cssi/SciSciGPT-SciSciNet huggingface dataset:
High-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia as an exposure biomarker for prostate cancer chemoprevention research

There is a tremendous need for exposure biomarkers, which need to function as intermediate end-points in cancer chemoprevention studies. Likely candidates include process biomarkers, atypical adenomatous hyperplasia, and a newly identified atrophic state. High-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia (HGPIN) has the potential to be a useful exposure biomarker, having substantial predictive value for prostate cancer in chemoprevention trials. A limitation of the use of HGPIN as a biomarker is accessibility, since it requires the use of a highly invasive procedure that would not normally be applied unless malignancy is suspected to be present. However, most other biomarkers of prostatic tissue are similarly invasive. The HGPIN lesion appears to be highly measurable; however, problems of sampling coupled with the heterogeneity of the prostate raise questions about the degree to which the presence of HGPIN can be seen to characterize a given person's prostate gland. HGPIN has the advantage that it appears to be quite highly proximal to the development of cancer and to be modifiable. It remains less clear to what degree it reflects the exposures that are believed to alter prostate cancer risk. HGPIN has been identified as a clinical entity only recently and much additional research on the utility of this marker is needed.
Measuring NLR Oligomerization I: Size Exclusion Chromatography, Co-immunoprecipitation, and Cross-Linking

Oligomerization of nod-like receptors (NLRs) can be detected by several biochemical techniques dependent on the stringency of protein-protein interactions. Some of these biochemical methods can be combined with functional assays, such as caspase-1 activity assay. Size exclusion chromatography (SEC) allows separation of native protein lysates into different sized complexes by fast protein liquid chromatography (FPLC) for follow-up analysis. Using co-immunoprecipitation (co-IP), combined with SEC or on its own, enables subsequent antibody-based purification of NLR complexes and associated proteins, which can then be analyzed by immunoblot and/or subjected to functional caspase-1 activity assay. Chemical cross-linking covalently joins two or more molecules, thus capturing the oligomeric state with high sensitivity and stability. Apoptosis-associated speck-like protein containing a caspase activation domain (ASC) oligomerization has been successfully used as readout for NLR or AIM2-like receptor (ALR) inflammasome activation in response to various pathogen- or damage-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs or DAMPs) in human and mouse macrophages and THP-1 cells. Here, we provide a detailed description of the methods used for NLRP7 oligomerization in response to infection with Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) in primary human macrophages, co-immunoprecipitation and immunoblot analysis of NLRP7 and NLRP3 inflammasome complexes, as well as caspase-1 activity assays. Also, ASC oligomerization is shown in response to dsDNA, LPS/ATP, and LPS/nigericin in mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages (BMDMs) and/or THP-1 cells or human primary macrophages.
Property Rights, Profit, and Ebola Prevention

During the recent Ebola epidemic, large agricultural and industrial firms in Liberia helped to lower the prevalence rate of Ebola, despite the lack of functioning governmental public health services. Firestone, Sime Darby, and ArcelorMittal are three instances of firm-led Ebola prevention whereby the private goals of owners, managers, and workers aligned with the social goal of Ebola prevention. The phenomenon of firm-led Ebola prevention, however, is contrary to standard public health approaches to Ebola and underexplored in the economics of epidemiology. This paper develops three conditions under which firms respond to epidemiological disasters, provide prevention, and lower prevalence rates. First, firms have well-defined and enforceable property rights. Second, labor is relatively scarce. Third, there are few public health alternatives. The aforementioned firms each held well-defined property rights and few public health alternatives, while Firestone faced a relatively abundant supply of labor. These conditions and experiences from Liberia suggest private actors can be a significant source of preventing in epidemiological disasters and the welfare consequences of epidemics may be overstated.
Presence of the Cyanotoxin Microcystin in Arctic Lakes of Southwestern Greenland

Cyanobacteria and their toxins have received significant attention in eutrophic temperate and tropical systems where conspicuous blooms of certain planktonic taxa release toxins into fresh water, threatening its potability and safe use for recreation. Although toxigenic cyanobacteria are not confined to high nutrient environments, bloom-forming species, or planktonic taxa, these other situations are studied les often studied. For example, toxin production in picoplankton and benthic cyanobacteria—the predominant photoautotrophs found in polar lakes—is poorly understood. We quantified the occurrence of microcystin (MC, a hepatotoxic cyanotoxin) across 18 Arctic lakes in southwestern Greenland. All of the focal lakes contained detectable levels of MC, with concentrations ranging from 5 ng·L−1 to >400 ng·L−1 during summer, 2013–2015. These concentrations are orders of magnitude lower than many eutrophic systems, yet the median lake MC concentration in Greenland (57 ng·L−1) was still 6.5 times higher than the median summer MC toxicity observed across 50 New Hampshire lakes between 1998 and 2008 (8.7 ng·L−1). The presence of cyanotoxins in these Greenlandic lakes demonstrates that high latitude lakes can support toxigenic cyanobacteria, and suggests that we may be underestimating the potential for these systems to develop high levels of cyanotoxins in the future.
Initial Development and Validation of the Youth Internalizing Problems Screener

