monitoring wildfires. The evaluation results using a real-world forest fire monitoring application show that CompDrone outperforms the state-of-the-art monitoring schemes.
Analysis of the bone fracture targeting properties of osteotropic ligands

Abstract Purpose Although more than 18,000,000 fractures occur each year in the US, methods to promote fracture healing still rely primarily on fracture stabilization, with use of bone anabolic agents to accelerate fracture repair limited to rare occasions when the agent can be applied to the fracture surface. Because management of broken bones could be improved if bone anabolic agents could be continuously applied to a fracture over the entire course of the healing process, we undertook to identify strategies that would allow selective concentration of bone anabolic agents on a fracture surface following systemic administration. Moreover, because hydroxyapatite is uniquely exposed on a broken bone, we searched for molecules that would bind with high affinity and specificity for hydroxyapatite. We envisioned that by conjugating such osteotropic ligands to a bone anabolic agent, we could acquire the ability to continuously stimulate fracture healing. Results Although bisphosphonates and tetracyclines were capable of localizing small amounts of peptidic payloads to fracture surfaces 2-fold over healthy bone, their specificities and capacities for drug delivery were significantly inferior to subsequent other ligands, and were therefore considered no further. In contrast, short oligopeptides of acidic amino acids were found to localize a peptide payload to a bone fracture 91.9 times more than the control untargeted peptide payload. Furthermore acidic oligopeptides were observed to be capable of targeting all classes of peptides, including hydrophobic, neutral, cationic, anionic, short oligopeptides, and long polypeptides. We further found that highly specific bone fracture targeting of multiple peptidic cargoes can be achieved by subcutaneous injection of the construct. Conclusions Using similar constructs, we anticipate that healing of bone fractures in humans that have relied on immobilization alone can be greately enhanced by continuous stimulation of bone growth using systemic administration of fracture-targeted bone anabolic agents.
Evaluation of the effect of temperature on the stability and antimicrobial activity of rifampicin quinone.

Abstract Rifampicin is an antibiotic used as a first line treatment for tuberculosis, as well as in the treatment of other infectious diseases. Drug quality is essential for drug efficacy. Determining the stability and activity of Rifampicin Quinone in solution is important in its role as a standard against which to determine Rifampicin quality and in its effect on treatment and AMR development. Poor quality medicines, such as antimicrobials not only increase mortality and morbidity, but can also contribute to the development of antimicrobial resistance (AMR). One common marker of poor quality in Rifampicin samples is the presence of the degradation product Rifampicin Quinone. In this study we have found that Rifampicin Quinone in solution undergoes a chemical conversion to Rifampicin that is temperature dependent. This conversion occurs in physiologically relevant temperatures (30−50 °C) and time scales (24−120 h) and was verified using HPLC and LC–MS methods. Additionally, the conversion of Rifampicin Quinone to Rifampicin results in an increase in antimicrobial activity. We believe that ours is the first study reporting the instability of Rifampicin Quinone, and this instability in solution at these temperatures and time scales raises concerns for its use as a standard in quality testing using liquid chromatography methods and in studies of the effect of Rifampicin Quinone on AMR. Due to the use of Rifampicin Quinone as a standard in determining Rifampicin quality, the instability of Rifampicin Quinone also poses public health concerns, as the incorrect determination of medicine quality risks patient health and may promote the development of AMR.
Robust IgM responses following vaccination are associated with prevention of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in macaques

Abstract Development of an effective tuberculosis (TB) vaccine has suffered from an incomplete understanding of the correlates of protection against Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). However, recent work has shown that compared to standard intradermal Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination, intravenous (IV) BCG vaccination provides nearly complete protection against TB in rhesus macaques. While studies have focused on cellular immunity in this setting, the antibody response elicited by IV BCG vaccination remains incompletely defined. Using an agnostic antibody profiling approach, here we show that IV BCG drives superior antibody responses in the plasma and the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BAL). While IV BCG immunization resulted in the expansion of a robust IgM, IgG, IgA, Fc-receptor binding antibodies, and antibody effector functions in the BAL, IgM titers were among the strongest markers of reduced bacterial burden in the plasma and BAL of BCG immunized animals. Moreover, IgM immunity was also enriched among animals receiving protective vaccination with an attenuated Mtb strain. Finally, a LAM-specific IgM monoclonal antibody reduced Mtb survival in vitro. Collectively, these data highlight the potential importance of IgM responses as a marker and as a functional mediator of protection against TB.
What is Neoconservatism

1. The Neoconservatives Were Latecomers to a Bigger, and Very Crowded, "Neo" Conservative Scene in the Post-World War II Era. 2. The Neoconservatives Were in Many Respects a Conceputally Derivative and Relatively Loose Grouping (But With Some Common Traits). 3. Neoconservatism Has Been a Comparatively Minor Force in American Domestic Policymaking. 4. Neoconservative Foreign Policy Entails Significant Continuities With What Came Before, Particularly in the Wilsonian Tradition and Cold War "Rollback." 5. Neoconservatism Became the Conventional Wisdom of Post-Cold War U.S. Foreign Policy.
Essentials of Micro- and Nanofluidics: With Applications to the Biological and Chemical Sciences

1. Introduction and overview 2. Preparatory concepts 3. The governing equations for an electrically conducting fluid 4. The essentials of viscous flow 5. Heat and mass transfer phenomena in channels and tubes 6. Introduction to electrostatics 7. Elements of electrochemistry and the electrical double layer 8. Elements of molecular and cell biology 9. Electrokinetic phenomena 10. Essential numerical methods 11. Molecular simulations 12. Applications Appendix 1: matched asymptotic expansions Appendix 2: vector operations in curvilinear coordinates.
Rhodon, Rosa Gallica, Al-Ward

From the 4th to 8th centuries, unusually cold weather was correlated with cataclysmic events such as the fall of the Roman Empire in the west, leading to the dark ages in Europe, the transfer of the center Roman culture to Constantinople, and the rise of Islam. Finally a warming trend in the 8th century was coincident with an intellectual blossoming under Charlemagne in western Europe, in Byzantium, and by Islamic scholars in the Middle East. The Materia Medica of Dioscorides, Greco-Roman military physician of the 1st century, was an herbal-an illustrated manuscript describing medically useful plants. Learned men in Europe, Byzantium and the Islamic lands, increasingly used the styles of their civilizations in copying these manuscripts as illustration grew more and more stylized and errors crept in as the works were more divorced from the direct study of nature.