The present studies report on the initial development and validation of the Youth Internalizing Problems Screener (YIPS), which is a 10-item self-report rating scale for assessing general internali...
Minimum action principle and shape dynamics

In this paper, we propose a new method for computing a distance between two shapes embedded in three-dimensional space. Instead of comparing directly the geometric properties of the two shapes, we measure the cost of deforming one of the two shapes into the other. The deformation is computed as the geodesic between the two shapes in the space of shapes. The geodesic is found as a minimizer of the Onsager-Machlup action, based on an elastic energy for shapes that we define. Its length is set to be the integral of the action along that path; it defines an intrinsic quasi-metric on the space of shapes. We illustrate applications of our method to geometric morphometrics using three datasets representing bones and teeth of primates. Experiments on these datasets show that the variational quasi-metric we have introduced performs remarkably well both in shape recognition and in identifying evolutionary patterns, with success rates similar to, and in some cases better than, those obtained by expert observers.
Investigating the Reactivity of Single Atom Alloys Using Density Functional Theory

Single atom alloys are gaining importance as atom-efficient catalysts which can be extremely selective and active towards the formation of desired products. They possess such desirable characteristics because of the presence of a highly reactive single atom in a less reactive host surface. In this work, we calculated the electronic structure of several representative single atom alloys. We examined single atom alloys of gold, silver and copper doped with single atoms of platinum, palladium, iridium, rhodium and nickel in the context of the d-band model of Hammer and Norskov. The reactivity of these alloys was probed through the dissociation of water and nitric oxide and the hydrogenation of acetylene to ethylene. We observed that these alloys exhibit a sharp peak in their atom projected d-band density of states, which we hypothesize could be the cause of high surface reactivity. We found that the d-band centers and d-band widths of these systems correlated linearly as with other alloys, but that the energy of adsorption of a hydrogen atom on these surfaces could not be correlated with the d-band center, or the average reactivity of the surface. Finally, the single atom alloys, with the exception of copper–palladium showed good catalytic behavior by activating the reactant molecules more strongly than the bulk atom behavior and showing favorable reaction pathways on the free energy diagrams for the reactions investigated.
Effective cellulose nanocrystal imaging using transmission electron microscopy.

Abstract Characterization of cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) is often complex and tedious. With their increased use for biological materials, polymer reinforcing agents, and other applications, better characterization methods of CNCs are needed to ensure product quality. However, because of their small size, hydrogen bonding, and low electron density, individual CNCs are difficult to image with high resolution and magnification using electron microscopy. Methods to help counter these challenges include staining for increased contrast and techniques to increase dispersion. This work tested several stains, dispersing agents, and sample supports to find a consistent method of individualizing CNCs and providing good contrast for imaging in transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The most consistent method found uses a low concentration of CNCs, bovine serum albumin as a dispersing agent, and Nanovan® as the contrasting stain on a silicon monoxide-coated Formvar TEM grid.
Reaction kinetic study of elemental mercury vapor oxidation with CuCl2

Abstract In this study, the reaction kinetics for a heterogeneous oxidation reaction of elemental mercury (Hg(0)) vapor with CuCl2 was studied in a fixed-bed reactor using 2%(wt) CuCl2/α-Al2O3 between 100 and 180 °C for Hg(0) oxidation after air preheater at a typical coal-fired power plant. The reaction rate expression was first order with respect to Hg(0). However, between 100 and 180 °C, CuCl2 over α-Al2O3 agglomerates and sinters. This sintering effect added significant mass-transfer resistance to the diffusion of Hg(0) vapor, and thus made the conversion of CuCl2 incomplete. Therefore, a grain model was formulated to determine the rate constant by taking into account the mass-transfer resistance. The model constituted a two parameter estimation problem for the determination of the rate constant and product layer diffusivity. The model predictions with the two optimum parameters were in good agreement with the experimental data. The activation energy value determined from the rate constant values was significantly lower than those for other Hg(0) oxidation catalysts under HCl and O2 gases reported in the literature. This result corroborates that CuCl2 can enhance Hg(0) oxidation by lowering the activation energy barrier with the reduction of Cu(2+) to Cu(1+) and supplying thermally stable surface Cl sites following a Mars-Maessen mechanism. CuCl2-based catalyst has potential to be applied after air preheater for Hg(0) oxidation followed by the separation of Hg(2+) in wet flue gas desulfurization (FGD) system or by activated carbon (AC) injection.
Applying innovations in circulator pump technology for commercial building applications

As government regulations push for higher efficiency in motors and motor driven systems, newer motor technologies, sensors and controls are being developed and introduced into the mainstream marketplace. However, the adoption of these new energy saving technologies is lower because of a lack of awareness of the benefits of emerging technologies. One of these "unknown" technologies is the circulator pumps that are used principally for central heating systems and more common in Europe. There are approximately 14 million circulator pumps sold in Europe annually, which is expected to grow to 17 million (at a growth rate of 1.4%) by 2020. The installed base could be approximately 140 million or more circulator pumps. The total energy consumed by all the circulator pumps in Europe alone in 2005 was approximately 50 TWh, and is expected to rise as high as 55 TWh in 2020. In the U.S., there are approximately 30 million installations of circulator pumps with annual sales of approximately 3 million units. EPRI conducted laboratory tests on the selected "new design" circular pump in 2013. Test results show that the selected pump (commercial name Magna 3) use at least 41% less power than an equivalent baseline pump. The permanent magnet motor along with the feedback loop control using a microprocessor-based controller helps reduce the overall power consumption of this circulator pump. The microprocessor constantly learns the system requirements and usage pattern and adjusts the speed of the pump by changing the pump performance curve. One of the shortcomings of the laboratory tests was that the full capabilities of the pump could not be evaluated due to limited laboratory test conditions. The field demonstration of this pump, therefore, focused on evaluating its additional features and capabilities in a real-life situation. This paper presents the results from the field demonstration of this circulator pump testing and the potential energy savings opportunities under various operating modes. Apart from the energy savings opportunities, the circulator pump also shows significant control system improvements and advanced smart sensors adaptations. This technology also exhibits the potential to reduce both water and energy use in commercial HVAC (centralized heating) as well as other hot water applications.
Deep longitudinal transfer learning-based automatic segmentation of photoreceptor ellipsoid zone defects on optical coherence tomography images of macular telangiectasia type 2

Photoreceptor ellipsoid zone (EZ) defects visible on optical coherence tomography (OCT) are important imaging biomarkers for the onset and progression of macular diseases. As such, accurate quantification of EZ defects is paramount to monitor disease progression and treatment efficacy over time. We developed and trained a novel deep learning-based method called Deep OCT Atrophy Detection (DOCTAD) to automatically segment EZ defect areas by classifying 3-dimensional A-scan clusters as normal or defective. Furthermore, we introduce a longitudinal transfer learning paradigm in which the algorithm learns from segmentation errors on images obtained at one time point to segment subsequent images with higher accuracy. We evaluated the performance of this method on 134 eyes of 67 subjects enrolled in a clinical trial of a novel macular telangiectasia type 2 (MacTel2) therapeutic agent. Our method compared favorably to other deep learning-based and non-deep learning-based methods in matching expert manual segmentations. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first automatic segmentation method developed for EZ defects on OCT images of MacTel2.
A Unique Design of Fiber-Optic Interconnection Networks and Algorithms

A unique 2D mesh called reconfigurable array with spanning optical buses (RASOB) is described, which supports a high degree of transparency (e.g. bit-rate) and reconfigurability with a low control and hardware (e.g. optical switches) complexity. Efficient algorithms that can take advantage of the unique features of the architecture are also described.
Graphite-magnesium Elastic Constants: Composite and Fiber

This study contains three components: measurement, modeling, and inverse modeling to get the fiber elastic constants. The studied composite consisted of 70-volume-percent continuous uniaxial graphite fibers in a magnesium matrix. By ultrasonic-velocity methods, we measured the composite’s complete orthotropic-symmetry (nine-independent-component) elastic-constant tensor: Cij. For a model, we used a wave-scattering method in the long-wavelength limit. The model requires two inputs: the two isotropic-matrix elastic constants and the five anisotropic-fiber elastic constants. Guessing the fiber Cij gave good measurement-model agreement only for C11 C22, and C33. Especially, the shear moduli Cii (i = 4,5,6) agreed poorly (a 20-percent difference). Using inverse modeling—calculate fiber properties from measured matrix properties and measured composite properties—we estimated the anisotropic-fiber elastic constants.
From germs to genes: trends in drug therapy, 1852-2002.

L'A. demontre que les traitements medicamenteux se sont considerablement developpes de 1852 a 2002, en raison surtout d'un certain nombre de pathologies meconnues au XIX e siecle
Immunology of Cutaneous Candidiasis

Cutaneous candidiasis represents infections of the epidermis, primarily the stratum corneum of the skin, with C. albicans and occasionally certain non-C. albicans species. The condition known as chronic mucocutaneous candidiasis consists of a variety of syndromes with varying degrees of immune dysfunction and resulting chronic infections of the skin, nails, and mucous membranes with Candida organisms. The various forms of cutaneous candidiasis have a number of predispositions, such as warmth, moisture, and occlusion at the local site, various kinds of natural or iatrogenic immunosuppression, and perhaps some degree of inherited susceptibility. The immune system, particularly CMI, appears to be important in the defense against this type of infection. In the skin the mechanisms involved in generating immunologic reactions are particularly complex, with epidermal Langerhans cells, other dendritic cells, lymphocytes, microvascular endothelial cells, and the keratinocytes themselves all playing important roles. Studies of cutaneous candidiasis have elucidated a number of immunologic defects, which in some cases may be preexistent and in others may be secondary to the infection itself. Different mechanisms may cause immunologic dysfunction in individual patients and lead to the development of chronic infections. Although an inability to develop protective immune responses appears to be involved in the chronicity of certain cutaneous Candida infections, treatment at the present time depends primarily on antifungal medications; therapeutic modalities aimed at reversing the underlying immunologic defects remain experimental.
The Two-Atom Ideal Gas

The Asides in this text treat material that can be skipped or that some students will already know. The purpose of this Aside is to bridge the gap between the one-atom ideal gas discussed in Lecture 4, and the N-atom (where N might be similar to Avogadro’s number) ideal gas treated in Lecture 5. In this Aside, I develop the canonical ensemble description of the two-atom ideal gas. I show how the lists of variables and integrals change form as the number of particles in the system is increased.
Mechanisms of in utero cortisol effects on the newborn heart revealed by transcriptomic modeling.

We have identified effects of elevated maternal cortisol (induced by maternal infusion 1 mg·kg−1·day−1) on fetal cardiac maturation and function using an ovine model. Whereas short-term exposure (1...
Abstract 022: Exploring the 24 Hour Day: using Isotemporal Substitution to Model the Cardiometabolic Benefits of Sleep Duration in Older Women

Background: Sleep, sedentary behavior (SB), and physical activity (PA) are independently associated with cardiometabolic health, but few studies have examined the interrelationships between 24 hour...
Desde el punto de vista del cliente. Repensando el tropo del clientelismo político

La primera parte del articulo describe la red de relaciones en la que estan ubicados los "punteros"/"referentes" y los "clientes" del Partido Justicialista. Esta trama es una red de resolucion de problemas en la que se pueden distinguir dos circulos: el circulo intimo de los seguidores mas cercanos al puntero, y el circulo exterior de aquellos que tienen lazos intermitentes con los referentes peronistas. La segunda parte se concentra en: a) los diferentes puntos de vista que circulan dentro del barrio sobre la distribucion de bienes antes de los actos politicos organizados por los punteros, b) las diferentes evaluaciones que la gente realiza sobre los referentes/punteros, y c) las distintas visiones sobre la politica y sobre el rol parricular que esta tuvo en la historia del barrio.
Language, Religion, and Emplacement of Zazaki Speakers

Speakers of the Zazaki language present an ongoing and contested dilemma regarding their relationship and place within mainstream Kurdish identity. Academic scholarship on Zazaki speakers, and more specifically, their identity is not only scarce but often fails to provide a solid discussion on (ethnic) identification processes. The article gives an overview of scholarly research on identity in the context of ethnic membership affiliation and focuses on the case of the Zaza identity, language, religion to problematize the place and sense of belonging of its speakers. As language is the starting point, it is viewed as a key salient factor for the Zazaki identity. This article discusses the relationship between language and identity to examine the claims about whether Zazaki speakers belong to the ethnic category of “Kurd” or just “Zaza”. Faith (Alevism and Sunni Islam) is also identified as a potentially competing factor shaping and defining the Zazaki identity discussion. The article concludes by proposing that we move beyond the simplistic and opposing views of Zazaki speakers as Kurds or as a distinct ethnic group. Instead, the Zazaki case provides a unique opportunity to move beyond strict categorizations of identity influenced by rigid concepts of nationalism and nationhood to a more nuanced understanding on the fluidity of identity among ethno-cultural and/or linguistic minorities and migrant groups in general.
Desiccation avoidance and drought tolerance strategies in bermudagrasses

Abstract The objective of this study was to characterize and compare mechanisms of drought avoidance and tolerance, specifically rooting characteristics, osmotic adjustment and antioxidant metabolism among different bermudagrasses. Six different bermudagrasses (‘Celebration’, ‘Tifway’, ‘TifTuf’, ‘UGB-70′, ‘UGB-42′ and ‘UGB-208’) were grown in field and growth chamber conditions and exposed to drought treatments. A range of drought performance was observed across bermudagrass genotypes with TifTuf being only the genotype to maintain a minimum acceptable turf quality rating of 6 at the end of drought treatments under field conditions. Along with TifTuf, UGB-42 and UGB-70 performed well in terms of percent green cover, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), leaf water status and membrane stability in both field and growth chamber conditions indicating these three genotypes had the best drought performance in the current study. Drought tolerant bermudagrasses were able to better maintain photosynthesis and transpiration after being exposed to drought. TifTuf had 15, 27 and 200 % greater osmotic adjustment (OA) compared to poor performing Celebration in 2017 and 2018 field, and grown chamber experiments, respectively. Antioxidant enzyme activities, including activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and glutathione reductase (GR), were mostly greater in drought-tolerant bermudagrasses. Greater antioxidant activities reduced formation of damaging H2O2 and lipid peroxidation in TifTuf, UGB-42 and UGB-70. TifTuf had 25 % greater total dry weight partitioned to roots compared to poorer performing UGB-208. Root viability was the greatest in UGB-42 and root length density (RLD) were greater in UGB-42 and UGB-70 compared to many other bermudagrasses. Results indicated better drought performances of bermudagrasses could be attributed both drought tolerance (particularly OA and antioxidant mechanisms) and desiccation avoidance (total dry weight partitioned to roots and root viability) traits.
Most efficient engine

Abstract Performance comparison between two engines with different designs is often made subject to some design constraints. Traditionally, it is assumed that all engines are constrained to operate between the same high- and low-temperature thermal reservoirs. In this case, the Stirling, Carnot, and Ericsson cycles—as a class of heat engines with two isothermal processes—have the highest efficiency. An alternative way for performance comparison is that all engines are constrained to operate between the same high and low volumes. In this chapter, expressions will be derived for the efficiency of common gas power cycles. A comparison will be made between the efficiencies of these cycles to identify a design that would possess the highest efficiency if the engines are constrained to undergo an identical degree of volume change.
A heuristic platform for clinical interpretation of cancer genome sequencing data.

10502 Background: The ability to identify and effectively sort the full spectrum of biologically and therapeutically relevant genetic alterations identified by massively parallel sequencing may imp...
Novel Long Noncoding RNA, Macrophage Inflammation-Suppressing Transcript (MIST), Regulates Macrophage Activation During Obesity

Objective: Systemic low-grade inflammation associated with obesity and metabolic syndrome is a strong risk factor for the development of diabetes mellitus and associated cardiovascular complication...
Abstract A83: Subsets of exhausted CD8+ T cells differentially mediate tumor control and respond to checkpoint blockade

T-cell dysfunction in the tumor microenvironment (TME) is a hallmark of many cancers. Reinvigoration of T-cell function by PD-1 checkpoint blockade can result in striking clinical responses, but is only effective in a minority of patients. The mechanisms by which anti-PD-1 therapy acts on exhausted T cells are not fully understood. Here we show that anti-PD-1 therapy acts on a specific subpopulation of CD8+ tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) in melanoma mouse models, which can also be found in patients with melanoma. Exhausted CD8+ TILs contain a subpopulation of “progenitor exhausted” T cells with critical functional attributes that are not shared by the majority “terminally exhausted” TILs: they retain more polyfunctionality, persist following transfer into tumor-bearing mice, and differentiate to repopulate terminally exhausted TILs in the TME. As a result, progenitor exhausted CD8+ TILs are better able to control tumor growth than terminally exhausted cells. Progenitor exhausted, but not terminally exhausted, CD8+ TILs can respond to anti-PD-1 therapy. Melanoma patients with a higher percentage of progenitor exhausted cells have a longer duration of response to checkpoint blockade therapy. Therefore, approaches to expand progenitor exhausted CD8+ T cells in the tumor microenvironment may be an important component of improving checkpoint blockade response. Citation Format: Brian C. Miller, Debattama R. Sen, Rose Al Abosy, Kevin Bi, Yamini Virkud, Martin W. LaFleur, Kathleen B. Yates, Ana Lako, Kristen Felt, Girish S. Naik, Michael Manos, Evisa Gjini, Jeffrey J. Ishizuka, F. Stephen Hodi, Scott J. Rodig, Arlene H. Sharpe, W. Nicholas Haining. Subsets of exhausted CD8+ T cells differentially mediate tumor control and respond to checkpoint blockade [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the AACR Special Conference on Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy; 2019 Nov 17-20; Boston, MA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Immunol Res 2020;8(3 Suppl):Abstract nr A83.
Translational feasibility of lumbar puncture for intrathecal AAV administration

Preclinical studies have demonstrated that a single injection of an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector into the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) can achieve widespread gene transfer throughout the central nervous system. Successfully translating this approach to humans requires identifying factors that influence AAV distribution in the CSF so that optimal parameters can be replicated in the clinic. In the context of developing a motor neuron-targeted gene therapy for spinal muscular atrophy, we conducted studies in nonhuman primates to evaluate the impact of injection volume on spinal cord transduction after AAV delivery via lumbar puncture. Lumbar injection of an AAVhu68 vector targeted motor neurons throughout the spinal cord, but only in juvenile nonhuman primates administered large injection volumes, equivalent to about half of the total CSF volume. Upon repeating this study with clinically relevant injection volumes and larger animals, we found that lumbar puncture failed to achieve significant transduction of the spinal cord. In contrast, vector administered into the cisterna magna distributed reproducibly throughout the spinal cord in both juvenile and adult animals. These findings highlight the challenges of translating AAV delivery via lumbar puncture to humans and suggest that delivery into the cisterna magna may represent a more feasible alternative.
School Food and Beverage Availability and Children's Diet, Purchasing, and Obesity: Evidence From a Natural Experiment.

Abstract Purpose Existing evidence on relationships between school food environments and children's in-school purchases, dietary behaviors, and body composition is based on observational studies that are vulnerable to residential selection bias. Methods This study leveraged exogenous variation in school environments generated by the natural experiment due to military parents' assignment to installations. We analyzed 1,010 child-wave observations from the Military Teenagers Environments, Exercise, and Nutrition Study collected during 2013–2015. Using multiple linear and logistic regression, we examined whether the number of competitive food and beverage (CFB p Conclusions Access to unhealthy CF&B items may influence in-school purchases but does not appear to influence overall dietary behaviors and BMI outcomes. Substitution of caloric intake across locations within versus outside of school may play a role in explaining why purchases were associated with unhealthy CF&B availability but overall diet and downstream BMI were not.
Ultra-High Field Solenoids and Axion Detection

High Temperature Superconducting (HTS) materials are now becoming incorporated into magnets that are being used for a variety of physics applications. Axion detection is a particularly attractive application for these conductors and there is significant promise that reliable systems can be built. However, there are still many challenges that are presently unresolved when it comes to building magnets of this scale from these materials. In particular, when a superconducting magnet quenches the energy stored in the magnetic field is converted into heat. If not controlled properly, the energy can be deposited in a non-uniform manner that results in excessive heating in some regions and damage to the magnet. For magnets using traditional Low Temperature Superconductors (LTS) methods of protecting the magnet during quench have been relatively well developed. For the HTS materials this development is presently underway, but no demonstrations protecting coils of the size needed for axion detection have yet been published.
Characterization of the interlaminar shear strength of IM7/8552 using small-scale short beam shear tests

Abstract This work presents an effort to scale down the short beam shear (SBS) test for measuring the interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) of polymer matrix composites (PMCs). The scale-down is performed to faciliate testing of new PMC systems with limited availability and high cost. The effect of specimen size on the failure mode and ILSS is investigated using digital image correlation and X-ray computed tomography. For the PMC system used, reduction of specimen size results in failure transitioning from a single dominant delamination in the full-scale specimens to multiple delaminations in the small-scale specimens, along with the specimen stress-strain response transitioning from quasi-brittle to quasi-ductile. Detailed analysis of tests results demonstrates that the observed change in specimen behavior has a negligible effect on the measured ILSS. Results from this study are used to provide guidance for future small-scale SBS testing to ensures accurate measurements of ILSS without introducing undesired failure modes.
Letter in response to Rivastigmine for the treatment of anticholinergic delirium following severe procyclidine intoxication

Sir,We read with interest the article “Rivastigmine for the treatment of anticholinergic delirium following severe procyclidine intoxication” by Van Kernebeek et al. [1]. We describe here a similar...
Modeling the spatial control over point defect spin states via processing variables

Contemporary models that are used to search for solid-state point defects for quantum-information applications tend to focus on the defect’s intrinsic properties rather than the range of conditions in which they will form. In this work, a first-principles based multi-scale device model is used to explore how the conditions (i.e., growth temperature, doping concentration, unintentional impurity concentration) influence the formation of a neutral aluminum vacancy complexed with an oxygen impurity at a neighboring nitrogen site v Al-1O N in an Si/Mg:AlN homojunction. Varying the donor (Si) concentration is predicted to lead to the greatest change in both the maximum height and shape of the (v Al-1O N) 0 profile. The shape is found to depend on the acceptor (Mg) concentration as well, and a critical ratio between the acceptor and unintentional impurities below which the (v Al-1O N) 0 center would not form was identified. A detailed analysis of the electrostatic potential, electric field, and defect chemistry obtained with the model was used to reveal the underlying causes of these changes. These results show the potential of varying processing parameters to manipulate the local electronic structure as a means to control the properties of point defects for quantum-information applications.
The Effects of Depression and Anti-Depressants on Quality of Life After Breast Reconstruction: A Post-Hoc Analysis.

Background A personal history of depression prior to breast cancer diagnosis and its effect on post-diagnosis quality of life (QOL) in women undergoing breast reconstruction is relatively unknown. We performed the current study to determine if depression alters QOL for patients who undergo breast reconstruction by assessing the pre-to-post-operative change in patient-reported BREAST-Q scores. Methodology We conducted a single-center, post-hoc analysis of 300 patients with completed BREAST-Q data who underwent breast reconstruction from November 2013 to November 2016 following a diagnosis of breast cancer. Patients completed the BREAST-Q at four time points: pre-operatively, six weeks following tissue expander (TE) insertion for patients undergoing staged reconstruction, and six and 12 months following the final reconstruction. Medical records were reviewed to identify patients who had a pre-cancer diagnosis of clinical depression and/or anti-depressant medication use. BREAST-Q scores were compared between groups and within groups. Groups compared were the depression (n = 50) and no depression (n = 250) patients, along with anti-depressant (n = 36) and no anti-depressant (n = 14) use in the depression group. Results Within-group Sexual Well-being scores at the six-week post-TE follow-up for patients in the depression group (median = 37, interquartile range [IQR] = 25-47) were significantly lower (p < 0.01) than the scores for patients in the no depression group (median = 47, IQR = 39-60). There were no statistically significant differences in BREAST-Q scores in other domains. When compared to patients diagnosed with depression who were not taking anti-depressants, anti-depressant medication use did not result in statistically significant higher BREAST-Q scores, although Satisfaction With Breasts six months post-operatively, Psychosocial Well-being at six weeks post-TE, Sexual Well-being at six weeks post-TE and six months post-operatively were clinically higher in patients taking anti-depressants for depression. Conclusions Patients with a diagnosis of depression prior to breast cancer had lower BREAST-Q Sexual Well-being scores in the six-week TE group with or without anti-depressant medication. Patients with a pre-cancer diagnosis of depression considering TEs may benefit from additional counseling prior to breast reconstruction or electing a different method of breast reconstruction. Anti-depressant medications may provide clinically higher BREAST-Q scores in patients with a pre-cancer diagnosis of depression. Adding an anti-depressant medication to a patient's treatment plan may provide additional benefits. Larger samples are required to properly determine the impact of anti-depressant medications on BREAST-Q scores in patients with a pre-cancer diagnosis of depression.
Damage to lens fiber cells causes TRPV4-dependent Src family kinase activation in the epithelium

The bulk of the lens consists of tightly packed fiber cells. Because mature lens fibers lack mitochondria and other organelles, lens homeostasis relies on a monolayer of epithelial cells at the anterior surface. The detection of various signaling pathways in lens epithelial cells suggests they respond to stimuli that influence lens function. Focusing on Src Family Kinases (SFKs) and Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid 4 (TRPV4), we tested whether the epithelium can sense and respond to an event that occurs in fiber mass. The pig lens was subjected to localized freeze-thaw (FT) damage to fibers at posterior pole then the lens was incubated for 1-10 min in Krebs solution at 37 °C. Transient SFK activation in the epithelium was detectable at 1 min. Using a western blot approach, the ion channel TRPV4 was detected in the epithelium but was sparse or absent in fiber cells. Even though TRPV4 expression appears low at the actual site of FT damage to the fibers, SFK activation in the epithelium was suppressed in lenses subjected to FT damage then incubated with the TRPV4 antagonist HC067047 (10 μM). Na,K-ATPase activity was examined because previous studies report changes of Na,K-ATPase activity associated with SFK activation. Na,K-ATPase activity doubled in the epithelium removed from FT-damaged lenses and the response was prevented by HC067047 or the SFK inhibitor PP2 (10 μM). Similar changes were observed in response to fiber damage caused by injection of 5 μl hyperosmotic NaCl or mannitol solution beneath the surface of the posterior pole. The findings point to a TRPV4-dependent mechanism that enables the epithelial cells to detect remote damage in the fiber mass and respond within minutes by activating SFK and increasing Na,K-ATPase activity. Because TRPV4 channels are mechanosensitive, we speculate they may be stimulated by swelling of the lens structure caused by damage to the fibers. Increased Na,K-ATPase activity gives the lens greater capacity to control ion concentrations in the fiber mass and the Na,K-ATPase response may reflect the critical contribution of the epithelium to lens ion homeostasis.
Immigrant Workers and the Domestic Enforcement of International Labor Rights

Globalization poses many challenges to working people and their advocates. In light of the demands on the limited resources of United States unions and other labor advocates, it may seem folly to suggest an additional strategy for addressing the consequences of globalization. Yet there is a further method of advocacy, one that is relatively low-cost but could both advance the direct interests of some of the most exploited workers in this country and aid broader international labor rights initiatives: enforcement of international labor standards in the United States, particularly on behalf of immigrant workers. This Article outlines two specific strategies that labor advocates should consider incorporating into their existing efforts on behalf of working people in the United States. The first is federal litigation on behalf of immigrant workers for violations of international labor law, pursuant to the Alien Tort Claims Act. The second is challenging United States under-enforcement of existing labor rights and standards by invocation of the international consultative and arbitration processes established by the labor side-agreement to the North American Free Trade Agreement. Both strategies are worthy of consideration because they may further the campaign-specific goals of individual workers, unions, and other labor organizations, but also for the independent reason that each will compel United States judicial and executive-branch institutions to measure public and private domestic labor practices against international standards. Moreover, embracing either strategy may enable United States labor advocates to “lead by example” in taking international labor standards seriously and demanding that United States public and private institutions honor our nation's international obligations. This, in turn, may offer a potentially useful response to those who oppose further definition and development of international labor norms and who criticize the movement as concerned solely with protecting domestic labor markets in advanced industrial nations.
Rice crop duration and leaf appearance rate in a variable thermal environment.: I. Development of an empirically based model

Abstract Variable crop duration is a major constraint to rice double cropping in arid irrigated environments, such as the Sahel. Photoperiodism and low air and water temperatures during the cool season are the major causes of variability, and cultivars are needed whose photothermal response provides a more stable crop duration. A previous study analyzed cultivar photothermal constants on the basis of progress to flowering. The present study sought to identify, on the basis of leaf appearance rates, the phenological stages that are most sensitive photothermally, and to explore technical options to screen germplasm for stable crop duration. Three Oryza sativa , indica-type rice cultivars (Jaya, IKP, IR64) were sown in the field at 15-day intervals during the dry season of 1995 (11 sowing dates) and 1996 (5 sowing dates) in Ndiaye, Senegal, under full irrigation and wide spacing to reduce microclimate variability. Mean daily water temperature ( T w ) varied from 13 to 35°C. After seed soaking, the rate at which the first leaf ( L 1 ) appeared was linearly related with T w , with a base temperature ( T base ) of about 10°C. Appearance rates of the subsequent three leaves ( L 2 – L 4 ) had a similar T base , and presented a distinct temperature optimum ( T opt ) at about 23°C, beyond which development rates decreased. Errors were too large to determine differences among cultivars in thermal constants. No significant temperature response was observed for the leaf appearances between L 5 to the flag leaf ( L 12 to L 20 ). Crop duration to flowering varied by 45 (IR64) and 63 days (Jaya). These variations were associated with highly variable leaf numbers in all cultivars, including photoperiod-insensitive IKP. One-third of the variable duration was hypothesized to be due to a variable basic vegetative phase (BVP), caused by variable germination and leaf appearance rates, and two-thirds to variable duration of panicle induction after BVP. Water temperature was the main determinant of both sources of variability. A simulation model, describing these temperature and photoperiod effects on leaf number, growth duration and leaf appearance rates, was developed using the 1995 data, and satisfactorily validated with the 1996 data. The model was used to identify phenological-stage and cultivar-specific causes of variable crop duration.
Electrochemical migration control of silver-paste conductive adhesives

Summary form only given. Although conductive adhesives have been studied for many years as a lead-free for electronic interconnect are limited to low voltage display driver devices. This is due to the serious concerns associated with the long-term reliability and high voltage application issues caused by the silver migration, hi this study, a novel approach to reduce silver migration and enhance the long-term reliability of conductive adhesives is discovered by using self-assembled monolayer molecular wires. The novel approach enhances the long-term reliability and durability of conductive adhesives and enables the EGA for high voltage applications. In addition, the self-assembled molecular wires help the dispersion of conductive fillers (in particular, nano-sized (<100 nm) conductive fillers) in the polymer matrix, and enhance the electrical conductivity of conductive adhesives. Due to the high current density of those functional molecular monolayers - the current carrying capability of conductive adhesives can also be improved significantly
Assessment of frequency selectivity with psychoacoustic masking curves

Psychophysical tuning curves (PTCs) and narrow-band masking curves (NMCs) were obtained for three frequencies: 500, 1600, and 2500 Hz, using the Bekesy tracking method. Comparisons of the data obtained for seven normal and one slightly impaired ears indicate that PTCs measured at 20 dB SL and NMCs measured at 40 dB SL seem to be equally effective in describing frequency selectivity using Q(10) criterion. Therefore, the choice of either methodology for assessment of frequency resolution may be dictated by its convenience and avilable instrumentation. Due to dependence of PTCs and NMCs on signal presentation level, the conclusions of this study are limited to normally hearing listeners. It is yet to be shown whether and within what range of hearing loss both measures can be treated as equivalent at higher presentation level.
Advances in Multiple-Pulse Radio-Frequency-Gradient Imaging of Solids

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has become the premier tool for the non-destructive evaluation of soft tissue in living systems [1]. Established liquid-state MRI strategies are generally found to be inappropriate for the imaging of rigid solids, because the linewidth for nuclear magnetic resonance in solids is orders-of-magnitude larger than in liquids. Methods currently under development for the NMR imaging of solids either involve the use of very large (fringe-field) magnetic field gradients to encode spatial information over very short periods of time [2], or employ multiple-pulse line-narrowing techniques that prolong a solid’s apparent transverse relaxation time [3–7]. In the latter methods, the magnetic field gradients may be much weaker, but must generally be pulsed synchronously with the line-narrowing sequence. The benefits of implementing this are improved sensitivity and spectroscopic resolution.
Lung volume in the newborn infant.

The plethysmographic technique of Du-Bois and associates has been modified for use in newborn infants and found suitable for the measurement of lung volume. Of 37 normal infants studied with this method, most achieved full functional residual capacity during the first few minutes of life.
Lifespans of diabetic and non-diabetic fibroblasts in vitro. Results of replicate determinations.

Abstract Cumulative replicative lifespan (CRLS) was determined in replicates for skin fibroblasts from ten non-diabetic and 11 diabetic donors. The results show that CRLS 1. 1. decreases as function of donor age for controls but not for diabetics 2. 2. is not different for random subsites of the same biopsy 3. 3. is not affected by freeze-thawing of either tissues or cells or by the calendar time during which the cells were tested 4. 4. is affected by different lots of fetal bovine sera. The data also shows that variation of CRLS among diabetic donors is greater than among controls and that cells from some diabetics may have decreased CRLS.